It gets worse. Queensland approved water withdrawals on the upstream Warrego River even as the Feds bought downstream Toorale Station. They approved land clearing after it was supposed to stop. They fib about the CO2 savings from Kogan Creek and Milmerran power stations. Ms Bligh is apparently keen on carbon offsets which many believe are tantamount to fraud. To keep up the deception they could carefully touch up the bleached corals with acrylic paint and put them back in the water before the tourists notice.

It's a big step from solar powering Cloncurry to powering Brisbane and Gladstone aluminium smelter. In fact I believe it can't be done. Brisbane must 'power down'. Tell the aluminium giants to move to China and p.s. they can't have any more coal.

This article is filled with nice sentiments and reporting about Anna Bligh being a business-as-usual, who-cares-about-the-environment politician, but it never gets close to explaining how "Queensland could be producing all its electricity needs from renewable sources within 15 years."

The idea that "Government should seek and encourage their (Solar power plants) construction, provided they can produce pollution-free electricity at costs comparable to using coal plus the cost of emission licences," is a lovely idea, but probably nowhere near reality. Maybe if the cost of carbon emissions was $400/tonne, tripling or quadrupling the cost of coal fired power, there might be a chance.

The implication in the phrase "Where is the political will?" is that the electorate really wants something, but the politicians are stalling or opposed to it in favour of small powerful special interest groups, like the big power producers. I doubt that there is a majority in Queensland for tripling or quadrupling the cost of electrical power.

Setting a more realistic goal like Queensland producing 5% less CO2 in 2012 than they produced in 2007, would be a far more reasonable target, a target that Anna Bligh would have to take responsibility for and a target that wouldn't require tripling power costs.

Bligh is unashamedly just taking more and more taxes, growing dumb government and preaching about restraint to the taxpayers. She is the equivalent of Joan Kirner in Victoria, foisted on the voters by a corrupt administration and will be dealt with the same way by being voted out.
More people are realising the folly of trusting people in white coats and clipboards who increase their wealth when they scare politicians. Read up about the ice age which occurred 15,000 years ago and then talk about the barrier reef dying! It is ludicrous, from a massive Northern ice cap and no Bass Strait because it took up so much water and that was only 15,000 years ago. Withis an estimated 50 years we had the seas rise to current levels and temperatures increase. Get serious and stop funding these idiots and see them look to something else. Increase electricity tariffs and who gets the money? BG - Thats British Gas have we learned nothing?

Your point is nicely made, Mike. The Queensland government is addicted to the wealth coal makes for it.

Just as we, the users of electricity are addicted to it. Although industry and the public sector are the giants of carbon emissions, the only way to change the current awful denial and prevarication is societal pressure. We did it with smoking!

Reversing climate change has to happen right now. It has to be big and it has to work. Our serial centrist governments are as weak as water when it comes to making the hard decisions to change. By the time we have a societal and attitudinal change it will be too late.

We still have the consumer mentality, pathetically using because we think it's endless.

It's a big step from solar powering Cloncurry to powering Brisbane and Gladstone aluminium smelter. In fact I believe it can't be done. Brisbane must 'power down'. Tell the aluminium giants to move to China and p.s. they can't have any more coal.
Posted by Taswegian, Wednesday, 29 October 2008 8:52:17 AM

I must confess I have not read the article but this clause has me dumbfounded how anyone can possibly think this way.

We already have increasing poverty numbers in our country, increasing homelessness, increasing unemployment and increasing hardship and this is while the resources boom is still holding out.

God help us if we stop supplying China.

I hope you are ready for what you have wished for mate!

The chickens are coming home to roost. The labor gov has pledged:

1 To meet climate change requirements
2 To continue to grow the economy
3 To block any nuclear power

Without any viable renewable base load (Hot rocks has yet to be shown to be viable) these three goals are contradictory.

The labor gov has then chosen the most expedient option. Pursue economic growth, block nuclear and pay lip service to climate change.

Why am I not surprised.

The present path will see emissions growth of 20% by 2010, and less politically paletable choices being made by a party that is prepared to walk the talk.