When did Turnbull act like a 'leader'. Must have been one of the split second events I missed. The fact that this bloke had to have a go at Tony Abbott, backbencher with no influence whatever, says a lot about this writer. He should stick to grandfathering, which is something he thinks is important or he wouldn't mention it. Anybody who thinks the Paris agreement and Finkel and his mad ideas will save the world from “climate chaos” should stick to reading fairy stories to little tackers.

Finkel, the Paris Agreement CET, RET and Malcolm Turnbull should all be flushed down the toilet.

“Is it possible to decouple prosperity from fossil fuels?” No, it is not! The clear descent of Australia into Third World status should be obvious to anyone except ideologues like this fellow.

Nature cannot – will not – be controlled by idiots in thrall to eco-religious madness.

Alan, Australia does have a nuclear industry. The ANSTO facility at Lucas Heights contains a serious research reactor and makes a wide range of medical isotopes which are used widely in Australia and our wider region.

I agree with you if you are saying that nuclear power has been overlooked for too long and is ripe for reconsideration.

But the truth is that trained, competent, skilled nuclear scientists and engineers are working in Australia right now. We also have ANSTO itself and ARPANSA, the national nuclear safety regulatory authority.

What is lacking is political will and a willingness to consider the only truly scaleable, safe, available, zero carbon electricity source that is achievable. For too long Australia and Australians have been led astray by loud voices (bullies?) and their exaggerated claims regarding nuclear safety and the merits of weather-dependent electricity generation such as wind and solar photovoltaics, both of which, while useful, are severely limited when they contribute more than half of the total generation mix in a region, as is the case in South Australia and which is now being addressed in somewhat of an expensive hurry.

Fact check: The longer the half life of nuclear material, the lower the radioactive emission? True!

So, uranium with a half life of around 5 billion years is not very or dangerously reactive in its natural, unenriched state? True!

Is thorium with a half life of 15 billion years, less radioactive in its natural state, than a banana? True!

Can you pick up more rads in a day of international flight, than a lifetime exposure to thorium? I don't know! But possibly true?

Is exposure to marginally higher, naturally occurring radioactivity harmfull or produce higher cancer clusters among affected cohorts? No the opposite seems to be the case, with some radioactivity exposure actually suppressing cancer? True!

The shorter the half life the higher the radioactive emission? True!

Thus the first product of thorium fission has a half life of around 22 minutes and as hot as hell? True!

Can we completely protect ourselves and operators from this level of short lived, massive burst of gamma radiation? Yes we can? True!

Can left over nuclear waste be very safely buried? Yes, if buried as locally invented, rockcrete, and very safely as an impervious product that reacts, neither with an acid or alkali? True!

As such, able to be safely buried almost anywhere, and has a lower radioactive emission than naturally occurring uranium? True!

Have coal fired power plants traditionally produced more air and waterborne radioactive waste than any operational nuclear power plant? Yes, reported and true!

Have coal fired power plants produced such toxic waste products such as mercury, lead, cadmium and arsenic? True!

Has mercury gotten into the food chain, in fish in particular, and are there examples of mercury contamination adversely impacting cognitive ability/average IQ's, particularly in children? True!

Can fertile material like thorium be compressed to create a nuclear explosion? No! And true!

Is the radioactive isotope bismuth 213, produced in a thorium reaction, a real miracle cure for some of the nastiest cancers like death sentence pancreatic or brain cancer, real? True!

Is the only thing to fear here, fear itself? True!
Alan B.

Dr McLeay, has written about health matters arising from fossil fuels, very much the hidden costs that have impacted on Asian countries more so than Australia.

The state of the Energy Industry displays the past poor policies of State governments privatising energy.
South Australia keeps getting knocked for heading towards renewable energy; power towers were knocked out by high winds, so no matter what the power source the knocked down towers created a black out. East Coast States have also had blackouts due to storms ... but ... there are no comments about those events, conveniently.

Private Companies are in it for the profits and provide dividends for share holders. The "clean coal" power stations cost billions of dollars to build, there is a time lag of years between when a coal power plant is planned and when it begins to operate. It takes some years before energy plants start bringing in profits.

The Energy Market is quite confused as there has been no direction provided by government. It is very unlikely that a private energy company will build a new coal fired power station.

Storms are a natural occurrence in tropical waters; two potential new storms were recently identified in the Atlantic. One of the storms has been named Maria as intensity had increased.
Maria, has jumped to Category 5 in record time, Costa Rica and other Caribbean Islands appear to be the target. Luckily Jose has turned North and does not appear as though it will make landfall though storm surges are expected to impact some coastal areas.

Continued

Continued

Climate change did not create Harvey, Irma, Jose, Katia, and now Maria; but, scientists are saying that climate change has added to their strength.
Harvey was destructive through the sheer amount of precipitation it dropped. A warm marine environment and atmosphere allows for more water vapour to be carried. In one spot 51.8 inches of rain fell. Irma was a monstrously large storm in area and a Category 5 storm.
Early assessments suggest that Harvey and Irma have created record damage in the US.

The point being that these storms have been made stronger through climate change; climate change being a product of extra greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

Renewables might not solve all problems; but, the costs accruing from hurricanes/typhoons, wild fires and flooding in South Asia in the last month or so make fossil fuels horrendously expensive.

we know every year for the last 60 the planet has only 10 years left unless urgent action (giving to charlotans and pseudo science) is taken. Maybe even Malcolm with his regressive ideologies might be waking up to the hoax. Can't dumb down the whole population like they have with the getup clowns.