Opinion
Poor Boofhead. No matter how hard he tries to toady up to the cool COP kids, they just keep giving him wedgies and shoving his head in the toilet.
As reported yesterday by The BFD, Chris Bowen is preparing to strut his stuff at COP28 by trying on the climate equivalent of tucking a pack of Winnie Blues under the sleeve of his school uniform and putting his cap on backwards. With his emissions reduction targets clearly on track to fall hopelessly short, Bowen panicked and promised to spend twice, no three times, no, wait, five times as much taxpayer money on what’s already failing.
Now he’s rocking up to the bus stop only to find that the tough kids have shifted the goalposts. Bowen is so last week when it comes to climate cool.
The big problem for lil Boofhead, though, is that what’s “in” with the climate gang now is the one thing guaranteed to send his party into a screeching fit.
Chris Bowen is facing a nuclear ambush at the UN climate change conference, with Labor’s renewables-only vision isolating Australia as an international outlier as the US and key allies charge ahead with zero-emissions nuclear reactor technologies […]
As Mr Bowen rails against nuclear energy as being too expensive while keeping secret the costs of guaranteeing renewables projects, the US, Britain and other key allies are leading a push to triple the amount of installed nuclear power capacity globally by 2050.
The biggest bullies of the COP gang know what’s up.
US special presidential envoy for climate John Kerry, who believes “nuclear is 100 per cent part of the solution”, this week revealed he would unveil the first global strategy to commercialise nuclear fusion energy at the COP28 summit.
There is global momentum behind nuclear, with US President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act supporting the zero-emissions energy source, G7 nations backing nuclear to help achieve net-zero targets and dozens of countries endorsing nuclear energy at a September meeting in Paris.
Poor Boofhead.
Meanwhile, skinhead Peter Dutton and his gang are pointing and laughing.
The Australian can reveal opposition energy and climate change spokesman Ted O’Brien will travel to the United Arab Emirates for his first UN climate change summit, where he will deliver a speech to the World Nuclear Association […]
Mr O’Brien said the Coalition’s 2025 election energy policy would include nuclear over the long term while better integrating renewables, bringing on more gas and keeping coal-fired stations running. He said the UAE’s success in rolling-out four reactors in quick succession positions the climate change conference as the “nuclear COP”, with countries lining up to say “there is no credible pathway to net zero without nuclear energy”.
“This COP is the first time that we are expecting a major communique signed by our closest allies and partners (on nuclear energy) and Australia won’t even be in the room,” Mr O’Brien said.
“(Anthony) Albanese is trying to save face at COP with all of these announcements, he’s trying to get ahead of COP and potential blackouts in summer with this ridiculous announcement that the taxpayer now has to mop up the failure of government.”
Mr O’Brien said it was “absolute lunacy” for the government to double down on a “now disproven (renewables-only) pathway”.
Their stubborn refusal to admit that nuclear is the only way to keep the lights on in a “Net Zero” world is not the only way Labor are making fools of themselves.
And the Coalition are the only ones talking a modicum of sense.
As Labor distances itself from thermal generation, the International Energy Agency on Thursday released a report declaring that new oil and gas investments would still be needed for the world to hit net zero emissions goals.
Mr O’Brien said the Coalition’s energy policy would not put forward nuclear as the short-term solution. “We need to get more gas in, we need to keep coal-fired power stations running, we need to manage renewables in a sensible way.”
The Australian
“Sensible way” and “Labor” are oxymorons.