Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
view, the two requirements of emission reduction and energy amenity are
contradictory.
The only hope in resolving the dilemma is a rapid move to renewable
energy and away from a fossil fuel-based economy as well as a full-scale
effort to limit population growth in the most humane, non-coercive ways
possible. Achievement of the necessary reductions in emissions would be
significantly easier without an extra two billion consumers. Even though
these consumers will use less energy per capita than had they been born in
the developed world, the added emissions will be significant. They may be
forced to use 'dirty' energy like brown coal, or cheap energy such as fire-
wood, because it will be a while before they can benefit from technologically
advanced, energy efficient systems currently being developed.
We in the developed world must curtail our use of fossil fuel. Business-
as-usual is simply untenable since climate change from even a two degree
Centigrade increase will wreak havoc. A five or six degree increase will see
the likelihood of a Permian-style extinction that saw 95 per cent of species
obliterated from the face of the Earth. There can be no other course but to
reduce emissions significantly and stabilise the atmosphere. Continued pop-
ulation growth, whether here or in the developing world, works against
achieving this critical objective.
Work
John Burgess and Julia Connell (Chapter 10) report that over one million
people in Australia are currently unemployed, underemployed or in hidden
employment. This could be addressed by taking some of the work away from
those who are currently over-worked through shorter working weeks, job-
sharing or other measures. But it also suggests that there are too many
people or workers for the jobs currently available. This is likely to change
with ageing of the population when there may be insufficient workers, but it
is not the case now despite a few specific areas of skills shortage.
Nevertheless, the Howard Government has already adopted an aggressive
stance towards importing workers rather than waiting until they are really
needed. It has significantly increased skilled immigration (another 5000 on
top of the current 61 000 in April 2004) although the humanitarian stream
(around 12 000) remains almost untouched (ABS 2004). 'Skills' include eve-
rything from plasterers and hairdressers to neurosurgeons. Most could and
indeed should be trained in Australia, were sufficient resources diverted to
