[LINK] the weather makers

[Craig Sanders]

On Sat, Apr 07, 2007 at 02:33:35PM +0200, Kim Holburn wrote:
> Australia has different types of coal.  Exporting it is one of our  
> biggest industries.  A quick search of the tubes reveals: The CIA  
> fact book strangely doesn't have a breakdown for coal but it says:  
> Austalia Total Exports $117 billion per year.  The Australian Coal  
> Industry says it exports 24.5 Billion a year.  I'm not an economist  
> though.

i'm not an economist either. that's obvious because i just can't see
why it matters how much coal exports bring in each year. compared to
the cost of climate-change caused disasters (floods, fires, cyclones,
drought, etc), it's nothing. and that's ignoring the human cost in lost
and disrupted lives.

also, australia's really only habitable in a narrow strip around the
coasts - and much of that will vanish if sea-levels rise as predicted.

who cares how much it makes if nobody's alive to benefit? selling coal
seems to me about as smart as selling your heart and lungs in order to
get rich quick.

are the government stupid, short-sighted or just beholden to greedy
masters in the coal industry?  or all three?




ok, as little johnny is so fond of telling us, there's ~30,000 people
employed in the coal industry. of course they can't just be sacked
overnight (well, not for reasons other than improving the corporate
bottom-line....that would make it perfectly OK to sack any number of
workers). but the industry could be set reduction targets, say 5%/year
over the next 20 years. reductions in both production AND employment.
preferential treatment and concessions given for those coal companies
investing in solar, wind, or other renewable energy sources.

retraining and re-employment placement services should be offered, of
course.

as with everything, fixing coal-related pollution is not a matter of
"can we do it?", but "will we do it?". when the political will is
dictated by those with a vested interest in the status quo, then the
answer is "no, of course we wont".

craig

-- 
craig sanders <cas at taz.net.au>

Where there's a whip there's a way.