Extinction Rebellion crowd full of hot air and coffee

Extinction Rebellion protesters in Adelaide. Picture: Mike Burton

Bushfires have been around forever so it is ridiculous to claim they are a consequence of global warming.

They are far more likely to be due to an 11-year-old boy playing with matches than global warming. The Extinction Rebellion lot do themselves no good by continuing to make these claims.

Those valiant souls who risk life and limb by facing infernos know the truth. Nonetheless, speaking from behind the froth of the coffees served in the comfort of cafes in the nicer suburbs, the Extinction Rebellion people can tell you all about the march of global warming.

Extinction Rebellion protestors dumping coal in the middle of Sydney's CBD whilst simultaneously staging a die-in. Picture: Twitter

Unfortunately, logic has little or no role to play in our debate on climate and energy.

Josh Frydenberg has tried desperately to get an energy policy ­accepted by the states and, through no fault of his own, just can’t get anywhere. There are too many vested interests in this field. There are the coalminers, the power stations owners, the states and the poor punters.

Just how did Australia fall from a position where power was so cheap and so plentiful to a place where we rely on the power of prayer and hope for benign ­weather conditions?

Still, I guess anything is possible in a land where we sit on 400-year supplies of high-quality coal that will guarantee supply at a reasonable price and a vocal crowd is dumb enough to say we should leave it in the ground.

The worst part of this selfishness is the attempt by some to prevent India from importing our coal to fuel its endeavours to increase living standards. It was only in ­recent decades that some people there still starved to death.