JSM - Edition One

W ind P ower : G old C oast ’ s F uture Just imagine, it’s October, one of the coldest months out there and the Gold Coast is in the middle of a heat wave. It’s entire population is sweating like a bunch of waterhogs, the sea level is rising rapidly and species that can’t take the heat are dropping like flies. Beloved family homes close to the water’s edge are already half under water. Our actions are clogging up the atmosphere and forcing the temperatures off the charts. And why is this happening you ask? Fossil fuels. When burned, fossil fuels create electricity and our whole lives revolve around technology. These fuels also create green- house gasses which cause drastic changes to our home. But these fossil fuels won’t last forever so it is time to make the switch to wind power. Wind power is the most efficient, safe and most importantly clean, way to power the Gold Coast. So by all means, if you don’t want to be under water in 50 years, make the switch to wind power. Other renewables are just not efficient enough. The Gold Coast has over 500,000 resident’s electricity needs to meet and a natural landscape to maintain. They simply just won’t make ends meet. Solar energy, though fairly effective, is extremely expensive and the sun isn’t out every single day. The solar farms that produce that majority of the energy are extremely large and would ruin our beautiful City. Biomass creates greenhouse gasses and requires a lot of land, so really, wind energy is really the only way to go. Wind energy is a perfect, clean and safe way to harness energy. Wind power is produced directly from the wind using a turbine to slow down the wind. This method is resource free and emits no greenhouse gasses. Therefore, wind is the best choice. The Gold Coast is a clean, green, happy place. With golden beaches and grassy plains, in other words, the perfect place for wind turbines. Not long ago the news reported that the wind was so fierce that the beaches had to be shut. The Gold Coast has lots of grassy plains, perfect for turbines as well as heaps of room in the water. Wind power is the perfect match of the Gold Coast. The Council must be simply crazy if they don’t see wind energy as the right choice. The other renewables just don’t fit. The Gold Coast has the perfect landscape and wind power just has too many advantages. There is no doubt about it, wind power is the energy of tomorrow, today and now!

A melia W ilson Y ear 5P

Page 28

JSM Edition One