The threat that this poses to 21st century suburban living is almost terrifying. Is it possible to live withut electricity? Possibly, but there is inevitably a diminution in quality of life.
We would, for heavens sake, have to write and read our blogs by candlelight. Rather uncomfortable on a warm day!!
Is all this the result of privatisation? Is it failure of government? Is it simply monopoly exploitation of a captive market. All of these are true to some degree.
There seems to be little to suggest that either the private sector or the public sector would have coped with the last few days of heat wave.
This despite the fact that we have been warned about impending disaster for months. Has someone somewhere simply decided that we will grin and bear the few days of extreme heat and wear the bad press that ensues?
To my mind it is far safer to ensure that power delivery and power production should be open to the highest level of scrutiny. This probably means it should be in public hands and rather than being seen as a kind of "cash cow" for governments rather be seen as an opportunity to develop this vital infrastructure over the next two decades. Or is that too much to hope for?
Or else it should be in private hands with a guarantee that a percentage of profit should be ploughed back into future research and development.
This seems like logic to me (and others) but are we not being told something by those who presently hold these vulnerable cards in their hands in South Australia and throughout the country.
2 comments:
Ah hah, time to rant like the true Greenie I actually am.
The SA government isn't sitting on it's arse about this; a lot of attention is being paid to the general problems of a sustainable culture that can consume a minimum of energy.
Still, there's only so much they can do: you can't go into people's houses and force better designs onto them, they can't destroy every mobile phone charger in existence, and so forth.
Good luck getting people to not crank up the air conditioners en-masse when the temperature gets too high.
I think about the only decent options left are to invest in passive cooling solutions for your house and hit anyone you can over the head with a verbal stick about doing the same...
Don't disagree with a lot of this but it seems to be that there is a lot of token energy being put into this.
Where, for example, is the replacement of infrastructure...ie. power stations... what started me thinking about this was (ex Senator)Schacht noting on the radio that the Bannon Government had used electricity as the cash cow. I don't have a problem with profit, but not at the expense of stripping assets and running them down.
I think the government's incentives to persuade people to install solar power are pathetic. Modest middle incomes like myself still find it prohibitive.
Why aren't we encouraging people to have houses with proper eaves...these so-called "tuscan villas" are stupid. Drive round Golden grove or Blackwood Park and see the number of houses that don't even bother to protect themselves from the sun. I think cash discount/subsidy for good design would be one possible step. But you are right you can't force better designs.
And don't even get me started about the waste of water......
Thanks for your thoughts any way
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