Call for a national day of action against climate change on April 1, 2008
The latest research shows that the effects of climate change are speeding up, with real dangers of self-perpetuating, or "runaway", global warming. At the same time, global carbon emissions are rising at higher rates than ever before. Australia continues to hold the position of the highest greenhouse gas emitting country per capita, and is the world's biggest exporter of coal.
The message is clear — the world can't wait. For far too long fossil fuel industries and other dirty industries have been dangerously fooling around with the planet and our future.
This is a call from Resistance and the Australian Student Environment Network for a national day of student action against the fossil fools in industry and parliament, who are pushing the earth towards climate chaos.
The movement for action on climate change has made a lot of progress in the past two years. We forced climate skeptics to acknowledge the problem and helped to get rid of the Howard government for its inaction on climate change. While the Rudd government's decision to ratify Kyoto represents a victory for the movement, our job is far from over.
The reality is that if Australia does not move immediately to break its dependence on fossil fuels, no meaningful emission reduction targets will be met. We have to demand that state and federal governments stop the expansion of the coal industry, reverse the approval of the pulp mill in Tasmania, keep electricity generation in public hands and shift the billions of dollars of government funds currently spent each year to subsidise the fossil fuel industries into renewable energy industries.
As students and young people, we have an important role to play in propelling the climate action movement forward and forcing the government to take the necessary action. We have to break the bipartisan consensus on mythical "clean coal" technology and uranium mining. We have to end the wars for oil. And we want to see investment into our universities for researching renewable, not fossil fuel and nuclear, technologies.
The youth blocs of high school and university students at Walk Against Warming in 2007 were an example of what we can organise on a much bigger scale this year, as we build the student environment movement. Resistance and the Australian Student Environment Network are calling on everyone concerned about climate change to initiate discussions and start planning a nationally-coordinated day of student action on April 1 — Fossil Fools' Day, as part of an international day of action planned for that day.
To find out more phone Simon on 0438 297 552 or Wenny on 0402 564 862.