Trevor A. Scott, Castlemaine
An open letter to Prime Minister Scott Morrison:
Dear Prime Minister, recently you were shown on TV with your hand on your heart saying “I don’t have a manifesto, but it’s what’s in here that matters”.
Last week your newly appointed Energy Minister Angus Taylor said “I am not sceptical about climate science”.
Not so long ago you, in your role of Federal Treasurer, brought a lump of coal into the parliament, declaring that we should not be afraid of it.
The same climate science that Angus Taylor is referring to informs us that if we want to avoid global warming above 2 deg and honour our commitment to the Paris Agreement, more than 80 per cent of the remaining fossil fuel must stay in the ground. So what I am supposed to think?
I would be much happier if you put your hand on your heart and said “I will address climate change!”
I understand that for political survival you want to promise your constituents that they will have a power supply that is not only affordable, but also will not be interrupted. But the bottom line is that we have to pay taxes. And most of us – except for some large corporations – accept that.
Why not a tax on renewables that provides for your government to remove the subsidy from fossil fuels and pave the way for the change to renewable energy that surely has to come?
Because of the treachery of you and your Liberal comrades last month you owe us an apology, and, at the very least, a promise that you will address this issue.
Will you now promise that you, like your Energy Minister, are not a sceptic about climate science, and demand that coal stays in the ground; or will you be known as the PM who turned his back on climate change and all the destruction and loss of life and property that will like in its wake?
