Around the world, the far right has been empowered by the fossil fuel industry. Coal, gas and oil emit huge amounts of greenhouse gases, causing the climate to change. The industry has poured $$billions into spreading misinformation about renewables.
The fossil fuel industry backs political parties and candidates who will do their bidding if elected.
Senator David Shoebridge’s Adjournment Speech to Parliament about Advance and Atlas Network.
It’s up to Australians to reject this strong push from far right groups acting in the interests of the fossil fuel industry, which
- funds and promotes climate change deniers despite scientific evidence
- supports campaigns against wind energy because working together with solar and storage it can produce electricity around the clock, making coal and gas redundant
- Supports the push for nuclear energy to stymy investment in renewables, so that coal and gas can continue to dominate our energy supplies
- aims to deny First Nations people the right to protect their culture, heritage and country – hence the No Vote in the Voice referendum.
Their reasons are deceptive:
- they say technologies to reduce coal and gas emissions will allow emissions targets to be met (None are proven at the scale needed to reduce emissions.)
- they say they want to protect farmers who don’t want windfarms onshore (Yet they force farmers to have mines, gas wells or pipelines on their land.)
- they say they care about whales (Offshore wind is way better for ocean wildlife than offshore gas and oil.)
- nuclear power will be cheaper (The CSIRO and most experts say it will be more expensive.)
- Indigenous people should not have special rights (The recognition of First Nations rights and justice needs to be based on truth-telling and treaties acknowledging the nation’s history of colonisation and racism.)
- the fossil fuel industry’s campaign uses the Atlas Network’s Global Handbook with the same propaganda (words and photos) used in other countries. They set up ‘grassroots’ groups with charity status (tax deductable donations) to fund their objectives.
And it has been proven that carbon credits cannot offset fossil fuel emissions.
We are already seeing the aggressive tactics Advance is prepared to use in their campaigning in the Prahran Victorian state by-election.
We encourage you all to get involved in the federal election and support the candidates you believe in. You can help by volunteering, going to events and sharing on social media. Candidates provide training to help you with the activities you’d like to be part of. They need volunteers to hand out leaflets, door knock and hand out how-to-vote forms during early voting and on election day. If your seat is safe, you can volunteer for a nearby marginal seat. See Antony Green’s seat margins and electoral pendulums.
Don’t wish you had done more when watching the results on election night. It’s up to all of us!
Link to article published by us in January 2024 when we first heard about the Atlas Network