Tomatoes and Coal - 4 March 2010
It's all very well to have a vege garden to cut down food miles, but in my case there are some pitfalls. I'm having a "failure to launch" problem with my tomatoes. They've grown bigger and bigger but they're just as green as they were weeks ago. I was thought I'd be cooking up gallons of pasta sauce by now. My other problem is my two Labradors. They have worked out that the tomatoes are potentially food and have taken to sniffing around in the vege patch. That strong, distinctive tomato plant smell is their new perfume. Last night the usually-loving pair got into a little spat in the garden, arguing over a green tomato.
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While I worry about my tomatoes, the State Government continues to take great strides in the direction of increased greenhouse emissions. The latest is the planned expansion of the Mt Piper power station near Portland. The Keneally government is planning to privatise Delta Electricity, leaving crucial decisions to the new operators. While the government is leaving open the question of how the plant will be fired, there can be little doubt that coal, still cheaper than the alternatives, will be fuel of choice.
At the same time, the government is massively upgrading coal export infrastructure in Newcastle. It is decisions like these that help to keep Australia at the top of the league table of per-capita greenhouse emissions.
Members of Bathurst Community Climate Action Network have argued against these steps in two recent letters to the State Government. In response, the State Government replied that selling coal overseas would have “no long term effect on the global demand for coal” because international buyers would simply go elsewhere if they could not get it from us. However, this ignores the the fact that limiting our coal exports would help to increase the price of coal on the global market, ultimately making renewable energy more attractive. At the same time, BCCAN pointed out, it's morally bankrupt to simply say “if we don’t do it, someone else will”. You'd never make that argument about selling heroin.
Drop in the ocean? Fortunately, BCCAN is not the only voice raising these concerns. Other groups, such as the Lithgow Environment Group and local groups all over the state, are refusing to lie down and accept the morality of big money over doing what is right.