Political Change
We need our politicians to develop and act on a comprehensive long-term plan to transition Victoria off fossil gas.
This government has produced the gas substitution roadmap which supports an aggressive "all-electric pathway", but we've yet to see any substantive legislation to bring about this change.
The Independent Panel for Victoria's Emissions Reduction Targets in the last month released their report which argues that domestic gas must be completely phased out by 2038 if we are to meet the net-zero targets that we as a community voted for and support.
The Grattan Institute has collected some data which shows that each year, more Victorians are joining the gas network than leaving it. Which means that every day, we are adding more houses to a network that needs to be shut down in only a few years time.
This lack of certainty and commitment from the government is hurting Victorians, wasting their money and prolonging our climate emissions.
Every day gas appliances reach their end-of-life and are replaced with more gas appliances rather than taking this opportunity to switch to electric appliances. The Grattan data shows that if we made sure those end-of-life units were replaced with electric versions, we would meet our net-zero targets. But we are not on track to achieve this.
What is needed?
01
Stop making the problem worse:
Stop allowing new houses to connect to the gas network(DONE!)- Set 2038 as the expiry date on the residential gas network
02
Once we've stopped making the problem worse, we need to lower the barriers for existing households to transition to all-electric homes, ensuring that every time a gas appliance breaks, it is replaced with an electric alternative.
03
These commitments need to be backed up with a public education campaign explaining why it’s time to get off gas and the benefits this will bring.
What are we going to do about it?
Powering Change event
We are running an event focused on the gas-transition.
This event is an opportunity to learn more about this transition so that you are well informed and ready to hold our politicians and gas companies to account.
You'll hear from experts, get resources to take home, and have a chance to ask questions and chat over afternoon tea while enjoying music from local musicians.
Make a pledge!
Friends of the Earth Melbourne are running a great campaign, collecting pledges from citizens that they will or want to take action to get-off gas. These pledges help demonstrate to our politicians that the community supports them taking action.
Email your state MP
Environment Victoria have a campaign targeting Victorian State MPs. Let your MP know you want them to help Victorian households get off gas, and a good place to start is with government support to replace toxic gas heaters with efficient electric appliances.