Shifting the world’s energy dependence from coal won’t be achieved by cutting off supply – its about playing the long game to curb demand. But is anyone willing to do the hard yards?

I read an article by columnist David McKnight of the Melbourne Age, blaming Australia’s export of coal to the CO2 powerhouses of China and India for polluting our planet. His reasoning was that by making coal easily available to these countries, we are encouraging their ‘filthy behaviour’ and walking into a ‘grubby future’. It made me incredibly frustrated by this kind of thinking and how is pervades discussions on climate change. This kind of hyperbole represents a conversational laziness on the subject - where most in this space think the easiest and quickest solution is the best. They claim that Australia, tipped the be the largest exporter of the cleanest coal in the world by 2017, should simply stop shipping the hundreds of millions of tonnes of the affordable and high quality energy product to these countries, incorrectly assuming that it will solve this gargantuan problem immediately.

Australia can stop shipping coal, but they’re not likely to stop burning it anytime soon. So they’ll buy it from us, or Russia, or USA – because both China and India (the world’s largest and fastest growing economies) rely on coal for energy production to the tune of 80% of all electricity supplied to businesses and homes. And ongoing industrialisation, urbanisation and the cracking pace of economic growth in these countries speaks to a robust and growing coal demand decades in the future.

Its hardly worth discussing the size and seriousness of the coal industry in Australia as it seems to be moot point in these one-sided discussions – the 200,000 people it employs, the $60billion it adds to our national bottom line, the 75% of electricity it supplies to Australians, or the fact that Australia exports the cleanest and highest quality coal products available on the planet, mined in the most sustainable, safe and modern ways. Because the arguments about shutting down our coal mines speak in reductive absolutes – like a straight ban on coal mining and exports is the fastest way to solve the world's alarming reliance on huge volumes of energy. Stop it at the source, they shout. That will fix the problem!

The problem is so complex that these stupidly simple views speak to an ignorance and unwillingness to address the bigger and more systemic issues at play. The problem is our individual consumption of energy and our wasteful energy practices across businesses and households. Or the incentivisation and practicality of investment into renewable energy sources with their incredibly high cost of development, and the enormous amount of time and innovation it takes to make these energy sources profitable, efficient and cost effective. Or the fact that Australia’s economic growth is underpinned by affordable energy sources feeding businesses, manufacturing and production and any increase in the cost of doing business here is pushing us closer and closer to global price irrelevancy – as we struggle to compete with our more economically lithe global competitors across every single industry.

Environmental group 350.org, who has targeted the Carmichael Mine and Abbott Point Port expansion heavily in social and mass media campaigns, has also started a campaign to inspire the divestment of $50 billion worth of stocks in fossil fuels and coal mining companies, on the belief it forces them into change, starting a bonfire of rhetoric between climate change groups. Other organisations with a similar bent are against this strategy – saying that the only way to force companies into developing sustainable practices or fossil fuel alternatives is by holding stocks and being an active shareholder. “The idea that shaming an industry will somehow reduce greenhouse gas emissions is not correct,” says Jonathan Naimon, managing director of Light Green Advisors, a New York asset management firm that specialises in environmental sustainability investing, speaking in an article on ft.com. “It isn’t like divestors are bringing any solutions to the table.”

Protestors across Australia have resorted to a range of salicious tactics to protest coal mines recently, including locking themselves to earthmoving equipment at Maules Creek, camping on coal rail lines in Northern NSW and staging a nude protest outside of coal mines. While this does effectively put the groups’ agenda in the media for one news cycle, it doesn’t address the issue of changes to energy consumption behaviour, or the willingness or available capital from investors and industries to find clean, affordable alternatives and smacks entirely of a campaign to ‘raise awareness’ in the hope that someone else figures out a way to solve the problem.

Nude Coal Mining Protests in NSW

These are presumably the same people who continue to power their homes, watch TV and drive cars – the majority of energy for which still comes from fossil fuels and may for decades from now. I usually hate resorting to this argument, as its a cheap way of attacking climate change groups' credibility but it clearly makes my point – that we all have a responsibility here and its very easy to point the finger in another’s direction. These activists are concerned about climate change and naturally want to do something positive to affect change in our society – and proactive individuals in our democracy shouldn’t be discouraged – but there is ‘productive change’ and ‘leading by example’, and practical and long-term strategic ways this problem can be tackled and talked about that doesn’t involve pitching a tent on a railway line, or stripping nude to grab headlines. Raising awareness isn’t enough – go out there and do something about it or at least start talking about the real problems in a bid to affect long-term change on a human and individual business level. Address the issue of demand first, then there will be a corresponding reduction in supply.

Renewable alternatives are decades away from being mature enough, economical, efficient or cost-effective to supply our gargantuan requirement for power here and overseas. So banning the coal industry when there is currently no viable alternative is entirely premature and an incredibly dangerous proposition for Australia.

Instead of constantly talking about what we shouldn’t be doing, lets start talking about what we should be doing. Instead of pointing one giant finger at a single industry – why don’t we look closer to home on the daily things we can be doing to reduce our reliance on energy. Let’s talk about real ways to incentivise development of renewables, let’s re-look at Uranium Mining through a unemotional, rational and factual lens, let's redress nuclear power and work to overcome its safety challenges, let's foster innovation in the renewable energy in schools, the media, business and industry and lets make sure that the coal we are mining and exporting, is done so in the cleanest possible way until a better solution is developed and implemented.

And while we're all at it, let's jump up and turn off a light.

Image source: Abc.net.au,

Other Sources: Ft.com, 350.org, Australians for Coal, Australian Mining, Forbes, The Age, ABC.