73 — Dispatchable planet

We chat about hangovers, what's up with the energy sector (and who's getting the handouts), and the government simply refuses to deliver a vaccine.

 

Hangovers

• It was RAHU’s first birthday!
• Shoutout to the Renewables in Agriculture Conference.

Energy sector

• The International Energy Agency dropped a new report saying that fossil fuels are bad.
• Climate change-denying former Federal Minister for Finance Mathias Cormann was elected as head of the OECD.
• The “Green Energy Fund” can now be used to fund fossil fuels.
• The Australian government is funding a new $600 million gas power plant.
• The power plant will run at about 2% capacity, about 150 hours per year.
• Luckily, it looks like it will just be a chance to hand money to donors.
• Jeff McCloy, owner of the land that is flagged for the plant, is a major liberal party donor.
• He was the the only “stakeholder” to objected to land protections koalas.
• Update: Oh also he has known the head of the company responsible for the project for 20 years.
• The world’s seven largest economies have agreed to stop funding coal projects.
• The Labor party have found it very difficult to criticise the government.

Keith Pitts

• Keith Pitt, minister for Resources, Water, and Northern Australia has vetoed a wind/batter power station near Cairns.
• Keith Pitt is a battery denier.
• The Queensland state government has stepped in and provided funding instead.

Delivering a vaccine

• The government is continuing to fuck up the vaccine rollout. Only 25% of aged care workers and 4% of people in disability care facilities.
• If you want a vaccine, you can pretty much get one now.
• Update: Nope.
• The media is reframing the botched vaccine rollout as instead that people are afraid of getting the vaccine. Shoutout to Health Nerd on Twitter for pointing out that this isn’t really what the data says.

Big wins!

• Deliveroo has lost a case against the Fair Work Commission, now holding up that their workers should be defined as employees instead of contractors.
• Shoutout to the Transport Workers Union and Diego Franco for winning this case!
• Solidarity with the staff at Better Read than Dead who have entered into bargaining talks with management, after previously being met with threats of termination.
• Congrats to the Save the Inks campaign for pushing back on QLD’s restrictions!