2,500 jobs lost in clean energy GET UP

NEVILLE,

Last week, the Coalition slashed Australia’s keystone clean energy policy – the Renewable Energy Target (RET). The result of the deal and the 18 month negotiations leading up to it? Over 2,500 jobs lost, $6 billion in clean energy investment gone, and a proposal to include burning native forests as a source of ‘renewable’ energy.

But when crisis strikes, GetUp members are ready to fight back: and last Monday was no exception. Hundreds of GetUp members, like Anne from Brisbane, stood up for all of us who want a clean energy economy by calling their local MP about the cuts.

Here’s what Anne had to say about calling her MP:

“I stressed that a major concern for me was the cut to investment in clean energy when it was booming in the rest of the world. I felt that Australia should be leading the way as we were such a wealthy country and the envy of many, instead 2,500 jobs have been lost already and many more will not be created.

Personally I felt ashamed of the position that our government is taking toward investment in clean energy. I assured the staff member that at the next election I will certainly be considering Theresa’s renewable energy policy and would hope to see a significant improvement.”

Like Anne, you live in a marginal Coalition electorate. In fact it was just a few thousand votes that decided the outcome for your MP Louise Markus at the last election.

Tight margins like these mean every single phone call to an electorate office from a local constituent can get an MP listening and active on an issue. And if your MP continues to get calls every day about clean energy, they’ll know that their decision to cut the RET will hit home on their electoral bottom line.

Click here to schedule a call to your local MP to let them know how you feel about the massive cuts to our clean energy future.

After ongoing negotiations that have shaken the clean energy industry to its core, last Monday the Coalition got their way and pushed through a deal that will see our target for clean energy slashed by 8000 gigawatt hours. But wading through the commentary and reporting, it can be hard to make sense of what 8,000 gigawatt hours means in real terms.

Here’s what you need to know about the real cost to our economy and community from of last Monday’s deal and the 18 months of negotiation leading up to it:

• Investment gone: $6 billion cut to investment at a time when clean energy investments are booming around the world, but stalled here.¹
• Jobs lost: Almost 2,500 jobs lost in the sector already², with thousands more now unable to be created.
• More pollution: 8000 gigawatt hours would have had the same pollution reduction impact as taking 1.6 million cars off the road.³
• Australia seen as ‘uninvestable’: The last year of uncertainty has seen an 88% drop in investment, and new major solar or wind construction projects abandoned.⁴
• Burning native forests as ‘renewable energy’: An eleventh hour proposal to include burning native forests as a source of clean energy could divert up to 15% of investment and capacity away from solar and wind projects⁵, while driving the destruction of irreplaceable native forests.

When bad news breaks, sustained public reaction defines what politicians do next. And because your electorate of Macquarie is a marginal seat, (so marginal it can make or break an election) your local Coalition MP, Louise Markus, will be paying extra close attention.

http://www.getup.org.au/call-louise-markus-mp

GetUp members have been at the forefront of the fight for the clean energy along with dozens of community groups and environmental advocates for almost 18 months now. Together, we funded hard hitting ads on TV, in cinemas and in the papers, putting solar and wind jobs front-and-centre at town hall events across the country, and so far 11,000 of us have switched our homes electricity away from AGL, Origin and EnergyAustralia, the dirty energy companies who are lobbying against renewables in the halls of parliament.

There’s no doubt: the Renewable Energy Target could have been slashed further or cut altogether if it wasn’t for the actions of passionate people like you. Now it’s time to show our decision-makers that we’re not giving up the fight for a clean energy future.

Will you make the call?

Paul and Jess,
for the GetUp team

[1] New renewable energy target will mean $6 billion cut to investment: analysts. Sydney Morning Herald. May 18, 2015.
[2] Renewable energy sector has lost almost 2,500 jobs in last two years, says ABS report. ABC. April 13, 2015.
[3] ‘Greenhouse Gas Emissions from a Typical Passenger Vehicle’, United States Environmental Protection Agency, May 2014.
[4] Australia’s large-scale renewable investment dives in 2014. Sydney Morning Herald. January 12, 2015.
[5] RET deal to pass parliament in spite of wood waste inclusion. Climate Spectator. May 18, 2015.