Passing Gas: Gas is Fudging our Future

Could you imagine if we put canned sardines in our Phish Food pint instead of our chocolate ones?! We can't either as It just wouldn't make any sense! And just like this one example, another one of these is spending public dough on a ‘gas fired recovery’ in Australia.

You may or may not know that our Government has decided to spend the 2020 budget on supporting the gas industry. So what does this mean for us exactly? Great question! This means that the Government has planned to support the gas industry with subsidies and open 5 new gas basins across Australia. Basically, the public’s money will be spent to support the very thing that is ruining our climate. Outrageous! We know.

A new report from the Climate Council highlights even more bad news for fossil fools - we already know that burning gas and the process of getting it out of the ground is bad for the planet, but the new report shows that  it’s even worse than our scientists thought – with the whole process  releasing EVEN MORE greenhouse gases than we all first thought (even then, it was already at dangerous levels!). The cold hard truth of the matter is that we need to stop pursuing gas projects in Australia.

Get your spoon ready as we dig right into the details...

A hot planet is driven by fossil fuels

Coal, oil and gas are the worst offenders. If we are to avoid slipping from a climate crisis to a full-blown catastrophe, there cannot be any expansion of fossil fuel production of any kind* (*This means you and your team ScoMo, and your plans to subsidize more gas projects in Australia). 

Gas is methane

Gas is mostly made of methane, a greenhouse gas that is nearly 100 times more potent than carbon dioxide in the short term. And it’s not just that - the process of supplying gas causes large amounts of methane to escape. In other words - extracting gas, as well as the use of gas, fuels a dangerously heating planet. Before you say anything, we know, methane is also a problem in the dairy industry as it is what cows produce, however we are doing everything we can to combat this and reduce our own carbon footprint here.

The test is fudged when it comes to gas

Australia isn’t counting the true contribution of gas towards climate change (ie. all the leaks and issues that mining for gas causes). If we use the most up to date scientific ways of recording the impact of gas, the numbers are far worse than the Government claims: An up to date test shows that methane is not 28x worse than carbon dioxide, it’s actually a WHOPPING 40x MORE POTENT over a 100 year period. So we need to recognize gas for what it is: a dangerous and potent fossil fuel that needs to be left in the past, just like some of the flavours we've laid to rest in our flavor graveyard (R.I.P).

Renewable Energy can help save the day - but we still need to get rid of gas!

The good news is that we’ve made significant moves in building solar and wind energy sources all around the country. We’re even working towards making enough to share with other countries! Plus, these zero emissions alternatives are able to deliver cost-efficient energy solutions and even more job opportunities for Australians! BUT - rising emissions from the gas industry are cancelling out all the gains we have made in building renewables, so we really do need to drop the gas and instead keep building the sun and wind energy revolution! 

Spending Government dough on gas isn’t a good idea – It’s time we ditch gas and switch it for renewable energy! Join us and The Climate Council to tell the Government that Australia is ready for renewables! Click right here to tell gas where to go, so we can unfudge our climate!