Victorians: Coal alert!
The Victorian government is thinking of allocating further brown coal reserves - i.e. letting companies dig them up and release the carbon they contain (not to mention all the other pollutants in brown coal). In short, this sucks. Learn more, and write a letter to the state cabinet here.
Dear Ministers,
Like many Victorians, I'm worried about climate change. The state is getting hotter and drier and more prone to devastating bushfires. I'm worried about our physical safety, our water supplies, our food security, our ability to absorb refugees from neighbouring Pacific Island countries which are being swallowed by rising sea levels. I'm worried about what kind of a world my baby daughter will grow up in.
I'm also a scientist. And the scientific consensus is clear: we need to make big cuts to our emissions of greenhouse gases, and we need to make them now. Not 'sometime when it's more politically convenient'. Not 'when the price of renewable energy is in line with the price of coal'. Now, this year.
I am deeply concerned that you are considering further allocations of Victoria's brown coal. As you know, brown coal is one of the highest polluting forms of fuel to use. 'Clean' coal projects are not able to deliver the cut in emissions we so drastically need.
I urge you to be extremely skeptical of claims that the only way to power Victoria is with more coal plants. Does this truly serve Victorians? Or does it serve only existing industries?
Surely we can create new industries, in renewable power sources that will serve us long into the future. We can have power, and we can have jobs, and we can do it without destroying our childrens' livelihoods.
Environment Victoria's Climate Action Plan shows how Victoria can halve its emissions in ten years while creating new jobs. It's up to you: you can stay with the outdated, polluting energy source that we know is making our lives harder, or you can make Victoria a leader in clean green energy and create jobs for decades to come.
Please Ministers, don't burn my daughter's future. Leave the coal in the ground.
Yours sincerely,
Me.
Dear Ministers,
Like many Victorians, I'm worried about climate change. The state is getting hotter and drier and more prone to devastating bushfires. I'm worried about our physical safety, our water supplies, our food security, our ability to absorb refugees from neighbouring Pacific Island countries which are being swallowed by rising sea levels. I'm worried about what kind of a world my baby daughter will grow up in.
I'm also a scientist. And the scientific consensus is clear: we need to make big cuts to our emissions of greenhouse gases, and we need to make them now. Not 'sometime when it's more politically convenient'. Not 'when the price of renewable energy is in line with the price of coal'. Now, this year.
I am deeply concerned that you are considering further allocations of Victoria's brown coal. As you know, brown coal is one of the highest polluting forms of fuel to use. 'Clean' coal projects are not able to deliver the cut in emissions we so drastically need.
I urge you to be extremely skeptical of claims that the only way to power Victoria is with more coal plants. Does this truly serve Victorians? Or does it serve only existing industries?
Surely we can create new industries, in renewable power sources that will serve us long into the future. We can have power, and we can have jobs, and we can do it without destroying our childrens' livelihoods.
Environment Victoria's Climate Action Plan shows how Victoria can halve its emissions in ten years while creating new jobs. It's up to you: you can stay with the outdated, polluting energy source that we know is making our lives harder, or you can make Victoria a leader in clean green energy and create jobs for decades to come.
Please Ministers, don't burn my daughter's future. Leave the coal in the ground.
Yours sincerely,
Me.