AROUND the world, the enormity of the challenges facing the world economy are beginning to sink in.
At first glance, some of the bigger worries - rising interest rates, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the energy transition - look like separate concerns.
But as COVID has shown us, there are deep and often unseen links across our world.
And right now, when governments have run up massive debts to keep their economies afloat through stimulus, when the requirements of climate change legislation have left even recalcitrant countries with little choice, and when the threat of another global war cannot be ruled out - optimism is in short supply.
Additionally, as we have noted before, the Russian invasion has punched holes in Europe's claim to being the world's renewables leader, its power grids exposed as unstable without their regular - and conveniently overlooked - supplies of Russian fossil fuel.
In this country, just as the election of the Labor government was supposed to spell the start of a new acceleration of our renewable energy effort, the early mood of green and teal optimism has been replaced by a realpolitik in which various major players have suddenly discovered the decarbonising challenge is much greater than the advertising spiel would have us believe.
This does not surprise the Newcastle Herald.
While we acknowledge the climate imperative and the environmental costs of the coalmining industry that has built this region's wealth, our concerns over the renewable rush - and the accelerated closure timetables for the region's coal-fired power stations - are based on the technical issues that others are now starting to acknowledge.
Frank Calabria, the CEO of Eraring power station owner Origin Energy, likens decarbonisation to the post-war reconstruction that brought Australia into the modern era.
Like Jeff Dimery at Alinta - who created a firestorm of controversy by predicting imminent power price rises of 35 per cent or more - Mr Calabria has expressed serious concerns about the road ahead.
That may, or may not, end in a winding back of Origin's February announcement that Eraring power station would close in 2025.
Time will tell.
Right now, however, we need honest conversations about our energy future.
We cannot afford blind optimism, but nor can we allow the darkening outlook to become an excuse for failure.
ISSUE: 39,727
WHAT DO YOU THINK? We've made it a whole lot easier for you to have your say. Our new comment platform requires only one log-in to access articles and to join the discussion on the Newcastle Herald website. Find out how to register so you can enjoy civil, friendly and engaging discussions. Sign up for a subscription here.
