Australia’s new coalition government is diving straight in, and not, it seems, in a green way. The most worrying of its plans might be the promise to scrap the carbon tax, which was introduced to stem the worst impact of the country’s biggest polluters.
The new government is headed by known climate change denier Tony Abbott. His views, if he has any at all, on other serious issues associated with burning fossil fuels, such as ocean acidification and air pollution, are uncertain.
The tax seemed to have been successful, in that the country’s carbon emissions have dropped, going against the global trend. However, environmental responsibility seems to come far below simplistic people (or rather, industry) pleasing policies with the change in administration.
This is not the way forward for Australia, which should be leading the way on environmental issues, not retracting policies to placate the dying mining and fossil fuel industries.
Tell the Australian government to keep the carbon tax.
We the undersigned ask that you not scrap the carbon tax, which seems to have played a part in reducing Australia’s carbon emissions.
The mining and fossil fuel industries might be powerful but they are, by their very nature, unsustainable. Australia’s future lies in looking after its unique environment and developing renewable energies, not selling out for short-term economic or political gains.
Please take your responsibilities as one of the world’s leading economies, and as a country with some of the greatest biodiversity on earth, seriously and retain the carbon tax.
Thank you for your attention.
