Climate Action rally

 Here we are, yet again having a rally for action on climate change.  Today, in Geelong, we were part of a worldwide event to call on our leaders to act now on climate change.  Our prime minister decided not to attend the UN's emergency Climate Change Summit in New York.

 The girls and I walked/rode bikes down to the rally at Geelong's waterfront.  There was a good turnout, and it was a beautiful day.

I wonder how much longer we'll have to attend events like this?

Climate Action Now!

 Evie & Liv with their signs

We attended the national day of climate action rally in Melbourne's Treasury Gardens today, and as you can see, it was a beautiful day.  We got to hear some great speakers, and be energised in a crowd of people wanting the same thing- action on climate change.  It's good to go to these events and see how many people care about our future on this planet, when it sometimes feels like no-one cares.  It's always heartening to see elderly people showing their support, and there were many of them there.  Looks like there were about 25,000 people there, HUGE!

National Day of Climate Action

Will you be at a national day of climate action event this Sunday?  We'll be at the Melbourne event at Treasury Gardens at 11am.  To find an event close to you, you can go here.

New chook gate

My dad made up this gate for us out of offcuts from his work, that were destined for the skip bin.  It pains him to see good useful things thrown away, and rightly so.  The 2 cypress posts were also being thrown out.  Andrew spent a good part of the weekend getting it all in place, and now we have much easier access to the chook run.  It's a bit wet from the rain we've had, and we should oil it pretty soon.  Jonty approves, it's a new thing to climb on.  Thanks Dad!

If you agree that we should keep climate change denial on the editing room floor (of newspapers), and have a minute to sign a petition to the major Victorian newspapers, please go here.

Sweet Peas in July?

Hmm, it's winter...

The Vital Few

If you're trying to figure out how to divest from fossil fuels, here's an easy way to send a letter to your superannuation fund, to find out where they stand on fossil fuel investments.  Take a look at The Vital Few's website.

Bill McKibben on Lateline tonight

Bill McKibben from 350.org (The aim of 350 parts CO2 per million or below) will be interviewed by Tony Jones on Lateline at 10:30pm tonight on ABC (Australia).  This is ahead of his "Do the maths" tour of Australia in early June.  Andrew and I will be going to his presentation in Melbourne on the 7th June, you can get your tickets here.  And a great article about it here.

Weather proofing the house

We had some awnings installed on the front of the house today, one of the first steps to weather proofing our house on hot days.  After the 9 day long heat wave we experienced in March, I found that I needed a plan to ensure we'd be more comfortable if it happens again.  And it probably will.  We don't have air conditioning, and don't plan to have it installed, as it is a huge power guzzler.  Our house stays comfortable for a few days anyway, and so isn't usually a problem.  Andrew is building a solar air heater for winter ventilation and some warmth, which I'm hoping will double as a cooler in summer- draws cool night air into the house when needed.  We'll also look at installing a solar whizz, and getting better roof insulation.

Let your opinion be heard

Just a couple of petition-y things if you'd like to put your name to them:

The people's RET review (renewable energy target)

From the website:

Big power companies and lobby groups who want to slow the development of renewables in Australia are using the RET review process to try and reduce the renewable energy target.
Without the same money and lobbying power as these industry groups it can be very hard for ordinary citizens to have our voices heard.
The People’s RET review will make sure that Australians have a chance to tell our decision makers what kind of energy future we want. Vote Now!

Change.org has a petition to sign if you're fed up with the major supermarkets selling cheap milk, which has prompted 45 dairies in QLD alone to shut down.   We buy Jonesy's milk from our local green grocer, to support independent dairies.

Coles - Up the price of generic brand milk to a sustainable rate of return for all. 

 

I Can Change Your Mind About..Climate

This is the name of a TV show that will be aired next Thursday night (26th April), at 8:30pm, on ABC1. There will be a live Q & A after the show. If you are alarmed about climate change, you can fill in this survey, as the results so far show, that the majority are sceptical/don't care. For more information about the show, look here.

Nicole Foss in Geelong next week

Andrew & I are planning to go along to see Nicole Foss speak at the Gordon Institute of TAFE (Auditiorium) next Wednesday night, 22nd of Feb from 6-9pm.
Nicole is doing a world tour, and is currently in Australia, and is in Victoria while the Sustainable Living Festival is on.

This is a great Youtube clip of her if you have the time to watch:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ESYAix1QD1E

Blurb from Geelong Sustainability Group:

She is co-editor of The Automatic Earth, where she writes under the name Stoneleigh. She and her writing partner have been chronicling and interpreting the on-going credit crunch as the most pressing aspect of our current multi-faceted predicament. The site integrates finance, energy, environment, psychology, population and real politik in order to explain why we find ourselves in a state of crisis and what we can do about it. Prior to the establishment of TAE, she was previously editor of The Oil Drum Canada, where she wrote on peak oil and finance.

Foss runs the Agri-Energy Producers' Association of Ontario, where she has focused on farm-based biogas projects and grid connections for renewable energy. While living in the UK she was a Research Fellow at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, where she specialized in nuclear safety in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union, and conducted research into electricity policy at the EU level.

Her academic qualifications include a BSc in biology from Carleton University in Canada (where she focused primarily on neuroscience and psychology), a post-graduate diploma in air and water pollution control, the common professional examination in law and an LLM in international law in development from the University of Warwick in the UK. She was granted the University Medal for the top science graduate in 1988 and the law school prize for the top law school graduate in 1997.

Climate change rally part deux

Today we were part of a 10,000 strong crowd rallying for action on climate change, outside the state library in Melbourne.

The rain held off for us, and it was a nice winter's day.

I hope it makes a difference...

A time for climate action

We'll be heading to Melbourne on Saturday for a peaceful gathering, to show our country that we support a carbon tax to help combat climate change. There's a lot of scare mongering going on, focusing on how much everything is going to cost with a carbon tax, yet if people change their ways, they may actually save some money, whilst polluting less = the main aim of a carbon tax.

This is from GetUp!, the organisers of the event:

The fear campaign against a price on pollution has become so absurd that talkback radio hosts are claiming that a price on pollution means the end of our economy and life as we know it. Independent MPs are even receiving death threats.

Now, these same radio hosts have joined with climate deniers and far-right politicians to organise anti-climate action rallies as part of Tony Abbott's so called "people's revolt". They start on Saturday outside Julia Gillard's electorate office in Melbourne. We must make sure that on the other side of town, our movement comes together to present the positive, mainstream views that hard-line 'shock jocks' prefer to ignore.

If we're successful, the media won't be able report on the anti-carbon price rallies without also reporting that more people turned out to express support for a price on pollution.

Can you join us?

Where: Treasury Place, Melbourne.
When: This Saturday (March 12) at 11am
RSVP: https://www.getup.org.au/campaign/ClickHereToRSVP

Right wing shock jock Chris Smith said last week on MTR radio: "I'll do my best on a daily basis to spread the word". We don't have a radio network to promote our rally, but GetUp members have proved before that, when it counts, we're willing to publicly show how much we care about clean energy & climate action.

Click here to RSVP

I was in Canberra last week and almost every politician and journalist I met with talked to me about the anti-climate action rallies. They're spooked. I assured them that the campaign for climate action was just as strong -- and now, we need to demonstrate this.

That's why it's so important we join together for a few hours this Saturday March 12 -- not to have a louder, angrier rally, but to show the difference in both size and tone. While they're shouting their angry slogans and misinformation, on the other side of Melbourne we'll hold a positive, family-friendly gathering to stand up for our vision for clean energy and preserving a safe climate for our kids.

With your help, we'll prove there are more of us than there are of them and in doing so we'll make a powerful statement.

See you this Saturday.

Simon Sheikh
National Director
for the GetUp team

P.S. We're counting on more then just your presence. We counting on your creativity (as you make a clever homemade banner if you can) and your persuasiveness (as you charm your friends into joining you). RSVP here