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There are many people in the current government that believe in climate change. The real problem is that the government has surmised (correctly, it would seem)

by Gatsky 7y ago

There are many people in the current government that believe in climate change. The real problem is that the government has surmised (correctly, it would seem) that climate change isn’t an issue that will win an election. That and the fact that pricing carbon was the opposition party’s policy...

voqv 7y ago
They're pressured to improve KPIs of economy and life quality (including employment rates) and that's the complete opposite of what fixing the climate requires.
- asdf21 7y ago
  Are you saying that fixing climate change requires poor life quality for people in Western countries? Is poor life quality in the West going to stop worldwide deforestation somehow?
  - voqv 7y ago
    No, why? Not poor, but maybe involving using cars/tech items for longer times or spend more on locally grown food leaving less for vacation flights etc.
    - asdf21 7y ago
      >No, why? What does "opposite" mean in your comment then, exactly?
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
asdf21 7y ago
There are very few government policies in the Western world that would have any noticeable impact on climate change. I believe that Climate Change is mostly caused by deforestation, but how would any government stop 7B people from cutting down trees?
roenxi 7y ago
> That and the fact that pricing carbon was the opposition party’s policy... It is somewhat complicated by the fact the the Labor party was tarred by introducing a climate tax after promising not to. They had a minority government due to some political shenanigans and had to form a loose coalition with the Greens for an electoral cycle. The Greens managed to negotiate in a carbon tax that was not well received. Labor is associated with the policy but their support for it was always tepid.
- Gibbon1 7y ago
  Granted from a political and economic standpoint imposing consumer carbon taxes is stupid and inane.
jandrese 7y ago
Australia would be a net power exporting nation if they harnessed their solar and especially wind resources. The fact that they still burn coal is ridiculous and shameful.
- throwawaybbb 7y ago
  To where and how? Electricity is not something you can export when your main grid is 5000km from your nearest neighbour
  - jandrese 7y ago
    Typically power is exported by smelting aluminum from bauxite. A big advantage of doing it this way is you can run the smelters only when there is an overproduction of power to help even out demand on the grid.
    - imglorp 7y ago
      I wonder if a concentrated solar power tower heating a crucible of ore would be more efficient than inefficiencies from PV, transmission, conversion, storage etc.
      - samatman 7y ago
        Not for aluminium smelting, which is done with electricity rather than heat. This is why aluiminium has only recently become a cheap resource, or indeed a resource at all, despite being incredibly common and having a low melting point.
      - Gibbon1 7y ago
        I think we're getting close to the point where mirrors cost more than solar panels.
    - lostlogin 7y ago
      New Zealand has the problem where the smelter has such huge power usage that they get to wag the dog. That is a situation that is probably hard to avoid. https://i.stuff.co.nz/business/opinion-analysis/116851413/rio-tintos-tiwai-point-aluminium-smelter--should-it-stay-or-should-it-go https://i.stuff.co.nz/business/opinion-analysis/116851413/ri...

by Gatsky 7y ago

voqv 7y ago

They're pressured to improve KPIs of economy and life quality (including employment rates) and that's the complete opposite of what fixing the climate requires.

asdf21 7y ago
Are you saying that fixing climate change requires poor life quality for people in Western countries? Is poor life quality in the West going to stop worldwide deforestation somehow?
- voqv 7y ago
  No, why? Not poor, but maybe involving using cars/tech items for longer times or spend more on locally grown food leaving less for vacation flights etc.
  - asdf21 7y ago
    >No, why? What does "opposite" mean in your comment then, exactly?
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]

asdf21 7y ago

There are very few government policies in the Western world that would have any noticeable impact on climate change. I believe that Climate Change is mostly caused by deforestation, but how would any government stop 7B people from cutting down trees?

roenxi 7y ago

> That and the fact that pricing carbon was the opposition party’s policy... It is somewhat complicated by the fact the the Labor party was tarred by introducing a climate tax after promising not to. They had a minority government due to some political shenanigans and had to form a loose coalition with the Greens for an electoral cycle. The Greens managed to negotiate in a carbon tax that was not well received. Labor is associated with the policy but their support for it was always tepid.

Gibbon1 7y ago
Granted from a political and economic standpoint imposing consumer carbon taxes is stupid and inane.

jandrese 7y ago

Australia would be a net power exporting nation if they harnessed their solar and especially wind resources. The fact that they still burn coal is ridiculous and shameful.

throwawaybbb 7y ago
To where and how? Electricity is not something you can export when your main grid is 5000km from your nearest neighbour
- jandrese 7y ago
  Typically power is exported by smelting aluminum from bauxite. A big advantage of doing it this way is you can run the smelters only when there is an overproduction of power to help even out demand on the grid.
  - imglorp 7y ago
    I wonder if a concentrated solar power tower heating a crucible of ore would be more efficient than inefficiencies from PV, transmission, conversion, storage etc.
    - samatman 7y ago
      Not for aluminium smelting, which is done with electricity rather than heat. This is why aluiminium has only recently become a cheap resource, or indeed a resource at all, despite being incredibly common and having a low melting point.
    - Gibbon1 7y ago
      I think we're getting close to the point where mirrors cost more than solar panels.
  - lostlogin 7y ago
    New Zealand has the problem where the smelter has such huge power usage that they get to wag the dog. That is a situation that is probably hard to avoid. https://i.stuff.co.nz/business/opinion-analysis/116851413/rio-tintos-tiwai-point-aluminium-smelter--should-it-stay-or-should-it-go https://i.stuff.co.nz/business/opinion-analysis/116851413/ri...