Hans Paas, Castlemaine
I may be able to help Brian Clarke (‘Courage and intelligence’, Opinions, July 24). Although it is not abundantly clear from his letter, it seems that Mr Clarke still doubts the reality of climate change.
If I am right, his experience of an ‘eerie silence’ when he seeks to promote climate change denying views is most likely the result of good manners.
For most of us the question of whether there is climate change has been answered and the matter is ‘done and dusted’. We are left with two types of climate change deniers; the delusional and the corrupt. The latter are powerful and wealthy and have used their power to corrupt politicians, indeed whole governments. These are the ones still wanting us to build coal-fired power stations when renewable energy once put in place is fuelled by the sun or the wind and so inevitably costs a fraction of the coal-fired stuff and has the added bonus of saving the planet for our children and grandchildren.
A recent ACCC report recommending we keep coal-fired power going as long as possible is an indictment on both major parties. If action had been taken when the climate science first emerged, Australians would be enjoying plentiful very cheap energy and we might still have had a competitive manufacturing sector. Instead everyone is being ripped off, even those who feed clean power into the grid and we are becoming a nation of baristas.
We can’t look back now. We must hasten to transforming our economy to help save the planet and our economy from the predatory greed of corporations that if allowed to would literally leave Australia in the dark.
