In a time of climate crisis, logic dictates we should be cutting carbon pollution and ending our reliance on burning coal for energy. Yet the opposite is happening in Australia.
Many scientists around the world are calling for the rapid phasing out of coal-fired power — including the CSIRO's James Risbey. Risbey has joined a group of CSIRO climatologists to say no new coal-fired power plants should be built at all. Existing plants must be phased out quickly.
But according to the Australian Coal Association, 17 new coal projects were opened in 2007 alone. Nineteen new coal projects were under construction. A further 50 coal mine projects were in the planning stage.
According to research by Carbon Monitoring for Action, fossil-fuel power in Australia releases 224 million tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere each year.
This includes about 36 million tonnes combined from the Munmorah and Eraring power stations in NSW. These two are ranked in the top 100 most polluting power stations in the world. The World Wildlife Fund lists Hazelwood power station in Victoria as the dirtiest in the industrialised world!
It's not because job-rich alternatives don't exist. In Germany, renewable energy employed 157,000 people in 2004. New reports estimate up to 214,000 work in the sector today.
In contrast, the Australian coal industry says it employed a peak of 32,559 people in 2006. The number of jobs in coal is actually a lot less now.
Australia could easily become a leader in geothermal energy and solar-thermal power. Instead of providing funding to develop these industries, the Rudd government gives away billions of dollars each year in subsidies to the coal companies.
Phasing out burning coal for energy in Australia is vital in our battle to curb carbon emissions and further bolster the renewable energy sector. If we don't push for 100% renewable energy by 2020, we run the risk of triggering a global climate catastrophe.
This means taking on Australia's biggest polluters and the governments that protect them. We must act now before it is too late.