The Barnett Liberal Government has just approved a massive expansion in highly polluting coal power in WA which will contribute to a staggering 75% increase in WA carbon pollution.

Announcing this appalling decision, the WA Minister for the Environment said that the issue of climate change and carbon pollution had to be dealt with by the Federal Government.

Now it’s up to us to vote for an Australian Government that will stop the coal expansion in WA and instead support renewable energy alternatives.

Send your message to Prime Minister Gillard that we don't need more polluting coal, but we do need her to make the switch to renewable energy and start reducing our Greenhouse Gas pollution before it's too late.

The WA Barnett Government has shown they have no intention of responding to climate change or reducing carbon pollution. As a result, the WA Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has advised that Western Australia's carbon pollution will soar by nearly 75% in the next few years.

Western Australia already has the highest per-capita emissions in the world, with a total output of over 76 Million tonnes of pollution per year.

Now the Barnett Government want to build three new coal fired power stations and reopen two old ones from the 1960s with no effective controls on carbon pollution. If allowed to proceed, this massive coal expansion will lock us into a high pollution future with spiralling energy bills, and lock us out of the clean energy economy that could provide thousands of clean energy jobs. We cannot allow these new big polluters to go ahead.

The world's top climate scientists have advised that carbon pollution from developed countries, including Australia, must be reduced by at least 40% by 2020. If this is not achieved, we will see devastating changes to the lifestyle that we know and love in WA.

So, how do you feel about?

• A future without Ningaloo Reef
• Our Southwest forests reduced to very small patches
• 80% less water in the Southwest, on top of the 30% reduced rainfall we have already experienced
• Rising seas that will wipe out most of our coastal settlements, surf beaches and river systems
• Collapsed fisheries and farmers driven off the land by drought

As well as allowing three new polluting coal power stations without any pollution controls, the 2010 State Budget allocates 99% of capital expenditure by the government energy utility (Verve) to be spent on polluting fossil-fuel energy sources.

As part of this, Verve plans to recommission 2 old inefficient coal fired power stations dating back to the 1960's. These old dinosaurs were shut down years ago, and should stay that way!

This is simply not good enough, especially when Western Australia is blessed with some of the best renewable energy resources in the world.

Recently the WA Auditor General released a report saying that the State Government had wasted $50 million on energy that was not needed. If we improved energy efficiency in Western Australia we would save money and there would be no need to build new polluting power stations.

Send your message to Julia Gillard and tell her that Australians want a clean energy future not more pollution and more coal power stations.