Putting a price on actions to combat climate change

Thomas Jefferson stated, “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.” Currently a variety of vigilant voices, from columnists such as Henry Ergas (“Emergency powers must never stifle our rights”, 5/11) to correspondents from the public, sound the alert over a range of pernicious movements limiting and threatening our legitimate freedoms.

Already noted are the imposition of leftist-green-Marxist-woke ideology, intersectionalism, critical race theory, the assault on language by woke prescriptiveness and a raft of mandated virtue signals – from “taking the knee” to announcing one’s pronouns.

More recently, on the local front there is the disturbing push for exceptional emergency powers by the Victorian Premier, while globally there is the “rise of the global world order and the push to change the way we live via climate change action” (Letters, 8/11).

When what is sane and beneficial to society’s freedoms and wellbeing is threatened, vigilance is crucial. So, too, is readiness to push back and take constructive action in whatever role we find ourselves – parent, grandparent, teacher, mentor, neighbour, friend, colleague – to boldly defend and uphold that which must be preserved.

Deborah Morrison, Malvern East, Vic

Jolly nice of Sarah Hanson- Young to jet over to Glasgow’s COP26 and have a photo shoot with Greta Thunberg at taxpayers’ expense. Hanson-Young, Kevin Rudd and Malcolm Turnbull must not be aware a B787 Dreamliner uses 5400 litres of fuel per hour, or for a Sydney to London flight 126,900 litres of fuel, plus the same amount to return to base. No doubt they were under the impression Qantas was using the northerly wind power and gliding its way to Britain.

Hypocrisy proliferates while preaching the renewable message. Understandably, Scott Morrison had no option than to attend – he would have copped it, and has, whether he went or stayed at home.

Ian Kent, Renmark, SA

Before world leaders, billionaires, and royalty board their private or chartered fuel-guzzling jet aircraft to depart the Glasgow climate talkfest they are surely bound by their principles to reject such polluting forms of travel and alternatively travel by wind-powered sailing craft, bus or rail. Private aircraft should be sent to metal recyclers and Prince Charles should abandon the royal fleet of Bentleys and Rolls-Royces and exchange them for electric Nissan Leafs.

Brian Whybrow, Wanniassa, ACT

I hark back to the evenings we saw Malcolm Turnbull enthusiastically turning up for another ABC Q+A episode, nattily dressed in his black bomber-style leather jacket and his most winning smile. Those were the nights, eh, Malcolm? When a left-wing audience applauded and chuckled at your every utterance, thinking, “If only we had Malcolm, instead of Bill and Albo, then God would be in his heaven, and the world would be all right.” One fan even insisted Turnbull resume the Coalition leadership, and received a disarming smile and an aw shucks.

Lots of water under bridges since then, with the then Messiah Malcolm proving time after time his feet are of clay.

Rosemary O’Brien, Ashfield, NSW

You can’t blame investors in Fortescue Metals Group for having the jitters about the cost and likely success of the group’s green hydrogen and renewable energy projects (“Forrest’s green vows hit $200bn”, 8/11).

As Nick Evans reports, for Fortescue to make good on all of the promises made so far by chairman Andrew Forrest on his global green energy spree, it would need to find $195bn. Recently, Forrest called on the Morrison government to provide $19bn to kickstart his plan to produce 50 million ­tonnes of renewable hydrogen a year. Trouble is, Forrest has big plans requiring huge amounts of money with no guarantee the projects will succeed or even get off the ground.

The federal government would be wise to give him a wide berth, something the Queensland Labor government failed to do. It has gone into partnership with Forrest, who has promised to turn Gladstone into a major global green hydrogen hub. I wonder how the people of Gladstone feel about being part of Forrest’s green ventures. A bit like Fortescue’s investors, I suspect: nervous.

Dale Ellis, Innisfail, Qld