Lost in the spin cycle
8 May 2008 ACT Greens MLA Deb Foskey has described the Government’s budget commitment to greenhouse reduction this year as a fancy form of greenwashing and cites the Arboretum and the street tree replacement program as examples.
“Climate change should be the test of all budget initiatives since scientists say we have only 10 years to act. This budget shows that the ACT Government still doesn’t get it” Dr Foskey said today.
“Some creative accounting and spin doctoring was needed to include things such as urban tree planting and the arboretum as climate change initiatives.”
“Has account been taken of the emissions involved in the massive earthworks required to create the arboretum? Of the energy used in pumping water around the arboretum? Of pesticides or fertilisers used over the entire life of the trees?”
“You can’t burn tonnes of fossil fuels in construction, place large structures on-site that require energy to heat and cool as well as their embedded energy, add the environmental cost of people travelling to visit the site, and then pretend that the temporary sequestration of carbon in the bodies of the non-endemic trees is a great plus for the environment.”
“To do so illustrates a deplorable lack of understanding of the science of climate change and sustainable development.”
“Planting trees is a good triage reaction to the symptoms of increasing greenhouse gas concentrations. But it doesn’t address the root causes of the problem, which are increasing greenhouse gas emissions caused by unsustainable lifestyles and business practices.”
“Sooner or later, we run out of room to plant trees, and trees catch fire or die. The job of government is to create the environment in which individuals and companies are encouraged to make choices which lessen our use of energy and our collective emissions of greenhouse gases.”
“The species of trees and shrubs that are such an important part of the streets and parks of Canberra are not ideal for carbon-sequestration purposes. Nor should they be. It is outrageous to claim that their planting is a new climate change initiative” Dr Foskey said.
