Talk is cheap. Climate policies are not.

As Australians headed to the polls on Saturday, these are issues that they should have been aware of. They should realise that large increases in energy costs can easily have far greater social consequences than most people probably realise. Suggesting that this is something that should be promoted is not only madness but is morally dubious. Australians must ask themselves whether a society that spends more on energy to offset carbon emissions that is only 1.3% of the world total, rather than say on education or health care, is a desirable outcome for its citizens.

Vaclav Smil, a distinguished professor emeritus at the University of Manitoba, summed it up nicely in his Scientific American piece in 2014: "Instead of short­ term fads promoted by wishful thinking, we need long­-term policies based on realistic expectations, and we should be making no regret choices rather than hasty, poorly conceived commitments. One way to do this is to avoid picking energy winners. Governments cannot foresee which promising research and development activities will make it first to the free market, and hence they should not keep picking apparent winners only to abandon them soon for the next fashionable option."

If we wish to retain the standard of living we have become accustomed to and that thousands of people immigrate to Australia for, then as a country, we must think very carefully about how we resolve our energy dilemma without sacrificing our economic strengths. Yes, Australia must do its bit to protect the environment for future generations. Here there is no debate. But cutting off our nose to spite our face will do no one any good.

Labor and the Greens may talk a good game regarding action on climate change, but they are failing to explain what cost their proposed action will have. They retain a religious-like faith in renewables being the answer to Australia's ills, while ignoring the growing evidence to the contrary. As eminent Australian economist Henry Ergas AO wrote recently, "It is easy to ignore reality. It is impossible to force reality to ignore you. When the facts come home to roost, we'll see if Labor has the good grace to make them ­welcome."