Andrew Bolt: Global warming zealots are ignoring facts

Politicians prattle on about their bright plans to go green, while people paid to keep on the lights are left to wonder how the hell it will work.

When the people who make our electricity say the Albanese government’s plan to end coal-fired electricity and go green can’t work, it’s time to get real.

Yet zealots like Energy Minister Chris Bowen and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese are so drunk with their global warming religion that they’ve ignored the engineering.

We saw that most shockingly when Bowen forced out the head of Snowy Hydro, Paul Broad, who’d warned him the new Kurri Kurri generator due next year couldn’t be fired with green hydrogen, touted by Bowen as the new miracle green fuel.

But here are other experts now warning of disaster.

Patricia McKenzie is chairman of AGL, our biggest electricity generator, and this month said shutting down all coal-fired generators by 2031, in line with calls to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees, would be impossible.

We couldn’t build the wind and solar farms fast enough, nor the transmission wires and something to store their electricity for when there was no wind or sun.

“This would put an unacceptable pressure on energy security and affordability.”

Yet zealots like Energy Minister Chris Bowen are so drunk with their global warming religion that they’ve ignored the engineering. Picture: Gary Ramage

Kerry Schott was chairman of the Energy Security Board and is now on the AGL board precisely to shut down its coal-fired generators.

When she was told of McKenzie’s warning that it wasn’t possible to replace them fast enough with green energy, Schott admitted: “It may not be possible. But I think we’ve got to try.”

Pardon? Is that how we now run our electricity system?
Destroy what works and just hope something else turns up?

Other bosses in the electricity business aren’t so reckless, and are speaking out.

Jeff Dimery, chief executive of Alinta Energy, last month warned: “I personally don’t believe we can achieve the transition (away from coal) based on what we’re seeing to date that is going to be delivered.
I think we’re headed for failure.”

This week, Frank Calabria, chief executive of Origin, warned that plans to shut down coal-fired generators like his own might have to be delayed.

He said Labor’s plan to have renewables supply 82 per cent of our electricity relied on big projects that were facing delays, and “delivering the energy transition, given the scale of investment required, will undoubtedly create upwards pressure on energy bills”.

Yet politicians prattle on about their bright plans to go green, while people paid to keep on the lights wonder how the hell that will work.

Do you trust the climate dreamers or the engineers?

Originally published as Andrew Bolt: Global warming zealots are ignoring facts