Matt,

In my experience emails to politicians are usually ignored, particularly if you just copy and paste other stuff without telling them what you want. What I suggest is:

1. Write a letter to your local MP and include a copy of our original letter above (http://www.aspo-australia.org.au/References/Bruce/Letter-Garnaut-Sep-200...). You can email if you like but letters are usually more successful.

2. Explain to your MP that you applaud the Rudd Government's ratification of the Kyoto Protocol, but that you believe merely establishing an ETS and leaving the "invisible hand of the market" to reduce emissions is completely inadequate. Tell him/her that you believe the situation requires urgent intervention.

3. Make some specific proposals for government expenditure in your area, e.g. public transport infrastructure or direct investment in renewable energy infrastructure. You could also suggest that existing fossil fuel subsidies totalling approximately $10 billion per annum be phased out and replaced with equivalent subsidies for renewable energy.

4. Explain that climate mitigation policies that ignore the socio-economic impact of peak oil will be ineffective. Explain that peak oil is even more urgent than climate change. If we don't get cracking with urgent peak oil mitigation we won't be able to afford to build the renewable energy and transport infrastructure we need, i.e. we will be stuck with what we've got.

5. Tell him/her that peak oil mitigation requires urgent action. Tinkering around the edges of the problem, i.e. subsidising Toyota to build hybrid cars is totally inadequate.

6. Include a copy of the Queensland Government's "Towards Oil Resilience" paper - http://www.epa.qld.gov.au/environmental_management/sustainability/oil_vu.... Tell him/her that the Federal Government needs to take its head out of the sand and follow Queensland's lead. All the better if you're a Queenslander.

7. Ask for an appointment to meet him/her face to face in order to explain peak oil and the resulting problems.

8. Send the same to the Ministers for Climate Change (Penny Wong), Energy (Martin Ferguson), Transport & Infrastructure (Anthony Albanese) and Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. Do not spam their email inboxes. Send them polite but insistent letters and or emails which explain the problem and ask for replies.

If you're really keen you can arrange a film night featuring Australia Pumping Empty - http://www.aquilaproductions.com.au/. Invite your local Federal & state MPs, local government Councillors and community groups. Don't wait for other people to do it for you, it will never happen. Rest assured that nothing will happen until real leaders "ave a go" and do this sort of thing on their own initiative.

Let me know how you go. TOD could be a good forum for posting emails and replies to/from politicians.

Cheers,

Stuart