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Peter Spencer - Source: ONE News -
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The fight against climate change has pushed an Australian farmer to go on a painful protest.
Peter Spencer has been on a hunger strike for 25 days and has spent those days 10 metres up in the air, perched on a wind platform on a farm near Cooma, NSW.
Spencer told Australia's ABC network he has been unable to graze 90% of his former wool property for the last 15 years, due to state restrictions.
The previous John Howard-led government met Kyoto obligations by making greenhouse gas emission reductions through state-based native vegetation laws.
Those state laws stopped him from clearing his land of native vegetation but no compensation was paid Spencer claims.
Kevin Rudd's government now proposes to use that same grass and soil to capture and store carbon to meet possible new emissions obligations under a deal at Copenhagen's climate summit.
ABC says 109 million hectares have been stopped from being even partially cleared across Australia to reduce emissions and save the government from being penalised under the Kyoto Protocol.
Sixty-one-year-old Spencer says his last meal was a scone with jam and cream more than three weeks ago and he is surviving on water, lemon juice and vitamins.
He says he will not eat until farmers are compensated and the so-called "carbon sink" plans are changed.
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