[Greens-Media] MEDIA RELEASE - SENATOR CHRISTINE MILNE - Greens urge PM to heed Al Gore's message on climate change

[Willis, Katrina (Sen C. Milne)]

MEDIA RELEASE

Monday, 11 September 2006

Greens urge PM to heed Al Gore's message on climate change

The Australian Greens today urged Prime Minister John Howard and his
government to heed the message of former US vice-president Al Gore on
the urgency of addressing climate change.

Greens energy and climate change spokesperson Senator Christine Milne
said the offhand dismissal by Prime Minister Howard and Industry and
Resources Minister Ian Macfarlane of Al Gore's documentary was deeply
troubling.

"The government dismisses this important film as 'entertainment' and
'one man's interpretation of fact'. Prime Minister Howard is not even
sure he'll bother to see it," Senator Milne said in Canberra.

"It can only be studied ignorance by the government to be so dismissive
of Al Gore's film and the urgency of climate change, particularly as
Australia moves from a record dry August into a summer facing continued
drought and greater bushfire risk.

"The facts and projections assembled in the film, An Inconvenient Truth,
are based on science and views shared by hundreds of international
scientists who agree that we have 10-15 years to act to prevent
irreversible, catastrophic climate change.

"It is the Australian government which is the odd one out, not Al Gore
and the international scientific community.

"Al Gore has urged the Australian government to ratify the Kyoto
Protocol, the global community's chief means of dealing with this
threat, and thereby put pressure on the US, the only other developed
nation not to have ratified it.

"I urge Prime Minister Howard to see the documentary and to heed Al
Gore's message.

"Perhaps then he will begin to understand why this is a great moral and
ethical challenge and start using existing, proven solutions to address
climate change, like renewable energy, energy efficiency, and public
transport, instead of placing his hopes in untested or dangerous
technologies like geosequestration and nuclear power that are too slow
to help."

Contact: Katrina Willis 03 6234 4566 or 0437 587 562

Katrina Willis
Adviser
Senator Christine Milne
Phone 03 6234 4566
Fax 03 6234 2144
Mobile 0437 587 562
www.christinemilne.org.au