Recent predictions of a petrol price rise to $1.30 per litre in Australia should be no surprise. Fossil fuels are non-renewable resources so their price will inevitably rise as demand increases and supply cannot keep up or reduces. Petrol prices will climb to $2 then $3 per litre in the not too distant future – and there is no apparent strategy for dealing with this.
What is really surprising is the “head in the sand” attitude of our political leaders such as John Howard, Peter Costello and Kim Beazley. Australia’s Bass Straight oil reserves will be severely depleted within five years, while our total oil reserves will be severely depleted within thirty years, yet our politicians trundle on apparently oblivious.
Our society has developed an “oil dependency”. Transport of food, goods and people consumes vast amounts of oil every day, so the effects of oil price rises will have serious repercussions on everyone. Lower income people will most affected, as they will lose a much greater proportion of their disposable income.
Yet our politicians are presiding over the building of increasingly grandiose freeways and tunnels – which have the effect of encouraging vehicle usage and therefore oil consumption.
It is time we had a roadmap for the future to promote and develop more sustainable and effective transport options such as public transport, cycling, and CNG and hydrogen fuels.
Here is a site with some interesting information on this topic:
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