The Case for the NEG - Flawed?

Not so funny (might have to click on the mute icon to get sound).

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Interesting comment just now by Barry Cassidy on ABC’s Insiders program. Turnbull, he said, has “scrambled the NEG”. :grin:

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Yes, it was Barry at his best.
Only has the scrambled Negs turned into a Spanish Omelette?
And Malcom’s mate Tony has now refused to eat his portion cause he ordered his Negs flipped. Definitely not ‘sun’-ee side up!

So it will be no Negs for anyone?
Not sure if this has been a victory for common sense or a pause pending changes in the kitchen?

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I wonder whether this will help clarify or obfuscate the situation 


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It might end up like Petrol Pricing
Lip service perhaps??

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A quick read and look at the terms of reference failed to find a requiremant on the ACCC to do more than report. It may not make any difference how well or ‘unwell’ it does the job.

Factually electricity generation and supply is an area of state government responsibility. Meeting climate change targets is an international undertaking in the area of responsibility of the Federal Government.
Perhaps each should prioritise action on what constitutionally it has responsibility for?

Hence the NEG, which has tried to connect all the dots and simultaneously blurred all the lines makes a camel appear angelic in it’s beauty.

Will consumers become stuck in the middle between Federal and State Governments all with differing positions?

In the extreme the biggest risk may be that power generating states with surplus capacity may simply walk away and deal with their own consumers despite national interest. And adopt a carbon policy reflective of their needs.

There is a possible crisis in that NSW does not now have sufficient generating capacity and needs to import up to 20% of it’s electricity. This could leave NSW consumers exposed and needing to pay much more. One more reason for a focus on AGL Liddell power station closure. The rest is political conjecture on how this might play out between states and a federal parliament of differing colours.

https://reneweconomy.com.au/nem-watch/

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Treasurer Scott Morrison insists the NEG “not at all dead”, 


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Looks like the NEG is now officially an “ex-policy”. The death certificate will be issued next week.

Per the ABC Insiders program this morning Josh Frydenberg told Barry that the focus would now be on reliability of supply and lower power bills for consumers. More amazingly the government would put lower prices and reliability ahead of the environment. The government’s position was that the environmental emissions would not be dealt with as part of electricity supply.

There was a more complex response from the Minister on the government’s environmental policies. It may be too hard to summarise it for consumption on these pages without causing someone offence. The ABC still has funding to provide their catch up service if you are keen. Catch it while you can!

This model appears to be similar to other countries such as the US. Maybe the approach is do as others do rather than do it alone.

I suppose with the shoe on the other foot, reliability and price will drive the best options for the long term delivery of electricity to customers. The most competitive and reliable electricity generation sources, what ever they look like, will also need to consider other legislative obligations, such as the environment.

That rings a bell. Ah yes:

Every three or four years, their population drops to near extinction only to skyrocket again, but the ebb and flow is a result of migration in large groups, which can include jumping off cliffs into the water and swimming great distances to the point of exhaustion and even death.

http://www.animalplanet.com/wild-animals/do-lemmings-commit-suicide/

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Fortunately we aren’t lemmings (and even the link says that lemmings committing suicide is a myth).

Being an optimist, to date science and engineering has been able to over come events such to prevent such catastrophes.

Most collapses in animal population numbers have been due to either disease, depleted food supplies (population gets so large that it places pressure on food production) or dramatic and rapid change in environmental conditions (such as the extinction of the dinosaurs or a major tectonic/volcanic event).

But they still die by following each other. You advocate blindly following the leader. That’s pretty good evidence that you’d have us act like lemmings.

We only die once. The fact that it hasn’t happened “to date” doesn’t change the probability.

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Indeed. Unless there is a major effort by big polluters, China, India, USA, etc that is just where we are heading. If it takes 100 years that is more than rapid, it is an eye blink in such time scales.

This is the point that is missed by those who argue that climate has changed before. Yes it has but those major ice-age shifts took millions of years and the lesser glacial periods tens of thousands. The speed is a crucial factor in whether the ecology adapts or collapses.

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The variable that gets tip toed around is the influence of self serving pollies who get elected and re-elected, and especially the current mobs of incredibly ignorant self serving pollies that pander to nothing or anyone except their equally ignorant but angry and raging followers who feel disenfranchised, left behind, disrespected, and without true voices; and their political donors.

Not at all unique to Australia but I sometimes wonder whether ‘we’ are a follower or a global leader of questionable governance. I yield the US has taken the concept to new levels heretofore not imagined by what is supposed to be an educated electorate.

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This list appears to leave out a few other now very common and more modern day causes.

One option is predation, usually to extinction. We have done a great job going back to before the days of the Roman Empire with European Lions and Bears. Even the Dodo which was harmless and reportedly not that bright or the NZ Moa all failed the test.

Another option is displacement or removal of habitat for some other use. We appear to have perfected that. Some would argue we have moved on to similar principles for managing refugees.

For all else there are our friends and helpers, the Fox, the feral cat, Mr Toad and many more.

But I think we already knew all of that.

Closer to topic, while it’s not my personal preferred outcome I await the coming report, review or what ever will be used to justify a new coal fired power station to replace Liddell/Bayswater so that NSW does not run out of electricity. Which is half Ok if it is built in NSW and paid for by NSW. Suspicion is it will be announced before the upcoming Federal Election, to be built in Qld and paid for by all the states through Commonwealth funding from our taxes. And it will be a not so dirty coal design, HELE, which is just a normal design that burns low sulphur, low ash, premium quality coal. Read expensive coal.

There is also an outside chance AGL will refurb Bayswater with new boilers to run on natural gas which will halve the CO2 compared with coal. Which will also build a case for more fracking to supply the gas. Watch the spot around the NSW election next year.

Apologies if this lacks supporting facts and references. It is offered with the same degree of rigour as was used in developing the penultimate version of the NEG!

It’s alive!

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:bulb: The NEG is dead, “long live the NEG”?

In my mind a bit like awakening a patient from a coma. :ambulance:. You are never quite sure of the outcome?

Even then it may only have another ten days of life left in it?

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A frozen corpse can be a very effective weapon.

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 I’m thinking politicians. Lightly frozen, then on the business end of a BM?