I have just read an article in On Line Opinion about the Armenian genocide, where 1.5 million Armenian Christians died in the years after 1915 when they were forcibly expelled from Turkey. Few were killed by bullets, most starving to death or dying of thirst. Now I have read this article about how the World Bank is deliberately withholding funds from developing countries for the building of coal-fired power stations, yet the bank offers no viable alternative ways for these countries to provide low cost, reliable electricity to their citizens. I wonder if, in years to come, the bank will be accused of genocide in their dealings with developing countries who were not able to raise the standard of living of the billions living in poverty because the World Bank denied them access to cheap, reliable electricity.

I think that this is precisely how it should be! I think if my hometown in Brisbane suddenly wanted to embark on some fossil-fuel driven activity that a LOT of people would stand up against it! We should all be doing our part to do something about alternate fuels and the like and keep intentions to further develop fossil-fuel activity back into storage where it belongs!

Paul, a serious question (and I'm not trying to have a go at you) but is your life at present carbon neutral? I'm concerned that the people in Brisbane you say will rise up against a fossil-fuel power station proposal are likely to be content, comfortable and wealthy (compared to the world's 2 billion living in poverty) and hence can afford to say "I'm alright Jack and bad luck to anyone else wanting to raise their standard of living to my level".

Renewable energy with storage (excluding hydro) costs as much or more in fossil-fuelled energy invested than it produces, all things considered, so CO2 production is unmitigated. Why be so green and cosey in Brisbane about a silly choice, Paul?

The undeveloped world needs cheap energy, and that's fossil-based until they can industrialize and carry on to conversion to nuclear.