The election of a Labor government in Australia has dramatically raised the stakes in the energy debate. Labor’s 2030 target requires the closure of 60% of our coal generation capacity over the next eight years, according to the Australian Energy Market Operator. If we cannot replace this with reliable and affordable fuel sources, the consequences for this country will be dire.

Wind and solar have their place to be sure, and batteries can assist at the margins, but the engineering challenge of replacing a dependable source of dispatchable energy, like coal or gas, with weather dependent generation and storage is so enormous that we have to find another way.

Michael Shellenberger is a California based thinker and author who writes about the intersection of climate change, the environment, nuclear power and politics. He visited Australia earlier this month to address the Conservative Political Active Conference in Sydney. Shellenberger's arguments are clear, logical and incisive. We replay his session in this special Watercooler podcast in cooperation with CPAC and the official broadcasters, ADH TV.

Watch the video of Michael Shellenberger's presentation: https://watch.adh.tv/cpac-2022/season:2/videos/cpac-2022-michael-shellenberger

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