Have accepted the challenge and will by then be well on the path to a very different Tasmanian economy — one which by then will have abandoned coal entirely, almost completely abandoned gas and be well on the way to abandoning oil as a fuel; OR We will have done our part to having a planet with a climate that is out of control, and increasingly unpredictable and destructive; we will have realised that not only have we failed to use what little lead time we had to get off oil, but now chronic supply problems are reducing the capacity of what is left of our economy to make changes. We need leadership. The good ship Tasmania is steering straight at the fossil fuelled climate iceberg, and our elected representatives need to show leadership and turn the ship around. I admit that the idea of phasing out fossil fuels is scary. The alternative – to live on a planet with runaway climate change – is even more scary. We need to stop refusing to notice the climate change elephant and to look it in the face and to come to terms with what we must do. I am convinced Tasmania is up for this challenge. We can acquire and apply the skills needed; we can solve problems and develop affordable approaches; we can work together to do this. What we need is leadership, and that is the role of the Tasmanian Government. Section by Section Comments. Executive Summary. In the nine outcomes, the following questions arise: In outcome 4, does the objective include all sources of energy? If that is intended, what steps are planned to make Tasmania’s supply of petroleum products “safe, secure and reliable”? Firewood is currently a very significant source of energy for Tasmanian households, but is not mentioned anywhere in the Strategy. How will this outcome apply to firewood? In outcomes 5 and 6, there is a reference to “power prices” which I assume means “electricity prices”, and then a reference to “energy efficiency”. Is this reference to energy efficiency limited only to the efficiency of electricity usage? In outcome 7, assuming the “energy” in this outcome is all forms, and not just electricity, how does the Government intend to reduce the cost of firewood, given that firewood is not mentioned anywhere in the Strategy? 5 David Hamilton Submission in response to the Tasmanian Energy Strategy Issues Paper, September, 2014.
Have accepted the challenge and will by then be well on the path to a very different Tasmanian economy — one which by then will have abandoned coal entirely, almost completely abandoned gas and be well on the way to abandoning oil as a fuel; OR We will have done our part to having a planet with a climate that is out of control, and increasingly unpredictable and destructive; we will have realised that not only have we failed to use what little lead time we had to get off oil, but now chronic supply problems are reducing the capacity of what is left of our economy to make changes. We need leadership. The good ship Tasmania is steering straight at the fossil fuelled climate iceberg, and our elected representatives need to show leadership and turn the ship around. I admit that the idea of phasing out fossil fuels is scary. The alternative – to live on a planet with runaway climate change – is even more scary. We need to stop refusing to notice the climate change elephant and to look it in the face and to come to terms with what we must do. I am convinced Tasmania is up for this challenge. We can acquire and apply the skills needed; we can solve problems and develop affordable approaches; we can work together to do this. What we need is leadership, and that is the role of the Tasmanian Government. Section by Section Comments. Executive Summary. In the nine outcomes, the following questions arise: In outcome 4, does the objective include all sources of energy? If that is intended, what steps are planned to make Tasmania’s supply of petroleum products “safe, secure and reliable”? Firewood is currently a very significant source of energy for Tasmanian households, but is not mentioned anywhere in the Strategy. How will this outcome apply to firewood? In outcomes 5 and 6, there is a reference to “power prices” which I assume means “electricity prices”, and then a reference to “energy efficiency”. Is this reference to energy efficiency limited only to the efficiency of electricity usage? In outcome 7, assuming the “energy” in this outcome is all forms, and not just electricity, how does the Government intend to reduce the cost of firewood, given that firewood is not mentioned anywhere in the Strategy? 5 David Hamilton Submission in response to the Tasmanian Energy Strategy Issues Paper, September, 2014.
Hamilton_Energy_Submission.docx