Hello Singapore, Mexico, Russia, and France, and welcome to the blog...and whilst I had genuinely intended to drop in a post about happiness and privilege the walls of reality closed in and left me stuck in a box with these various unpleasantnesses.
I had intended to do a cutesy little piece about how good we have it as a society with reference to my little day trip to the beach yesterday...but instead this post happened...(no, no, express the joy, hippy-Ed)...ok, went the 30kms to the coast in my little car, where there are spectacular cliffs, beautiful reefs and some beautiful sandy white beaches...had a wade about but not a dip because the water was absolutely freezing...(pathetic-Ed)...no, it was icy...
On the way back my little car overheated and I had to drive along with the heater on high and the windows open...(It's knackered-Ed)...it's not great, but it's still good enough to get around town...and it's a cause for celebration because no car = no beach, there's no bus you see...and if it breaks down I'm in trouble because I couldn't afford to fix it...it would probably be cheaper to trash it and get something newish...
But I digress...I was already in my happy place about the latest Fracking shenanigans, and I'll get into that, but first the announcement that the 197 Wind Turbine CERES project on the Yorke Peninsula has been approved.
It will come as no surprise to anyone even vaguely interested in the Turbine issues as I've covered them in this blog, that the Labor state government has approved this massive Industrial Estate right in the middle of prime cropping land...(arguably the best cropping land in the state-Ed)...why is it always an argument with you?...(no it's not-Ed)...yes it is...(no it's not!-Ed)...yes it...hey, stop that...(stop what?-Ed)...stop arguing...(I'm not arguing-Ed)...yes you a...(ahhhhhh-Ed)...moving on...
And to go with it, a lovely giant mine near Ardrossan...Mineral Sands I think it is...(Copper, i think, maybe?-Ed)...whatevs, a dirty great hole in the ground (hundreds of acres) is a dirty great hole in the ground...(and a dirty great tailings heap is a DGTH-Ed)...and I love the line from the government and developers about how cropping and mining can "co-exist"...(yeah, yeah, you plant air-fed hover-wheat that you tend in your hover tractor before paragliding to your hover-ute and scooting back to your hover-homestead where your trusty hover-dog greets you with-Ed)...ok, ok, you've made your point.
Rather than repeat my various points re Wind Turbines in general and/or the massive 197 Turbine CERES project specifically, I refer readers to those previous posts. I maintain that Turbines are not an economically viable solution to energy needs, and the moment the wind stops...(or there's Catastrophic Fire conditions and they cannot operate-Ed)...indeed, in a number of circumstances, there is an immediate requirement for 100% back-up, eg coal or diesel generators.
Wind Turbine energy production is very expensive, even with subsidies, and output generation is entirely unrelated to demand, eg, again, when it's stinking hot but no wind, or bushfire conditions see them switched off...in South Australia, the legislation introduced in October 2011 is Fascism...legislating to remove the right and/or ability to oppose, and the right and/or ability to access the Courts, are both manifestations of Fascism...not my opinion, look it up people...please...
But what really concerns me today is the smoke and mirrors being played out over Fracking at Penola...suddenly everybody's opposed to it, but that opposition is then actually a call for a revision of the science to get a better understanding, and there's going to be a Parliamentary Committee...(oh, sweet baby cheeses, not a bloody Parliamentary Committee...we are rooted-Ed)...ah come on, what's your beef...(well have a bit of a think about the PCs you've been involved with-Ed)...oh damn, yeah...pointless gabfests that are more corrupt than the corruption they claim to address.
So you're suggesting that Liberal Martin Hamilton-Smith's vehement posturing (this morning on ABC Local Radio) about the Libs setting up a bipartisan Parliamentary Committee to investigate stuff re Fracking and sort it all out, is actually a Red-Herring to distract from the Liberals previously announced support for Fracking...(that's exactly what I'm saying -Ed)...and it'll take a whole post to pull that to pieces, so more tomorrow.
I will say though that even if genuine, any Committee/Inquiry will take a year or more to come up with anything concrete and that well is being drilled now...right now...
If you are opposed to Fracking and you think that any of these people are genuinely going to help you, then I ask that you seriously reconsider that position...even the Federal Bill being proposed by Senator Nick Xenophon to protect the Aquifers, will be subject to political will and opinions about what science says what...and the Environmental Protection Authority will play a vital role in that process...and that means Fracking.
And I'd like to end with a good news story because it's just been announced (several hours ago) that Premier Napthine of the Victorian Liberal government has agreed to $22million funding for SPC Ardmona at Shepparton, which will lead to a further $80m investment from plant owners Coca-Cola Amatil...along with a 5 year guarantee to maintain 500 jobs that has a re-payment clause should CC Amatil pull-out earlier than 5 years...(wow...you sure you heard that right?...sounds too good to be true-Ed)...no, it's been all over the news's.
(Wow, so the state government can negotiate and find $22m which guarantees 500 jobs for 5 years, but the Federal government couldn't find $25m...doesn't make Tony Abbott and crew look particularly good-Ed)...no, not really, not when there continue to be massive subsidies for billionaire miners like Gina Rinehart and Clive Palmer, tax breaks for top-end wage earners, etc, etc...and now they're squabbling over rescue funding for drought stricken farmers through New South Wales and Queensland...(unbelievable-Ed).
It will be interesting to see where Wind Turbine proliferation goes without the current massive subsidies, given that the Abbott Liberal government is so rabid about axing subsidies for overseas companies...(fascinating I'm sure-Ed).
Tomorrow: More Specific Fracking Stuff and Council Soirees
Meanwhile, Federal Industry Minister Ian Mcfarlane has apparently lost some workers and is groping about industriously in the dark trying to locate them...:"I really do feel for these workers"...(that is the worst joke ever-Ed)...what, you mean what he said, or what I did with it?...(I'm, I'm not sure-Ed)...
I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog...cheers and laters...
No comments:
Post a Comment