What I have learnt in my holidays

Well, the results are in and I have very successfully navigated my first semester, exams and all, which is both a source of relief and pride.

Despite perhaps rather foolishly enrolling in a winter school subject to simultaneously learn about the dark arts of project management and fast forward this learning adventure, I have continued in my spare time to marvel at the strong reactions change evokes. Having spent part of my holidays donating a small fortune to my dentist to repair teeth grinding damage, self-inflicted unconsciously worrying about small stuff, I know I'm not immune to adverse reactions to change.

The Australian Government has announced that from 1 July 2012, there will be a price levied against the 500 largest producers of carbon dioxide equivalents released to the atmosphere. I genuinely think they would have got a more positive reaction by announcing they were going to wipe Australia off the map with a series of nuclear tests, such has been the vehement outpouring of angst by a large number of Australians.

It probably pays to put the political climate here in Oz in context. As alluded to in Vote 1 - Thermal Comfort, after the last federal election, neither of the two major parties received enough of the primary vote to form government in their own right, resulting in a "hung parliament". It was an ugly campaign and an inconclusive outcome. The reality for Australians is that the major party which was prepared to negotiate with the minor Greens party and a number of independent members formed a government. Like all negotiations, there are concessions so we have had some unusual outcomes including very specific poker machine reform and the speeding up of an emissions trading scheme which (ironically) both major parties had previously threatened but been unable to deliver. There are numerous other political issues clouding the debate but I'll encourage you to research those yourself and come to your own conclusions.

Thanks to the good folk at the Australian Bureau of Statistics I can highlight the following information;
"In 2007, 18.75 tonnes of CO₂ were emitted for every Australian, compared with an OECD country average of 10.97 tonnes per person. Many large economies, including Japan (9.68 tonnes/person) and the United Kingdom (8.6 tonnes/person), had significantly lower per capita CO₂ emissions than Australia in 2007. Of the OECD countries, only Luxembourg (22.35 tonnes/person) and the United States (19.1 tonnes/person) had higher per capita CO₂ emissions than Australia".


There is a compelling case that as good Global citizens we need to make some fundamental changes to the way we operate our country and invest in alternative technologies and industry over the long term for lasting global benefit.


What has been so disappointing has been the lack of public discussion about the multitude of options and positive changes that can be made. You would think from the current national debate we are the smartest and most efficient users of energy on the planet so there will only be additional costs and penalties and nothing to gain from new technology and ways of thinking. There appears to be more focus on price increases than using less by being smarter, more efficient or seeking alternatives. That after all folks, is the entire point...


The fear of change appears to be the biggest threat to planet!