I am not surprised by this week's ousting of yet another Prime Minister in Australia - the fading glory of the ultra-conservatives lashing out was all too predictable.  However it comes at a time when clear and focused policies need to be put in place to save not only Australia, but humanity.  We are at a tipping point - actually two, one good, one bad.  The bad tipping point is that if we don't do something about climate change we are going to be too late to stave off the worst of its effects.  The good is that there has never been a better time to actually do something about it.

Solar PV (Photo Voltaic - or the direct conversion of sunlight to electricity) is at an all-time high, generating jobs across the globe.  Even better, it generates jobs in rural and regional communities.  Battery storage systems are now being deployed at grid-scale for stabilisation and time-shifting of available renewables.  Software to be able to directly provide demand-side responses to the cleanliness of the grid are now becoming available.  All of these together, along with wind and hydro, are coming at prices that undercut fossil fuels and make mincemeat of the arguments of the right that we can't have reliable power without fossil fuels.  The South Australian grid-scale battery storage system has already saved that goverment millions of dollars just in grid stabilisation services, besides what it offers in time-shifting of demand for renewables.

To the politicians of Australia, why are you so tightly linked to the fossil economy?  What dirt do they have on you that you are scared to go against them?  Sure they provide heaps of funds for your election, but aren't you supposed to be governing for all Australians, and not just those with deep pockets (and deeper holes in the ground)?  Surely even you can see that renewables provides better jobs growth than mining, and the related jobs in IT and tech to fine tune and realise the fullest potential are just off the scale when comparing to mining - which is becoming more and more automated, meaning less and less jobs.

Some of the biggest users of electricty on the globe are moving rapidly away from fossil fuels, many with idealism, but mostly because of pragmatism - it is far cheaper and it is easier to create meaningful change in emissions in the energy market.  How is it that you've missed the boat on that?  There are 3 states in the US actively pursuing virtual grid-scale batteries (similar to the proposal that South Australia had before the change of government) while there are at least 5 others lining up behind them to see how they go.  And I'm not talking small states here - I'm talking about some of the largest economies in the US.  All of the top US tech and retail giants have moved to or are moving to 100% renewable energy, and many are demanding it in their supply chain.  Yet here in Australia we still think that burning dead dinosaurs is the future.  It isn't.  It isn't even the present.  It is the past.  Get over it. Catch up with what the state of the art is - and it isn't that oxymoron "clean coal".

I'm currently working with some fantastic people whose software can virtually eliminate carbon from the grid based on modifying demand.  It is exciting to see that some of the biggest electricity users, and grid operators, are looking at this to enable their future.  Yet in Australia our politicians don't even give a damn about farmers going bankrupt due to drought, because if they are bankrupt they can't bankroll your election fund.  To the voters of Australia - demand your right to a livable planet, if not for you, for the next generation.  Knock on your local member's door and demand that they stop pandering to coal and start doing the right thing.