****a post I rescued from the great Google cache *****
According to an (as in one) Australian scientist, we need to stop building coal power plants and shut all of them down by 2020. Via the Sydney Morning Herald:
A CSIRO scientist has told a Senate inquiry it is imperative to begin phasing out coal burning in order to avoid dangerous climate change.
No coal-fired power plants should be built, and existing plants must shut within 20 years, if the world is to keep atmospheric carbon dioxide at a less dangerous level, the climatologist James Risbey said.
The ironic fact is that the Europeans, who started this whole push to build wind mills and solar panels in an effort to ’stop climate change’ (or global warming, they keep changing the problem) are not exactly living up to their public proclamations.
The Germany government is one of the biggest proponents of ‘green energy’ . However, they are currently planning to construct 26 new coal power plants. Via Spiegle.de:
The Vattenfall project in Berlin is only one example of a larger trend. Utility companies want to set up a total of 26 new coal-fired power plants in Germany during the coming years.
In the long term, the power plants will replace older, dirtier plants. But that doesn’t alter the fact that the plans are a direct contradiction of the climate goals formulated by Merkel.
Why would Germany want to construct more more coal plants?
But the new plants are a big business opportunity for Germany’s four major energy providers, Vattenfall, RWE, E.on and EnBW. Coal imports from South Africa or Poland are relatively cheap and can be used to produce electricity and heat at a high profit. In this way, the companies intend to secure their dominant position on the German market for decades to come.
And German politicians are explicitly encouraging them to do so. Both Merkel and Gabriel have an interest in the power plant construction boom.
For Merkel, the case is clear-cut: New power plants will secure thousands of jobs in Germany. The projects resemble a giant program for the stimulation of the economy. The power plant operators plan to invest more than €30 billion ($40 billion) in construction and infrastructure.
Yep, you got it. The Europeans will tell you publicly that they are for ‘Green Energy’ but, when push comes to shove, they will do what’s best for their economy and their people.
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