Make fossil fuel exporters pay for the damage they are causing, not ordinary Australians
Petition
I support a climate damage compensation levy on the predominantly foreign owned corporations exporting fossil fuels (coal, gas and oil) from Australia, to compensate Australians for the damage and increased cost of living they are causing.
Why?
Fossil fuels are damaging our atmosphere and making climate related disasters like fires, floods, heatwaves and drought more frequent and more extreme.
Australian households and businesses are already paying billions of dollars every year as a result. These costs include damage to our properties, higher insurance premiums, higher taxes to pay for emergency response, relief and reconstruction and higher food prices because of the impact on agriculture.
This is driving up the cost of living for ordinary Australians, while the handful of global energy corporations causing it pay none of these costs.
Australia is the third largest fossil fuel exporter in the world and fifth largest producer. But it is not Australians exporting fossils. A handful of predominantly foreign owned corporations are making windfall profits selling our resources, often pay little if any tax, and get much of the resource for free.
We have many alternatives to using coal and gas, and many are already cheaper. This means reducing our reliance on coal and gas will reduce our energy bills. The same is true for countries we export coal and gas to around the world. But these corporations have delayed the transition through greenwashing, lobbying and pressuring our governments to keep approving new projects despite knowing the damage they are causing. This is despite calls by the International Energy Agency, United Nations, and Scientists in Australia and around the world and our Pacific neighbours to stop investing in new fossil fuel projects.
A climate damage compensation levy on fossil fuel (coal and gas) exports from Australia could raise billions of dollars every year to pay the costs of climate change, without raising prices in Australia.
These costs will keep rising as fires, floods, drought and heatwaves become more extreme as a result of climate change, unless we also stop new coal and gas projects.
If we don’t make these foreign owned energy giants pay for the damage they are causing, YOU will pay instead.
To the Parliament of Australia --
I support a climate damage compensation levy on the predominantly foreign owned corporations exporting fossil fuels (coal, gas and oil) from Australia, to compensate Australians for the damage and increased cost of living they are causing.