Aynsley Kellow
Professor Emeritus of Government, University of Tasmania
Aynsley Kellow is Professor Emeritus of Government, University of Tasmania, and a Special Correspondent for the Institute of Public Affairs on COP26 and Net Zero.
22 December 2022
Taking Stock
Taking the Global Methane Pledge will harm Australia’s economy and have no impact on climate change, argues Professor Emeritus of Government Aynsley Kellow. I recently described climate policy by drawing on Scottish author Charles Mackay’s 1841 essay Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, the title of which should give you the idea. The delusion seems to continue after
21 January 2022
Globe Trotters
The 400 private jets used to ferry participants to a conference on reducing emissions symbolise how international climate policy is made, argues Professor Emeritus of Government Aynsley Kellow. The 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26), held recently at Glasgow, highlighted many of the worst aspects of how international climate science and policy occurs. Close analysis also displays the extremely dubious
2 November 2021
Dateline Glasgow: the real costs of renewable energy
Australia has an embarrassment of riches. It possesses vast resources of high quality coal, both coking coal (for iron ore production) and steaming coal (for energy production), with low sulphur and low ash. Much of it can be mined at low cost by open cut methods. This endowment has become an embarrassment because coal combustion gives rise to the emission of the highest levels of CO2 of all the fossil fuels. Australia exports both large quantities of coal and of energy-intensive products like aluminium, so that emissions occur here rather than in consuming nations.
