Thousands of trees are being planted this week to celebrate Schools Tree Day in Tasmania.

Senator Christine Milne showed her green thumb by joining a team of eager tree planters at Blackman's Bay Primary School in the state's south.

She said it was heartening to see our schools take part in National Schools Tree Day.

"It's great to look around and see our schools, but more importantly the next generation of Tasmanians, viewing trees as an important part of their learning environment."

I rise this evening to speak on the government's proposed Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme, introduced in the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme Bill 2009 and related bills. As members in the chamber would be aware, the Greens have been campaigning on climate change for more than 20 years. In fact, I was appointed to Australia's first greenhouse council in Victoria in 1990, when I was in the Tasmanian parliament. I have been working on that issue ever since in the state parliament, in the federal parliament and globally through the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

The Government and other naysayers say it can't be done. The Greens say it must be done, so it will be done.

Christine Milne spoke today at the National Press Club in Canberra, televised nationally on ABC1, setting out the Greens' vision for a safe climate and setting that against what the Government is proposing with the CPRS.

You can read the speech here and please use this as an open thread to discuss the issues it raises!

Thank you for your warm welcome. I begin by acknowledging the Ngunnawal people, the traditional owners of the land.

Gandhi once said, "The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world's problems."

We have reached a point in human history where 'what we do' on this planet imperils our survival. Now is the moment to re-imagine and reconsider 'what we are capable of doing'.

Climate Change Minister Penny Wong has acknowledged that one of the critical scientific targets in the Prime Minister's May 4 announcement on the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme was wrong. The mistake has gone uncorrected for 25 days, Australian Greens Leader Bob Brown said today.

STANDING COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION, EMPLOYMENT AND WORKPLACE RELATIONS