As a medical student and future doctor I am hugely concerned about the impacts of fracking and coal seam gas on health.
The impacts are already been felt in the US where a family were awarded $2.95 million because of health damages caused by nearby fracking operations.
Fracking threatens our basic health rights and requirements. Water supplies are at risk as has already been shown by the contamination in NSW. Air quality is jeopardised by the huge volumes of potential leaked gases including methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Gas itself contributes to Climate Change which is accelerating and worsening as a result of our fossil fuel use.
This has not only an enormous human toll, but an enormous economic cost.
Please show the leadership we need to you to show and move away from fossil fuels. Australia has a wealth of renewable energy resources - the most solar radiation of any continent on Earth - and the technology is ready to go. California and Spain are already reaping the benefits of Solar thermal energy generation, which can provide base load, 24 hr power, and ensures that the air, water and agricultural land for surrounding communities remains clean and safe.
This isn't just an issue of energy resources - once burnt co2 remains in the atmosphere for hundreds of year. As such, these decisions we make now about where our power comes from, will shape the state of the world into the future.
It's paramount we adopt clean energy and transition away from fossil fuels, which threaten our health. The international medical community recognise that climate change, of which fossil fuels are the main driver, is the greatest threat to human health this century.
This is an opportunity to show leadership and care for your community and the economy by adopting the amazing potential in clean energy - it is the future, and is urgently required now to protect health, coastal communities, fisheries, businesses, tourism and the economy, of which we will have to foot the bill, from the devastating impacts of climate change.
Please be on the right side of history and help us address this global crisis.