THE Riverina is perfectly placed to be at the forefront of the “renewables revolution”, a climate change rally in Wagga has heard.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Armed with placards and passion, more than 100 locals marched on Riverina MP Michael McCormack’s office on Sunday to coincide with the global People’s Climate March events.
Wagga rally organiser Holly Wright said it was time politicians stopped vacillating on the science and started showing political courage on the issue.
“There should no longer be any debate over whether man-made climate change is real,” Ms Wright said.
“We should be now talking about realistic, economically sound ways to transition from fossil fuels to a renewable energy economy.”
Ms Wright said the Riverina’s vast tracts of open land and more than 300 days a year of sunshine made it an ideal spot for solar and wind power projects.
She urged Mr McCormack to show leadership on the issue.
“We want him to stop denying climate change … as far as we know, he’s a denialist,” she said.
“He needs to acknowledge it’s a real threat and urge the government to set strong renewable targets, rather than remove them.
“This isn’t just about the future, it’s happening now; we’re losing biodiversity now, people are dying from heatwaves now.”
Among the placards brought to the event were ones reading: “Our planet, our home” and “We love a sun-powered country”. The rally heard from climate expert Dr Andrew Wallace, former Riverina Labor candidate Tim Kurylowicz and Cootamundra-based Labor senate candidate Vivien Thomson.
Dr Wallace said the denials around climate change echoed the historic denials around the dangers of tobacco.
“The science is absolutely clear,” he said. “There was a study done earlier this year where a researcher looked at scientific publications and had to read 17,000 reports before finding one that claimed humans aren’t causing climate change.