Oakeshott backs ‘dead koala’ power

Koala. Photograph: Robert and Geraldine Johnson

Would you want to power your home by destroying a koala’s? Unfortunately, that’s exactly what independent MP Rob Oakeshott is proposing.

Rob Oakeshott is a good bloke who put himself on the line to help pass Australia's Clean Energy Package - but he's about to make a big mistake.

Last year, Mr Oakeshott agreed that burning native forests for power should no longer be called ‘renewable energy’, but now he's encouraging the government to continue their support for this polluting, forest-destroying industry.

TAKE ACTION NOW

Around Australia there are proposals for big power stations fueled by woodchipping our native forests and throwing them into giant furnaces.  But without the government assistance that comes with being classed ‘renewable’, they aren’t viable.

A law is about to be passed that labels this ‘dead koala’ power NOT renewable – but now Rob Oakeshott is challenging it. The timber industry in Mr Oakeshott’s electorate is facing the same challenges seen all over Australia. The industry has problems, but burning forests in giant furnaces is the wrong solution, both for our environment and for industry.

Burning our native forests for power is a bad idea

It destroys habitat. Many of our forest dwelling native species – from the Leadbeater’s Possum to our much loved koalas – are desperately short of habitat. Woodchipping and burning what remains of their homes may lead to extinctions.

It slows investment in real renewables. At a time when dangerous climate change is becoming a reality, governments are still investing heavily in coal and oil. We know that we need to build an economy based on real renewables like wind and solar. If we allow burning our native forests to count as ‘renewable energy’ we are putting a huge roadblock in front of the technologies we really need.

It’s bad for the climate. Logging and burning forests creates a lot of carbon pollution. While the timber industry claims that burning forests is good for climate, when all the pollution from logging and burning is measured, forest furnaces can be more polluting than coal.

It gets in the way of the real changes our forestry industry needs. Chopping down our forests and exporting them doesn’t pay anymore. There’s a slumping global market for woodchips and it’s hit our industry hard. Australian forestry needs to change to a sustainable, plantation based industry –but burning native forests for power will provide a lifeline to a business model that is unsustainable both economically and environmentally.

Australia’s timber industry needs a solution.  Markets are crashing, consumers want sustainable timber, forests are being overcut, there’s an ecological crisis, and the value of carbon in our forests is being recognised.

A real solution is one that puts the industry on a sustainable footing, based mainly on plantations. Rob Oakeshott should support this change, instead of a stopgap solution that will prop up the industry for a few short years but destroy what remains of our forests and wildlife.

Community opposition to large-scale native forest furnaces has been overwhelming wherever they have been proposed. Not one has been a built, despite a dozen proposals over the past two decades. Consumers and energy retailers have rejected this polluting, forest-destroying industry. Our federal parliament needs to change its out-of-touch laws, and end the support for ‘dead koala power’.

You can help by taking action today.

Contact Rob Oakeshott today and ask him to protect our native forests from this disastrous proposal. You can call his Port Macquarie office on (02) 6584 2911 or tweet him @OakeyMP