30. Can shale oil fuel Australia?

I recently read an article on The Conversation entitled "Can shale oil fuel Australia?" The article described the recent discovery by a company called Linc Energy of shale oil in South Australia. Independent reports estimate between 233 billion and 103 billion barrels of oil equivalent could be exploited. The estimates released by Linc Energy were classified by the consultants as unrisked prospective resources because of their “lack of commerciality or sufficient drilling”. Consequently, their potential value may not be as high as $20 trillion as suggested by some mainstream media outlets. However, the "find" has resulted in much enthusiasm in South Australia. The Mineral Resources Development Minister for South Australia, Tom Koutsantonis has stated that “shale gas and shale oil will be a key part to securing Australia’s energy security now and into the future.” In fact, it has been suggested that the discovery may be enough to turn Australia into a self sufficient fuel producer.

What is striking about this article is that the only mention of climate change comes with the statement "the potential for carbon-intensive oil shale production in South Australia is likely to draw ire from vocal environmental activists and the Greens." That's it! So essentially the greenhouse gas emissions associated with exploiting shale oil and the implications for climate change are dismissed, and the Greens and "environmental activitists" are simply an annoying obstacle. It is just so disturbing that such articles are common place. Let us also put this article into context. It comes at a time when there are bush fires raging and flooding causing havoc in Australia. It comes at a time when some of the hottest days ever have been recorded not just in parts of Australia but across the whole country. Yet, so few dots are joined together. The media continues to treat these events in isolation, and does not make the connection between climate change, weather events, and the implications of exploiting fosill fuels, such as shale oil. Indeed, Australia's future is tied to shale oil and if we ever join the dots!?