Where Illogicality Rules Both Major Political Parties Vie for the Goof Ball World Cup

Australia's Prime Minister, John Howard, is being steamrollered by the the Gorecal into trying to look green while eschewing renewable alternative energy sources.

Meanwhile almost half of the delegates to the Australian Labor Party's 44^th national conference concur that extracting and exporting uranium from three mines is acceptable but more than that is heinous.

Mr Howard having painted himself into a corner and needing to keep on side with the mining industry has decided to claim that only nuclear power can meet the nation's future energy needs and reduce its emissions of greenhouse gases to acceptable levels, whatever that may mean, since he has yet to set any target. He hardly looks credible when he cites no data to back up his sweeping statement particularly considering that Denmark already gets over 20% of its electrical energy from wind turbines while Australia has solar, wind, tidal and geothermal energy at its beckon call, should it choose to develop them, but has no nuclear energy infrastructure, would need a minimum of ten years to get its first nuclear power plant up and running and would require extensive government subsidisation.

On the other hand Labor's no more uranium mines stalwarts are comparably illogical. Apparently it's morally and ethically acceptable to export some 10-11 thousand tonnes of U₃O₈ per annum with an FOB value of $500-600 million per annum from three mines, but heinous to extract and export it from four or five mines. Perhaps analogous to considering a woman three months pregnant with an illegitimate child to be socially acceptable but at four months she becomes a fallen woman.

Compared to export earnings from coal, near $25 billion per annum, it amounts to 2%.

Surely the appropriate course would be for a federal Labor government to phase out over several years all uranium exports and close the three mines currently in operation. There is no question that from the viewpoint of the nation's economy it would be affordable, and those individuals directly affected should be properly compensated and relocated where appropriate.

Otherwise, allowing the possibility they may assume government later in the year would they please just get on with developing the policies that will be in the best medium and long term interests of the nation.

Source: ABARE Australian Commodities

Alex Reisner

The Funneled Web