Writer and troublemaker George Monbiot once asked the question of an audience member at a public meeting: what would England look like if it were to cut its energy use by 80%? The sceptical audience member replied, "a very poor third world country."
It's safe to assume the same goes for Australia. In fact, now is a good time to admit that we don't know how to rapidly cut the greenhouse gas emissions of a heavily industrialised country like Australia by 80 or 90% without crashing the economy. No-one has ever done anything remotely like it before. The road ahead is strewn with powerful vested interests, a lifetime of habituation to wasteful energy services, and a century's worth of investment in infrastructure.
