Dear Editor,
I agree with my old Assembly colleague, Gary Humphries (CW, 3 June 2021, page 6), that amongst many young people there is “deep cynicism about the democratic process, and that a nihilistic generation, inured in hopelessness is a signpost for trouble,” but I do not agree with his assumption that the Australian Government is somehow dragging the change on climate change.
It concerns me that our schools, universities and institutions are spreading falsehoods and that the facts are not being taught to our young.
China is the biggest polluter and from 2005 to 2018, it increased its emissions by 71%. In the same period, Australia dropped its emissions by 18% giving us the best record in the world apart from Denmark when it came to actually reducing emissions. We are doing the walk while other countries (e.g. NZ – a small 2% drop over the same period) are only doing the talk. In the last five years, China has built 350 coal fired power stations and has another 127 planned.
We are responsible for 1.1% of the world’s emissions and China for 30% and rising. Australia could cease to exist tomorrow and the world’s emissions would continue to rise. If we seriously want to continue to have reliable base load power whilst continuing to cut our emissions we should go nuclear like all the other 19 G20 countries have.
- Bill Stefaniak, Narrabundah ACT.
Note: The percentages in this letter have not been fact-checked; you can source more information at:
For more like this:
- Climate debate fuels youth hopelessness
- Letter to the editor: what is the right kind of euthanasia?
- Responsible gambling – a bright shining lie Crown Resorts and others can no longer hide behind
- Hotel quarantine causes 1 outbreak for every 204 infected travellers. It’s far from ‘fit for purpose’
- Victorian public servants reap $1500 pay rise in lockdowns
