Today the Federal Government decided to abandon their emissions trading scheme indefinitely, or at least until after the next election.
The AYCC believes that the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme as it stood was deeply flawed, locking in big-polluting practices without achieving the emissions reductions that we need.
However, the Government must take leadership on climate change now, and not put off serious climate policy.
Young Australians are still deeply concerned about the impacts that climate change will have on our future and the future of people everywhere. If we don’t act now, there will be even more serious ramifications for ecosystems and populations already feeling the impacts of global climate change.
The AYCC supports putting a price on carbon, and we support the proposal by Professor Garnaut for an interim 2-year carbon levy, in order to move climate policy in the right direction.
With the CPRS shelved for the mean time, all political parties must work together to address climate change right now – including introducing a carbon price and significant energy efficiency measures. 2010 is a Federal Election year, and all political parties must turn their attention to solving the climate crisis, or they risk losing large numbers of votes from younger generations, many of whom are first-time voters.
Young people are ready to get to work on the new clean energy economy – our leaders need to get to work as well. AYCC is organizing a national Climate Reality Week starting May 2nd where hundreds of events will make the call for climate action loud and clear to the public.
