Does anybody dispute that renewable energy was more expensive than coal & natgas in 2011? At this point, those windmills are sunk costs and the only relevant cost is the maintenance costs. Which are not insignificant, but they're lower than the price of fuel for thermal plants.
2025 costs for renewable are very different than costs were in 2011-2013, making that document irrelevant.
Imagine thinking the fossil fuel industry and politics had nothing to do with this utter bullshit report. What a wonderful world you must live in, ignorance is bliss.
The 2015 Australian Senate “wind turbines” report wasn’t neutral fact-finding, it was a politically driven hit job.
The inquiry was stacked with senators openly hostile to renewables (John Madigan, Bob Day, David Leyonhjelm, Chris Back). At least one (Back) had direct ties to the oil & gas industry via Shell. Others were aligned with think tanks and lobbying groups that consistently push fossil-fuel interests.
The report’s Chapter 7 hand-wrings about “subsidies” and “market distortions” while ignoring wind’s documented benefits: lower wholesale prices, emissions abatement, and diversification. It selectively cites contested modeling, downplays contrary evidence, and then leaps to prescriptive recommendations, like cutting subsidies, tightening planning laws, and federal overrides, which just happen to chill wind investment.
Even Labor senators filed a dissent, accusing the majority of misrepresenting evidence and overreaching. Meanwhile, fossil-fuel lobbyists have long had privileged access to Australian policymakers through donations, revolving-door appointments, and consultancies (McKinsey, IPA, Barton Deakin, etc.).
This wasn’t about “evidence”, simply it was about protecting fossil incumbents and kneecapping a competitor.
Does anybody dispute that renewable energy was more expensive than coal & natgas in 2011? At this point, those windmills are sunk costs and the only relevant cost is the maintenance costs. Which are not insignificant, but they're lower than the price of fuel for thermal plants.
2025 costs for renewable are very different than costs were in 2011-2013, making that document irrelevant.
Imagine thinking the fossil fuel industry and politics had nothing to do with this utter bullshit report. What a wonderful world you must live in, ignorance is bliss.
The 2015 Australian Senate “wind turbines” report wasn’t neutral fact-finding, it was a politically driven hit job.
The inquiry was stacked with senators openly hostile to renewables (John Madigan, Bob Day, David Leyonhjelm, Chris Back). At least one (Back) had direct ties to the oil & gas industry via Shell. Others were aligned with think tanks and lobbying groups that consistently push fossil-fuel interests.
The report’s Chapter 7 hand-wrings about “subsidies” and “market distortions” while ignoring wind’s documented benefits: lower wholesale prices, emissions abatement, and diversification. It selectively cites contested modeling, downplays contrary evidence, and then leaps to prescriptive recommendations, like cutting subsidies, tightening planning laws, and federal overrides, which just happen to chill wind investment.
Even Labor senators filed a dissent, accusing the majority of misrepresenting evidence and overreaching. Meanwhile, fossil-fuel lobbyists have long had privileged access to Australian policymakers through donations, revolving-door appointments, and consultancies (McKinsey, IPA, Barton Deakin, etc.).
This wasn’t about “evidence”, simply it was about protecting fossil incumbents and kneecapping a competitor.
Sources: - APH: Senate wind report, Chapter 7 - https://www.aph.gov.au/parliamentary_business/committees/sen...
- Labor dissenting report: https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Sen...
- RenewEconomy critique - Chris Back’s oil/gas background: https://reneweconomy.com.au/senate-wind-report-slammed-as-re...
- InfluenceMap on fossil fuel lobbying: https://influencemap.org/pressrelease/Unearthed-Australia-St...
- Guardian on McKinsey fossil fuel conflict: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/dec/06/mckin...