By Emily Hay 18th April 2025
There is no way to mince words – we are living in a time where almost every time we turn on the news, there is some catastrophic weather event happening somewhere in the world. In Australia so far this year, March was the hottest month on record; extensive flooding has turned a million square kilometers of inland Australia into floodplains; masses of livestock have died; communities are stranded; South Australia is in a severe drought. Its personal for me. Lismore, my local town, has just escaped another flood. In the 2022 flood, my eighty-five-year-old mother stepped out of bed and into knee deep water. There were no alerts. She nearly drowned while wading out in chest deep water into the deserted street. Her hands still tremble when it rains.
In the rest of the world, January 2025 was recorded as the hottest January globally; there was severe flooding in Bolivia, destruction in Mozambique and Madagascar; tornadoes in the US; South Korea has experienced wildfires, as has Southern California; ocean heatwaves have tripled in duration since the 1940s, significantly harming marine life and adding to extreme weather events, which in turn is now impacting food prices. On it goes.
Climate change is accelerating.
Australia plays a crucial role because of its exports of coal and gas to the rest of the world. We are fueling climate change.
For me, I am hoping in the next few years for grandchildren. I am imagining them turning to me and asking the question ‘What did you do to help the planet Grandma, in the twenties when climate change needed to be properly dealt with?’
The time to act is now, and vote for a party that will stop the expansion of coal and gas mines and instead invest significantly into renewable energy. This is the single most important issue right now – to address climate change – before it gets worse. The cost-of-living crisis is also centre stage right now, but if we ignore climate change, the price of everything is going to skyrocket anyway.
Gas is the big one for me this election. That’s because I discovered, at a climate change workshop in Brisbane recently, that gas (which is made up of methane) warms the atmosphere at eighty-six times the rate of carbon dioxide. Gas is the immediate low hanging fruit in the battle to do something right now about emissions. It will make the most difference to attend to, ahead of coal. That can come immediately after, but gas is the one that has got to go, right now!
The politics
So, the election has been announced. The parties are gearing up with their earnest promises to do better. The Labor party is campaigning on economic management & cost of living; healthcare; housing; education; immigration. Regarding the environment – the plan is to transition to renewable energy sources and investing in clean energy infrastructure to reduce carbon emissions and address climate change. As part of that, they are relying on gas in that mix, to ensure a stable energy supply, ‘to 2050 and beyond’.
The Coalition aim to strengthen the economy; support small business; tackle the housing crisis; reform immigration; reduce government waste (sounds eerily like Trump); support regional development; improve healthcare. Regarding the environment and energy needs, the Coalition is in favour of nuclear power to provide affordable energy, with plans to construct nuclear power plants to be operational by 2036. In that mix is the plan to increase gas production and related infrastructure to supply the domestic market and maintain existing export markets.
The Green’s are campaigning on policies that address affordable housing and the cost-of-living crisis; social services and public health; economic reform and corporate taxation; environmental conservation; the aim to support a minority Labor government. Regarding energy and the environment, the Greens plan to ban new coal and gas projects to reduce carbon emissions and combat climate change, invest substantially in renewable energy resources, aiming to create jobs in clean energy sectors and transition completely away from fossil fuels.
Let’s talk about gas…
• Gas is primarily made up of methane, which warms the atmosphere eighty-six times more than carbon dioxide over a twenty-year period.
• Australia’s gas industry is a major methane emitter, with research showing that actual methane leaks from gas extraction and processing are much higher than reported.
• A study of gas fields in QLD and WA found unaccounted for emissions far above government estimates.
• The process of converting gas into Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) is extremely energy-intensive, requiring massive amounts of electricity and often leading to emissions that can rival or exceed those from coal-fired power plants.
• Gas companies pay almost no tax or royalties.
• Gas production creates very few jobs. Bunnings employs more people than the entire gas industry.
• Countries that Australia exports gas to, such as Japan and South Korea, are accelerating away from gas to green hydrogen and renewables. Relying on gas exports is therefore becoming risky and unreliable leading into the future.
• Gas is not regarded as a ‘transitional fuel’ anymore, as the International Energy Agency (IEA) states that no new fossil fuel projects are compatible with global net-zero targets.
• The CSIRO confirms that wind, solar and batteries are now the cheapest forms of new electricity generation.
• Gas expansion directly contradicts Australia’s commitment under the Paris Agreement and Net Zero by 2050.
• Australia has enough gas reserves, right now, to supply our domestic market well into 2065, if we stop exporting gas to the rest of the world, which in essence is significantly adding to climate emissions and thus accelerating global warming.
Gas and health in the home…
• When gas is burned in our homes for cooking or heating, it releases nitrogen dioxide, which is associated with respiratory issues such as asthma, bronchitis and reduced lung function, especially so for children, whose lungs are still growing.
• In poorly ventilated spaces, gas appliances can release carbon monoxide, which can cause headaches, dizziness, nausea and even death. Children are susceptible because they breathe rapidly and have a smaller body mass.
• Gas cooking can also release fine particulate matter, which can irritate the lungs, increase the risk of asthma and other respiratory conditions. Children are susceptible, as their respiratory systems are more sensitive.
• Children and susceptible people have an increased risk of allergies and sensitivities due to exposure to pollutants generated by gas appliances.
The way forward:
Instead of expanding the gas market, Australia should be rapidly transitioning to renewables and storage, which are cheaper, cleaner and create more jobs.
The governments’ fossil fuel subsidies need to end, which are believed to distort the energy market, slow down momentum towards renewables and lock in infrastructure that will be obsolete soon.
Investments should be in industries that provide long-term economic and energy security.
Methane emissions monitoring and regulations must be strengthened to hold gas companies to account for the role they are playing in contributing to climate damage.
In summary…
Gas is not the ‘clean’ fuel it is marketed as. ‘Natural gas’ is an advertising slogan, invented by the gas industry to sell more gas to unsuspecting Australians. Most unfortunately, the strategy has worked, up until now. If we are serious about addressing climate change, we need to stop using gas right now and move directly to renewables. The more gas mines that are built, simply commits us to decades more of dangerous emissions, leading to more catastrophic weather events, more food instability and massive costs for future generations. Our planet is rapidly changing now, it’s obvious.
Now is the time to make the right choice, for our grandchildren, for the planet, for all the innocent creatures that have no say against the greed and willful ignorance of governments and corporations.
What you can do:
• VOTE NO TO GAS in this election. Choose a party or individual who is prioritising the immediate phasing out of gas and coal and is enthusiastically investing in renewable sources of energy.
• Plan to replace gas appliances in your home with electric ones, or solar where possible.
• Start a conversation with someone who may not know the facts about gas: ‘Did you know that gas causes the planet to heat up eighty-six times more than a similar amount of coal over a twenty-year period?’ It’s amazing what a single conversation can do to shift a mindset that you think may be fixed.
Written by Emily Hay. This article is independently researched and written, and is not AI generated.