Recently, as I perused the cover of a local news rag, I spotted an article lamenting state government decisions that were 'endangering' the jobs of coal miners. In this article was a substantial presupposition: that coal jobs are worth saving.
It is undeniable that, for better and worse, our society would not be where it is today without fossil fuels. Coal and petroleum-based products have, for many generations now, powered our society and allowed us to reach vast technological heights. What we have developed since the 1800s would have seemed, to pre-industrial societies, to be like magic.
Despite this, there is also no denying that coal-fired power stations are antiquated. Coal-fired power is, in fact, worse than some benign vestigial hangover; it is slowly-but-surely destroying our planet. Even if we take into account so-called 'clean' coal technology, it would be lunacy to continue burning our finite fossil fuels when we have cheaper, cleaner, and more quickly-dispatched options (that we won't eventually run out of). We have a moral obligation to act decisively in moving away from coal-fired power and to renewables as we rapidly approach key climate tipping points.
One of Australia's biggest impediments in this regard is the persistent myth that subsidising coal mines is the only way to pump life back into dying rural communities. This is not the case, even though the myth strongly contributed to the Coalition's narrow victory in Queensland during the last federal election (specifically with relation to the Adani mine). While mining's contribution to our economy is not insignificant, all mining still constitutes less than ten per cent of Australia's GDP. Thermal coal mining is a further fraction of this.
It is important to note that, in this discussion, miners are not the enemy. In fact, those who once worked in mining are a key element to implementing the change required. After all, renewable energy isn't going to build and maintain itself. Our existing coal-fired power stations are starting to reach the end of their life cycle — some sooner than planned — and many countries are rapidly divesting from coal. Subsequently, we owe it to our nation’s workers to act responsibly and plan for the future.
This won’t be easy; we will have to completely rethink our power grid. Instead of a highly-centralised model, where we receive nearly all of our power from huge power stations, the network will have to become more distributed. Individuals and local