Australia's hottest year in 100 years

"I say 'welcome to climate change' when people come here. We will not stop telling people that it is a real issue for humanity."

- President Loek, whose home island of Buoj has almost been washed away in the last few years, reported in The Guardian, Sunday September 1, 2013[1]

---

Four sleeps until election day and, as illustrated by the above quote, the stakes couldn't be higher.

In case you missed it yesterday, here are two developments outlining the stark reality we face when we go to the polls this Saturday:

• The Bureau of Meteorology reported the past 12 months have been the hottest in Australia for more than 100 years.[2]
• On the same day Tony Abbott announced his willingness to walk away from his promise to reduce emissions by a minimum of 5%.[3]

If the polls are anything to go by, Australia could have a new Prime Minister on September 7. A Prime Minister who made a "pledge in blood"[4] to repeal a price on pollution and slash funding for renewables, and who could potentially back away from his promise to reduce emissions by a meagre 5%, when we already know it needs to be closer to 25% in order to avoid the disastrous results 2 degrees of warming will bring.

Now is our best, and possibly last, chance to make a difference before Australians elect a new government that could seriously and recklessly undermine our forward progress on climate action.

Chip in here

It's up to our movement to keep climate action on the agenda as voters go to the polls this election. It's already front and centre on the 2.3 million GetUp member issue scorecards volunteers will be handing out on election day, but right now we have a window of time to reach even more people, in key marginal battleground electorates in Western Sydney and Brisbane.

The truth is, some voters matter more than others this election. The marginal and key Senate race voters are the people we'll be targeting on election day at polling booths all around the country. Tackling climate change, investing in renewable energy and protecting our land and water from mining interests all feature prominently on GetUp's election scorecard, check it out (including a great quote about stronger climate action by Australian Wallaby David Pocock) and chip in to get it out there:

http://www.getup.org.au/crunch-time-on-climate

For a brighter future,
Erin for the GetUp team.

PS - Don't have the funds to chip in, but want to help put the scorecard directly into voters hands this election day? Join thousands of fellow GetUp members at polling booths around the country and help make this election our movement's most powerful yet, sign up to be a GetUp election volunteer here.

--References--

[1] "We are fighting for survival,' Pacific islands leader warns," The Guardian, 1 September, 2013
[2] "Hottest 12 month period confirmed - so what role did humans play?" The Conversation, 2 September, 2013
[3] "Tony Abbott willing to break emissions pledge over funding hole," The Age, 2 September, 2013
[4] "Green light for carbon tax, red flag for industry" The Australian, 12 October, 2011