(Dick Smith is a patron of Nuclear for Australia)
Dick Smith is a famous Aussie entrepreneur. i’m so glad he’s a patron of Nuclear for Australia.
From their email to me today:
Last Friday, the ABC posted a 'Fact Check' targeting Dick Smith.
In response, he fact checked the fact check describing the article as "full of lies", threatened to sue the ABC and wrote a complaint to ABC Managing Director David Anderson.
The ABC RMIT Fact Check addressed his claim to Ben Fordham that:
"No country has been able to run entirely on renewables"
In their fact check, Mark Jacobson suggested this claim wasn't true:
"There are four countries running on 100% wind-water-solar (WWS) alone for their grid electricity".
Those countries are Albania, Bhutan, Nepal and Paraguay who Dick noted were obviously not comparable to Australia.
He also pointed out that the ABC had deceptively only focussed on electricity rather than energy as a whole.
No country has been able to use renewables to cover their broader energy demands which in addition to electricity include areas like transportation and heating.
In addition to this important clarification, the article also falsely implied that Dick Smith opposed renewables:
"Businessman Dick Smith has thrown his support behind calls to introduce nuclear generated power to Australia, rejecting renewable-led electricity generation in the process"
As Dick clarified in his letter to Mr Anderson, he is well known as being "pro-renewables" having driven in the first solar car and owning an electric car completely powered by solar and batteries.
In response to Mr Smith's letter and threat, the ABC responded apologising for the errors and corrected their article.
Whilst we can cherish this one win, this inevitably won't be an isolated case.
Politicians collaborating with industry and media are intent on running a nuclear power fear campaign and are targeting people who speak up.
We are committed to counteracting their influence by arming Australians with the facts to make an informed position on nuclear power.
