{"id":29309,"date":"2024-09-27T23:12:00","date_gmt":"2024-09-27T23:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/?p=29309"},"modified":"2024-09-27T23:12:00","modified_gmt":"2024-09-27T23:12:00","slug":"climate-wrecking-coal-mines-tarnish-labor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/2024\/09\/27\/climate-wrecking-coal-mines-tarnish-labor\/","title":{"rendered":"CLIMATE-WRECKING COAL MINES TARNISH LABOR"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Canberrans who care about climate change are right to feel let down by Labor, which has just approved three coal mine expansions, undermining the ACT\u2019s net-zero future.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn a climate emergency, you need climate leaders. Labor has proven this week they are anything but,\u201d said ACT Greens Leader Shane Rattenbury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve heard fury from people in the community. I\u2019ve heard disbelief. I\u2019ve heard a huge amount of frustration that Labor is undermining local climate action with these huge new fossil fuel projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCanberrans care about climate change. They know it’s time to band together with real vision, ambition and courage,\u201d Mr Rattenbury said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Isabel Mudford, Greens candidate for the federal seat of Canberra, said:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCanberrans expected better from Labor, but it\u2019s clear the old parties have sold out to vested interests profiting at the expense of the community and the environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLocal Labor members can\u2019t go around pretending they care about the environment, biodiversity and threatened species while continuing to support their colleagues’ decisions to destroy the planet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s essential we make every election a climate election and use every vote we have to choose decisive climate action and leadership. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe upcoming ACT and federal elections are a chance to tell the other parties loud and clear that we are done with cooking the planet. We want a cleaner economy and a more sustainable way of living,\u201d Ms Mudford said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Rattenbury said the other parties lack genuine ambition on climate and the environment.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA vote for the Greens is a vote for real climate leadership. We have already delivered 100% renewable electricity to the ACT, a record uptake of electric vehicles, and a nation-leading plan to shut off the fossil fuel gas network by 2045,\u201d said Mr Rattenbury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWithout the influence of the Greens in local politics, it’s obvious the other parties would not have taken this path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhile federal Labor was working with the Abbott Government to cut the national renewable energy target, the Greens were in the ACT building toward 100% renewable electricity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhile federal Labor has committed this term to a gas-fired future, the Greens have secured a gas-free future for the ACT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLast election ACT Labor said it was a \u2018crazy\u2019 Greens idea to stop connecting new homes and suburbs to the gas network, but now it\u2019s a reality across Canberra.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe ACT Greens will keep pushing further, faster, to make a fair transition to net-zero in our community, putting a stop to the federal excuses that it can\u2019t be done,\u201d Mr Rattenbury said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next term, a Greens-led ACT Government will:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n