Reversing climate change: The middle gets it

Australian matters, Local Geelong matters, World affairs

“The middle gets it. The middle is happening.”
~ Paul Hawken, American author

In The Sustainable Hour on 14 February 2018:
• Architect Alvyn Williams from Soft Loud House Architects about passive houses and star rating systems
• Councillors Susan Rennie and Trent McCarthy about the world’s first municipal climate emergency plan
• American ‘Drawdown’ author Paul Hawken about how ‘the middle is happening’
• Leigh Ewbank about Friends of the Earth Melbourne’s act on climate campaign
• Rebecca Lees from the Alternative Technology Association about the coming EV Expo in Melbourne.

More info below.


Listen to The Sustainable Hour no. 203 on 94.7 The Pulse:

» To open or download this programme in mp3-format, right-click here (Mac: CTRL + click)

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 LISTENER SERVICE: 

Content of this hour

Links, excerpts and more information about what we talked about in this Sustainable Hour

‘World’s first’, ‘Australia’s best’…

#StoryChange. The Sustainable Hour no 203 is an hour about new models for climate action and solid reasons for optimism.

Our guest in the studio is architect Alvyn Williams from Soft Loud House Architects who talks about passive houses, green roofs, value-based design and the inadequacy of the Australian star-rating system. Currently he is in the process of planting indigenous edible plants on the roof of his new office space while experimenting with designing a new type of brick gutter for it. Read more


Philip Sutton, Susan Rennie and Trent McCarthy

On 10 February 2018, councillors Susan Rennie and Trent McCarthy from Darebin City Council gave a presentation at the Sustainable Living Festival about how the first Australian – possibly the world’s first – municipal climate emergency plan has come about and what it contains. They did that in a conversation with facilitator Adrian Whitehead from the organisation Community Action for the Climate Emergency.


» Susan Rennie’s and Trent McCarthy’s 13-minute presentation at the Sustainable Living Festival 2018


Paul Hawken

The same day, Paul Hawken, the Californian author of the bestseller climate change solutions book ‘Drawdown’, talked with Tony about the people who care are creating an exiting transformation from the middle out:

“The middle being us, everyone, everywhere, community, farmers, city folks, students, teachers and professionals, engineers, gardeners, biologists, architects… parents, mothers, fathers, daughters, aunts, uncles, sisters and brothers… That’s the middle, and the middle gets it. The middle is happening.”


» Two-minute excerpt of Tony Gleeson’s interview with Paul Hawken at the Sustainable Living Festival




Leigh Ewbank

Leigh Ewbank reminds of how community pressure helped the Victorian state government put Australia’s best climate laws in place. He tells us about Friends of the Earth Melbourne’s vision for Victorian climate action – and about how you can support it.


» Leigh Ewbank’s 11-minute presentation at the Sustainable Living Festival


Rebecca Lees from the Alternative Technology Association, who started up the EV Expo five years ago, explains what will happen this Sunday at the EV expo in Melbourne. Exciting stuff!

More info below.


“You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.”
~ Richard Buckminster Fuller, American author




EDITORIAL:

Zero carbon? I’m ready. Just show me the path

The age of doubt isn’t over. That was one of my take-aways from this year’s Sustainable Living Festival which featured many inspiring talks and panel debates about the climate crisis and how we best can respond to it
. The age of doubt about climate change is over, but people are still in doubt about how to step up the action, looking for specific advice on what to do first, and how to do it.

By Mik Aidt | Director, Centre for Climate Safety

Every single day we open the tv news, we see these pictures of devastating hurricanes and tornadoes. Yesterday it was in the Pacific, the Tonga islands. Or bushfires, like in Western Australia over the weekend, covering an area twice as big as the country Singapore. Or dying reefs. Or draughts – like what is happening in South Africa at the moment. Or, at the smaller scale but close to home: when trees and fences were broken and turned over in the strong winds in Geelong this Saturday. And when we see the reports about dozens of deaths in Australia’s many heat waves.

Clearly, it’s narrowing in.

It’s not nature we should be blaming – it’s people. And I observe a growing sentiment in society that we must hold those people responsible who so furiously protect their business of selling oil, gas and coal to us that they are willing to sacrifice the safe climate which life on this planet have been relying on for thousands of years, sacrifice our safety and even more: future generations’ safety and prosperity.

It’s our local, state and federal administration and the elected leaders in our society who are taking the money and allowing it to happen – somehow writing off the death and calamity it is going to cause in the future as the ‘price of progress’. 

The air pollution could have been put under control decades ago – in the first days when scientists and politicians realised the urgency, as it happened already back in the 1960s, then again in the 1980s, and so on. It has constantly been deferred to another administration, another generation – resulting in that humanity keeps pushing the accelerator and burns more fuel every year, more smoke, more unregulated pollution.

Surely these cynical leaders must be held accountable in court for their crimes against life on Earth – and I hope they will be named and shamed in public. 

But as they say: when you point your finger at others, three fingers usually point at yourself. We can’t pretend this mess we are in now has nothing to do with ourselves. As the matter of fact, most of us can personally be held accountable for the amount of dirty energy we use, who we choose to buy our electricity from, and how we ignore looking after our carbon and water “footprint” in our daily lives.

Focusing on the blaming-game and what happened in the past isn’t all that constructive, because what we need now is to get organised quickly so we can speed up the transition towards zero carbon and below.

Eight out of ten Victorians already recognise the urgency of the need to address the climate emergency. Everyone knows it’s time to to apply the brake now. But even though we have realised the urgency, many of us still feel unsure about what to do and where best to invest at the individual level.

The learning quest
We quickly need to get better at this, because what has been indicated by the principles stated in the Paris Climate Agreement is still not enough, even though the Paris Agreement is an almost universal nation-state acceptance of the urgency. We need to do more. As house owners, business owners, at our schools and work places, each of us need to do more.

The solutions are available, and innovative engineers, designers and doers – people such as Alvyn Williams – are coming up with even better solutions all the time. New types of batteries, for instance. Much more powerful solar panel technology. New ways of producing “vegetarian meat”. And so on. It’s all happening, we just need to tap into it, learn more about it.

What Paul Hawken’s Drawdown project shows, for instance, is that changing our food habits is one of the most significant climate solutions if you look at the amount of gigatonnes of carbon changes in this area can save. As is the empowering and education of girls. Regenerative farming, where we are “mining the atmosphere” instead of the fossils in the ground…. And as Hawken explained in his presentation at the Sustainable Living Festival, these initiatives are good for humanity regardless of what they do for the climate.

To most people, “reducing your carbon footprint” is still a rather abstract concept. This needs to change. What is needed now is education about the knowledge which exists, and putting it into practice. For a new model and a world to be built up – in the Buckminster Fuller spirit of building “a new model that makes the existing model obsolete” – we first of all need to build up a new convincing and inspiring story which spreads the positive message by showing how its done.

Enough with the endless arguments about #ClimateChange. It’s time for #StoryChange.

“Not having heard something is not as good as having heard it; having heard it is not as good as having seen it; having seen it is not as good as knowing it; knowing it is not as good as putting it into practice.”
~ Xun Kuang, a Chinese Confucian philosopher (312-230 BC)

» More thoughts about education and climate campaigning on www.climatesafety.info/carbonsafety


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Alvyn Williams

Guest in The Sustainable Hour:

Alvyn Williams

“The Passive House measuring system is a far superior system for energy measurement to any of the Australian standards, including the star ratings,” architect Alvyn Williams tells The Sustainable Hour’s listeners:

It’s costlier to build, but a study in the UK showed that already after three years, due to the savings on energy bills, the costs comes back to 10 per cent less than standard construction. And from the fourth year and onwards, the passive house simply keeps saving you money.

There are around 65,000 accredited ‘Passive House’ buildings in the world. Of that, seven are in Australia.

“Instead of only seeing the upfront cost, we should be looking at the life-cycle cost, and we should even be calculating the decommissioning cost in as well. It comes back to what your values are,” Alvyn Williams explains.

» More about values based architecture on:
www.softloud.com.au
www.witpress.com/elibrary

» Mark Manson’s book ‘The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck’ is a #1 New York Times Bestseller with over 2 million copies sold

» More info on Mark Mansons home page:
www.markmanson.net

» David Holmgreen’s new book is called ‘Retrosuburbia’

» More info on David Holmgreen‘s home page:
www.holmgren.com.au

» IPHA Passive House conference 2018:
www.passivehouseaustralia.org



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Electric Vehicle Expo in Melbourne

Come to the largest electric vehicle event in Australia: the Electric Vehicle Expo at the Melbourne International Karting Complex this Sunday from 9am to 4:30pm. See lots of EVs on display, hear talks by experts, have a test ride and enjoy the family entertainment. It’s free!

Thousands of people are expected this Sunday, 18 February 2018, at the Electric Vehicle Expo Melbourne 2018 at the Melbourne International Karting Complex in Port Melbourne which will include displays of electric cars, bikes, motorcycles and other vehicles – both commercial and privately built.

There will be test rides, talks by electric vehicle experts and a colourful Show ‘N Shine competition as well as family entertainment.

One of the highlights will be the talk given by Eva Hakansson, the world’s fastest woman on a motorcycle, about her record-breaking electric bike KillaJoule.

Melbourne University’s Bryce Gaton will give a presentation about the electric cars on the market and what consumers need to know about and expect from electric cars.

The Electric Vehicle Expo Melbourne 2018 is organised by the not-for-profit Alternative Technology Association (ATA) and sponsored by the RACV.

Donna Luckman, the ATA’s chief executive, said electric vehicles were clean, green and the way of the future.

“People are starting to take them up around the world in large numbers,” she said.

“The Electric Vehicle Expo will be a great opportunity for people to see and even test ride a range of EVs. There’ll be something for everyone, including food and entertainment, and the event is free.”

Bryce Prosser, RACV’s general manager of public policy and corporate affairs, said the organisation was proud to sponsor the Expo.

“We support the development of electric vehicles across the state and encourage Victorians to go to the Expo and see firsthand how electric vehicles are transforming the way we move,” he said.

When: Sunday 18 February 2018 from 9:00am to 4:30pm
Where: Melbourne International Karting Complex, Todd Road and Cook Street, Port Melbourne

» Details: www.evexpo.org.au

» Facebook event page



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Sydney Morning Herald and The Age:


The Liberal Party allegedly receives secret donations on offshore accounts

On 5 February 2018, the Sydney Morning Herald published an investigative article that revealed that the Liberal party receives million-dollar donations on offshore accounts.

The article was written by Nick McKenzie and Richard Baker with the headline ‘The minister the money and the mine. How a rotten deal was hatched’.

What I don’t understand about Australian media is why this was not reason for questioning, interrogation and further investigations all over the place in mainstream news programs, asking:

– “How much has been channeled from the fossil energy industry to these offshore accounts over the years?”
– “What use is it that parties have to declare donations, when they simply use offshore accounts to hide their dirty deals?”
– “How do these offshore accounts influence and damage our democracy?”

Why have this type of questions not been asked anywhere as a result of that article on 5 February? Have Australians fallen completely asleep? Or is it that everyone are fully aware that this is what is happening behind the scenes in Australian politics, so there’s simply no reason to regard this as “news“?

If what McKenzie and Baker wrote isn’t true, why then hasn’t the Liberal party been out to explain this?

Why is no one upset? A week as gone – why has no one followed up on this article?

The source for their story was businessman who, in a signed statement, had outlined what happened at a café in 2012 when he was seeking political backing from the NSW Liberal Party for a Chinese state-owned company to buy an Australian mine. The businessman was offering to funnel $2 million dollars to the Liberal party, and he told the three Liberal insiders dining with him at the cafe that he didn’t want the donations traced. “Don’t worry,” one of the men told him, “We have offshore accounts.”

I found it absolutely shocking to learn that this is what is happening, and how this explains those totally illogical, irresponsible and irrational decisions that are being made in parliament, allowing industries to continue to pollute and destroy our country not only with the governments’ blessing, but even subsidised with taxpayers money, in total disregard of the fact that it threatens our safety and our future prosperity.

» Read the article on www.smh.com.au

Absurd financial reality in Coal Country

“Like many multinational corporations operating in Australia, Glencore regularly avoids paying a cent of company tax, despite being the largest mining company in the world by revenue…”

Last year, the mining firm Glencore did not pay a cent of company tax to the federal coffers. On the contrary, it received a $37 million rebate from the government.

Head of coal at Glencore Mr Peter Freyberg is a non-executive director of the Minerals Council of Australia. He has been a vocal critic of renewable energy targets and the government’s carbon emissions reduction efforts. He made headlines last year when he urged the government to consider dropping its commitments in the Paris climate accord.


“Australia’s Deputy Prime minister is such a joke, lied to be elected, many times, we pay for his defense, is found guilty, but is never charged, re-runs while he should be under charges for serious crimes, and is re-elected, and never did he ever step down.
Still never charged, keeps illegal gains, keeps pension, and laughs at us.
Then abandons wife and children, shacks up for free with his young lover, who is then rewarded with a 6 figure salary.
So where does the title of honorable fit in here?
 Now if I lied on a nomination form, what do you think would happen to me? 
With people like this setting such sad examples, dare we wonder why this nation is going down the tubes?”
~ Mark Aldridge

Lying to parliament

“It is absolutely unacceptable that we should be left in a situation in which we have no idea whether or not the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, and Minister Canavan breached ministerial guidelines, and furthermore, are lying to parliament and to the country.”
» www.theaimn.com/lying-joyce-affair

Draw the line against misconduct

“Our aim is not to do away with corporations; on the contrary, these big aggregations are an inevitable development of modern industrialism. … We are not hostile to them; we are merely determined that they shall be so handled as to subserve the public good. We draw the line against misconduct, not against wealth.”
~ Theodore Roosevelt, American president, in his State of the Union address in December 1902



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Education
:

Sustainability grants for Geelong schools

Victorian schools are invited to apply for sustainability grants for veggie gardens and composting projects.

The grants program ‘Powerful Youth’ has been launched for Victorian schools, childcare centres and youth groups. Projects such as veggie gardens, composting projects or bush tucker gardens could receive a $1,000 grant through the Powerful Youth Projects, funded by Momentum Energy as part of its partnership with Junior Landcare.

Applications close on 22 March 2018.

Trish O’Gorman, Landcare Communications Manager, wrote:

200 grants of up to $1,000 are currently up for grabs for schools, childcare centres and youth groups in Victoria looking to work on a sustainability or environmental project in 2018.

Following a successful first year, which saw more than 24,000 students engaged in 245 projects, the Powerful Youth Projects program is rolling out across the state again. Momentum Energy is funding the program through its partnership with Junior Landcare, and applications are open until 22 March via the Junior Landcare website.

Funding is available for a variety of projects such as veggie gardens, bush tucker gardens, composting or recycling projects, frog ponds, sensory gardens or other sustainable or environmental ideas.

Paul Geason, Managing Director of Momentum Energy, has encouraged Victorian students to get involved.

“We’re passionate about engaging the next generation in hands-on learning about sustainability. From veggie patches to recycling projects, no idea is too simple, so we’re encouraging any educators who share our passion to apply for a grant before 22 March,” he said.

Tessa Matykiewicz, Landcare Australia CEO, is delighted to partner with Momentum Energy to deliver the Powerful Youth Projects for the second year running.

“Junior Landcare schools will always welcome funding for projects that help students learn about their natural environment in an outdoor classroom setting. These projects provide schools with an opportunity to link outdoor learning to curriculum subjects, as well as achieving environmental and social outcomes. We’re delighted to be running the Powerful Youth Projects again this year,” she said.

All schools, childcare centres and youth groups in Victoria are eligible to apply for a Powerful Youth Project grant.

» See more on www.landcareaustralia.org.au/powerful-youth-projects


 ADDITIONALLY: 

In other news

From our notes of this week: news stories and events we didn’t have time to mention but which we think you should know about

Going low carbon and loving it

A new book on how individuals can reduce their carbon footprint

“This book by Mark Delaney and his son Tom, who live in India and can speak from the heart about what sustainable living really means, provides fantastic insight into how we can all think about and change how we impact the planet every day. Thoughtful, creative and sensible, their book covers the breadth of how we can all take action to protect our climate, including “small picture solutions” that are particularly inspiring.

From the Aussie suburbs to the streets of India, Mark and his family’s story calls into question what we really need to live and be happy and challenges all of us to do more to protect the planet we depend on.”
~ Blair Palese, CEO, 350.org Australia

“From living with the poor in India to life in middle class Australia, father Mark and son Tom weave their extraordinary journey through this climate change book-with-a-difference. They show us that living sustainable lives in the West is absolutely necessary and that it’s doable, fulfilling and even fun.”

» Mark and Tom Delaney: ‘Low Carbon and Loving It’

An event about the book will take place in Melbourne on 24 March 2018 at 4:30-5:30pm at Surrender Conference, Belgrave Heights.

» Tickets required, book at www.surrender.org.au

» Blogpost: Slowing Down as we go over the Cliff: analysing Australia’s emission reduction targets



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Solar for renters

“There’s a move among local councils to offer landlords interest-free loans that can be paid off via rate instalments. Under the “solar savers” scheme pioneered by Darebin City Council in Melbourne, landlords can even transfer their loan to the new owner when the property is sold.

Darebin is now targeting landlords, which means renters will be able to negotiate a rent increase to help cover the loan repayment. The City of Adelaide is another council that has followed this lead.”

» ABC News – 18 February 2018:
Solar boom: New schemes may help renters get solar panels on their roof



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Message from GetUp!:

Help forge a path to 100% clean energy

This is the future: entire communities across Australia powered by rooftop solar, day and night.

Imagine street after street where homes light up with the sun’s power, captured, stored and distributed by smart, efficient technology.
It’s an energy revolution being driven from the ground up — by millions of households taking control of their own power needs.

If you’re already a solar owner, or planning to get solar, you can be a part of it with Tesla’s Powerwall.

Tesla’s Powerwall is a lithium-ion battery pack with smart software to store your solar power for when you need it 24/7.
With Powerwall, a sunny day will never go to waste. When the sun goes down, Powerwall powers-up.

If you’ve already got solar, Tesla’s Powerwall comes with an integrated inverter, making it easy to add storage to your existing system.

And if you don’t already have solar, Tesla will connect you to a local supplier so you can get both installed at the same time.

We know rooftop solar can slash our power bills and our reliance on coal and gas-generated electricity. With added storage, we can access clean energy when we need it — and any we don’t need becomes available to the community when we feed it back into the grid.

Home-to-home, street-to-street we can power up the system with abundant, clean energy from the sun. Plus, GetUp gets a financial contribution for every member that gets Powerwall as part of this campaign, to supercharge our renewable energy advocacy work.

GetUp is a movement of over one million people who pool our voice, money, time and resources in pursuit of a cleaner, fairer and thriving Australia. We want a future driven by smart technology, that makes the best use of abundant energy from the sun, wind and water — and doesn’t destroy our climate. By using our consumer power to lead the charge on solar and battery power, we can help forge a path to 100% clean energy.

Together, we won’t just be cleaning up our own energy usage, we’ll be supporting our local community to be powered by more renewables too.
Will you join us?

Anthony and Mhairi, for the GetUp team

» www.solar.getup.org.au



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“The vote follows a successful vote in favour of banning onshore drilling, or ‘fracking’, last year. 
Ireland’s Green Party leader Eamon Ryan described the vote as a historic day for environmentalism in Ireland, stating that “the tide has turned on fossil fuels, and there is widespread political support now for a just transition to renewable power.”

» Transceltic – 10 February 2018:
Irish parliament’s vote to ban offshore oil drilling gets the approval of Cher


“Any flooding concerns that coastal communities have for 2100 may occur over the next few decades.”
~ Katy Serafin, coastal flooding expert at Oregon State University

» The Guardian – 13 February 2018:
Melting ice sheets are hastening sea level rise, satellite data confirms
“Research shows that pace of melting in Antarctica and Greenland has accelerated”



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Talking climate, taking action

How to have constructive conversations about climate change

“Talking climate is not easy. Let’s face it – it’s surprisingly complex and can be fraught with emotion and baggage. But if you find it hard to talk about climate change, I’d encourage you to start by asking someone else you trust about how they find talking about it, and hear what they have to say. Break the climate silence in the simplest way first, and then listen. Because this Quest, I’ve realised, is as much about shutting up as it is about talking.”
~ Kate Heath, an ex-humanitarian worker now based in Paris – exploring how to have constructive conversations about climate change

Read Kate Heath’s blog and share your conversations:

» Kate Heath – 12 February 2018:
Talking climate, taking action – a quest for belonging

» Kate Heath – 25 January 2018:
The Value of Values in Talking Climate



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Pick a challenge

By Anuja Sawant

Practice what you preach. Doing so is tough. Admitting this is not just humbling but also reassuring.

To obsess over perfection stalls us to take those steps we need to take to do what aligns with our values.

So, pick a challenge, take a pledge. Take your time. Learn and apply. Take inspiration if you are stuck. Take the no-straw challenge for instance. Watch Pooja Navale take the challenge and inspire others.

It’s alright, we are not perfect. Someone wise once said perfection is the enemy of good.

If you forget, remind yourself again and pick up where you left.

Not sure where to begin? Here’s a great resource from OneWorldWeek –  Living-for-One-World-pledges with plenty of challenges.

Find out what environmental issues we are facing today. Prioritize. Prioritizing can be difficult. I for one have my hands in many pots: reducing consumption, not wasting food, buying ethical and eco-friendly products, reducing my waste footprint, recycle, plant more, conserve water and energy, conserve and reuse paper, support local community initiatives, buy organic, share inspiring stories, etc.

Game on!

» Anuja Sawant, 14 February 2018



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FRIENDS OF THE EARTH MELBOURNE:

Send a message to Labor and the Coalition on climate and environment

Victorians will head to a state election on 24 November 2018. With community concern about climate change on the rise, it’s an issue that all political parties must must address in detail. Yet despite strong concern among the community there’s currently radio silence from Victoria’s major parties when it comes to climate change and environment. If they wont put bright ideas on the table then we’ll have to!

Our state is undergoing profound change as the population grows, entire industries go to the wall, and climate change starts to really impact on our landscapes, lifestyles, and economy. The most carbon-dense forests on earth are being logged, mega roads are about to commence construction, and climate change solutions dreamed up by the community go unfunded.

An election provides all parties with the opportunity to demonstrate leadership on these interconnected issues. In 2018, Friends of the Earth will push for Victorian political parties to:

• Create the Great Forest National Park and the Emerald Link in East Gippsland, and support a transition plan for the native forestry industry;

• Commit public funds away from major roads and into public transport projects like Metro Tunnel 2;

• Commit to uphold state climate change laws in their current form and deliver Victoria’s first climate-focussed state budget;

• Rule out further public funding or support for new coal technologies and maintain the moratorium on conventional gas drilling;

• Extend and increase the Victorian Renewable Energy Target.

You can support these outcomes by sending an email to the Labor and Coalition leaders today. With your help, we can achieve progress on important climate and environmental issues.

» Send a message to Labor and the Coalition: www.melbournefoe.org.au/victoria2018

» Find out more about our vision for Victoria

» You can help us build momentum for by sharing the following posts on Facebook and Twitter.






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» More petitions and letters to sign


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icon_small-arrow_RIGHT Podcasts and posts about climate change

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Acknowledgement

We at The Sustainable Hour would like to pay our respect to the traditional custodians of the land on which we are broadcasting, the Wathaurong People, and pay our respect to their elders, past, present and future.

The traditional owners lived in harmony with the environment and with the climate for hundreds of generations. It is not clear – yet – that as European settlers we have demonstrated that we can live in harmony for hundreds of generations, but it is clear that we can learn from the indigenous, traditional owners of this land.

When we talk about the future, it means extending our respect to those children not yet born, the generations of the future – remembering the old saying that…



The decisions currently being made around Australia to ignore climate change are being made by those who won’t be around by the time the worst effects hit home. How utterly disgusting, disrespectful and unfair is that?



Streaming live

facebook-square-logo2_300pxThe Sustainable Hour is streamed live on the Internet every Wednesday from 11am to 12pm (Melbourne time).

» To listen to the program on your computer or phone, click here – or go to www.947thepulse.com where you then click on ‘Listen Live’ on the right.


Podcast archive

Over 200 hours of sustainable podcasts

Listen to all of The Sustainable Hour radio shows in full length:

» Archive on climatesafety.info – with additional links

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» Archive on cpod.org




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Help us promote sustainable living

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3. Let the The Sustainable Hour’s listeners know about your green product. To become a business supporter or sponsor, contact: Simon Finch, Marketing & Business Development, 947thepulse.com – Geelong’s Premier Community Radio Station.

4. Maybe support us financially? Even a small donation will make a difference – in particular with printing expenses.

 

 

 

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“Participation – that’s what’s gonna save the human race.”
~ Pete Seeger, American singer