In less than a week the federal Senate will decide whether to include native forest biomass burning in the Renewable Energy Target!
Please call, tweet and email the Senate cross benchers now!
We urgently need your help! In less than a week the Senate will consider legislation that proposes to include burning native forests for electricity (biomass) in the Renewable Energy Target (RET). The Federal government and the logging industry want the RET to include native forest biomass power as an eligible source of renewable energy. This would mean native forest biomass would qualify for Renewable Energy Certificates (REC'S) and compete directly with true sources of renewable energy like solar and wind.
The legislation has already passed the Lower House. Labor have proposed an amendment that would disqualify native forest biomass from being eligible for Renewable Energy Certificates under the RET. However the fate of this amendment is in the hands of the Senate cross benchers. Please contact as many of them as you can and urge them to support Labor's amendment to exclude 'native forest biomass from the RET.
If you can contact all of them it would be a great help, but even just selecting a couple, or the Senators from your state will make a big difference. Scroll down for contact info and points to include.
Leaked business documents from VicForests recently revealed their operations in East Gippsland are unviable and costing Victorian taxpayers up to $5.5 million each year. The documents reveal the only way VicForests logging operations in East Gippsland will survive is if native forest biomass is included in the RET and forest furnaces are established to incinerate our precious forests to produce dirty power.
The industry have been lobbying hard to include native forest biomass in the RET. They are deceptively arguing that only the 'waste' will be burnt to produce power. However, the definition of waste that has been built into the the legislation means any log that does not have a higher value is considered 'waste'. So a pulp grade log that can't go to a saw mill (up to 90% of all logs in East Gippsland coupes are pulp grade) is of less value than a saw log and under this definition of 'waste', could be burnt in a furnace to produce dirty power. This means whole forests could go up in smoke just to power TV sets and household appliances.
Go here for 10 good reasons to reject native forest biomass.
Read this article for more information about why the industry are pushing so hard for this archaic proposal to have the support of parliament.
And this article for detailed analysis about the disastrous effects native forest biomass will have on Australia's biodiversity.
Please see the contact details for the Senators below and refer to the articles linked to this email for points to include in your calls and letters. The future of our forests is in the hands of the Senators and it looks like it will come down to just a few votes that will be able to prevent a disastrous outcome. So every letter, tweet and call can make a difference. If we all do our bit we have the power to stop it. Please share this information high and wide and spread the word.
We know that lots of phone calls do make a difference. So take action this week. It time to tell our politicians "Australia says no to forest furnaces"!
Ricky Muir (03) 5144 3639 [email protected] (VIC)
Glenn Lazarus (07) 3001 8940 [email protected] (QLD)
Nick Xenophon (08) 8232 1144 [email protected] (SA)
Dio Wang (08) 9221 2233 [email protected] (WA)
John Madigan (03) 5331 2321 [email protected] (VIC)
Bob Day (02) 6277 3373 [email protected] (SA)
Jacqui Lambie (03) 6431 2233 [email protected] (TAS)
David Leyonhjelm (02) 9719 1078 [email protected] (NSW)
Thanks for your support.