Get Real about Climate Change
There are may time as a citizen, that one despairs that any government is really going to Get Real about climate change. This is more frustrating because as we all know that they have at their finger tips all the advice and scientific information necessary for intelligent and timely decisions. Yet for so many governments, it is business as usual.
According to an article just published, the State of Victorian has an agency that is prepared to offer frank advice about the crucial steps we all need to take as a nation. It has listed the top challenges for Australia. In their simplest form, they are:
- Getting off coal
- Getting on to renewables
- Ending fossil fuel subsidies
- Stop facilitating the emissions of others
- Get ready
I also like their final statement:
Getting on with it
It’s worth pointing out that, despite my top 5 list here focusing on electricity generation, there are other challenges: reducing our demand for electricity, and broader influences such as population and economic activity, for starters. These ought to be part of the debate.
For the most part, the solutions to reducing our emissions already exist. It’s whether we choose to act.
Either way, it is important to acknowledge that there is no more status quo. Change is inevitable. It’s how much change, and how we respond to that change, that will define all our futures.
It is time to get real about climate change.
Check out their website and the page with the details on the challenges – click here
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Paul Costigan, 18 February 2014