"A social movement is essential for changing government and opposition policies to halt the climate crisis", Dr Mark Diesendorf told a May 22 public meeting at the University of NSW to launch his book Greenhouse Solutions with Sustainable Energy. Diesendorf told the audience of around 200 people that individual and household solutions are not sufficient.
"It is the government that makes laws, collects taxes and is responsible for revenue and infrastructure decisions that are required to drastically reduce emissions and fund a shift away from fossil fuels towards renewable energy", he said. He pointed to last November's nationwide Walk Against Warming rallies and the sprouting local climate action groups as evidence that a social movement capable of forcing governments to act is growing.
If existing "business-as-usual" policies remain unchanged, carbon emissions will continue to increase, said Diesendorf, and the impact will be accelerating climate change.
As a first step towards limiting its contribution to the climate crisis, Australia should aim for a 30% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions (compared with 1990 levels) by 2020, followed by at least an 80% reduction by 2040, he said. Under the Kyoto Protocol, the rich industrialised countries have until 2012 to cut their average emissions by only 5.2% below 1990 levels, with no targets beyond 2012.
Diesendorf's main argument is that solutions put forward by the federal and state governments, such as "clean coal" and nuclear power, will not get us anywhere close to the level of emission reductions needed. Yet research and development funding is being poured into these "solutions", while renewable energy alternatives are starved of funds.
"Sustainable solutions are available", Diesendorf said. "The barriers facing renewable energy are not technical, they are political", a result of the government's commitment to the worst climate changing industries — coal, oil, aluminium, steel, cement and motor vehicle. Government support for nuclear power as a "solution" to climate change is "a diversion and an attempt to divide the community", he added.
Diesendorf argued for a mix of renewable energy, natural gas and improved energy efficiency to achieve large reductions in emissions before 2020. For electricity production, a transitional stage towards a greater reliance on renewable energy sources could involve the use of natural gas (for 30% of production), bio-energy (30%), wind (20%), coal (8%), hydro (8%) and solar (4%). This mix would buy time for the massive expansion of solar electricity and hot-rock geothermal power.
Diesendorf argued for a ban on all new conventional coal-fired power stations and a significant expansion of public transport and intercity railways, among other measures that the government must take immediately if climate change is to be stopped.