Top 5 reasons to drop Rob Oakeshott's climate motion

As far as bad policy goes, subsidising the burning of native forests and calling it renewable energy is a pretty high achiever.

That's why GetUp members in his electorate have been calling, emailing and petitioning Rob Oakeshott, urging him to drop his motion, which would see native Australian forests burned for power, while also receiving taxpayer funding as 'renewable energy.' Here's where the campaign is up to and how we can stop this bad policy.

Firstly, this week our new TV ad will start running in Rob Oakeshott's electorate explaining how ridiculous it is to not only burn native forests for electricity but to try and call it renewable. Check out the video and share it with your friends here.

Secondly, unfortunately, Mr. Oakeshott has been given some incorrect information by the logging industry. So we've put together this fact sheet that explains why this policy is bad news for native forests and for renewable energy. For a quick run-down, here are the top 5 reasons to drop Mr. Oakeshott's motion:

1. Rob Oakeshott's motion will use taxpayer money to prop up the destruction of native forests. Right now, demand for native forest products is crashing as customers request more sustainable supplies instead.


2. Mr. Oakeshott says "not one more tree would be cut down" because of his motion. Wrong. According to ANU economist Judith Ajani, “[o]pening native forest wood to the energy market will turn the economically and environmentally desirable trend decline in native forest logging into increasing logging levels.” ¹


3. The environmental conditions in Mr. Oakeshott's bill are unenforceable. There have been similar constraints supposedly applied to the wood-chipping industry for 30 years, and they have allowed for the clear-felling of forests throughout Australia and export of millions of tonnes of woodchips.


4. It will mean less money for real renewable energy, like wind, solar and geothermal. As Andrew Macintosh, Associate Director of ANU Centre for Climate Law and Policy explains², the renewable energy legislation is capped, which means there are a set number of renewable energy certificates.


5. It will increase our carbon emissions. Australia has the most carbon-dense forests in the world. ³ When these forests are logged and burnt, that carbon is released into the atmosphere and only a portion is reabsorbed over several decades when trees regrow. This results in large carbon pollution emissions.

Watch our new video, sign the petition, and help get the message out by sharing them with your friends:

http://www.getup.org.au/renewables-not-forest-furnaces

Thanks for all you do,
Paul O and Sam, for the GetUp team.

PS - Tonight three same sex couples will be having dinner with the Prime Minister to lobby for marriage equality, thanks to the donations of GetUp members. There will be a feature on this dinner tonight on 'The Project' - be sure to check it out at 7pm on Channel 10.

¹ Judith Ajani (2012) Oakeshott’s call for wood-powered electricity means more logging. The
Conversation.
²Andrew Macintosh (2012) Oakeshott, Windsor biomass burner scheme Pythonesque. Associate Director,
ANU Centre for Climate Law & Policy. Crikey.
³Brendan Mackey, Heather Keith, Sandra L. Berry and David B. Lindenmayer [2007] Green Carbon: The
role of natural forests in carbon storage. ANU.

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GetUp is an independent, not-for-profit community campaigning group. We use new technology to empower Australians to have their say on important national issues. We receive no political party or government funding, and every campaign we run is entirely supported by voluntary donations. If you'd like to contribute to help fund GetUp's work, please donate now! If you have trouble with any links in this email, please go directly to www.getup.org.au. To unsubscribe from GetUp, please click here. Authorised by Simon Sheikh, Level 5, 116 Kippax St, Surry Hills NSW 2010