Posts Tagged ‘environment’

MEDIA RELEASE | Defence must rule out any immediate health risks to Belconnen residents - Greens

Monday, September 29th, 2008

“There should be an independent investigation into this
matter” - Hunter

The Defence Department must urgently reveal if the contaminated site of former Naval Transmission Station at Lawson poses any immediate health risks to Belconnen residents, Meredith Hunter, ACT Greens candidate for Ginninderra said today. (see page 1, today’s Canberra Times)

“Belconnen residents need to know if the toxic substances at the Lawson site, including heavy metals, as well as cancer-causing dioxins and asbestos are putting their health at risk,” Ms Hunter said.

“The reports indicate that both the soil and groundwater are contaminated and that there is unsecured asbestos at the site. Defence must immediately release all information relating to the contamination of the site to the public.

“There should be an independent investigation into why the Defence Department did not release this critical information to the public; how long it has known about the contamination at the site; what it told the ACT Government; and what exactly it has done to remediate the site.

“The ACT government should not accept the land from Defence until the site has been independently assessed as suitable for residential development. ACT residents should not bear the costs of the cleanup or any liability for problems caused by the contamination,” Ms Hunter said.

INITIATIVE | Greening of Government

Monday, September 15th, 2008

THE CONTEXT AND IMPORTANCE OF THIS INITIATIVE
· ACT Government activities and decisions have significant consequences for resource use and the environment, so the government has a significant part to play in making the ACT sustainable

· The Greens believe that for a government to ask citizens and businesses to become greener, the government must lead by example.

· Greening of government is necessary across the country, and the ACT government can accelerate the process by being an example for the rest of Australia to follow

THE AIM OF THIS INITIATIVE
To reduce the ecological footprint of the ACT Government in terms of:

o Reducing greenhouse gas emissions

o Reducing water usage

o Reducing other resource use, such as paper

o Reducing production of waste

THE KEY MEASURES OF THIS INITIATIVE

1. Purchasing 100% of ACT Government electricity from renewable sources such as wind and solar generation.

2. Retro-fitting energy and water efficiency technologies into buildings owned by the ACT Government, and working with landlords to retro-fit these technologies in buildings leased by ACT Government.

3. Strong sustainable procurement guidelines covering all ACT Government purchasing decisions.

Environment report overwhelmed by Government gloss

Thursday, August 7th, 2008

ACT Greens MLA Deb Foskey expressed her concerns that the important messages in the Commissioner for the Environment’s State of the Environment report – released today - will be overwhelmed by glossy promotions of ACT Government programs that were a part of it.

“At a time when the Murray River is dying and nearby alpine habitat and local grasslands are threatened, I would hope for strong guidance from the independent Commissioner for the Environment.”

“I was most surprised to see this report almost overwhelmed by one-sided glossy promotions of Government programs that are perhaps steps in the right direction, but small ones.”

“The Commissioner makes the point that as a community with a giant footprint we need to face up to the urgent challenge of living on the planet sustainably. And that we all have a role to play in using less energy, wasting less food, managing our environment and our resources more carefully.”

“But I am yet to discover any calls for the ACT Government to set stronger and more immediate targets (such as intermediate CO2 emissions targets) in order to help us make the changes.

“Nor is there any mention of regulations to make houses more energy efficient, or community wide programs that can help us shift to solar energy or hot water.”

“As an easy to read guide on how we can all do more the report works well. Historically however, the State of the Environment report has been much more valuable as a tool to measure how far we have come and what we have needed to do next” Dr Foskey said.