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10 March 2009: Climate activists hold a snap action against the government's carbon pollution reduction scheme at ALP headquarters in Sydney.
Enlarge imageAn advertisement in the Australian newspaper (11 March) sums up the government’s carbon pollution reduction scheme – by crossing out the words ‘carbon’ and ‘reduction’.
‘Pollution scheme’, screams the ad by Greenpeace, GetUp and more than 60 community climate action groups. It calls on the federal government to send its carbon pollution reduction scheme (CPRS) back to the drawing board following the release of the draft legislation.
Says Greenpeace climate and energy campaign coordinator John Hepburn, ‘The CPRS will lock Australia into being a massive polluter. The scheme actually pays big polluters to keep on polluting and will make future emissions reductions much more difficult and costly.’
Greenpeace found 5 fundamental flaws in the CPRS. Under the scheme, Australia’s dirtiest coal power stations will be compensated $3.9 billion. The granting of emissions permits as property rights will commit future generations to paying more compensation if emissions reduction targets are increased.
Community climate groups help snap actions against the CPRS this week in Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne.
Most Australians don’t buy the Rudd government’s spin that they’re acting on climate change. An Auspoll survey (commissioned by the Climate Institute) shows this week that:
- 56% of Australian voters see little difference between the major parties on climate change
- 37% see the parties as the same and 19% are undecided
- 75% of people believe addressing climate change created opportunities for new jobs and investment in clean energy.
And while Mr Rudd offers Australians an emissions trading scheme that won’t actually reduce pollution, time is running out to take action that will prevent catastrophic climate change.
Read the Greenpeace blueprint for a sustainable energy future for Australia
Emergency summit on climate change
More than 2000 scientists have gathered in Copenhagen for an emergency summit to discuss the terrible new truth about climate change. Armed with the latest science showing that climate change is much more dangerous than previously thought, the scientists will develop and promote policy solutions.
The scientists want global leaders to do more to prevent the disastrous scenarios they have outlined, ahead of crucial UN climate change negotiations in December in Copenhagen, when a new Kyoto-style agreement will be signed.
Let’s hope that they get the message before it’s too late.
