If you drink coffee, then you can't sit around and talk about the death of coal, since your barista machine has probably been paid for by the exports of coal.
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That was one of the messages then Acting Prime Minister Michael McCormack had when he visited the Lithgow region on Monday, June 14.
Mr McCormack spoke on the issue of climate change, renewable energy and the part the coal industry plays in Australia which was brought up at the G7 summit.
"We will do what is right for Australian households and farms so they don't have to pay anymore for electricity then they otherwise should have to," he said.
"We want to make sure we have a manufacturing sector in Australia and it is all well and good for other countries in the world to have these outcomes and these determinations. That's for them to decide and we will decide what is best for Australia and Australia's national interest."
McCormack has since been ousted as leader of the National Party and his role as Deputy PM.
Nature Conservation Council Chief Executive Chris Gambian said that Australians should decide what's in their best interests but that's not happening right now.
"The federal government is out of step with most Australians, who have consistently said they want action on climate change," he said.
"No one is pretending that the transition to clean energy isn't a big challenge for Lithgow and other communities. But the challenge posed by climate change is event bigger."
Mr Gambian said that the next generation would be let down if the current government doesn't face up to these challenges.
"Global warming was a crucial factor that made the Gospers Mountain fire so intense, burning right to the edge of Lithgow 18 months ago," he said.
"It is clearly in the interests of everyone who lives in Lithgow that we tackle climate change as quickly as possible and not kick the can down the road again for another few decades."
In an article with ABC Fact Check titled "Malcolm Turnbull says renewables plus storage are cheaper than coal and nuclear for new power generation. Is he correct?" Director of the Energy Change Institute at the Australian National University, Ken Baldwin, said "If you are going to build a new, electricity generating source ... to provide an equivalent amount of power ... the cheapest way to do it is with renewable energy and at this stage probably most likely wind, with solar not far behind."
"To build a new coal-fired power station will be more expensive, and similarly with a nuclear power station."
Mr Gambian said the best thing residents can do to keep downward pressure on power prices is to build more renewables and storage and link it all up through a more integrated transmission grid.
"Renewables and storage are not only good for the climate, they are good for your wallet. Wind and solar with storage have been the cheapest form of new generation for several years now," he said.
Mr McCormack said that Australia's emissions are at record lows.
"Already we have the highest take up rate of solar rooftops and I am pleased to say being from a regional member and I know my colleagues behind me, liberal and nationals are all from regional areas," he said.
According to a report by the Australian Government Australia's emissions in the year to December 2020 were 20.1% below emissions in the year to June 2005.
According to ANU Professor Andrew Blakers, the region around Lithgow, Bathurst and Goulburn has abundant wind, solar and pumped hydro potential and 'could see up to $40 billion in investment over the next ten years.
Greg Mortimer, Chair of the Lithgow Community Power Project said Lithgow was poised to become an energy super region with amazing opportunities for investment.
"No political party has helped the workers and people of Lithgow with the transition process that we are living through. The Lithgow Community Power Project is doing everything it can to highlight the potential for new industries to replace jobs lost as coal is priced out of the market," he said.
"For all its good work in the renewable energy field, the NSW Government refuses to include Lithgow in the newly created Central West Orana Renewable Energy Zone.
"We are strongly supporting the Council's push for a Lithgow Renewable Energy Zone."
Mr Gambian said that Australia was a global pariah in the race to reduce greenhouse pollution.
"PM Scott Morrison's climate target is half as ambitious as what the G7 countries agreed," he said.
"Even the G7 target of halving emissions this decade is insufficient to avoid catastrophic, irreversible climate change."
Mr McCormack said regional Australia was playing to leading role in making sure Australia lowers emissions.
"Regional Australia is making the leading role in producing energy in all those outcomes so regional Australia has the biggest part to play and have a say in this and they will continue to do this," he said.
Mr Gambian agreed with the statement made by the Acting Prime Minister.
"That's true. Large-scale solar, wind projects storage projects are mostly in regional Australia. Billions of dollars are flowing to regional areas to construct and maintain these facilities," he said.
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"That includes Lithgow, where significant investments are planned in grid-scale batteries and pumped hydro."
When asked about the future of coal fire power in Australia, Mr McCormack seemed to believe that....
"Two thirds of our energy comes from coal, 55 thousand people are employed in the coal industry and $66 billion of exports pay for a lot of our hospitals, pays for a lot of schools, pays for a lot of the barista machines that produces the coffee that inner city types sit around and drink and talk about the death of coal," he said.
The International Energy Agency's Net Zero by 2050 report states that unabated coal power stations must be phased out in advanced economies by 2030, and all countries by 2040.
Mr Gambian said that Mr McCormack was overlooking the fact that renewables were rapidly replacing coal.
"In the last decade, three NSW coal-fired power stations closed: Wallerawang, Munmorah and Redbank," he said.
"The International Energy Agency has advised the remaining five coal-fired power stations, including Mount Piper, must close by 2035 to ensure NSW plays its part in avoiding extreme climate change."
Mr Gambian predicts that the amount of workers in the renewable energy sector will be comparable to the entire coal workforce if the sector expands as fast as predicted.
"Renewable energy can play a critical role in transition for coal regions, but to do that communities like Lithgow need comprehensive plans for industry diversification and investment to realise these opportunities," he said.
"Unfortunately, state and federal governments are letting down Lithgow and other coal communities by failing to develop robust plans for the future."
Mr McCormack said that he, like many others, believes that coal has a part to play for many more years to come, while Mr Gambian said that coal is in a rapid decline.
"Everyone agrees coal will continue to play a role, but for how long? Scenarios in NSW Treasury's intergenerational report forecast coal production in NSW could end within 20 years as the shift towards clean energy picks up pace," Mr Gambian said.
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