People representing the 73 percent of Australians who support the Renewable Energy Target and 76 percent who support more wind energy, will rally at Garema Place in Canberra, midday today. They will call on the Coalition to end the uncertainty about the Renewable Energy Target.

People
representing the 73 percent of Australians who support the Renewable
Energy Target and 76 percent who support more wind energy, will rally at
Garema Place in Canberra, midday today. They will call on the Coalition
to end the uncertainty about the Renewable Energy Target.

“Australians
have made up their mind. They want more wind energy and a strong
Renewable Energy Target,” said Friends of the Earth spokesperson Leigh
Ewbank. “It’s time for the Coalition to make up theirs.”

The
Coalition is divided on renewable energy. The party’s leadership remains
quiet as several rogue Coalition MPs and Senators present at a
competing  anti-wind farm rally at Parliament House. They are calling
for the Howard government’s signature renewable energy policy to be
scrapped.

“Politicians who buy into the misinformation spruiked
by anti-wind farm campaigners are putting jobs, investment and all the
other benefits of wind energy at risk,” said Ewbank. “Uncertainty
surrounding the RET has already cost jobs in the wind energy sector. The
Portland-based wind-turbine tower manufacturer Keppel Prince has laid
off 45 wind workers.”

“If the Liberal Party intends to continue
to support the RET and development of wind energy after the September
election, then the leadership of the party must come out and distance
themselves from those MPs who are joining the ‘wind farm fraud’ rally,”
said Ewbank.

The positive Rally 4 Renewables, organised by
Friends of the Earth and GetUp!, will call on the Coalition to end the
uncertainty surrounding its energy policies. It calls on the Coalition
to commit to an increased Renewable Energy Target for wind and solar
projects.

The Rally 4 Renewables will feature Green Leader
Senator Christine Milne, Parliamentary Secretary for Climate Change
Yvette D’Ath, and independent MP Tony Windsor.

Coalition MPs Greg
Hunt (Shadow Minister for Climate Change) and Senator Birmingham (Shadow
Parliamentary Secretary for Climate Change) declined invitations to
speak at the event.

“Given that 64 percent of Coalition voters
support the RET and 71 percent want more wind energy, Mr Hunt and
Senator Birmingham have missed an opportunity to speak to their
pro-renewables supporters,” said Ewbank.

“Now is the time for the
Coalition to end the uncertainty and commit to an increased Renewable
Energy Target for Australia,” stated Ewbank. “That way, more of
Australia’s regions can benefit from wind farms.”

Contact:

Leigh Ewbank, Friends of the Earth's Yes 2 Renewables spokesperson - 0406 316 176