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The truth hurts
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Inbox
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10:29 AM (1 hour ago)
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Dear Neville —
It seems like we’re living in some kind of bizarre alternate universe, when the Prime Minister of our sunny country admits that he’s been out to destroy clean energy’s future from the get-go.
When Tony Abbott said on national radio on Thursday that he was managing to “reduce the current growth rate of this particular sector as much as the current Senate would allow”*, I’m sure you were just as dismayed as I was. It’s the last thing we should expect from the leader of a country that’s blessed with plentiful sunshine and 1.4 million homes with solar on the roof!
Today our politicians are back in Canberra for the final fortnight of Federal Parliament and will debate the future of the Target in the Senate – will you share this image on Facebook so people can see what’s at stake for our sun-powered future?
Right now a cut from 41,000 to 33,000 gigawatt hours is on the cards for the large-scale part of the Target. And I have to say that when I hear our politicians celebrate cutting back where our energy system needs to go it makes me despair – how can we be so far from where we were only a couple of years ago?
Investment in clean energy dropped by a whopping 88% last year, with millions in investment gone. Right now, thousands of jobs are at risk.
The best chance we have to pull the debate about the future of our energy system out of the political quicksand is by demonstrating that people everywhere want solar and clean energy to be #1. Will you share this image now and ask your friends to Stand Up For Solar? (If you’re not on Facebook, simply forward this email to your address book.)
Like you, I know that we can win, even when multiple attacks on solar and renewables confront us. I know this because we’ve done it before. Together we saved the small-scale part of the scheme, known as the SRES, that helps people with the cost of installing solar systems of up to 100 kilowatts.
And the good news is that when it comes to what’s next, we’re making progress already. Stand Up For Solar’s national launch has only just wrapped up, with hundreds of people who care about solar turning up at each meeting – we’re building momentum for a vision for clean energy that people across our great nation want to see.
And the launch events were only the first step in our campaign to win a renewable energy goal of at least 50% by 2030, a fair go for solar owners and help for people struggling with their power bills. Solar Citizens supporters and volunteers around Australia are booking meetings with local MPs, holding stalls, letter boxing and pledging to take Stand Up For Solar to their friends, family members and neighbours.
You can be part of it today by sharing our Facebook post or by forwarding this email to your networks. Ask your friends if they support solar – and when they say yes – ask them to Stand Up For Solar with you.
For sunshine, every time
Claire, National Director
P.S. We’ve got big plans coming up for Stand Up For Solar in the weeks and months ahead and we need your help to make them happen. Make your tax-deductible donation today and help us win big for Aussie solar and renewables.
Solar Citizens
http://www.solarcitizens.org.au/