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Updated 29/3

The cost of the electricity used in this household is paid to the company that runs the Tasmanian hydro-electric generating plant. Hydro electricity generation produces no carbon dioxide, a gas referred to by the federal government as 'carbon'. Despite producing no carbon dioxide, the hydro electricity company is obliged by federal legislation to provide a 'green' energy product (branded GreenPower by the bureaucracy: "Helping Australia transition to renewable energy") as well as its core product, even though its core product – hydro electricity - is the 'greenest' energy available in the market. The company complies with this legislative stipulation, despite the absurdity of having to theoretically add wind and solar into hydro to 'improve' its 'green' credential. (Ironically, the hydro company also clearly shows the GreenPower cost penalty on its website, which many other energy providers do not, preferring sanctimoniously to bury the price impost in kindergarten language generalisations: Are you doing your bit for the environment?)

I don't know what's worse: environmental tokenism, or using 'transition' as a verb.

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We got no pane in this old window
We got no pane in this old window
We got no pane in this old window
We're gonna transition to a better home


UPDATE

Speaking of burying the real price, a new storm is brewing, with the federal government and the green spin-acquiescent power companies on one side and the conservative states - with the Greens - on the other:
ELECTRICITY companies are refusing to tell struggling families and businesses exactly how much the carbon tax will add to their power bills.

They have rejected New South Wales State Government demands for transparency on power prices, claiming it is impossible to provide accurate itemised billing to every home and that it would put them squarely in the sights of the ACCC.
The federal government's solution? More spin:
The Gillard Government, concerned about a public backlash to the tax, is also negotiating with energy companies to provide households with a glossy pamphlet as part of their monthly bill.

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