A green power rant.

I was listening to a BBC podcast today on science, where they have a resident expert answer questions from callers. The show in very similar to Triple J's science on mornings with Dr. Karl in that it involves people calling in with science-related questions. Another similarity is that the scientist in both cases is Dr. Karl.
The episode I listened to today had a caller ask why Australia doesn't use greener power sources rather than coal because Australia has a relatively small population, considering the size of the country, and plenty of wind, waves and sun. It's something I've noticed myself over my years of living in Australia; we do certainly have an abundance of these things. Dr. Karl explained that the caller was right, Australia definitely does have the capability to obtain all of it's required energy from the sun, wind and waves, and would therefore not be dependant in any way on coal or nuclear energy sources. Why is the majority of Australia's electricity still produced using coal then? The simple answer is that it's political. Australia, and Queensland in particular, has a very strong coal industry that the government looks after and listens to. I know that this is how the world works at the moment, but that doesn't mean I have to agree with it. Electric cars that need to be plugged in to charge aren't really all that environmentally friendly in Australia compared to petrol-powered cars because the electricity used to charge these cars is generated in coal power stations. Australia could be so much greener, and cut down on its carbon emissions drastically if there were just a small change in the mentality of those who run the country.
Considering the difference between the lifetime of an individual and the lifetime of a continent, I think it should be a more prominent issue during elections, but it's one that didn't really come up much during the last election, from what I could tell of the campaigns given that I was on the other side of the world at the time.