The Coalition government’s latest witch-hunt against wind energy has not produced a lot of fertile fodder for the anti-renewables brigade. In fact, after a month it has elicited a single contribution – from a pro-nuclear dooms-dayer who says nuclear energy will be helpful to keep us warm in the impending ice age.
No, seriously. Nuclear supporters and climate deniers often – but not always – go hand in hand. But Alan Scott, the only one of 20 million Australians so far motivated enough to contribute to the 9th Senate inquiry into wind farms – the Select Committee on wind turbines – takes it to a new level.
Wind energy, Scott says, “can never deliver reliable power and can’t even deliver significant unreliable power without massive installations across every landscape, a situation which will never happen,” he says, forgetting that wind energy accounts for nearly 40 per cent of South Australia’s annual demand.
Why would it never happen? Because, Scott says, “before this point could be reached the few who are blighted with the presence of these monstrosities today will become the many, and they will rise up and bring down the towers.” He must be talking about Federal Treasurer Joe Hockey and his comment about “offensive” wind farms.
Scott says we should be burning more coal and gas, and generating more electricity from hydro. “I omit nuclear power from the above list only because I could be accused of having a very minor vested interest, but mark my words, it will become part of the mix as we inevitably slip into the next glacial period.”
Where is this “glacial period” going to come from?
From a UN plot, of course.
“There needs to be a recognition that there never was any science behind the demonisation of carbon dioxide. It has been a scam from day one, dreamed up as a means of gaining unfettered revenues for the United Nations,” Scott writes, echoing a whole bunch of stuff he could have read in extreme right wing blogs or in The Australian newspaper, from Tony Abbott’s main business advisor, Maurice Newman.
“The time has come for Australian politicians from all warring camps to speak the truth to their electors, rather than mouthing the party lines handed down to them by their United Nations masters,” Scott continues. “The assumption that the great unwashed are stupid and can’t be told the truth is a false assumption.
“We Australians intuitively know that our politicians of all ilk are selling us down the river as slaves to the New World Order. The first true leader who steps forward and admits that the public has been hoodwinked will sweep all opposition before him (or perhaps her).”
Thankfully, Scott does recognise wind energy does have its uses, even if he has got it completely wrong about life cycle emissions.
“In whole of life terms these wind farms are a net negative from a power generation an emissions perspective. Perhaps there only positive is that in whole of life terms they generate more CO2 than coal fired power and thus may help in a minuscule way to feed to feed tomorrow’s population in a cooling world.”
But, before we label Scott as an isolated extremist, it’s worth considering what the Senate committee itself would make of it. The committee was established by cross-benchers, with the emphatic and unanimous support of Tony Abbott’s Coalition government.
Indeed, committee chairman John Madigan – like many of the other committee members – might have written Scott’s submission himself. Madigan has argued that “CO2 is not a pollutant” and that “wind farms will not deliver the power required to drive us forward either in the short or long term”.
Deputy chair Bob Day says rising CO2 levels is driving increased grain crops, and accuses wind farm operators of being “rent seekers”. In this speech he said of Direct Action: “$2.5bn of taxpayers money spent on reducing carbon dioxide to stop so-called global warming while Arctic and Antarctic sea ice is growing. Growing, not shrinking. It’s bizarre.”
A third member is Senator David Leyonhjelm, who is advised by Max Rheese, who has described climate change as a hoax, says wind power won’t save the plant, and ‘Australia’s great competitive advantage is low-cost power from low-cost coal.”
Another Committee member, Coalition Senator Chris Back, says wind turbines have adverse health impacts from as far as 10kms away. “Ewes and cows become very agitated and will leave their offspring in fits of panic if they are in the vicinity of operating turbines,” he said in a speech in 2012.
Another member Coalition Senator Mike Cannavan, wrote in The Australian that Australia already has too much renewable energy, and “Australia’s renewable energy policies could simply be titled “Robin Hood visits Bizarro World” — they steal from the poor and give to the rich.” In another article for the Coalition’s newsletter he wrote: “Windmills have been around for centuries ….. and they are still not economically viable.”
Ah, the Abbott government at work!
