Congratulations to our friends in Australia who have been working hard for months and years for national climate legislation – yesterday they saw a major step forward as the House voted to approve a national carbon price!  Cheers to 350 Australia, the Australian Youth Climate Coalition, and so many more.  Check out the blog post below, cross-posted from 350 Australia for more.

Hello Australian 350ites,

Today Australia took a huge step – a committed effort to work to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, to invest in clean energy and to find innovative ways to tackle climate change. It’s a massive success for all of us who have worked hard, spoken up at community meetings about the issue and organised events to call for action – that’s you!

At 9:29 am, The House of Representatives passed the Government’s package of 19 bills setting up a carbon pricing scheme from July 1, 2012 by a vote of 74 to 72.

As ACF’s CEO Don Henry said, “Today’s vote is historic for the millions of Australians who, in the face of well-funded scare campaigns, have tirelessly urged successive Australian governments to take action on climate change.”

Take a moment today, tonight or this weekend to celebrate what you helped do because it’s so important. Your children, your grandchildren and people all over the world – from Tuvalu, now facing a fresh water crisis and Bangladesh facing a future of extreme weather events to the African countries facing devastating drought – so many will benefit from the action we took in Australia today.

Smile, pat yourself on the back and be proud of what we achieved today! It’s just the beginning of getting us back to 350 parts per million but it’s a great beginning! Now onto the Senate vote and a clean energy future!

Many thanks for all of your efforts!

Blair Palese and the 350.org Australian team