[Greens-Media] Rudd raises white flag of surrender on climate change

[Bennett, Ebony (Sen B. Brown)]

Monday, 15 December 2008

Rudd raises white flag of surrender on climate change

Greens campaign for 40% target

The Australian Greens will campaign for a 40 per cent cut in greenhouse
gas emissions by 2020 to save the planet from catastrophic climate
change.

"Prime Minister Rudd's 5% target is a global embarrassment and a recipe
for global catastrophe," Australian Greens Leader Bob Brown said today.

"The Rudd target of 5 per cent will anger voters. It is exactly where
John Howard would have placed Australia in 2009 - a spoiler as the
Copenhagen conference on climate change reaches for a much higher goal,"
Australian Greens Leader Bob Brown said today.

"Kevin Rudd has made climate change the big parliamentary challenge of
2009. The Greens will initiate a Senate inquiry. If the Opposition
remains coal-captured the question is: will the government accept the
Greens' amendments to improve its climate change legislation?" Senator
Brown asked.

Greens Deputy Leader and Climate Change spokesperson Christine Milne
said today said, "Kevin Rudd's White Paper has raised the white flag of
surrender on climate change."

"Scientists agree that developed countries need to reduce their
emissions by between 25 and 40 per cent by 2020 to avoid catastrophic
climate change. Australia's high per capita emissions and our relatively
cheap emissions reduction potential means we need to be at the top of
that range, not doing less than everyone else.
 
"Only three per cent of funds will actually go to reducing emissions.
Half of all the money raised by auctioning permits will go to big
polluters. Not a single cent will be spent on helping householders
reduce their energy use and emissions. 

"If polluters aren't paying somebody else has to; Kevin Rudd has ensured
that the Australian people will foot the bill for the big polluters,"
Senator Milne said.

"Kevin Rudd has put the coal industry ahead of Australia's children and
grandchildren. It will be much more expensive to rectify this historic
mistake in the decades ahead. The 2010 federal election is shaping up as
a referendum on tackling climate change," Senator Milne said.


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Ebony Bennett
Media Advisor 
Senator Bob Brown | Leader of the Australian Greens 
e: ebony.bennett at aph.gov.au 
m: 0409 164 603 | p: (02) 6277 3170 | f: (02) 6277 3185
w: www.bobbrown.org.au <http://www.bobbrown.org.au/>