Posts tagged ‘Hazelwood power station’
Photos from the Replace Hazelwood Rally
These photos were taken at the Rally to Replace ALL of Hazelwood that happened on Saturday 6th November 2010.
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5,000 protesters gathered at the steps of the State Library on Swanston Street and walked peacefully to Parliament House. The message, to urge all political parties in the lead up to the State election on 27th November to commit to replace Hazelwood power station, the countries worst polluting power station, in the next term of government with renewable energy.
What does a white paper, a green premier and a yellow government have in common?
Taking Action one report at a time
The Brumby government recently released its Climate Change White Paper, The Action Plan, to much fanfare and praise. Media outlets lauded the plan with headlines like “Brumby lays down gauntlet on carbon” and “Premier’s bold plan on climate takes lead”. Yet those with long memories may well remember another Victorian labor climate announcement that was also the toast of the town.
Back in June 2002 the Bracks government unveiled its Victorian Greenhouse Strategy (VGS). Media releases of the time promised that the strategy would “reduce Victoria’s greenhouse gas emissions by five to eight million tonnes by 2010”. It would “position Victoria to prosper in a future carbon constrained economy” and “a number of drivers are now in place that will lead to an increased take-up… in the renewable energy sector over the next decade”.
In 2002 our total emissions were 120.5 million tonnes (Mt). The most recent data from the government shows in 2008 that the State’s emissions were 119 Mt and in 2006 were at an all time high of 126 Mt. That’s a long way from the promises laid down in the VGS. (more…)
Switch off Hazelwood
World Enviroment Day is 10/10/10 this year. And what better way to help the environment than to help replace the most polluting power station in the industrialised world with clean, green – renewable energy.
That’s right CAMsters – it Switch Off Hazelwood time. Last year hundreds of people traveled to the Latrobe Valley to issue the operators of Australia’s largest single source of carbon pollution with a “Community Decommission” order. It was a great fun filled family day with plenty of action from the Carbon Cops, Wombat Warriors, Radical Cheerleaders, Ministers for Energy Resources and Silly Walks, and the Climate Clowns. Check out the ‘flickr photos‘ page from last year. (more…)
How not to conduct an interview
As a part of working with CAM I’ve needed to find some new skills. A few of those skills are:
- keeping your banner from drooping in the middle when at a protest march.
- writing to politicians, demanding action on the greatest moral challenge of our time, without swearing.
- knocking on a complete stranger’s door and asking them to help close a power station.
But the most recent skill that I’ve acquired, in order to bring you all the best local climate news, is how to conduct an interview. And my first interview ever was with long-serving member for Brunswick Carlo Carli.
First rule of journalism, be prepared
After playing email tag for a couple of weeks it was proving difficult to find a mutual alignment of our diaries. Thinking I’d have better luck arranging a date and time using the powers of speech rather than type, I decided to ring Carlo’s office.
I was expecting Carlo either not be there or to be unavailable to take a call. So was somewhat surprised when I got straight through. Carlo kindly suggested that we do the interview over the phone. Diary at the ready I was also surprised when Carlo suggested we just do it now. “Yes, thanks – that’ll be great” was my reply – but in my head I was thinking What – now! C**p, I’m completely unprepared. (more…)
Morelanders protest government stance on dirty power giant
Members of a local community group will protest on Sydney Road on Saturday as part of an ongoing campaign to replace Australia’s dirtiest power station at Hazelwood in the La Trobe valley. Community groups around the country are mobilising to call for the closing of Hazelwood, and Climate Action Moreland has played a crucial role in putting pressure on State and Federal politicians. (more…)
Brumby can’t see the world’s biggest polluter through the smokestacks!
The problem is Hazelwood but Brumby can’t see the solution
Our campaign to close the Hazelwood power station is working. How else would you explain the Brumby government, four months out from the State election, leaking to the Age that they are contemplating closing one quarter of Hazelwood? But … one quarter? That’s only half of half the job!
The announcement is big news and shows that all our efforts are really making a difference. It shows that grassroots campaigning, like door knocking and holding community stalls, is really successful. (more…)
“Replace Hazelwood” says local Federal MP to Parliament
Local Federal MP Kelvin Thompson has called on the Federal Parliament to support replacing Australia’s dirtiest power station. “Australians are hungry for action to tackle carbon emissions” stated Thompson, who acknowledged that he has been contacted by many of his constituents urging “strong, effective, urgent action” to reduce emissions.
Kelvin Thomson
Thompson championed Environment Victoria’s report: Fast-tracking Victoria’s clean energy future to replace Hazelwood power station, which outlines a plan for transitioning to other energy sources by 2013. He noted that “replacing Hazelwood will not only cut Victoria’s carbon emissions by over 10 per cent; it will free up 27 billion litres of water each year”. (more…)
Hazelwood power station – A brief history
Everything you wanted to know about Hazelwood, but was afraid to ask.
THE EARLY YEARS
47 years of pollution.
1949 – The State Electricity Commission of Victoria (SECV) begins developing the brown coal reserves at Morewell, also known as the ‘Morwell Project’.
1959 – Hazelwood Power Station is approved. It’s planned to consist of six 200 MW generating units, giving a total generating capacity of 1,200 MW.
1963 – Growing demand for electricity forces the SECV to review this capacity.
1964 – Hazelwood begins its commission.
1965 – Approval of two additional units is granted.
1971 – After twelve years Hazelwood is finally fully functional producing 1,600 megawatts of base load electricity. (more…)
Climate Action Moreland goes national
It was late January when Climate Action Moreland decided that this year we were going to embrace the Hazelwood campaign, and push ourselves into an activity that we’d never tried before – doorknocking house to house. In this double election year, we knew this was the time to take our message out there, to the streets and the people of Brunswick (watch the video here).
Climate Action Moreland members at the Hazelwood protest Sept 2009
And not only has our campaign been successful in Brunswick, but it’s now spread throughout Melbourne and Australia. Inspired by the depth of community support for our campaign in Brunswick, climate action groups around the country are using our doorknocking techniques in their local areas, groups like Climate Action Newtown and Parramatta Climate Action Now in Sydney, as well as our neighbours Darebin Climate Action Now, Yarra Climate Action Now, and Inner West Climate Change Community. (more…)
Door-knocking success with Hazelwood campaign
40 supporters of Climate Action Moreland have door-knocked and leafleted more than 2500 Brunswick homes to launch a new strategy to engage the community on climate issues in this key election year.
The door-knocking, on 17 April and 2 May, will continue at least once a month, with a focus on the campaign to replace Hazelwood power station, the dirtiest in the developed world. It was supposed to close in 2005, but the government extended its licence for another 25 years. Hazelwood is a national embarrassment, 80% foreign owned and responsible for 3% of Australia’s and almost 15% of Victoria’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Climate Action Moreland wants it shut down by 2012 and replaced with renewable energy. We want the government to make shutting down Hazelwood an election promise, but they’ll only do that if we can show there is real community concern on the issue. So we’re taking the issue to the streets of Brunswick… door by door! (more…)
