POSTED ON MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12TH

Farming Renewable Energy: Helping farmers become power suppliers
Canberra, Monday 12 November 2007  Australian Greens Leader, Senator Bob
Brown, and Greens Climate and Energy Spokesperson, Senator Christine Milne,
today announced a ground-breaking new policy to boost jobs and keep people
on the land in regional Australia, as well as to reduce greenhouse
emissions, by helping farmers become renewable energy generators.

"Climate change poses a tremendous threat to regional Australia. The Greens
want to help regional communities to profit from becoming a key part of the
solution," Senator Brown said.

"The Greens Farming Renewable Energy initiative will establish Renewable
Energy Development Zones to encourage investment in regional energy
infrastructure and boost jobs in regional Australia."

Senator Milne said "A tragedy is unfolding in rural and regional Australia
and neither the Government nor the Opposition are providing more than
bandaid solutions with drought-relief cheques and hand-outs for leaving the
land.

"Instead of abandoning farmers and regional communities to a hotter and
drier future, the Greens' policies will enable them to generate income from
their land even in drought.

"This new approach also gives us the opportunity to develop a strategic plan
for our energy future. We need to refurbish our grid to make the most of our
best renewable energy resources, be they sun, wind, geothermal, water or
biomass like woody weeds."

Farming Renewable Energy sets out a strategic plan to meet the challenges of
adapting to climate change, revitalising regional Australia and developing a
new, renewable energy-focused energy grid. It encourages and helps farmers
to become renewable energy generators, providing an enabling framework
involving three key steps:

*       mapping to match areas with excellent renewable energy resources
with areas where the viability of traditional agriculture is declining;

*       building links between governments at every level, the communities
and renewable energy developers; and

*       establishing Renewable Energy Development Zones, making investment
in the zones simple and attractive with streamlined planning approvals
processes, support for skills development, and government funding for
interconnectors to the main energy grid.

Senator Milne said "Alongside guaranteeing a premium price for renewable
energy and the research, development and commercialisation funding set out
in The Sun Fund, Farming Renewable Energy will help Australia achieve the
Greens' proposed binding target of 25% renewables in our energy supply mix
by 2020, providing one tenth of the emissions reductions necessary to meet
our 2020 target.

"Perhaps more importantly, these policies together will set Australian on
track to shift our entire energy supply to zero emissions renewable energy
in the coming decades. With this policy framework, renewables will make the
nuclear and so-called 'clean coal' options obsolete before they are even
ready to be implemented," Senator Milne said.

Tim Hollo
Media and Communications Adviser
Senator Christine Milne
Phone: + 61 (0) 2 6277 3063
Mobile: + 61 (0) 437 587 562
Email: tim.hollo@...
Skype: timhollo

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