There's hyperbole for you. "Coal is a killer of human beings". Lack of coal power is what is doing the killing: the killing of the economy and jobs, without which, human beings are superfluous.

You have to wonder why Graham keeps putting articles like this in, by people like this in here.

Is it to remind us that there are still people who actually believe this garbage, despite no proof ever being found, & no prophesy ever being anything but wildly wrong?

It is a pity that Mike Pope wasn't trained as an Electrical engineer instead of a poorly trained economist. He might then know that it is inevitable that in order to maintain grid stability we are going to need new Coal fired power stations into the forseeable future as we shut down the old ones. South Australia and now Victoria are relying on some less efficient and costlier diesel generators to help make up the shortfall on hot summer days and even then major power users are being called upon to shut down in order to avoid other load shedding measures.

Don't blame the National party, look at Labor and the Greens' anti nuclear policy for our disastrous energy situation.

Mike. No doubt the resident cage rattlers will say, everything you say is nonsense, without once ever examining the compelling evidence that backs everything you write.

Those that want an expansion of coal use and production either have manure for brains or a vested interest in coal production and to hell with any and all negative consequences, including events like four armers a week suiciding.

The simple fact is, it just doesn't have to be this way and this weeks Ambit Gambit tells us how we might do this so much better. And without actually excluding coal. Which we still need to make steel, which we could led the world in production of if only we had a modicum of intelligence at the helm.

Our coal could be converted to many products we still need here and have to import at considerable cost to our trade balance!

It's a relatively simple energy dependant, coal to fuel industrial process, we could set up to run for the next 100 years. As we do, become completely independent in all locally used fuel supplies!

Then phase them gradually out as we electrify the economy where possible.

Affordable energy with a $00.1.98 PKH as the median puts affordable irrigation well and truly back on the table and with that as the cost of base load power, deionisation dialysis desalination looms large as being available as very large volume water surety for some currently and routinely drought ravaged landscapes as well as a cost effective means to top up this or that reduced storage.

There's no bad news moving away from our reliance on coal and or the debt laden price gouging, tax avoiding, profit repatriating, foreign investors who control most of it, one way or another.

This grip on our short and curlies must be levered off and these parasites sent packing if we would once again become the third wealthiest nation on earth and a creditor one at that!

Time we stopped selling the farm and the heirloom silver!
Alan B.

VK3AUU,

Speaking of my humble, communist-ruled state, the Tesla man has offered Commissar Wetherill 50,000 home batteries to disperse among SA sufferers. Just imagine the undignified scramble for those. Or, perhaps the Politburo will hand them out to Labor held seats.

ttbn Batteries do not produce power and Tesla batteries are about five times the best price that I can buy AGM batteries.

Alan B. Coal turned into anything else you like will still turn up as CO2 at the end of the day. However, as you say, it doesn't have to be this way if the governents of all pursuasions stopped listening to the anti-nukes.

David