One of the biggest Australian newspapers recently made fun of India’s ambitious solar targets, by depicting dirt poor India trying to eat solar panels as they starved. Note India has been making waves around the world through its leadership in climate change. PM Modi recently formed a global solar alliance of high radiation countries in the recent Paris summit, to accelerate the investment and technology development of solar energy. It even committed to spend $30 million on developing a secretariat for this new alliance, which was endorsed by most major countries such as USA, China and France. India has also committed to raise solar energy capacity from 5 GW now to 100 GW by 2022 and reach 40% renewable energy capacity by 2030. With 300 million people having no access to electricity, India will have to dramatically increase its generation capacity. What is laudable is that it is trying to do so through renewable energy, even though it is resource poor.

Instead of praising these efforts which will also help Australians, the Rupert Murdoch newspaper put out a distasteful cartoon showing starving poor Indians trying to eat solar panels. Note Australia has one of the highest per capita emissions amongst nations and has also done poorly in trying to fight climate change. The newspaper should instead of castigating its own leaders is distastefully making fun of the poor, who do not have the power to change things.

They could also have made fun of the American town of Woodland, North Carolina. The residents have rejected a solar project using these reasons:

• Bobby Mann, said solar farms would suck up all the energy from the sun and businesses would not go to Woodland
• Jane Mann, a retired science teacher, said she was concerned the panels would prevent plants in the area from photosynthesizing, stopping them from growing.

What is funny is that Jane is a science teacher without an inkling about science it seems. To say that a solar panel project would suck up the sun is the stupidest thing I have heard and shows that despite the richness of developed nations, their education systems need a huge amount of improvement. I think the Australian newspaper should focus on these issues of stupidity to make fun rather than take on people who are helpless.