Kosha Gada: Labor leads Australia into oblivion with net zero's trifecta - grid insecurity, solar's hidden costs and the blight of wind farms

Sky News AU

3 hours ago

Few issues cut deeper into national survival or division than energy policy.
In 2025, the Western world faces a stark split: the US, under President Donald Trump, has abandoned net zero to pursue fossil fuel dominance, while Canada, Europe, and Australia double down on costly climate pledges.
Within minutes of taking office on January 20, Trump pulled the US from the Paris Agreement and declared a National Energy Emergency to unleash oil, gas, and coal for affordability, security and dominance.
In contrast, Canada, the EU and Australia cling to net zero targets despite mounting costs. Australia's uniquely punishing burden
Australia's situation is extreme.
A July 2025 ACCC report warns that outdated market rules are driving grid volatility and soaring household bills.
With just 27 million people and a $200 billion fossil fuel export economy, rigid net zero targets mandated by the 2022 Climate Change Act risk crushing both grid and economy.
The law demands a 43 per cent emissions cut by 2030 and net zero by 2050, while the 2024 Future Made in Australia Act pledges $22.7 billion for green industries.
A 2035 target of 65 to 75 per cent reduction looms.
Unlike the UK, the EU, Canada and Japan, which rely on nuclear or hydro, Australia has vast coal, gas, lithium and uranium reserves yet no comparable low-carbon baseload options.
Net zero requires slashing domestic fossil fuel use while still exporting them- a hypocrisy critics call 'starving while selling bread'.
With a sparse population and sprawling grid, renewable intermittency hits harder than in denser nations.
Failures such as Queensland's $14 billion hydrogen project collapse and soaring transmission costs expose the fragility of the plan.
Ross Garnaut warns the absence of a carbon price makes the Net Zero Plan incoherent, while years-long project approvals add delays.
Net zero's 'catastrophic trifecta' - grid instability, solar's hidden costs and wind's environmental damage - reveals deep flaws in the policy's economic and ecological logic. Grid on the precipice: Physics versus fantasy
The National Electricity Market (NEM) is straining under the shift from coal (down 35 per cent since 2000) to 83 per cent renewables by 2030, as projected by AEMO.
Intermittent solar and wind lack the synchronous inertia of coal and gas, destabilising frequency- a weakness exposed by the 2016 South Australia blackout and recent solar output cuts in North Queensland.
Australia's vast, lightly populated grid cannot match the resilience of Japan's compact network or Canada's hydro-backed system.
Gas 'peaking' plants and unproven long-duration storage are stopgaps, but one in four households already struggles with energy bills.
A 2022 NSW price spike forced AEMO intervention, and the Productivity Commission warns of 'massive costs' to triple NEM capacity by 2030, with storage needs rising from 3 GW to 49 GW by 2050.
The physics - not politics - make net zero's ambitions unattainable without destabilising supply. Solar illusion: Hidden costs and false promises
Large-scale solar farms, costing over $1 billion per gigawatt, require massive public and private investment plus billions more for grid integration.
Solar's daytime-only output forces reliance on backup generation.
End-of-life disposal is a looming crisis: panels contain toxic materials, last only 20 to 30 years, and Australia lacks scalable recycling.
Panel manufacturing depends heavily on coal-powered Chinese factories, which control 80 per cent of global supply, binding Australia to environmentally damaging and strategically risky supply chains.
Land use is another issue - vast farms consume thousands of hectares, fragmenting ecosystems, and competing with agriculture.
These costs undermine solar as a pillar of reliable, affordable energy. The windfarm contradiction: a renewable hellscape
Wind farms scar iconic landscapes, from Tasmania's hills to Queensland's coasts, fuelling rural resentment.
A 2023 CSIRO survey found widespread opposition, citing the visual blight of 200-metre turbines.
Wildlife suffers: thousands of birds and bats die annually, including protected species, while offshore projects threaten marine life through underwater noise.
Turbine blades, made of non-recyclable composites, are piling up in landfills.
Decommissioning costs often fall to taxpayers, and vast transmission projects fragment habitats while inflating costs. For a sparsely populated country with unique wilderness, wind power's environmental toll contradicts net zero's 'green' image. Government's true duty
The government's first responsibility is reliable, affordable energy, not pursuing an abstract 'luxury belief' of net zero. Cheap, stable power underpins households, farms, and industries, sustaining the $200 billion fossil fuel export economy and Australia's living standards.
With one in four households in energy hardship, intermittent renewables risk further strain.
Reliable energy safeguards jobs, competitiveness, and national security.
Net zero, by contrast, is a distant goal disconnected from Australia's immediate needs and advantages.
The debate is fundamentally about the role of government - keeping lights on and costs down versus chasing utopian ideals. The righteous fight
In Canberra, opposition is hardening.
Senior Liberal Andrew Hastie vows to keep fighting net zero despite electoral headwinds, citing public anger over prices. Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce has introduced a bill to repeal the target, backed by Senator Matt Canavan, who calls net zero 'crazy and insane'.
Regional MPs like Garth Hamilton and Alex Antic argue it betrays Australia's resource wealth.
Nationals leader David Littleproud has labelled the target 'impossible'.
Moderates like Andrew Bragg and Zoe McKenzie warn that abandoning net zero risks losing urban seats to the Greens and independents.
The Coalition's May 2025 election loss - Labor won a historic majority - has deepened divisions.
Pro-climate independents and the Greens gained ground, while the Coalition's pro-nuclear, pro-gas platform failed to win undecided and female voters.
For the Coalition, the stakes are existential: Net zero threatens regional economies and energy security, yet dropping it risks alienating urban voters.
The challenge is to reframe the issue - not just about reliability and affordability, but about national pride and energy supremacy.
Australia, as the 'lucky country,' could deliver abundant, cheap power, thriving industries and jobs while fuelling the world's energy needs.
Selling that vision could unite rural and urban voters, dismantle net zero's hold and restore Australia's economic leadership.
Kosha Gada is a tech entrepreneur and broadcast commentator on US and international current affairs, appearing live three nights a week on Sky News Australia. She is a board member of sports betting platform PointsBet