Essay by Eric Worrall
First published JoNova; 30 years too late, but its a start.
Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen brutally lambasted by leading conservationist following false claims
Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen has been brutally criticised by a leading conservationist after walking back false claims about the scale of renewables projects.
Laurence Karacsony Digital Reporter
October 11, 2025 – 10:51AM
…
It came after conservation group Rainforest Reserves Australia accused Mr Bowen of misrepresenting data published in The Australian, which mapped the accelerating renewables rollout.
In the RRA’s comprehensive mapping of renewable projects, which vice-president Steven Nowakowski said had taken four years to collate, the group highlighted the sheer scale of the Albanese government’s plan.
…
The RRA showed 1000 projects costing $1.33 trillion, including 25,000 additional wind towers with 45,000km of associated roads, as well as 250 million solar panels on 406,000ha.
Mr Bowen ridiculed the RRA in a social media video, branding the organisation as “anti-renewable, pro-nuclear activists” and claimed the area to be covered by renewables was just 12 per cent of the RRA mapping.
…
However, the NSW Agriculture Commissioner’s 2022 report only appeared to refer to NSW and not on a national scale – as was the focus of the RRA’s mapping.
…
The map is well worth viewing, a trillion dollars of renewable installations and proposed installations covering a sizeable fraction of Australia’s prime agricultural land and adjacent protected wilderness like a cancerous blight.
Why agricultural land? Because agricultural land already has access roads and access to water to clean the solar panels – water which will be removed from farmers to wash solar panels which do nothing but add instability and cost to Australia’s energy grid.
It is no surprise Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen got his numbers wrong. We are talking about a guy who has repeatedly demonstrated his profound ignorance of engineering. He thinks we can store electricity like water.
This isn’t the first time greens have complained about mass destruction of protected habitats.
Australian aborigines have also complained about wind farm developers wanting to bulldoze their sacred grounds;
But to date greens who oppose wind farms have been very much in the minority, mostly that handful of greens who actually walk the walk, by living in the midst of the wilderness they claim to love. Most city greens either don’t seem to care or are ignorant of the vast destruction being wrought on the wilderness they claim to love. Or they make excuses to themselves, trying to convince themselves all this wanton destruction of nature serves the greater good.
Who knows, maybe these lone voices of outrage will eventually coalesce into a serious opposition to those who support bulldozing nature to save the environment.
Related
Discover more from Watts Up With That?
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
