You’ve got to hand it to our local member, Steve Whan. He’s a rock-solid supporter of the government and he sure has a way with words.

He’s welcomed the news that the 63-turbine wind farm northeast of Bungendore has been given the green light. Yep, so far so good. It is a great project and hopefully the first of many around the country.

Steve acknowledges that not everyone supports the giant propellers, close neighbours for instance, but he points out that, “there is a very strong movement for green energy in the Monaro electorate”.

I’ve no argument with that either. It would be comforting to go to bed at night knowing that here in our small corner of the world we use state-of-the-art green power.

Alas, it’s not to be. The output of this clean, renewable-energy power station is going to Sydney to drive the dreaded desalination plant. Steve thinks it’s just great that Monaro gets all the lovely windmills so the nice folk in Sydney have enough water to wash their cars in the driveway.

How about that eh? It quite puts a new spin on the idea that the bush should get a bit more support from the city. All that brand-spanking new green power squandered on an expensive white elephant that Sydney wouldn’t need if it had a decent water capture and conservation strategy.

Alright, alright, it’s all cobblers anyway. After electricity leaves the power station, the electrons are all muddled together, flying through the transmission wires at near light speed and you can’t tell which came from where. But I didn’t start the idea of the wind farm powering the desal plant, the government did. It’s really just a trick in the accounting system.

Nevertheless, how we regulate the production, supply and consumption of electricity will be the making or breaking of our civilisation.  Electricity is an elegant and versatile form of energy. It’s the dirty way it’s made with careless waste that is giving us problems.

Education and public debate will help us to get it right. Have a look at NEMMCO; it might sound like one of James Bond’s adversaries but it’s really the National Electricity Market Management Company and it controls the whole show. Go to www.nemmco.com.au and type ‘000-0187.pdf’ into the search field for a fascinating introduction to how our electricity grid operates.

Whatever your thoughts about privatisation of the state’s electricity infrastructure, you’ll have a more informed understanding if you see how it all works. To me it looks like Star Wars meets The Twilight Zone.

So, what of the future? If nuclear energy means bombing any country we don’t like that’s trying to make a reactor, it doesn’t sound too safe. Compressing coal station flue gasses and then finding a suitable nearby underground repository could be tricky. Or maybe a new TV on the never-never, another fatalist drink and business as usual might do for a bit longer.

Then again, we could spend everything we’ve got on renewable energy and conservation measures and cheer up in the hope that there might be a way to save our world from a shrivelled, untimely end.