Slashing the RET and burning our forests

Moves are afoot to keep Australia’s disastrous old-growth forest logging industry alive. Leaked documents have recently revealed what many have been saying for a long time, that logging in the East Gippsland region of Victoria isn’t economically viable and is propped up by taxpayer money. But as this industry loses more and more of its economic and social credibility, it seem that the federal government is keen to prop it up.The Abbott government has pushed through changes to the national Renewable Energy Target. These changes slash the target by 20% and include a change to the definition of biomas to include native forest woodchips as renewable energy.All this comes as researches at the Australian National University published a report showing that if we want to reduce our CO2 emissions it’s much better to protect native forests than it is to log or burn them.On the show today, we hear from Ed Hill from the Goongerah Environment Centre to get a run-down of what’s been happening in East Gippsland. And later in the show we hear from Leigh Ewbank, from the Yes2Renewables campaign with Friends of the Earth, to get an analysis of the changes to the Renewable Energy Target. He tells us it’s up to State governments and local communities to step-up where the Federal Government has failed.Guests: Ed Hill (Goongerah Environment Centre), Leigh Ewbank (Yes2Renewables - FoE)Photo credit: https://flic.kr/p/e2yNQc