Finally, taking our first steps on climate action!
Australia has just taken an historic first step in the right direction to reducing the nation’s carbon pollution and kick starting new investment in clean energy!
By now you’ll have all seen the big announcements about the carbon price – and whilst you’re probably being bombarded with headlines, analysis and political noise – we figured we’d share our thoughts so far, and let you all know what’s coming up next.
Overall we’re excited to see steps being taken in the right direction – the package isn’t perfect, and certainly not a silver bullet answer to climate change, but there is new money, new independent bodies and planning towards 100% renewable energy! In particular, we are excited about:
-
A new independent Clean Energy Finance Corporation will invest $10 billion over 5 years, with $5 billion of that quarantined for measures to support renewable energy.
- A new independent Climate Change Authority (CCA) will take the politics out of climate change by setting Australia’s emission reduction targets based on the current science and international progress, for Parliament to approve.
- A new independent Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) will administer $3.7 billion of existing renewable energy programs to support innovation, job creation, research and development for renewable energy technologies.
- Funding to close down 2,000 megawatts of coal fired power stations (around 2 medium sized power stations) by 2020 – meaning we can finally close some Australia’s dirtiest coal fired power stations.
- The independent Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) will develop a plan and modeling for how the energy grid can deliver 100% renewable energy!
- $1 billion over six years to help our environment adapt to the impacts of climate change and to reduce our emissions by protecting forests from logging and establishing green corridors for our native wildlife.
- Lifting Australia’s 2050 emission reduction target from 60% to 80%.
Want a 2 minute explanation of how it will work? Check out this video from GetUp!
It’s not all sunshine and rainbows, because there are a few things we’re not so happy about – for example big polluters (including coal fired power stations) are set to get billions of dollars in compensation under the scheme. And the minimum emissions reduction target by 2020 is still only 5%, which is nowhere near strong enough.
But we are glad that the talking is done – and now we need to make enough noise to make sure these promises get through Parliament to actually translate into action on the ground. And because the opposition and big polluters etc have already gone out fighting against these measures, we need to make sure we respond with a big show of support!
The most important thing you can do this week is help show a strong positive community response to this announcement. Here are some ideas:
- Write a letter the editor of the paper or call talkback showing your support for this renewable energy measure. See email and phone contacts and some talking points from the 100% Renewables campaign here.
- Write an email to our local MP to share your support for the renewable energy announcements. Email Albo’s on a.albanese.mp@aph.gov.au, and here are some ideas for what you might say.
- Post a message on your facebook (and ours!) showing your support for the renewable energy package!
Of course we’ve still got a long way to go to get to a truly low carbon 100% renewable energy powered future – and we’ll need your help over the next four months to make sure the new measures get into legislation but today we’ve made a good step towards that. And it’s thanks to the hundreds of you who’ve written letters, emails and made phone calls – like many thousands of others in local communities across the country – that we have won some really great outcomes for climate action and renewable energy.
We’ll be back in touch with further info on next steps for the coming months shortly – in the meantime, if you’re a keen letter-writer, phone-caller or flyerer, facebook or email us!
