I have been contemplating various views and debates that are circulating around Australia at the moment, mainly those about Emissions Trading and the disappointing targets set by Prof Garnaut. There is considerable pressure from some sectors of our economy to resist the structural change that is being put forward, and from the many who believe that there should be more change. And it seems to me that this debate has clouded the "big picture".
Our strategic direction as a prosperous nation is to lead, and set an example of how a nation, and one with abundant fossil fuel reserves, can choose the path of new energy sources, of energy efficiency, of rebuild, retrofit and rethink. In 10 years, it would make me very proud to say that Australia turned away from its coal and oil addiction and built a new economy. And emissions trading is only one aspect of that. The main issue is renewable power generation and innovation in that direction. We as a nation need to re-focus on that challenge, and demonstrate the new economy. Recently, Al Gore set the challenge of "producing 100 percent of our electricity from renewable energy and truly clean carbon-free sources within 10 years". This is the big picture - let's use our personal energy reserves to achieve that one!
Pleasing Hill by Tricky ex Flickr
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