Climate in the Pub: SPEAKERS

with Frank Roberson and Andy Dunne (Ausgrid)

NSW is at the forefront of transitioning from coal to renewables, but Greater Sydney needs to catch up to achieve its 2030 or 2050 emissions goals. Meeting these targets relies heavily on decarbonising the power supply and electrifying transport; if one lags, the other must progress faster. Success hinges on public acceptance, electricity reform and strategic investments in the grid. 

The guest speaker was Chris Briggs, a Research Director at the UTS Institute for Sustainable Futures. Chris has over 20 years experience as a political adviser, policy maker, program leader and researcher at both State and Federal levels. He spoke about the planning process for transitioning away from coal. There are, he said, two key challenges: managing an orderly exit from coal, and the rapid set-up of renewable energy sources.

Progress has been better than you might think: 35% of our energy usage is already coming from renewables. But we now only have 5 to 10 years to achieve what was expected to take 15-20. In fact, he said, it’s quite overwhelming to consider how far behind we are. To get from here to a successful transition will require: 10,000 kilometres of transition lines; maintaining our current record pace of 1 new wind farm per month; and 60 million solar panels, all by 2030. At the same time, we can expect to double our electricity consumption by 2030. This will be the result of phasing out both gas and petrol.

However, we have cause for optimism. One scenario is that we could become a hydrogen super-power, in which case we could be using 100% renewables by 2024 – 2025. Our natural resources are good, and in fact we are the only country that can produce every element needed for the battery supply chain. There is already a strong willingness among energy suppliers to progressively shut down their coal generators, but without a coherent plan some of them are hanging back.

Of course, the other problem is that even now only 25% of the coal we mine is used in Australia. The other 75% is sold overseas, and we have no control over how that is used.

Chris described a “just transition” to renewables, in which our coal communities would be looked after and provided with alternative jobs, maybe even with equity in our new industries. Environmental quality should be maintained, and all social dialogue around transition should be inclusive. Although surveys have shown that current coal workers are sceptical about having access to new jobs, there should in fact be more jobs in renewable energy than there are in coal. First Nations people should also have opportunities, both as labour and in running their own renewable projects on their own land.

The Nature Conservation Council has identified the  top 10 goals for the 2023 election: targets for reducing emissions, adopting renewable energy and storage,  moving beyond coal and gas,  and more. Just what must we do, for instance, to electrify our transport, transition rural communities, protect our natural carbon sinks? 

 Climate Change Balmain-Rozelle has helped develop these policy asks. We will be working  in concert with community action groups across the state to push our major parties on ambition in dealing with the climate crisis.

Dr. Brad Smith from NCC presented this policy platform in preparation for the NSW State election coming up next March.

Kate Minter surveyed the opportunities and benefits for all of us: installing a heat pump for hot water and for room heating (as well as cooling): replacing a gas stovetop with an electric induction stovetop; and switching to an electric car, all make for more efficient use of electricity, maximising the benefits of rooftop solar or other sources of clean electricity. Also, the local economy benefits from jobs (eg installation).

Will Reece has recently converted his house to all-electric as part of a renovation. He explained the planning and work involved in installing a heat pump for hot water, reverse cycle air conditioning and an induction cooktop, as well as rooftop solar panels.  He also mentioned a couple of small things he might have done differently, and a couple of unexpected benefits.

What is it to be 'un Australian', what are our 'Australian values', and what are 'vested interests'? 

Thanks to Sue Butler for wittily shedding light on these and other elements of political spin- as politics in Australia goes from truth to truthiness. in an insightful talk at this months CitP.  Sue spoke very sharply on the language of political spin - and its evolution in political Australia. 

Ideas, slogans, utterances, have two sides: denotation - the literal meaning; and connotation - the values attached to the utterance. Half a century ago, Gough Whitlam said "It's time". A sentence that had a literal meaning, but also created a feeling. 

Since then, right around the world, political slogans have become more and more focussed on image and feeling, and less on the actual denoted facts (if any).  Our politicians are retailed to the market as celebrities rather than as possible leaders. 

Enter Scotty from Marketing, and the idea that truthiness, the appeal to the public of what you say, is more important than truth. Sue Butler tracked expressions like "Aussie Battler" from its literal WW1 meaning though to John Howard's usage to include anyone who wanted to better themselves, and Scott Morrison's "if you have a go, you'll get a go". She noted that Scomo himself was unable to explain what that actually meant. Similarly phrases like "How good is that?" referring to anything or anyone from "Aunty Violet and her Welcome to Country" to "Mining", seem to have no literal meaning, but cumulatively build an "image" of the politician (in this case Scomo) who repeats them regularly.
As a dictionary editor, Sue suggested it was generally difficult to control changes in language or meaning, though The Guardian had revised its style guide to use words like Climate Emergency instead of Climate Change to communicate a greater sense of urgency about the topic.