Yes we have to clean up our act, yes we have to be better when it comes to emissions but we also need economic growth. That is just one problem.
Coal equates to a lot of bread & butter.
From the Singleton Argus Feb 5th 2019...
The robust performance of the sector has delivered tangible benefits for all Australians including across the coal regions of Queensland and NSW. The benefits include over 150,000 direct and related jobs and rising tax and royalty collections.
Coal royalties provide $5.5 billion directly to those two State governments while overall tax collections and the flow on economic activity has helped improve the Commonwealth budget position. - (i)
But thats not the problem, the problem is lost economic strength in our Nation's books.
Yes as for the export earning part that's deleted, the $5 billion in royalties & the forward nudging it provides the federal budget plus the nearly 50,000 direct jobs and the 100,000+ indirect jobs, yes it will be a lot of pain. It will create an economic void and if we shut down tomorrow, we have competitors to replace us. The emissions will not halt, they will be transferred to another countries ledger.
Then there's another problem. In this calender year of 2021 the price of many fertilisers for broad acre cropping has doubled. Since seeding alone Urea has doubled & there is already stern warnings that over seas suppliers including Russia & China are sending messages that fertilisers usually ear marked for export are to be largely held back for their own crops. Now unless those countries have suddenly increased their plantings to equal most of the Australia crop it's possible this is just market squeezing.
In any case, next year will be a very tough year for fertiliser. It will be a tough year for those of you who rely on export dollars & the tax generated for Australia. If coal & iron ore as well as grain take a hit all at the same time its a economic disaster heading our way.
Which prompts the question of an additional problem. Consumption. Why is this not driven down? Well if it is it's a bad hit to growth. We sadly need strong growth in our economy. Having said that, most emissions come from products that consumers eventually buy. Its better to buy as many timber products instead of plastics or chemical based products. Wooden furniture locks up carbon, plastic furniture doesn't. We can harvest timber & replant. Its actually harvesting carbon & long as it doesn't end up in a fire place the carbon is stored. Plastics...really not good especially as many have obsolescence engineered into the plastic product to make it reliably replacable. Add in, the air flight travel for recreational purposes. Jets burn a lot of fuel, make a lot of emissions. That will have to plummet to near on to pre 1955 rates but perhaps only essential travel only.
(Above) And no, that's not flights in a year, or month or a week or a day. That is a snapshot in time, that's most of the recordable flights at a solitary point in time (Sunday night Australian time).
It doesn't include all the military flights with no trackers & the many others that are below a set height, speed & direction so the tracking is off.
Do you think they're all essential travellers only? Potentially a lot of non essential emissions there that could be prevented.
International freight, well it's going to make exporting & importing a raw products a logistical gridlock or perhaps a practical minefield.
Not long ago the Guardian quoted "The UN's International Maritime Organisation (IMO) released a report in 2007 saying a 10% reduction in fuel burning was possible on existing ships and 30-40% possible for new ships but the technology is largely unused, as the regulations are largely voluntary."
And then add onto that..." in one year, a single large container ship can emit cancer and asthma-causing pollutants equivalent to that of 50 million cars. The low grade bunker fuel used by the worlds 90,000 cargo ships contains up to 2,000 times the amount of sulfur compared to diesel fuel used in automobiles. The recent boom in the global trade of manufactured goods has also resulted in a new breed of super sized container ship which consume fuel not by the gallons, but by tons per hour, and shipping now accounts for 90% of global trade by volume.
So are you really needing those imported products or should you be buying them now before they get banned. Now bulk carriers that carrier for example Iron Ore. A panamax is a ship designed to travel through the Panama Canal. Most ship engines have been designed for top speeds ranging between 20 and 25 knots per hour, which is between 23 and 28 miles per hour. A Panamax container ship can consume 63,000 gallons of marine fuel per day at that speed. They are considered big alright & when you get on one you will feel like an ant.
However they are far from being the biggest cargo or bulk carriers these days. Many dwarf them.
They'll have to be wound back won't they?
It is funny people are talking about the distance of food production to consumer or food miles. It's a trendy thing, but how will you go if all your food must be grown within a 100 mile radius?
Then there's another elephant in the room. What is the optimum level of CO2 in the air and which are the worst chemical emissions that are really worth our greatest fear & attention?
Which is the worst using the definition below?
Updated January 09, 2020
A greenhouse gas is any gas that traps heat in the Earth's atmosphere rather than releasing the energy to space. If too much heat is conserved, the Earth's surface heats up, glaciers melt, and global warming occurs. But greenhouse gases aren't categorically bad, because they act as an insulating blanket keeping the planet a comfortable temperature for life.
Well surprisingly its water vapour that beat out Carbon Dioxide. - (ii)
And then it gets confusing, because many people argue that this order is wrong, some are worse than others regardless of volumes. Confused? You're not alone if you're thinking thats the plan all along.
I think recreational travel might have to end sometime soon if they're serious about "Climate Change" I think consumption of imported foreign goods will have to reduce to ships are only bring a full load of cargo in & leaving here with a full cargo out.
1) Export Losses we cop & others overseas pick it up. Who pays the $5B gap in 2 states & where do 50,000 jobs go?
2) Renewables are pretty good & ever improving, but the gear required is not renewable. It creates waste. Point in case the turbine blades being buried.
3) Air Travel, Much of it recreational. Does it have a future & will plane travel be restricted to very essential travel only? Cos y'know we should perhaps reduce it cos y'know "what's the cost of doing nothing"?
And then it gets confusing, because many people argue that this order is wrong, some are worse than others regardless of volumes. Confused? You're not alone if you're thinking thats the plan all along.
I think recreational travel might have to end sometime soon if they're serious about "Climate Change" I think consumption of imported foreign goods will have to reduce to ships are only bring a full load of cargo in & leaving here with a full cargo out.
Problems of Climate Change/Zero Emissions Never Discussed
1) Export Losses we cop & others overseas pick it up. Who pays the $5B gap in 2 states & where do 50,000 jobs go?
2) Renewables are pretty good & ever improving, but the gear required is not renewable. It creates waste. Point in case the turbine blades being buried.
3) Air Travel, Much of it recreational. Does it have a future & will plane travel be restricted to very essential travel only? Cos y'know we should perhaps reduce it cos y'know "what's the cost of doing nothing"?
4) Sea Freight - It is massive and if you're buying rubbish off eBay out of China...you're adding to the waste.
5) Food Miles. With the likes of fertiliser doubling in the same calender year, will consumers foot the bill?
6) Or in short...why is consumption never mentioned, why are we not being urged to live in a more frugal, more environmentally friendly way like out parents & gran parents.
7) Renewables are good but many of things made to produce RE energy are not recycable so is that part costed & deducted from a "cheaper" equation?
8) The urgent need to promote local wood, paper, careboard & glass products over anything plastic that isn't durable, doesn't become waste quickly and doesn't lock up carbon. Emissions are one thing & the only rock star followed sadly.
9) The worst Greenhouse Gas is water vapour. What is the go there? Apart from silence...
Right now Federal Nationals are being mocked for gently applying the handbrake and asking questions. Don't think for a moment if this were a Labor Government, despite them currently being more a Greens leaning in this they would be having or had the same split & questioning except most will be behind closed doors. Amongst Labor's record there's good & bad and it does include do support/don't support coal industry shape shifting. which helped further solidify Anthony Albanese's nick name "Each Way Albo" and yes same applied to Bill Shorten.
5) Food Miles. With the likes of fertiliser doubling in the same calender year, will consumers foot the bill?
6) Or in short...why is consumption never mentioned, why are we not being urged to live in a more frugal, more environmentally friendly way like out parents & gran parents.
7) Renewables are good but many of things made to produce RE energy are not recycable so is that part costed & deducted from a "cheaper" equation?
8) The urgent need to promote local wood, paper, careboard & glass products over anything plastic that isn't durable, doesn't become waste quickly and doesn't lock up carbon. Emissions are one thing & the only rock star followed sadly.
9) The worst Greenhouse Gas is water vapour. What is the go there? Apart from silence...
Right now Federal Nationals are being mocked for gently applying the handbrake and asking questions. Don't think for a moment if this were a Labor Government, despite them currently being more a Greens leaning in this they would be having or had the same split & questioning except most will be behind closed doors. Amongst Labor's record there's good & bad and it does include do support/don't support coal industry shape shifting. which helped further solidify Anthony Albanese's nick name "Each Way Albo" and yes same applied to Bill Shorten.
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