Why Protest
Why are we protesting at Hazelwood?
- Hazelwood is one of the dirtiest power stations in the industrialised world, emitting 17m tonnes of CO2 annually.
- Hazelwood was due to be switched off this year. In 2005 the state ALP government extended this polluting dinosaurs life to 2031.
- We are protesting to show that the social licence to continue to burn coal and pollute has been revoked. We are declaring a Community Decommission Order on Hazelwood, to switch on the renewable energy transition.
-The Latrobe Valley can be transformed to a renewable energy manufacturing hub and transition away from its dependence on coal.
Coal burning power stations are one of the main contributers to climate change, and Hazelwood is one of the dirtiest in the industrialised world.
What is Civil Disobedience?
Civil disobedience is a proven and time-honoured part of peaceful social movements. It has been used throughout history as an effective way to demonstrate the seriousness of an issue, the morality of a situation, and the commitment people have to bring about change.
Civil disobedience is the deliberate and conscious refusal to obey, or violation of, a law believed to be unjust. It is often motivated by a desire to achieve political goals such as bringing about a change in the law or in public policy or protesting against them. The main defining feature of civil disobedience is that it is an unarmed and non-violent form of disobedience undertaken in order to bring about a change of particular laws or policies.
The argument that the demands of conscience are higher than the demands of the law is central to all civil disobedience. Civil disobedience tries to influence by example.
The climate activist who occupies a rail line to stop the export of coal may hope that others will oppose coal exports in their own ways after witnessing this civil disobedience.
Ultimately it can aim to influence public and institutional opinion in order to change the unjust law or abolish the unjust policy. In theory, civil disobedience focuses on the law itself and not on the police who enforce it.
In its most sophisticated form, civil disobedience seeks to undermine support for the law even within the police, courts and legal system.
There are occasions when outdated laws and policies are unable to ensure justice and the common good - and are in fact doing us harm. We are at such a point with climate change and our Governments support of coal. It is time for ordinary people to take a stand and make sure we switch from polluting coal to renewables.
As with Ghandi’s walk for independence and Martin Luther King’s march for equal rights, history now calls on people of conscience to peacefully take a principled stand on global warming. Nobel Prize laureate Al Gore, has called on people to engage in civil disobedience against coal-fired power stations, the world’s dirtiest energy source and biggest source of global warming pollution.
NASA scientist James Hansen has even taken the step of getting arrested to show how serious the problem of global warming is, and the urgent need to switch off coal fired power stations. Ordinary people across the world are participating in civil disobedience in increasing numbers to draw attention to climate change. Let's join them.
In the spirit of the great global history of civil disobedience (Gandhi’s salt march, the American civil rights movement, the protection of Tasmania’s Franklin River), Switch off Hazelwood. Switch on Renewables is a chance, at this crucial moment in history, for ordinary people to stand up for a safe climate and for a transition to a renewable energy future!