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Break This Impasse :: (Howard S. Emanuel)

The recent decision taken by the Federal Environment Minister to use the Environmental Protection Bio-Diversity Conservation Act (EPBC) to veto the planning approval..... Read More

By Howard S. Emanuel - 25th May 2006 - Back to News

BREAK THIS IMPASSE

Authored: 25th of May 2006

The recent decision taken by the Federal Environment Minister to use the Environmental Protection Bio-Diversity Conservation Act (EPBC) to veto the planning approval given to the developers of the Bald Hills wind farm, has been widely celebrated as a coup, as a victory for the local community and a win for the Anti-Wind Farm Lobby.  Though personally, I hope that this does not turn out to be a Pyrrhic victory, of considerable proportions.

Along with others I have listened to and participated in the debate concerning the development of wind farms in South Gippsland for the past 5 years or so.

I understand to some degree the manifest issues and I fully understand the concerns in the community regarding the location of these installations.

Though sadly as the debate has progressed it seemed to me we were moving more and more into a position of impasse on this issue, that a certain inertia had entered the discussion. On the one hand we have had fervent dissent against wind farm development along our coastline, on the other we continue to bemoan the use of fossil fuels for energy purposes. The debate has not I thought been going anywhere but in a very ominous direction indeed.

I personally have reasoned that if we could not find a way that would allow Victoria to lessen its reliance on coal fired power stations, if we could not agree on where we can site alternative energy installations, the obvious would occur. The Nuclear question would inevitably raise its head again from the burrow in which it has sat for the past generation or so. Have we been too slow to adopt alternative energy means, have we failed to ensure that alternative energy sources can become environmentally and commercially viable, have we failed to read the signs? Have we locally in the broader scheme of things thought only of ourselves and not the community at large?

Consider that Australia is an export or trade-based economy. Recent events concerning the "resources boom’ have shown we rely on exports of our assets to fuel the domestic economy. Our manifest agricultural commodities as they have done for generations, continue to underpin the quality of life we all enjoy. The success of this trade-based prosperity has been grounded both on the quantifiable assets that Australia possesses and the relationships we have developed and maintained with our trading partners. Indeed the situation has been a fortuitous one for all Australians.

But it is becoming increasingly obvious that this nation is being seen as somewhat of a recalcitrant state in regards to the amount of greenhouse emissions we produce. A great proportion of these emissions are created by coal powered energy production. Indeed on a global scale this nation produces more emissions per capita than any other nation on earth. We are I believe moving to a time when Australia will be seen as somewhat of a pariah state internationally, somewhat of a wanton polluter that will not comply to protocols designed to protect the viability of this earth.

At some stage I believe it is inevitable that our trading partners will begin to leverage sanction against us through our trading arrangements for our refusal to comprehensively act on our greenhouse emissions. Our products whilst enjoying near largess on the international market do have competitors (look at the Iraq wheat situation) that can supply to our traditional markets. We are one of the major suppliers; but we are by no means operating from a monopoly viewpoint where no competition or alternative exists. The purchaser can go elsewhere for the same goods we produce and this is increasingly the case. In a world of changing values, agreements and relationships can be broken on a whim, on a notion, on an ideology.

If we do not find a way to decrease our greenhouse emissions into the global atmosphere it is only a matter of time until the world community will levy sanctions against us, through the mechanism of trade. Our trading partners will come under increasing domestic and global pressure to look elsewhere for product and will from their own position cancel contracts, leaving this nation to face huge uncertainty.

It is all very well to jump up and down and proclaim victory for the decision made by the Environment Minister at Bald Hills but I believe the victory is a hollow one. The decision as most would recognise had nothing to do with environmental issues and all to do with politics. It further drags politics into the gutter.

Whilst never one to prescribe to a conspiracy theory; when one looks at the federal governments refusal to leverage more capacity for alternative energy companies to invest in infrastructure, then looks at the emerging nuclear debate, its hard to dismiss the notion entirely that an agenda does not exist.

The anti wind-farm groups have had their victory, their celebration, now the hard work begins for us all.

All those in the community that found time to defeat this project have a moral obligation to continue their efforts and help us find a way in which we can access wind or other alternative technology. Whether that be through improved locating of the installations or through technology increases to eradicate blemishes and flaws, it doesn’t matter. Or in the extreme we discount wind as a viable alternative all together and commit our efforts to other sources such as solar. It doesn’t matter, what matters, is that we act, that we continue the commitment.

Local people, Gippslanders, have shown they posses the energy and the time over a long period to fight for a cause that was to have demonstrable personal impact. Now it is time to demonstrate their concern for the wider community, indeed the global community and to continue those efforts. Otherwise they stand accused of scuttling an initiative that however flawed may have added some benefit, may have added some momentum to a debate that this country must not only have, but must come up with a designated and consensual position on, soon.

We need to be reminded that the only way the Federal Government were able to scuttle and veto this project was by an action many would consider, an utter sham, if not an abuse of our very system of government.

It is the responsibility of all of us always to continue to improve the way in which we live, to enhance the environment we live in. In South Gippsland currently that work is only half done. People have taken the view that wind farms under the current mandate cannot contribute to better living conditions for all, therefore they have a responsibility to continue to commit their own time and effort to find the elusive solution.

To stare down the matter in our own backyard and then walk away, is not acceptable and is contemptuous and is an action that smacks of duplicity and concern only for the self. I don’t believe this is that sort of community, or at least I didn’t perhaps up until now.

Don’t forget the world is watching and if any country on this earth depends more on its relationships with other nations than Australia does, I am not aware of it. We have a certain quality of life in this country; we as much have an obligation to ensure that other communities in the world can enjoy similar circumstances. If by default we continue to rely on coal for energy purposes and emit manifest greenhouse gases into the global atmosphere we are indeed ruining the lives of the very people we like to say we care so much about. Duplicity?, lets wait and see.

Nuclear energy, nuclear reactors perhaps, perish the thought. That one may be located in The Valley or South Gippsland even, only ever if it can be shown that no viable alternative exists. That is our challenge now, to demonstrate most comprehensively that they do exist and it is our responsibility to confirm that.

At a local level the battle has only really just begun, the first thrust is freshly completed. The future actions of the many that agitated so much to change the Bald Hills outcome will in one sense answer the question as to whether we exist purely for ourselves, or indeed that we still do in this challenging world, care about others.

Sincerely,

Howard S. Emanuel

Mobile: 0400 158 896

E-mail: howard@howardemanuel.com

Web: www.HowardEmanuel.com

Source: http://gippsland.com/

Published by: howard-emanuel@hotmail.com

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