Climate, electric vehicle and parenting groups have reacted in dismay to news that Queensland will build 630 new diesel buses.
The groups say that the move exposes the government to future global oil price shocks and climate pollution given that Australia imports more than 90% of its refined fuel.
Diesel prices around Brisbane are above the $2.50 per litre mark at present.
Nathan Gore-Brown is director of the Australian Electric Vehicle Association’s Queensland branch.
“The association is disappointed to hear that Queensland turned its back on the future of clean, cheaper, electric public transport despite its previous support for the Brisbane Metro electric buses,” he says.
“Minister Mickelberg’s statement, which highlighted that the prior government’s plans for transitioning to electric buses would result in expensive paperweights blocking local streets, is ill-informed.
“This is not a risk his interstate counterparts seem worried about.”
READ OUR EARLIER REPORT: Queensland Government says it will build 630 diesel buses. Click here for that story
“Queensland will be stuck with 630 polluting diesel buses operating on the South East network until 2048 (due to the 20-year-life of a bus in the Translink network),” Gore-Brown says.
He also says the association will continue to push for electrification as a cleaner, cheaper transport option,
PARENTS FOR CLIMATE
Parents for Climate CEO Nic Seaton says the decision shows the state government “is choosing to go the way of the dinosaurs” and pumping pollution into children’s lungs for 20 years.
“No parent drops their child at the school bus stop hoping for more diesel fumes,” he says.
“Families want their kids breathing clean air, not standing in a cloud of exhaust every morning.”
WHO ARE PARENTS FOR CLIMATE? They represent over 27,000 parents, grandparents and carers who are chasing non-partisan responses to climate change. For details, visit www.parentsforclimate.org
ENERGY FUTURES FOUNDATION
Foundation executive director Bruce Hardy says the deal comes at a time when people are hurting from the high prices at petrol stations driven by war in the Middle East.
“We think taxpayers in Queensland should be furious that the government is picking winners without properly comparing bids,” he says.
“If the government is so sure about electric bus technology, why wouldn’t they let electric bus companies bid for the tender? They simply don’t want to have to justify their decision to go with a more expensive diesel option in an open process if electric buses powered by Queensland sunshine come back cheaper and more reliable.”
QUEENSLAND WALKS
Anna Campbell is the Brisbane-based executive officer at Queensland Walks.
She says that “diesel buses are noisy and diesel fumes have negative health implications in air and sound quality”.
“We’re concerned that purchasing diesel buses impacts the health of Queenslanders and disturbs communities as diesel buses are very noisy to stand or walk near.
“We’ve shown with the Brisbane Metro how quiet our buses can be and without the fumes; the community backed that and will value good investment in electric buses.”
ELECTRIC VEHICLE COUNCIL
CEO Julie Delvecchio says the news left them “devastated”.
“The price of diesel again spiked above $2.50/L in Queensland – why are Queenslanders paying for expensive diesel when we could be running locally-made buses off the sun?
She wants the government to make the tender for the buses open to all fuel types.”
DEAKIN UNIVERSITY
Dr Clare Walter of Deakin University is leading research into the health impact and economic burden of diesel exhaust.
“Every diesel bus is a moving source of air pollution,” she says.
“Euro 6 is a significant improvement on older diesel technology but it doesn’t make the exhaust disappear.
“We know that traffic-related nitrogen dioxide is linked to cancer, respiratory disease and cardiovascular disease, and that children are particularly vulnerable to exposure.”
She says their research conservatively estimates that heavy-vehicle emissions cost $6.2 billion-plus a year.
