Middle of winter. Cold. Everywhere. Feet, legs, fingers, nose. I spent most of yesterday's writing session at Karrinyup Writers' Club wearing gloves while I wrote. And the reason for all of this?
In Western Australia we are in the middle of a critical gas shortage. The supplier of a third of all the gas used in the State is out of action due to an explosion at their plant on Varanus Island and it will be some months before the plant can be repaired. This in turn means a power shortage because the gas is used to produce electricity as well as supply gas to businesses and homes. Businesses are struggling with inadequate supplies and are faced with sending employees off on leave or standing them down. The Government has appealed to householders to use heaters as little as possible, cut down shower times and do the laundry with cold water. Add in the fact that it is winter and cold and we are not in a good place.
3 comments:
And we'd better get used to it:-( We can only expect more and more shortages as the changeover from fossil fuels to renewable energy takes off and the fossil fuels in fact run out. We'll b back to where we were when I was a child, when we just put up with the cold and had constant bronchitis. Scary prospect.
You'd think that instead of limiting the money for installing your own solar cells so you can generate your own electricity and sell the surplus back to the power companies it would have been encouraged by an automatic funding increase in the Federal Budget - but they blew it. They also blew a chance to make life endurable for pensioners but I guess when you are as well paid as they are most politicians lose sight of the real life struggle that many of us experience.
BTW growing up in a fibro house we certainly suffered with the cold - and the heat in summer but that's another story. The difference now is that the open fires and wood stoves that helped then are now frowned on and even forbidden in some areas.
And the wood stove heated the hot water, too, and served for both heating and cooking. A bit of a paiin in summer, of course, and certain ly I can see why they should be outlawed in major cities because of the immediate pollution, but they had many positive features.
I hope they remember to up the pension next year. I'd like to see Mr Rudd live on just over $300 per week including housing allowance!
Post a Comment