Queensland Conservation organisations urge a vote for the Environment

A broad coalition of conservation organisations in Queensland have released a statement urging a vote for the environment and calling for urgent action to arrest the decline of biodiversity, to tackle dangerous climate change and build a safe and healthy future.

The Queensland conservation coalition set out priorities they want to see implemented by the next Federal Government:

• A price on carbon to shift investment towards clean energy. The Sunshine State should become a renewable State of Australia
• A Commonwealth/State Strategic Assessment on the impacts of increasing coal and gas exports on Queensland. The Shen Neng grounding on the reef and significant expansion of port facilities are major threats to the environment and these threats must be addressed
• The inclusion of groundwater and farmland as matters of national environmental significance under the EPBC Act.
• A National Sustainable Population Plan based upon ecological constraints to halt over-development and support the transition to low-carbon urban communities

On climate change the statement calls for:

• Introduce a price on carbon
• Replace coal generated electricity with solar, wind and other renewable energies
• Cut greenhouse gas pollution in the next term of Government
• Phase out fossil fuel industry subsidies and re-direct to renewable energy investments
• Support poor and vulnerable countries to tackle the impacts of climate change and invest in sustainable development

Their call for urgency reiterates statements from Australia's Chief Scientist, Professor Penny Sackett who said in May 2010 "We are not acting with sufficient speed to reduce the large degree of risk that climate change poses to our health, our environment and our livelihoods."

The statement was prepared by Queensland Conservation Council, Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland, Cairns and Far North Environment Centre, Mackay Conservation Group, Capricorn Conservation Council, Wide Bay Burnett Conservation Council, Sunshine Coast Environment Council, Toowoomba and Region and Environment Council, Gold Coast and Hinterland Environment Council(GECKO), Logan and Albert Conservation Association, Householders Options to Protect the Environment (HOPE), North Queensland Conservation Council.

You can read the full statement: Queensland Environment Groups Election Platform