The big lumps fuelling Liddell

I told you how the National party at their national conference on the weekend were determined that no one should think them in favour of renewable energy, with all the fear and suspicion of Lyle Shelton worrying people will think he's gay.

Not to be outdone, their Coalition government partners are working to show the universe what a great future there is in coal by trying to extend the working life of the ageing and increasingly obsolete coal fired Liddell power station in the upper Hunter Valley, long after its owner, AGL, was set to close the thing. 

Liddell has been working well below capacity for many years as it reaches the end of its working life and coal becomes an increasingly expensive and outmoded form of power generation. 

It's also permanently killed Lake Liddell, in a major blow
for local tourism. Coal, so good for humanity.

Any forward thinking government would be looking at cheaper, more efficient forms of energy generation, but the Libs are determined that AGL must be kept open if not sold as a going concern, with the head of AGL summoned to the PM's office for a dressing down. 

Like a creepy ex, they just won't let go of coal long after it's over; I half expect energy minister Josh Frydenberg to set up a piano outside Liddell, vowing to keep playing until it promises to stay open forever (preferably letting him do a tour with a photo op in a hard hat).  

Yes, Australia is running low on energy generation, with blackouts predicted this summer. But it's not because of "greenies" preventing coal fired power stations. It's because coal is dead, obsolete technology, but instead of admitting that to themselves and the nation and looking at renewable energy, the government are in massive denial, clinging to the pant leg of fossil fuels and secretly hoping deep down they get voted out of office before all this really gets to be a problem - and it will be a big problem if this goes on. 

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