Australia is behind the rest of the world when it comes to developing sustainable energy. Yet we lead, especially in Asia, in education and research.
Why is this? How can we make progress in these areas?
Monday night was an interesting mix of the Future Makers documentary ~ Australians leading the way in sustainable energy, and being part of the live studio audience of Q&A ~ with Penny Wong, Malcolm Turnbull and Graham “Richo” Richardson, Christine Milne of the Greens and Tom Switzer of the Spectator.
It was enlightening and visionary (and no, I’m not talking about the politicians) to see the great work being done in the areas of sustainable energy.
Australia has, by virtue of her landscape, some of the world’s largest renewable energy sources. With biomimicry “innovation inspired by nature” and solar photovoltanics among the examples
What was even more interesting was the conversation after the film. Australia is way behind the rest of world in developing sustainable energy. This is due to our reliance on the coal industry, the money and power of this industry and therefore, perhaps a reluctance and even lack of momentum, to engage in focused development of the renewable energy industry.
People taking part in the debate were very passionate about the lack of progress. Until Australia decides to take the step up, and stop looking backwards to industries that made us money in the past, we won’t be able to progress.
Other interesting reasons for Australia’s lack of progress included instability in government and policy. Why would a company or industry invest here if, in 3 years time with the next government, the policy changes and all of the hard work is lost? Also, start-up businesses are not receiving the support or breaks they need to get started and support them.
How can this change and what can we do?
Following this talk it was time for Q & A. Such a possible juxtaposition of conversation. But at the same time it helped to realise the predicament of politicians. So many people to please, industry to keep in mind and compromises to make. Inspiring leaders who come to make a difference to the world are stifled by the bureaucracy of politics and government. I do not envy them, I understand why this election is so muffled in its declarations of policy but I do wish they would declare some more, clearer, stronger action when it comes to climate change.
The coal industry needs to be accountable for what it is doing and we can’t continue to rely on them for our economy.
At the same time the general public are hard to manage. They seem to wish for action on climate change but, when pushed to make a change or even pay a little more for their lifestyles they cry out in anger. [Crikey: public debate and hypocrisy on climate change
I have no answers on this yet but I do realise certain people are doing all they can, in the right places, to push this along. Perhaps we need a little patience, and to offer support to those who are taking the steps. In the meantime all we can do is keep learning, connecting, questioning and asking for positive progress in finding solutions to climate change and our reliance on fossil fuels
And, instead of blaming our politicians for the lack of progress perhaps we can look at the reasons why Australia is so behind, and work on resolving that first!
Old style election campaign vs the new hyper-connected world! | Fulfil This! // Aug 26, 2010 at 11:14 am
[...] is sometimes stifled by the instability and constantly changing nature of our political system. One example is the state of our renewable energy industry which, due to the large differences in policy and instability for investment which means we are [...]