Climate debate rages
I would like to have the opportunity to respond to Greg Daly's letter titled "Climate Debate Rages".
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I appreciate that Mr Daly did not chose the title but it is rather appropriate for his letter.
Mr Daly does not address any of the issues I raised in my letter ie that the climate is warming, that CO2 levels are increasing in part due to human activity, that climate scientists theorise that there is a link between rising CO2 levels and global warming and have predicted for over 30 years that as the world warms there will be an increasing number of severe adverse weather events.
Instead he focuses on a personal attack questioning my intelligence, my 'kindergarten lore" and my mental status asserting that I am hallucinating. This type of rage contributes little to a civilised debate. He is not the first to note that I am geographically challenged.
I apologise to your readers for stating that our pm was holidaying in Fiji when he was in fact relaxing in Hawaii while our country was burning on an unprecedented scale.
Fortunately for me as the ice sheets melt and the sea levels rise there will be fewer Pacific Islands and countries to remember. Not so good for the world and humanity though.
Albert Einstein, a man whose intelligence was beyond question, wrote that "insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results". I think it would be wise to be listening to and acting on the advice of climate scientists, not self-proclaimed experts and encourage our leaders to change direction.
Our local member recently was reported as stating that no one in New England is talking to him about climate change. As of today this is a claim he can no longer honestly make.
Steve May, Tamworth
Gas conflict
There is an ongoing conflict between the Santos proposal to extract gas from the Narrabri gas field and those that are concerned about harm to groundwater reserves. I wish to suggest a resolution.
An approved and independent panel should develop a clear set of stringent requirements for the protection of the environment.
As Santos is confident that no harm will come to the water supply, they will guarantee a sizeable ($1 billion) amount to remediate a first breach of the standards. A second breach will trigger a guaranteed $2 billion payment. A third strike will close the project.
This proposal would stimulate Santos to be extremely confident they will never breach the standards. The decision panel has independence and the amounts of money involved should ensure that problems can be remediated. Is there support for such an approach?
Peter Finlayson, Tamworth
Television advertising
To all the advertisers who advertise on TV during sporting games. I would suggest that during the game they simply put "this coverage is being brought to you by ...." instead of interrupting the game with a full advertisement.
Most people would then be more likely to be like me and watch the event. I am not nearly as likely to watch an event if I know that it is going to be interrupted by advertisements.
The only advantage of an advertisement being in during the game is the opportunity to go to the toilet. And then you don't see the advertisement.
Bill Hoolihan, Oberon
Not for all
I'm sure that Scott Morrison didn't actually say his coalition team was governing for ALL Australia so people should stop complaining when its members only favour certain electorates-he didn't say they wouldn't.
Ces Ledwos, Tamworth
Burning coal
Jan Kleeman's letter (While Australia Burns 9/1/2020, NDL) is yet another example of what's becoming a new national sport in Australia, blaming conservative politicians for the weather, pretending that Australian politicians alone are responsible for the global climate (ignoring the much higher emissions of other countries) and drawing dubious links between only our emissions and recent natural disasters.
Underlying all this is the unspoken refusal to accept the results of the last election.
The pile on we see from the Left these days isn't really about the climate, instead the constant abuse and slander directed at the government is all motivated by the inability of the Left to accept how the last election went.
Their anger is not really with supposed lack of action on climate change, their anger is with democracy and how people voted.
Jan Kleeman criticizes our politicians for wanting to sell coal to India, but of course doesn't criticise India for wanting our coal, not address why they want it, how India sees coal power as a way to provide electricity to millions living in poverty.
Many Indians burn cow dung and rubbish to heat their homes, and that poisons and kills many of them. That's no joke, it's a serious problem.
Yet the plight of millions of Indians is of no concern to climate activists, nor is the jobs of people working in the mining industry.
The anti-coal crusade disregards the millions of people who need coal power to raise their quality of life.
Daniel Peckham, Tamworth
Railway floodplain
When Barnaby Joyce led the National Party, he inflicted a mad plan for an inland railway onto the Australian taxpayer. Ever since, there have been protests about the route. The loudest protests have come from Queensland farmers and graziers concerned about this railway going across the floodplain of the Condamine River.
Barnaby Joyce was serenely confident that the drought would never end, so he never worried. He was no longer a Senator for Queensland anyway. But the recent rain has already caused minor flooding east of Warwick, and of course that water will flow to the floodplain further west in a short time. Once there, it will flow on only very slowly.
While it's doing so, the Bureau of Meteorology tells that two or three cyclones will head for south-east Queensland.
Even if only one of them arrives, it can be relied on to dump a lot more rain into the Condamine's catchment. This will quickly and greatly increase the amount of water on the Condamine floodplain.
Barnaby Joyce is nothing but a backbencher these days, so he can't be expected to say what the government will do about this. But perhaps National Party Leader Michael McCormack could tell us just how Barnaby Joyce's railway across a floodplain will be affected by floodwater. And just how much the taxpayer will have to fork out yet again for Barnaby Joyce's madness.
Grant Agnew, Coopers Plains QLD