Action Alert : CPRS back in parliament
We say we oppose the CPRS, now is the time to be heard
SEE BELOW for sign-on statement from climate action groups: deadline 10am Tuesday 2 February
The CPRS debate returns to Canberra this week with the resumption of Parliament. Short of a Double Dissolution (unlikely), there is almost no chance of the CPRS legislation (as negotiated between Labor and Liberals under Turnbull) being passed.
But it is important that when it fails to pass Parliament again, our voices in opposing it should be loud and clear in the public arena, so that the failure of the legislation is not portrayed simply as a victory for the deniers in the Opposition and more broadly.
It is also important that the only positive alternative on the Canberra agenda, the Green's proposal for a flat price $23 tonne price as an interim measure, be supported to demonstrate the need for effective action now.
For more information:
* Greens propose interim carbon tax http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/01/21/2797559.htm
* ACF welcomes Greens' proposal http://www.acfonline.org.au/articles/news.asp?news_id=2659
* Scrap ETS and go for a carbon tax: Garnaut http://www.theage.com.au/environment/scrap-ets-and-go-for-a-carbon-tax-g...
Critiques of the CPRS
* Greens http://greensmps.org.au/content/greens-and-emissions-trading-%E2%80%93-y...
* Environment Victoria http://www.environmentvictoria.org.au/library/target-cprs-fundamentally-...
* eNGO's Plan B alternative to CPRS http://www.foe.org.au/resources/publications/climate-justice/Plan%20B%20...
THINGS TO DO IN NEXT 2 DAYS: BE HEARD IN PUBLIC!!
* Get onto local morning talkback radio
* Write letters to the editor: send it far and wide: local, metropolitan and national
* Tell Penny Wong and Opposition spokesperson Greg Hunt what you think.
Before you do, read Bernard Keane’s guide to writing to Ministers http://www.crikey.com.au/2009/12/16/dont-waste-your-time-waste-theirs-a-...
* If you active in a climate action group, get your group to sign the statement below
* Use the appropriate parts of the email that the LIVE groups sent to the 8000 people,on its e-list. It is reproduced below.
* Cut and paste the relevant section of this alert and sent in to the members of your climate action group and/or to some or all of your address book.
Thank you
Damien
Climate Action Centre
=== SEEKING SUPPORT FOR SIGN-ON STATEMENT====
Send your groups endorsement to: info@climateactioncentre.org or phone Damien Lawson 0419 253 342
STATEMENT
The Rudd government should back the Greens offer to break the Senate impasse on climate change policy.
The Greens have announced a plan for a $20 tonne fixed carbon price as an alternative to the government's stalled emissions trading scheme.
If the government is really serious about carbon pollution it should stop playing politics and negotiate with the Greens.
The Greens plan has a real chance of passing the Senate, while the government's carbon trading plan does not. It offers a real opportunity to get moving on carbon reductions.
A fixed carbon price is simpler to understand and administer, can be implemented quickly, offers certainty to investors and the public, and will begin to price in renewable energy and squeeze out carbon.
And unlike the emissions trading scheme, which relied on cheap and nasty offset credits traded on the international carbon market, a fixed price will be harder to rort.
The failure at Copenhagen proves that the prospects of any real international agreement is even more remote, making an approach based on emissions trading, which relies on an international market, all the more foolish.
Importantly the plan also removes most of the handouts to the big polluters, while increasing revenue for government investment in mitigation and adaptation both in Australia and internationally.
While a carbon price is only a small part of the solution, it could start a new commitment to solving the carbon pollution problem based on government led investment in renewable energy, energy efficiency and transformation of transport and agriculture.
==== LIVE statement ======
Hi Everybody,
There is no doubt that the Copenhagen talks ended in extreme disappointment for many millions of people around the world who had hoped to see decisive international action taken to address climate change.
But the failure of the conference has given the climate movement a massive boost and we are hearing stories of even greater mobilisation occurring within local communities. Another positive outcome is that, except for a few marginal, self-serving circles, the science - the standard physics explaining why emissions must be reduced fast if we are to avoid the worst impacts of climate change - is now universally accepted by policy makers. Furthermore the concept of ‘climate justice’ is now grounded in the debate in a more meaningful way and it was a climate-win that, despite intense lobbying, purported ‘clean coal’ has again been refused Clean Development Mechanism status.
The mass rallies and demonstrations (& arrests) in Copenhagen and all over the world were astonishing and unprecedented. And on the table at Klimaforum, the global civil society counterpart of the official UN conference, which was attended by tens of thousands of people from around the world, were the real and just solutions to climate change, all available NOW.
This is the chaotic, disastrous denouement of a chaotic and disastrous summit. The event has been attended by historic levels of incompetence. I have spent most of my time at the Klimaforum: the alternative conference set up by just four paid staff, which 50,000 people attended without a hitch. (I know which team I would put in charge of saving the planet.) George Monbiot, Scramble for the Atmosphere
These are incredibly hopeful signs which bode well for the next set of climate talks in Mexico in November.
Meanwhile, our priority must be to amend or prevent the government’s speculative, polluter-friendly emission trading scheme, the CPRS, from becoming law when it is forced back into the Senate when Parliament resumes sitting in early February.
The amendments tabled last year by the Greens, which would have given the CPRS some chance of meeting its stated aim of reducing emissions in Australia, have been entirely ignored by the Government. Last week the Greens put forward another proposal to fix the price of carbon indefinitely at $20 a tonne (rather than leaving it at the mercy of speculative and distorting market forces). It appears though that this proposal is also falling on deaf ears, which seems particularly odd given it was a recommendation from the government’s own Garnaut Climate Review.
So since the Greens carbon price proposal represents our only chance of moving Australia forward in a more climate‑friendly direction, one which can be improved upon at any stage, we hope you will help us to get the word out there. (This would be a good time to remind you that LIVE is an independent non-aligned climate action group which supports effective climate policies NOT political parties.)
The most effective means of achieving this will be to unsettle our Senators and get as many letters in the papers as we can. Below is a copy of my email to leaders, from which you can see all of the names and addresses to send it to. And here is a recent copy of a letter sent to all the papers listed in the letter.
Here are telephone numbers for Victoria’s Senators, they just love to hear from voters!
ALP
Penny Wong at Department of Climate Change: 02 6159 7000
Gavin Marshall - (03) 9584 2455
Kim Carr - (03) 9639 2798
Jacinta Collins - (03) 9890 7022
Stephen Conroy - (03) 9408 0190
David Feeney - (03) 9384 6077
LIBERAL PARTY
Mitch Fifield - (03) 9584 2455
Helen Kroger - (03) 9888 0091
Julian McGauran - (03) 9650 3622
Michael Ronaldson - (03) 9650 0255
Scott Ryan - (03) 9326 1088
Judith Troeth - 03) 9614 4266
Family First
Steve Fielding - (03) 9802 1922
Please don’t hesitate to contact Deborah Hart with any queries you may have about this campaign.
Also, please visit LIVE to learn about The Centre for Sustainability Leadership Fellowships for 2010, along with other special events and local programs.
With thanks and best wishes for 2010!
