‘Climate change is turbocharging fire conditions, meaning longer and more intense seasons with growing demands on firefighting capacity,’ Cam Walker writes.‘Climate change is turbocharging fire conditions, meaning longer and more intense seasons with growing demands on firefighting capacity,’ Cam Walker writes.
This week, a strange front opened up in the climate war. Some volunteer brigades from the Country Fire Authority – as many as 24, though only five have signed an open letter to the minister – have said they are taking strike action and will refuse to fight fires on land hosting high-voltage transmission lines, solar or windfarms, over what they call the Victorian government’s “reckless renewables expansion”.
The AFCA deeply disagrees with the brigades who are taking action over a politically weaponised topic like the energy transition. While we support the calls for greater clarity around policy and safety, we do not believe this has to come at the expense of the energy transition away from fossil fuels.that burned for 45 days and needed many hundreds of firefighters to put it out.
Sadly there is misinformation being presented about renewables in some news reports about this strike action, for instance the claim that renewables increase the risk of fire in regional communities. Modern windfarms have to ensure a bushfire risk assessment is carried out before construction and that they meet relevant guidelines from fire authorities.