Sutherland Shire Environment Centre

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Garnaut Draft Report: Time to act is now

Professor Ross Garnaut has supported the phase-out of the Mandatory Renewable Energy Target in favour of an unconstrained emissions trading scheme in his Draft Report released on Friday 4 July.

Minister Penny Wong has assured Australia that the Government " will approach [this hard economic reform] in a careful, measured and responsible fashion. the time for playing political games with this issue is over ". But it will be important that the Government is reassured that "ordinary Australians" have heard Garnaut's words and agree that we want URGENT ACTION. Write to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Senator Penny Wong as well as your local member (whether Government or Opposition) and tell them that there is no time to waste and that Australia must be courageous and act NOW to reduce emission levels.

What to say

Below is a suggested letter we have prepared. Ideally, read it and rewrite in your own words — a personalised letter is always more effective than a form letter. But whether your write your own letter or simply copy and paste the one below, the most important thing is that you ACT.

Write to one or all of the following people (don't forget to add your name and address to each letter):

The Hon Kevin Rudd MP Prime Minister Parliament House CANBERRA ACT 2600 email: Kevin Rudd	Senator Penny Wong Minister for Climate Change and Water Senator for South Australia Parliament House, Canberra, ACT 2600 email: Penny Wong
The Hon Danna Vale, MP PO Box 6022 House of Representatives Parliament House Canberra ACT 2600 email: danna.vale.mp@aph.gov.au	Mr Scott Morrison MP PO Box 6022 House of Representatives Parliament House Canberra ACT 2600 email: scott.morrison.mp@aph.gov.au

Unsure which one is your Federal MP? Look it up here.

Dear Australia is in a position to become an admired leader on climate change. And 2008 is the year it can be done! Professor Garnaut's Climate Review has made it clear that if we don't tackle climate change, we have so much to lose - including our Great Barrier Reef and the Murray-Darling which is not only our food bowl, but the source of many of our iconic cultural images. As our elected representative, we need you to rise above the business lobbying and party-political jockeying and make a clearcut commitment to keep warming below two degrees. That is the level of action required to avoid dangerous, runaway climate change. For Australia, it will mean reducing our greenhouse emissions by at least 30 per cent by 2020. Time is running out. Every day of delay will make the job of cutting emissions and cleaning up our economy that much harder, and very much more expensive. I want you to ensure that a strong, broad and fair emissions trading scheme is up and running by 2010. Real leadership means making tough decisions that are in the long-term national interest. I want you to know that if you make those decisions, you'll have my support. Yours sincerely