The Nationals, not dead yet, but lets keep hoping

Ballan News
Thursday 18/1/2007 Page: 10
By Jon Rivers

LEADER of The Nationals Peter Ryan recently said the decision to approve the 52- turbine Bald Hills wind farm was another example of city-based politicians over-riding the concerns of a country community.

Well, what about the environment and our children's future, don't they matter? This just goes to show that the leader of the Nationals, Peter Ryan is an environmental vandal and should go back to Gippsland, crawl up in a hole and disappear for good. The community does not need politicians like Peter Ryan any more. Peter Ryan is well past his use by date and if Peter's opinion reflects the views of the National party, the community does not need the National party anymore either.

It's about time our politicians took the environment and the world we live in seriously. They need to stop being self centering and only being concerned for their own pathetic political hide views and take a broader view on life and the world we live in.

Mr Ryan then went on to say that the Nationals are not opposed to renewable energy but believe the views of the local community should be taken into account." What he actually said was that it was all too hard, he needs to play to populist opinion, and to save his political hide he will do whatever it takes, bugger the environment.

Ted Baillieu, the State liberal leader is no different on the environmental front.

We need to start taking renewable energy, water and the environment seriously. We cannot afford to keep doing things, the same things, over and over again, or we will keep getting what we have always got.

Throttling back the fossilfueled power plants will save us the economic and environmental costs of burning polluting fuels. By using wind energy to power our homes and businesses, we can strengthen our energy independence and lessen our reliance on fossil fuels. Greater fuel diversity protects us against price surges due to fuel supply problems or economic and political conflicts.

Wind energy provides more jobs per unit of energy produced than any other form of energy. Wind turbines provide financial benefits to farmers and other landowners who lease the land wind farms are built on. The lease payments help bolster their incomes and the farmers are still able to use their land for farming. Wind farms pay significant dollars in property taxes to the communities in which they are located. Wind energy technology is also scalable in nature, making it well suited for energy applications large or small. Its relatively simple design also makes for short construction lead times, providing yet another advantage over traditional power plants.

Australia needs a strong wind farm industry, there are no negatives with a wind farm industry. The second thing we need is a strong Nuclear industry so that we can turn off the dirty brown coal powered stations in Gippsland.

If we do not do this then we will leave our children a world, much uglier than it is now and they will be the ones that have to live with the sins of our indecisions. poor planning and poor understanding of the environment around us.

Mr Ryan then went on to say that "The government should be focusing on a broader range of measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions rather than inflicting these inefficient wind turbines, on rural communities." Perhaps the first thing the Victorian state labor government should do is to develop a Nuclear industry, and turn off the filthy coal fired power stations in Gippsland were Peter comes from.

Given Peter Ryan's urge for the current state government to focus on a broader range of measures to reduce greenhouse gases, I am sure Peter will be in full support of this proposal to reduce green house gases.

Perhaps, just once he could do something positive for the environment.