Events around the world over the past couple of months have brought home just how urgently we need to move off coal and gas.
In the words of the UN secretary general, “the era of global boiling has arrived.”
You can see the evidence of this in the destructive wildfires that tore through Canada and Europe, and soaring ocean temperatures.
July was the world’s hottest month in recorded history, and all signs point towards a dangerous and unforgiving summer of our own.
Thankfully, after a decade of LNP ignorance, the renewable energy transition is finally underway.
And communities like Gladstone are embracing it. The excellent “Real Deal for Gladstone” report, which presents a number of recommendations for “economic and social transition” for the region, highlights just how vast the opportunities are for our community and its workers.
After being consistently exploited by profiteering coal and gas companies, and still bearing the scars of boom and bust cycles, the Gladstone region has an opportunity to be part of a nation-building project that delivers safe and secure jobs and sustainable prosperity for decades to come.
But because of the 10 years that we lost to LNP incompetence and thumb-twiddling, we’re starting on the back foot. By now we should be well on the way to a clean, low-cost, renewables-powered economy.
Instead, we’re in a race against time.
Some of the same LNP characters who spent a decade in government denying climate change are now doing their best to gum up the gears of progress by fear mongering about the speed of transition and feigning concern about the environment – a concern they don’t seem to have when it comes to the destruction caused by coal and gas.
As a community we have to see this for what it is: an attempt to stave off the inevitable so the LNP’s coal and gas donors – the big multinational corporations that exploit our resources, poison our communities and send profits offshore – can keep the fossil fuel gravy train rolling for just a little longer.
Managed properly with robust, transparent and early community engagement; the prior and informed consent of Traditional Owners; worker protections; and careful consideration of its environmental impacts, large-scale renewables projects will lower our climate emissions, provide reliable and cheap energy for centuries to come, and lead a renewal of regional Australia.
The Australian Energy Infrastructure Commissioner is currently undertaking a review of the engagement processes around renewable energy developments which the Greens hope will ensure that communities, landowners and First Nations people are all properly consulted on the projects that will shape all of our futures.
Please email my office at senator@pennyallmanpayne.com to find out more about the review and how you can participate.
