Citizens Climate Campaign - Take Action Now - Let's Get Going With Garnaut

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Citizens Climate Campaign

Let's Get
Going With
Garnaut

Take Action Now

Walk Against Warming - Sydney, 2007

The Australian Government's Green Paper response to Professor Ross Garnaut's "courageous" report on climate change is the first sign of real commitment to positive action since Australia ratified the Kyoto agreement in 2007.

Over the next six months, the Government
will formulate the details of its
response in a White Paper.

Australian citizens can help shape this debate, and balance the pressure from the
Opposition and powerful vested interests that are intent on watering down and delaying action.

Politicians need to hear the voices of ordinary people on this issue.

Social researcher Hugh Mackay said recently that "The thing that caused people to get re-engaged with politics in Australia was the issue of climate change … (the Government) don't seem to have realised just how ready the community has been to accept that there's a crisis which is going to need serious action".

(ABC 7.30 Report 2nd July 2008)

The Treasurer Wayne Swan has said "We want to have a very mature conversation with the Australian people about this because big economic reforms like this are not cost-free".

(Sydney Morning Herald 21st July 2008)

The Government will be looking closely at the level of community support or opposition to these broad policy directions. Politically they are in a very difficult situation as the result of the Coalition's total inaction over the past 11 years, with drastic economic action now needed, and an election scheduled to occur at the same time as the scheme will be implemented.

Let's give them the courage to make the hard decisions necessary.

We have prepared a message that can be sent to Senator the Hon. Penny Wong, Minister for Climate Change and Water, and to the Prime Minister.

However you cannot email them, you will need to go to their website and fill out a form.

Click here to go to Senator Wong's website. Click here to go to the Prime Minister's website.

Then fill-out the form and enter your message.

In your letter, it would be good if you could start by saying a little about how climate change will affect you in your local area – eg. heat waves, bushfires, drought, sea level rises, more frequent and severe storms.

I congratulate the Australian Government for adopting the recommendation of the Garnaut Report for a carbon pollution reduction scheme to start in 2010.

I urge that strong interim targets for reducing greenhouse pollution also be adopted.

I am very disappointed that Professor Garnaut's recommendation not to compensate coal-fired power generators has been ignored.

Investment in large-scale renewable energy should be a priority, with a strong Mandatory Renewable Energy Target for 2010.

Money raised from the scheme should be used to assist low income Australians to invest in energy efficiency, rather than tax cuts and increased benefits.

(your name)

You can make a submission on the Green Paper at the Department of Climate Change website
(www.climatechange.gov.au/greenpaper/consultation/index.html)

Submissions are due on 10th September 2008.
Submissions can be forwarded to:
Email: emissionstrading@climatechange.gov.au
or posted to:
Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme Green Paper Submission
Department of Climate Change
GPO Box 854
Canberra ACT 2601

Another good way to help our Government to understand the importance of this issue, is by writing a letter to the editor of your local newspaper. Politicians closely monitor newspapers and online blogs.

GetUp! has some excellent information and assistance for writing a letter to the editor (by email) in
their Climate Solutions Info Sheet - this is a 236KB PDF.

Regards from the Citizens Climate Campaign Committee