BUNDABERG, Australia—In a venue normally reserved for chips, beer, and yarns about daily life, a group of locals were debating the merits of Australia’s climate change push.
During a presentation, they were shown photographs of breathtaking mountains—home to gliders, koalas and wallabies—earmarked for the construction of major renewable projects like wind turbines.
The event was part of a regional roadshow that has snaked its way through eight Queensland towns and cities in just four days, starting from Gympie north of Brisbane and finishing in tropical Cairns.
“The real issue … is the impact on biodiversity, and we hear a lot about this transition being ‘clean and green,’ but it’s being rolled out in such an ad hoc, random, chaotic manner that there’s no consideration of biodiversity or places of cultural significance or high-value agricultural land,” said Steve Nowakowski.
The north Queenslander is a landscape photographer and vice president of the Australian Biodiversity Alliance, set up to examine the impact of renewables development on the natural environment.
Nowakowski is partnering and touring with Aidan Morrison, an energy researcher at the Sydney-based Centre for Independent Studies.
Nowakowski says there’s been “zero planning” in the renewables rollout.
“It’s just the developers cherry-picking the cheapest locations, and then the legislative process enables them to push those projects through as fast as possible.”
Last year, Nowakowski spoke to The Epoch Times about his recently released net zero “truth map,” which aims to map out all renewable projects in the country. He counted about 31,000 wind towers and around 550 million solar panels in the pipeline or already built.
Meanwhile, Morrison was concerned the push towards renewables would drain resources from other industries, while some manufacturing capability could be offshored, such as producing clinker for cement.
“You need to burn gas to do proper firing of a whole bunch of ceramics and glass. So we just end up buying it elsewhere, and the emissions go overseas—but also the jobs, the industry, the capacity of the nation sort of goes overseas with it,” he said.
He’s calling for an end to government subsidies or bonuses for renewable developments.
Where Have the Green Groups Gone?
Nowakowski also said several environmental groups had move away from conservation towards climate change advocacy.
“The conservation groups that I was very active in, organisations like the Wilderness Society, the Australian Conservation Foundation, and even Greenpeace and WWF, they’re now climate activists,” he said.
“I’m not saying that climate isn’t a big issue. I believe in climate change, it’s a huge issue.
“But one of the fundamental ways we tackle climate change is by keeping trees in the ground, and we don’t go damaging biodiversity in the name of trying to help the climate.”
Net Zero Investment Reaches Highest Level in History: Minister
In October, Energy Minister Chris Bowen said renewable investment had hit its highest level in history.
He said about five gigawatts (GW) of new renewable projects had come online so far this year, including major investments in solar and wind.
Rooftop solar also continued to grow, with 90,042 installations added in the third quarter alone—39 percent more than the same period last year.
“This is what progress looks like—more renewable energy reaching final investment decision, more rooftop solar on homes and businesses, more batteries helping Australians store cheap solar power, and more downward pressure on power prices,” Bowen said in a statement.
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