Page 4653 - Week 11 - Tuesday, 19 October 2010
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Dr Hansen, one of the world’s leading scientists on climate issues, said:
I am sorry to say that most of what politicians are doing on the climate change front is green washing—their proposals sound good but they are deceiving you and themselves at the same time. Politicians think that if matters look difficult, compromise is a good approach. Unfortunately, nature and the laws of physics cannot compromise—they are what they are.
And we have to deal with this.
Reaching our target of a 40 per cent reduction will, however, bring positive changes to our quality of life—cleaner air and water, a closer community and growing new green industries. And we can see it now. Using solar hot-water systems for water heating or passive solar design for houses saves their owners money over time. Walking, riding a bike or taking the bus saves money as well as giving us the exercise that most of us need and reduces greenhouse gas production.
One of the key things about this 40 per cent target is that it is just that, a target. It has to be backed by action. We do not want it to have the same fate as no waste by 2010. And in the ACT we are in a good position to act. As the recent ACT environment commissioner’s annual report points out, our ecological footprint is 8.5 global hectares, which is nearly four times higher than the global average. But it has doubled in the past 10 years, which means that in the next 10 years we could reduce it by half and be back to square.
We have 10 years before 2020. Thinking about the changes we can make in the coming decade is very exciting. And if we do this right, this is going to be a truly great period for the ACT. I am going to discuss a few areas where we can make positive changes and I will concentrate on my portfolio areas.
Despite what Mr Seselja said, many things can be done which save money, reduce greenhouse gases and improve our quality of life. As I keep on saying in this place, we need to plan and build for the future. I hope we are not going to see any more battles in the Assembly like the one over my legislation to mandate more greenhouse friendly hot-water heaters. All of our long-life infrastructure must be consistent with reducing greenhouse gas emissions and meeting our climate change targets.
Buildings are responsible for 75 per cent of the ACT’s greenhouse gas emissions. As I said earlier today in the Assembly when discussing the building quality forum, it is essential that we build better and for longer. A culture that says 35 years is an appropriate lifespan for a house is just not appropriate for a world that is reducing greenhouse gas emissions. We cannot afford the environmental impact of continually replacing buildings when we know that buildings can be built to last a lot longer.
We also know that houses can be built and have been built in Canberra that require no external energy. As a result of the Labor-Greens agreement, we now require all new houses to be six-star energy rated. We may need to go further to meet the greenhouse target. However, progress in solar orientation and solar access, also in the Labor-Greens agreement, seems to have stalled by being included in some controversial but unrelated planning changes.
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