Few issues reach as deeply into modern life as climate change and energy.
Climate change begins as a scientific question: How much is the Earth warming? How much is caused by human activity? What might happen in the decades ahead?
But deciding what we should do about it takes us much further.
It involves engineering, economics, politics, international relations and ethics. It affects electricity prices, transport, industry, agriculture, government spending and ultimately our cost of living.
At the centre of it all is energy.
Energy and the Modern World
Modern civilisation depends upon abundant, reliable and affordable energy. It powers our homes, hospitals, factories, transport and communications. Fossil fuels also provide raw materials for fertilisers, plastics, pharmaceuticals and countless everyday products.
Yet burning fossil fuels produces greenhouse gases, and governments around the world have committed enormous resources to reducing emissions.
That creates one of the great policy dilemmas of our age:
How do we reduce our environmental impact without undermining the prosperity and technological capacity that make modern civilisation possible?
There are no simple answers.
Beyond "Is Climate Change Real?"
The Earth has warmed since the nineteenth century, and human greenhouse-gas emissions contribute to that warming.
But that does not settle the debate.
How much future warming should we expect? How reliable are climate models? How much damage will warming cause? How much can we adapt? And, most importantly, which policies provide the greatest benefit for their cost?
Those questions deserve open examination.
So do the proposed solutions.
Wind and solar offer low-emission electricity but are weather-dependent. Nuclear provides reliable low-carbon power but brings questions of cost, construction time and waste. Batteries and transmission networks have important roles but substantial costs. Electric vehicles eliminate tailpipe emissions but require considerably more mineral extraction.
Every technology involves trade-offs.
The Economic Question
Energy prices flow through almost everything we buy.
More expensive electricity increases the cost of manufacturing, mining, construction, transport, food and services. Industries that depend upon cheap energy can become uncompetitive or move overseas.
Climate policy therefore cannot be assessed simply by counting tonnes of CO₂ avoided.
We also need to ask:
What does it cost? What does it achieve? And are there better ways of achieving the same objective?
That is particularly important with Net Zero, which potentially involves transforming electricity generation, transport, industry, agriculture and buildings over just a few decades.
The Moral Questions
Climate policy also raises questions that cannot be answered by climate models.
Today's wealthy countries achieved their prosperity using abundant coal, oil and gas. Billions of people in developing nations are still seeking the reliable electricity, clean water, refrigeration, transport, hospitals and industry that we take for granted.
Do wealthy countries have the right to deny poorer countries access to inexpensive energy?
And who should bear the greatest burden of reducing emissions: today's largest emitters, the countries responsible for the greatest historical emissions, or everyone equally?
There is another moral question closer to home.
Governments routinely restrict individual freedom for the common good. But how far should that extend in pursuing climate objectives?
Should governments determine which cars we drive, which appliances we use or which technologies generate our electricity? How much additional cost can reasonably be imposed on today's population to obtain benefits expected decades into the future?
There are legitimate arguments on both sides.
A Continuing Conversation
I have been writing about climate change and energy since Grappy's Soapbox began.
My views have evolved as the evidence, technology and politics have changed—and I expect they will continue to do so.
This page therefore isn't intended to provide the final word.
It is a gateway to the discussion.
Below is a selection of previous posts examining the science, economics, technology and ethics of climate and energy policy. New articles will be added as the debate develops.
Explore Climate & Energy
Climate Science & Evidence
Six Charts Put Climate Alarmism into Perspective
A recent look at claims surrounding extreme weather, fires, floods, disease and mortality in their historical context.
The Real Climate Deniers, Those Who Want to Erase the Past
Why historical climate records matter when assessing claims about today's climate.
The Sunlight Shuffle: John Clauser's Revelation Shakes Up Climate Models
Nobel laureate John Clauser's challenge to aspects of climate modelling, particularly the role of clouds and reflected sunlight.
Credo on Climate Change
An early attempt to set out my position in what was already becoming a highly polarised debate.
Is the World Warming … to Climate Change?
One of my earliest examinations of climate change and the evidence surrounding it.
Net Zero, Energy & Economics
The Australian Net Zero Cost Clock
An ongoing attempt to make at least some of the costs of Australia's Net Zero policies visible.
Is Net Zero Desirable?
A discussion of whether eliminating fossil fuels is practical—or even desirable—given their role in modern civilisation.
Abundant Energy Drives the Modern World
The relationship between affordable energy, economic development and human prosperity.
Australia's Renewables Obsession
Examining the implications of Australia's rapid transition towards wind and solar generation.
Net Zero Destroys the Economy
Considering the wider economic consequences of expensive energy and Net Zero policies.
Renewables, Nuclear & Technology
Is Spain the Canary in the Renewables Coalmine?
What Spain's major blackout might tell us about electricity systems containing large amounts of intermittent generation.
Intermittent Renewables Cause Grid Instability
The engineering challenge of maintaining a stable electricity grid as wind and solar generation increase.
What the Heck Is Thorium?
An early look at thorium reactors and their potential role in low-carbon energy generation.
EVs: Green Dream or Environmental Mirage?
Looking beyond tailpipe emissions to battery production, critical minerals, mining and the broader environmental footprint of electric vehicles.
Climate Justice & Who Should Pay?
In 2015 I wrote a five-part series attempting to answer a deceptively simple question:
What would constitute a fair global greenhouse-gas reduction target?
Seeking a Fair GHG Reduction Target — Part 1: The Problem
Part 2: Current Climate Change Measures Are Misleading
Part 3: Misleading Measures — Misleading World Ranking
Part 4: Propositions for Consensus
Part 5: Who Is Responsible?
And two related articles:
Climate Change Theatrics, Again!
Why historical emissions as well as current emissions matter when considering national responsibility.
Is Australia One of the Worst Net Emitters in the OECD?
An examination of how national emissions performance is measured and compared.
Where Next?
The climate and energy debate will not stand still.
Technology will change. Climate observations will accumulate. Electricity systems will evolve. Governments will change policy. Some predictions will prove correct and others will not.
This article will evolve with them.
New Climate & Energy posts will be added here, and older posts revisited where new evidence warrants it.
The objective is not to defend a fixed position. It is to keep asking the questions that matter:
What is happening? How serious is it? What can realistically be done? What will it cost? Who should pay? And what unintended consequences might follow?
Last updated: August 2026
