Switch off Hazelwood, switch on renewables

Issue 

Environment groups are organising a "peaceful community mass civil disobedience" at the Hazelwood coal-fired power station in the Latrobe Valley on September 13.

It will demand the government "switch off Hazelwood, switch off coal", and replace it with renewable energy and "clean energy jobs". Hazelwood is one of the dirtiest power stations in the world.

When it was publicly owned, it was to be shut down by 2005. In 1996, Hazelwood was sold to current owner International Power. In 2005, the ALP state government extended the plant's operating life until 2031.

The protest will coincide with the peak summer melt of the Arctic sea ice. February is when Arctic sea ice is at its maximum, but February 2009 was a record low. In the months since, the ice melt has matched the record summer high in 2007.

Many climate action and other environmental groups have endorsed the action, including the Climate Emergency Network, Friends of the Earth, Beyond Zero Emissions and the Australian Student Environment Network. For more information visit www.switchoffhazelwood.org.

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