Dear Prime Minister,
Tags: Climate Change, Australia, Global Warming, Climate Crisis, Scott Morrison

Dear Prime Minister,

There are many topics that I would like to discuss with you, however I am going to talk to you about something that if left unattended, will jeopardise my future, and the future of the planet.

Climate Change.

We have all heard those two terrifying words. We have all seen the news stories saying that it is predicted that we only have a few hundred years left on our earth until the planet is unrecognisable, and even less time until it is uninhabitable. We have all felt our summers get hotter, seen our natural disasters become more horrific, and had our stomachs filled with fear and sadnesses when we realise the serious nature of our warming earth.

According to climate scientists, we only have around 20 years to prevent the destruction of earth, and after that point the damage will be irreversible.

But 20 years is still 175,200 hours. We still do have time. There are innumerable procedures, initiatives, rules, and systems that can be put into place to save our collective futures. We just have to start listening.

In the 1800’s, scientists began theorising that human produced gases, especially CO2, could remain in the atmosphere and begin to insulate the earth. These theories, although there was supporting evidence, remained just that. Theories.

It was not until 1988 when global warming finally began to be taken seriously. In this year, James Hansen, NASA scientist, reported to the American congress that he was ‘99% sure’ that global warming was real, and was in action at the time. Despite this, little to no efforts were made by the US government to cut down on their gas emissions, even though they were producing far more gases than the most of the world.

In 2010, a proposal for a major coal mine to be created in Queensland was brought to the attention of the Queensland government. At this point in time, the effects of coal mines on our warming climate were widely known, especially by those in government positions. Nonetheless, in 2014 the project was approved. Since this decision became public knowledge, thousands of Australians stood up in protest of the mine, knowing that if it went ahead, it is extremely possible that the earth’s demise would become fate.

On the 15th of march 2019, me and thousands of people, especially of school age, went on strike from school in order to attend a ‘School Strike for Climate’ protest. It is so immensely devastating that me and my brother had to put our education aside in order to try to enact some kind of change to protect our futures. The only thing that gave me comfort in this fact was knowing that millions of people across the world were also making this sacrifice. For that day, the children of the world were more united and selfless than anything I have ever seen in parliament.

You heard our voices, you heard our cries. You heard the statistics and the facts, you heard the evidence that we are in an international climate crisis. You heard the plans scientists suggested in order to combat this, you heard them tell you exactly what we need to do.

But, Mr Prime Minister, did you listen?

We don’t have time to ignore or put off these things anymore, and we certainly don’t have time to put economic gain over the health of the planet.

The first voices you need to listen to are the voices of scientists. As stated by the Union of Concerned Scientists (https://www.ucsusa.org/climate/science), “ We have lost precious time, but if we act now – decisively and dramatically – we still have a chance at avoiding climate change’s most catastrophic impacts.” What I would like to place emphasis on from this quote is the fact that we must act decisively and dramatically. Something that is completely agreed upon amongst the scientific community is that the largest contributor to climate change is the burning of gasses, oils, and coals. Burning these minerals is usually for the purpose of creating energy for all areas of the world. We need energy to fuel the agricultural industry, transportation, residential purposes, and commercial purposes. What we need to remember is that there are sustainable and renewable energy sources available. Solar energy, wind energy, and hydro energy are all examples of substitutes for the destructive and non renewable energy we are currently using. Whilst I understand that these energy sources are possibly more expensive and require more land, in the grand scheme of these, making this dramatic change is what is going to actively fight against global warming and the disastrous position we have put ourselves in. As stated, we don’t have the privilege of taking our economic gain into consideration when thinking about combating climate change. We have passed that stage. If we wait any longer, or attempt to be conservative in our actions against climate change, very soon it will be too late for anyone to even consider anything except for fighting tooth and nail with all our resources to battle this.

The other voice we must listen to are the voices of the world’s children. Millions of children, including myself, lay awake at night thinking about the graveness of the situation that past world leaders have put us in. We think about the fact that they prioritised financial gain over our futures. When considering what we want to do when we leave school, we must also consider what the world will look like we do so. When we dream about starting a family of our own, we must think about the cruelness of bringing children into a world which is currently doomed. When we listen to the news, we slowly are filled with more sadness and anger about the future that is currently on offer for us.

But we will turn that anger into action. We will fight to protect our futures and the future of the planet.

So, Mr Prime Minister, I implore you to think about the beauty that this world has, the places you would like to travel, and the sights you would like to see. But most of all, I ask you to think about your grandchildren, if no one else, listen to them.

Regards,

Amelia Synnott