You now have the chance to have your voice heard when the Senate debates the Rudd Government's deeply flawed emissions trading plans.

The best the Government itself can say about its so-called 'Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme' is that it is better than nothing. The Greens disagree - we think it's worse than useless.

You can submit your views directly to the Senate about emissions trading.

The Government's plan, as it stands, would actively prevent the change we desperately need, undermining existing policies to move Australia to renewable energy, energy efficiency and clean transport, and locking out the option of achieving deep cuts in greenhouse emissions.

The Greens are working hard to ensure that Australia has the best possible climate policies. That is why we established a Senate Inquiry into Climate Policy, which will report on the environmental adequacy of the Government's scheme, its targets and design, and alternative measures that may more effectively put Australia on track to transforming ourselves into a carbon neutral powerhouse.

The Senate needs to hear expert views, but we also need to hear the views of everyday Australians who stand to lose so much if climate change goes unaddressed but gain so much if we build a thriving green economy.

You can submit your views directly to the Senate about emissions trading. Submissions are due by April 8.

Some points you might like to think about making in your submission:

• This scheme protects polluters for years into the future by handing out free pollution permits, perverting the intention of emissions trading by protecting the profits of Australia's worst climate offenders instead of encouraging clean competition.
• Protecting polluters also unfairly transfers the cost of meeting the target to industries with less lobbying power and to the community at large.
• By setting such a weak target, and ensuring that Australia's emissions cannot fall below that level, the scheme will also mean that the efforts of everyone from householders to State Governments to reduce emissions will be helpful only in reducing the price pressure on polluters.
• Setting a weak target is likely to see bad investment decisions made, where public and private money is spent on "lower pollution" infrastructure which will need to be swiftly moth-balled and replaced with zero emissions infrastructure when serious science-based targets are adopted.
• People often think that any action to reduce emissions, even by as little as 5%, will reduce the risk of climate change. In fact we know that there are tipping points in Earth's systems which, if breached, will send our climate spinning out of control with catastrophic consequences for all of us.
• If we are to have a reasonable chance of preventing runaway climate change, we must make every effort to avoid these tipping points. That means high-polluting countries like Australia moving towards carbon neutrality as fast as possible, with cuts of at least 40% by 2020.
• Emissions trading is important. By setting a target and sending a price signal, it should provide a strong framework for all our other policies, such as renewable energy feed-in tariffs and home energy efficiency retrofits, to grow on and flourish. However, a badly designed emissions trading scheme can become a box rather than a framework, constricting the growth of the zero emissions economy and actively preventing the transformation we need. Better to let the other policies do their job unassisted than hold them back with a bad emissions trading scheme.
• Locking in a weak target, refusing to accept cuts of more than 15% by 2020, could undermine global efforts to reach agreement on ambitious targets at the Copenhagen climate conference at the end of the year

You can submit your views directly to the Senate about emissions trading.

Terms of reference for the inquiry:

On 11 March 2009, the Senate established a Select Committee on Climate Policy to inquire into policies relating to climate change, with particular reference to:

a. the choice of emissions trading as the central policy to reduce Australia's carbon pollution, taking into account the need to:

i. reduce carbon pollution at the lowest economic cost,
ii. put in place long-term incentives for investment in clean energy and low-emission technology, and
iii. contribute to a global solution to climate change;

b. the relative contributions to overall emission reduction targets from complementary measures such as renewable energy feed-in laws, energy efficiency and the protection or development of terrestrial carbon stores such as native forests and soils;
c. whether the Government's Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme is environmentally effective, in particular with regard to the adequacy or otherwise of the Government's 2020 and 2050 greenhouse gas emission reduction targets in avoiding dangerous climate change;
d. an appropriate mechanism for determining what a fair and equitable contribution to the global emission reduction effort would be;
e. whether the design of the proposed scheme will send appropriate investment signals for green collar jobs, research and development, and the manufacturing and service industries, taking into account permit allocation, leakage, compensation mechanisms and additionality issues; and
f. any related matter.

The Committee is inviting submissions to this inquiry by Wednesday, 8 April 2009. It is due to report to the Senate by Thursday, 14 May 2009.

If you wish to make a written submissions, send it to:

The Secretary
Senate Select Committee on Climate Policy
PO Box 6100
Parliament House
CANBERRA ACT 2600

Email submissions can be sent to climate.sen@aph.gov.au or you can use our online system here.