In the law, the dirty cop is always punished more severely than the open criminal. That’s because his crime is twofold, both violating the law and his obligation to uphold it. From Ross Gittins today:
The Coalition’s leading, longest-standing and most articulate supporter of action on climate change has changed sides.
Malcolm Turnbull, the man who lost his job as party leader because he was so keen to see action he supported the Labor government’s emissions trading scheme, is now keen to ensure it never happens again.
The squeakiest wheels in the party want him to demonise renewable energy, blaming it for all the blackouts and price rises? Introduce new government subsidies for coal while making the future for power generation so uncertain no one’s game to invest in anything?
Sure. Whatever it takes.
Trouble is, the scientists keep confirming our casual impressions. A report this month prepared by top climate scientists for the independent Climate Council, is all bad news…This fits with the findings of the latest biennial CSIRO and Bureau of Meteorology State of the Climate report…A new CSIRO study, led by Dr Zvi Hochman, has found that Australia’s average yields from wheat-growing more than tripled been 1900 and 1990 thanks to advances in technology, but have stalled in the years since then.
…But not to worry. They’re only scientists. What would they know that our pollies didn’t want to know?
Do-nothing Malcolm, the dirty cop, so much worse than the open criminal, Tony Abbott, via Reneweconomy:
New South Wales residents were spared rolling outages in the weekend’s heatwave, but if the lights had gone out in Pt Piper, Malcolm Turnbull just might have been able to stay cool: that’s because the PM’s harbourside property now has battery storage.
RenewEconomy on Monday confirmed with the PM’s office that a battery storage device was installed in Turnbull’s private property late last year. It is believed to be 14kWh of LG Chem lithium-ion battery, to complement his rooftop solar array previously installed and recently upgraded to 14kW.
That battery storage – depending on its configuration, and the choice of inverter – might be able to provide back-up to keep the lights and many other appliances on in the event of any blackouts in coal-dependent NSW.
It could also help the multi-millionarie save a few dollars a day by storing the output of his solar array for use in the evening, particularly after the loss of any premium solar tariffs he may have had.
In the case of forced rolling blackouts, a waterside suburb like Point Piper would be a sensible choice for the “load shedding”, given that the temperatures are likely to be significantly below inland suburbs.
The installation of battery storage into his home highlights the incredibly conflicting signals from Turnbull, a man who once spoke glowingly about 100 per cent renewable energy goals.
Turnbull has shown huge interest in cutting edge technology – such as his fascination with the Tesla Model S electric vehicle and battery storage, the energy revolution and grid optimisation.
What an arse.
