Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught will we realise that we cannot eat money.
- Chief Seattle
IF you've previously read our articles in the Goulburn Post, you'll know we're both passionate about the environment.
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So, for us, the big election issue is environmental policies.
As always, this is a key election issue, with the Great Barrier Reef and Murray Darling now political battlegrounds.
So if you, like us, care about the environment, then we've summarised the policies of the main three parties here to help you make an informed choice on July 2.
The Greens
No prizes for guessing that the Greens' policies are, well, pretty green. They want action on global warming and claim to be the only party with the courage to tackle catastrophic climate change. They want to do this by transitioning Australia away from coal and towards renewable, clean energy. They also want to protect our most precious places, like the Great Barrier Reef, and are anti-fracking.
The Liberal Party
The Liberals want to spend $2 billion on improving the Great Barrier Reef's water quality, reducing sediment and nitrogen run-off, removing crown of thorns star fish and improving scientific knowledge of it. They pledge: $1 billion to a clean energy innovation fund; $2.55 billion for businesses to reduce carbon emissions; and $50 million towards planting 20 million trees by 2020 (that's $2.50 per tree!)
The Labor Party
Labor are spruiking a six-point climate change action plan that is closely linked to the economy. They claim 'Australia needs an ambitious, common sense pathway to low pollution economy. The six key elements of their plan are: (1) Renewable energy economy; (2) Cleaner power generation; (3) Build jobs and industry; (4) Cut pollution; (5) Capture carbon on the land; and (6) Increased energy efficiency
Whichever way you vote on election day, spend some time thinking about the environmental policies of each of these parties. We don't get a second chance at saving our world.
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