One of the most powerful things people in the first world can do to influence the present and the future is to use their literacy, spare time and access to the internet. Every day I try to do a little bit of 'rabble rousing' on the internet and encourage others to do so too. But rather than preaching to the choir every day it's also important to get your message through to the people who actually make the decisions, or at least sit next to them in meetings.
As great as Facebook and the like are for discussing the issues that concern us and solving the problems of the world, it's also important to be able to craft a punchy email now and again and send it to someone who might actually be in a position to do something about it.
Email assignment of the week:
Write to the Climate Change Authority and express your views on whether the renewable energy target (RET) should be weakened or strengthened and why.
Write to the Climate Change Authority and express your views on whether the renewable energy target (RET) should be weakened or strengthened and why.
Giddy up!
Protect the RET
The future of energy in the 21st century is not coal. Coal will be gone in about 20 years from now, along with oil and hopefully gas. This country is blessed with abundant sunlight, wind, open space and coastline. There is hardly a better country in the world to harness the power of renewable energy and profit from it.
We have a skilled workforce who could be diverted from logging, drilling, mining and various other destructive industries into manufacturing the renewable energy infrastructure we are going to need to decarbonise our economy. In the process create thousands of useful, productive and well paid jobs in engineering, design, construction, manufacturing components and so much more. We could be exporting our expertise all over the world instead of importing it from China or India in 20 years time.
Renewable energy will be the next global boom. It will drawf the personal computer, the internet and the mobile phone with the speed of its take up. Australia runs a real risk of being left behind if we continue to stall and delay and cave into the demands and influence of the fossil fuel lobby.
It's time they realised that like the makers of bustle skirts, horses and buggies, steam engines and typewriters.... if they don't get out of the coal business they will go broke. There is dwindling sympathy among the citizens of this country for their greed, exploitation and political influence.
Don't allow these people to undermine the work that is already underway. If we are indeed going to achieve 20% renewable energy by 2020 more easily than we thought this is time to ramp up our efforts, not rest on our oars.
Insist that renewable energy is given the first priority in Australia's economy. Not only this, but immediately divert all public subsidies currently enjoyed by fossil fuels towards building a renewable energy industry in this country that will be the engine of our prosperity in the 21st century and will be providing us with free energy when the last coal mine is abandoned and the fires go out in the last coal fired power station.
Think about it. Do the right thing.
