Protest to Switch Off Power: Summer Solstice 2004

By Simon Kirby.

SYDNEY, June 21 AAP - Hundreds of Newcastle residents are expected to switch off their power for an hour today in a protest against coal-fired power.

Organisers anticipate at least 300 people will take part in the protest at 4pm (AEST), which will coincide with a renewable energy-powered event in a Newcastle park.

Newcastle City Council will take part in the protest by shutting down the power in its administration centre and providing free facilities to event organisers.

Protest organiser Steve Phillips of environmental group Rising Tide said there were plans for another protest in Sydney, while other national green groups had also shown an interest. "We don't expect people to sit at home and shiver in the dark. There will be hot soup, bands, speakers and stalls," said Mr Phillips.

The twice-yearly protests take place on the longest and shortest nights of the year. "We are making connections to midsummer and midwinter, the peaks in energy demand in Australia," said Mr Phillips.

Environmentalists say coal-fired power plants, a major source of greenhouse gases in Australia, are one of the biggest contributors towards climate change. If 300 consumers switch off power for just an hour, green groups calculate they will reduce the output of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere by around 600 cubic kilograms.

Today's protest follows NSW Premier Bob Carr's controversial call for nuclear power to act as a bridge between fossil-fuel use and a new era of renewable energy, which green groups have dismissed as a distraction from further planned coal-fired power plants. Prominent federal and NSW Labor politicians, Peter Garrett and Anthony Albanese, have spoken out against nuclear power, while Queensland Premier Beattie has come out in support of clean coal technology.

But Mr Phillips said he was puzzled by renewed debate about nuclear power rather than renewable energy sources. "If every coal-fired power station in the world was changed over to nuclear, we'd run out of uranium in 10 years and be back in the same position," he said.

A statement issued from London this month by 23 international business leaders described climate change as one of this century's biggest challenges.

The call follows a similar appeal from the world's top scientists and comes two weeks before world leaders meet in Scotland to discuss climate change.