Power station occupied by climate protesters

A group of community activists marked Earth Hour with an occupation of the Hazelwood Power station in Victoria's Latrobe Valley on March 28.

Protest spokesperson Louise Morris said: "This Earth Hour we need to acknowledge it is time to do so much more than just switch off our lights for an hour. We need to switch off our reliance on dirty coal and switch onto job rich renewable energy sources."

Research by the World Wildlife Fund reveals Hazelwood is the dirtiest power station they have found in the world. It spews out a staggering 17 million tonnes of carbon emissions every year — about 5% of Australia's overall emissions.

"By shutting down Hazelwood this year, we could achieve [PM Kevin Rudd's] 5% target immediately, and then adopt proper emission reduction targets as the climate science demands. It's time to get down to the real business of transitioning Australia away from polluting fossil fuels and switching onto renewable energy", said Morris.

A short film of the power station occupation can be viewed at http://switchoffcoal.wordpress.com.

From GLW issue 790