Inveterate bandwagon jumper Caroline Le Couteur has called for the ACT Government to develop a peak oil strategy.
“It’s incredible that there is not a single reference to ‘peak oil’ in any of the Government’s major planning, transport, infrastructure or climate change plans”, said Caroline Le Couteur.“The Canberra Liberals confirmed their credentials as fossil fuel fossils – indicating that they don’t believe that oil is finite. This puts them on the ultra-conservative fringe and shows that they have no plan to prepare our city for the future.“Canberra is highly vulnerable to peak oil. We’re talking about problems like decreased mobility, disruptions to the supply chain, cost of living increases, disruptions to government services, and significant impacts on residents in Canberra’s outer suburbs, who are highly vulnerable to high fuel prices.
“Preparing Canberra for peak oil will be a great test for political parties who claim to be concerned about cost of living pressures. If we do nothing now, we will condemn Canberrans to massively rising costs and severely decreased mobility.
”The Greens are calling on the ACT Government to immediately develop an ACT plan to respond to the challenge of peak oil and ensure Canberra can become a thriving, resilient and sustainable community when we no longer rely on oil.
“The solutions are obvious to Governments with the courage to take them, and they require commitments to a first class public transport system, leadership in sustainable planning, and a new focus on local production, especially food production.
“Peak oil also presents an opportunity to remodel our city into one that is resilient, sustainable, affordable, well planned, and easy to travel around. That is the Greens’ vision,” Ms Le Couteur said.
My suspicion is that as oil becomes more expensive alternatives will be used, electric cars springing to mind, but also coal conversion at certain price points if there is no carbon price.
But perhaps Government should be thinking though what they’re going to do with their bus fleet if the price of oil will indeed keep rising?