www.theage.com.au - Being green isn't easy when you are poor

www.theage.com.au - Being green isn't easy when you are poor It's impossible to give up the car in favour of public transport if there is no public transport available, or if transport services are so inconvenient that getting to work, or school or anywhere else is impractical. My concern about the impact of adapting to climate change on working and low-income people has grown since I saw the extent of the increases in the cost of water in rural and regional Victoria. Not one of the price increases approved by the Essential Services Commission last month were less than 26% over the next five years, with Gippsland residents seeing a rise of a 100% — an increase in an average annual water bill from $672 this year to $1344 in 2012-13. If you add to that the broader costs that are expected in electricity and gas, the average Victorian household's utility bills will rise by about $1500 a year from 2004 to 2012. With the cost of fruit and vegetables increasing by 9% in the past year and petrol at record levels, it is clear that Victorians struggling to pay their bills today are going to find it impossible to pay extra in the future.