The Electric Highway – A Fuelish Policy
By: Admin - Climate DepotDecember 8, 2021 3:30 PM
By Viv Forbes
Scott Morrison has had another green brainwave – spend a zillion dollars to build Australia’s electric/hydrogen highway. Naturally, this Fuelish Policy will be supported and accelerated by the Greens/ALP coalition.
They all need to study the history of transport in Australia.
Soon after the First Fleet landed, explorers, prospectors and settlers headed inland seeking grasslands, timber and minerals. Often they followed ancient aboriginal trade routes to discover the best waterholes, river crossings and gaps in the ranges. No governments surveyed their routes, graded their roads, or established stores of hay, grain, water and billy tea along the tracks to re-charge the batteries of their horses, donkeys, bullocks, passengers and drivers.
Feeling left out of this exuberant private road creation, financed mainly by gold, copper, wool and butter, colonial governments rushed to join the steam railway revolution then sweeping the world. Enterprising Americans opened their Transcontinental Railway in the 1860’s, crossing 12 states with one rail gauge to link Atlantic and Pacific America. In Australia, private companies started building rail lines in the 1830’s but instead of standing aside to let it happen, as America did, parochial Australian politicians and their friends saddled us with three main railway gauges – “Narrow” in Queensland, “Standard” in NSW and “Broad” in Victoria. All were powered by hydrocarbons – coal, wood, oil, diesel-powered electric and coal-powered electric.
https://www.climatedepot.com/2021/12/08/the-electric-highway-a-fuelish-policy/
