Renewables Not Gas for Geelong

"Natural" Gas is a dangerous and polluting fuel that contributes to the climate crisis. LNG or "Natural" Gas is largely methane, which as we know, can be even worse for the climate than coal because it leaks into the atmosphere. This leaked gas traps more warmth, increasing our risks of severe heat, drought, bushfires and sea-level rise.

And it isn’t just a disaster for our climate. It’s also bad for our health. Public health experts are concerned about the health risks of cooking with gas in our homes, which can have a similar impact on childhood asthma as living with cigarette smoke.

The City of Greater Geelong has stated in its Climate Change Response Plan that it will be discouraging new gas connections to households from this year onwards, but new planning legislation is required to make this possible. This is an obvious move, it's safer for the climate, safer for our community's health and an all-electric house is cheaper and easier to run.

The good news is that some local councils around the country are bowing to community pressure and taking matters into their own hands - promising to end new gas connections, and help people with the cost of switching to electricity and renewables.
And with enough pressure from the community, our local council could join this movement today!

Geelong is also the location for a new proposed gas import terminal by Viva Energy. This new terminal will import gas from the Scarborough offshore gas field, which will produce some of the dirtiest gas in the world in terms of its emissions and be equal to over a quarter of Australia’s entire national emissions!

So let's convince our local Councils to get off gas, so that we don't need dangerous and polluting projects like this in our city.