Tony Bell, Castlemaine
I write in response to Trevor Scott (‘This is it’, Opinions, January 29). You are quick to blame someone else who doesn’t follow your philosophy on climate change. When you practically wipe out coal-fired power stations in SA to rely on renewables, of course you are going to run out of power.
In Victoria, Labor tripled royalties on coal to energy suppliers, thus forcing coal-fired energy companies to reconsider whether this is the state to do business (think Hazelwood).
Wouldn’t you think the common sense way to go would be to continue with coal-fired power stations while improving them and continue improving renewables until we might get to a point where renewables are reliable? Of course not, it doesn’t suit the Greens’ agenda; they are always looking for something to gain attention on.
Coal is there, as is uranium, to be mined for power; use it until we can find sustainable power in renewables in a fast-growing country. It also needs to be said that this Victorian Labor Government paid big energy users (with our taxes) to shut down to avoid Victoria having blackouts. This still failed. Small businesses and households were still affected (businesses financially).
So instead of blaming the federal government for our energy issues, look closer to home and apply some common sense.
