Our transition to renewables is going to be a painful journey

As difficult as it may be, the Labor, Green and teal alliance must come together and assess the financial and ecological cost of their renewable energy policies (“Transition to renewables low on energy and intent”, 15/11). They need only to look at what has been happening around the world, at the failure of renewables to sustain modern economies that are not backed by a substantial percentage of fossil fuel or nuclear energy.

Graham Lloyd has shown their on and offshore policies are mired in financial and environmental catastrophe that will prove to be unaffordable and unattainable, and the cost to maintain politically deadly.

Kevin Begaud, Dee Why, NSW

Graham Lloyd highlights the statement from one institutional investor quoted by Infrastructure Partnerships Australia: “I’ve not met a single person in the ecosystem that believes there is any possibility of meeting the 2030 target.” This target is claimed to be the first step to achieve the 2050 goal, another impossibility.

Wind turbines and solar panels have a short working life of 20 years at best. So all the current investment in renewables will have passed their shelf life long before 2050 and will have to be replaced, probably more than once.

The future of wind and solar is one of ever-increasing costs being poured down a bottomless pit. It highlights the nonsense of the Albanese government’s claim that it will reduce energy costs when they continue to rise at an ever-increasing rate. The myth that wind and sun are free needs to be dismissed.

R. Watson, Sunnybank Hills, Qld

Proponents of net-zero power generation often express disappointment that traditional fossil fuel generators are gradually withdrawing from the industry just when they are needed most – that is, before it can be established whether wind and solar can do the job unaided. But traditional suppliers have had their business model destroyed by changes in market conditions brought about by ever-changing government policies. If predictions of blackouts this coming summer prove accurate, the blame can hardly be sheeted home to operators of coal and gas-fired plants.

K. MacDermott, Binalong, NSW

Trouble on the benches

As a long-time supporter of the Westminster tradition of appointing an independent judici­ary, I never thought I would come to the conclusion that judges of the High and Federal courts should now be elected. With judicial decisions such as the Love case, the recent ruling on migration detention and the delays to the Barossa and Scarborough gas projects confirming that the courts are becoming increasingly politicised, surely it is time for the electorate to be able to decide who serves on these benches.

Mitch McDonald, Abbotsford, NSW

Class of their own

The notion that class control can be taught to trainee teachers is questionable. Just as all school students are individuals and do not respond uniformly to lessons presented, so too are teachers individuals. If they wish to be regarded as professionals, teachers need to draw on their own interpersonal skills, personality, integrity and talent to create purposeful, fun and memorable learning experiences. We do not want robots. The young teachers should appreciate this freedom and look to themselves and their innate potential.

Kim Bockos, Oatlands, NSW

Education ministers, the Australian Education Research Organisation, universities, federal, state and territory ministers, education leaders advising the government – all these millions of dollars spent on a broken education system. What a waste. Our society has accepted instant gratification as the norm. Society’s values have changed. Until we have parents who can spend time raising respectful, patient children, we will have students who disrupt. It’s not fair to put the onus on teachers to manage the outrageous behaviour of some students.

Toni Bressan, Benowa, Qld

Carbon tax truths

On top of unaffordable and unreliable energy, federal Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen now wants to impose a carbon border tax on imports of industrial products and materials to protect Australian producers who have been hit with the costs of his emission reduction rules (“Major manufacturers welcome proposed carbon border tax”, 15/11).

This represents a complete turnaround from the Hawke government’s breaking down of protective barriers, which stimulated productivity and economic growth.

Bowen’s renewables superpower vision is now materialising into a Fortress Australia, where heavily subsidised, protected and high-cost energy and industrial sectors deprive the nation of superior energy technologies and cheaper goods to the detriment of the Australian consumer and overall living standards.

Ron Hobba, Camberwell, Vic