Burning forests is not green power

Peter Campbell joined Senate Candidate Dr Richard Di Natale and Melbourne Candidate Adam Bandt to protest over the plans by Gunns to sell power back to Victoria as Greens power at the Origin Energy Shop in Richmond on Friday.

Greens lead Senate candidate in Victoria Dr Richard Di Natale said that now the giant Gunns pulp mill had been given the go-ahead, consumers needed to be warned about the insidious link between old-growth forests and their power supply.

"When the pulp mill goes into production we will see a massive increase in the level of native forest logging for wood chips in Tasmania," Dr Di Natale said."'This will lead to the extinction of threatened wildlife and will significantly increase global warming.

"Forestry Tasmania has initiated proposals to burn wood chips from native forests for electricity generation. This power source will grow after the Gunns mill comes on line. Victoria and other states that are part of the national electricity market will be able to import electricity from Tasmania via Basslink.

"At a time when we desperately need renewable energy, the logging industry proposes to burn native forests for power generation under the guise of renewable electricity or 'green' power.

"We call on Origin Energy and other power suppliers, including TXU and AGL, to state explicitly to their customers and their shareholders that they will not purchase electricity from Tasmania generated from the burning of wood chips from native forests."

Gunns pulp mill will not be clean

Both Kevin Rudd and John Howard support the proposed Gunns pulpmill in the Tasmania’s Tamar valley. Peter Garrett supports it too. This is in spite of polls showing that two out of three locals in the valley oppose the mill due to serious concerns about the air and water pollution it will produce and the native forest it will consume.

Once again we see major party politics let down the people of Australia. Why not have a local plebiscite on this divisive issue?

The Lennon government has abandoned its own environmental assessment and public consultation to fast track the mill. Malcolm Turnbull is keeping his options open with a huge majority of voters in his marginal seat of Wentworth also opposing the mill.

If it were truly a world-class, best environment standards pulp mill then I think it would proceed. But this would mean a plantation-based, chlorine-free, closed-loop pulp mill that doesn't use a Kraft (sulphur-based) pulping process.

This would enhance Tasmania’s growing green image and ecotourism appeal that the Government has spent millions promoting. This is where Tasmania’s long term future, employment and prosperity should be.

See also: Greens Kooyong website

Why the Gunns pulp mill proposal for the Tamar valley should not be approved

There are serious concerns about Gunns proposed pulp mill for the Tamar valley in Tasmania.

However, the Lennon Labor government in Tasmania has cut short their public consultation process that was supposed to address social and environmental concerns about the pulp mill.

And Malcolm Turnbull, the Federal Environment Minister, has granted preliminary approval for the mill to proceed, despite stating his "concerns about the poor process followed by the Lennon Government"!

Turbull has now called for public submissions about the mill, with a closing date of 31st August. Please consider writing your own submission. You can send your submission via email to epbc.pulpmill@environment.gov.au

My submission to the "Invitation to comment on draft recommendation report - 2007/3385 Gunns Limited Proposed Pulp Mill, Tasmania"

To whom it may concern,

The Gunns pulp mill proposal for the Tamar valley in Tasmania should not be approved until:

• Full consideration of the impacts of the mill on Tasmania's native forests and wildlife habitat are assessed.
• An independent assessment of the flow and dispersal of effluent in Bass Strait is undertaken.
• All toxic substances are removed from the mill effluent - no output of dioxin should be allowed.
• Adequate local consultation has occurred - this was cut short when the Lennon Government abandoned their RPDC process

In its current form, the pulp mill would pollute the ocean with toxic dioxin, and have a very serious negative impact on fisheries and local tourism ventures in the Tamar valley.

The mill proposal should not be approved until these matters are resolved.

Peter Campbell

*** End of submission ***

Links

• Invitation to comment on proposed decision and conditions for the pulp mill proposal in Tasmania's Tamar Valley
• Comment sought on draft Pulp Mill decision and conditions - Malcolm Turnbull MP
• The Wilderness Society - Gunns' Proposed Pulp Mill
• PM's pal damns pulp mill proposal | The Australian
• Turnbull to clear way for pulp mill | The Australian

Videos

• Natural Tasmania brand worth more than a dirty pulp mill (Greens)
• Tasmanian scallop fisherman, John Hammond, on the pulp mill
• Pulp mill 2007... Back to the future with Christine Milne
  

Forests can slow climate change

This letter was published in The Age and The Heraldsun on July 25, 2007

Once again we are faced with the unedifying spectacle of Kevin Rudd and Malcolm Turnbull both playing political football with Australia's forests.

Kevin Rudd has just fully endorsed John Howard's forest policy which supports the destruction of remnant majestic old growth forests in both Tasmania and South East Australia. He has done this to curry favour with the Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union in the run up to the federal election.

Deforestation and land clearing accounts for around 10 per cent of Australia's greenhouse gas emissions, yet Kevin Rudd is doing nothing to stop this, despite the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report which identifies protection of forests as a key global strategy for combating climate change.

Malcolm Turnbull says he recognises the importance of forests as carbon stores, yet he also supports the ongoing destruction of Australia's forests and the resulting export of 4 million tonnes of woodchips from Tasmania and 1 million tonnes from Victoria each year. The Howard government is allocating $200 million to protect forests in South East Asia, but is unwilling to protect Australian forests that store up to 1200 tonnes of carbon per hectare.

Carbon dioxide emissions from logging in Victoria in 2004-2005 were almost 10 million tonnes which is equivalent to emissions resulting from an additional 2.4 million cars onto Victoria’s roads each year.

The solution is remarkably simple. We need to protect all remaining old growth forests to preserve both their intrinsic value and the carbon they store.

Unfortunately, Kevin Rudd and Malcolm Turnbull can only see woodchips rather than our trees.

View some Tasmanian forests and hear why local people want them protected.