Forget the farmers, it’s all about making a buck

The only way anyone would think Australia’s so-called transition to net zero emissions was a good idea is if they were a truly committed ideologue of the Greta Thunberg school, or they thought there was a buck in it, writes James Morrow.

Angus Oberg and daughter, Emma Webb. Picture: Martin Ollman

Australia’s so-called transition to net zero emissions is backed by some of the cleverest minds in this country: energy company chiefs, top bureaucrats, and the like.

Yet anyone who ever spent more than a week in a high school science classroom studying the basics of physics knows the whole caper is impossible.

Think about it: A modern, sophisticated economy like Australia’s is supposed to be supported, eventually, by nothing but clean, green solar and wind power.

No nuclear, and not even gas (which was supposed to be a transition fuel until it was declared the devil incarnate by inner city councils).

Just sunshine and the breeze and some very expensive batteries and hydro (hello, Snowy 2.0!) and who knows what else.

The only way anyone would think this was a good idea is if they were a truly committed ideologue of the Greta Thunberg school, or they thought there was a buck in it.

Which brings us to the David v Goliath battle taking place outside Yass over a proposed wind farm with towers that are promised to be, height wise, on the order of the Crown Tower at Barangaroo but with none of the restaurants, casinos, or Taylor Swift presidential suites.

It’s a battle that is being replicated across the country.

Last year I spoke to residents of Gundary, south of Goulburn, who were fighting an amenity destroying solar farm taking over prime pastoral land.

In every case, the story is the same.

Big companies looking to gobble up renewables subsidies and guaranteed profits are running roughshod over communities.

Will Grogan and Lisa Grogan on their property in Binalong which was Banjo Patterson’s childhood home and will be 1.8km from a proposed turbine . Picture: Martin Ollman

It is a tale of greed that is encouraged in a country where, with productivity flatlining or going backwards, the only way to generate new economic activity is to rip up the old straightforward electrical grid and replace it with a new one dar more complex one costing several hundred billion dollars.

It is also a huge opportunity for the opposition as it looks to find its feet again.

Not only is the tearing apart of rural communities so city dwellers can feel good and make a buck the antithesis of the fair go but by the time the next election rolls around people will be as jack of high energy prices as they are in Europe and the US where anti-net zero policies are all the go.

Originally published as Forget the farmers, it’s all about making a buck