Apologies for X-postings.... Chris --------------------------------------------------------------------- Monday, 30 October 2000 Government Pulls Contentious Forest Bill As Democrats Renege and Greens Consult Labor The Government has pulled the contentious Renewable Energy Bill off the top of today's Senate agenda in a move likely to see it accept minor Senate amendments. Passing the bill is central to Environment Minister Robert Hill's strategy for convincing the World that Australia is playing its part at next month's vital COP6 Global Warming conference at The Hague in the Netherlands. The Democrats had accepted approaches from Minister Hill to drop 10 of the 12 amendments put to the House of Represenatives by the Senate but under fire from green groups have since reneged. Only Greens Senator Bob = Brown voted against the bill outright. Environmentalists are outraged by the key provision of the bill which allows burning of woodchips from native forests and woodlands to be classified as renewable or eco-friendly energy sourced along with solar and wind = power. Two examples of conservationists alarm are: 1) plans by Forestry Tasmania for a 30 megawatt furnace in the Huon River Valley to burn 300,000 tonnes of woodchips per annum out of Tasmania's hardwood forests, the tallest in the world and; 2) new fears that 'bagasse' furnaces in Queensland, designed to burn sugarcane to produce electricity will, for 9 months of the year when sugarcane is unavailable, take wood from the infamous native vegetation clearance now at a record rate of 500,000 hectares per annum. Senator Brown says the bill is rapidly shaping as an election issue. "This bill should be being celebrated as Australia's first substantial law to reverse global warming. Instead it is a licence by woodchippers to destroy forests and woodlands in the name of environmental sanctity. It is a deceitful bill. No wonder forest campaigners are outraged," Senator Brown said. "The Democrats change of mind is too late and Labor has once again, shown itself as pro-woodchipping," he said. Further information: Ben Oquist 02 62773170 or 0419704095 ---------------------------------------------- Ben Oquist Australian Greens Senator Bob Brown Parliament House, Canberra 2600 Australia +61 2 62773170 ph +61 2 62773185 fx 0419704095 mobile http://www.greens.org.au/bobbrown --------------------------------------------- You can receive Greens media releases by e-mail. Go to http://www.greens.org.au and sign up to the 'Greens-Media' opt in e-mail list. ---------------------------------------------- -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
