The Sustainable Hour visits the Pilliga forest in New South Wales where a group of activists are protesting against the company Santos which wants to extract gas there with the use of the controversial ‘fracking’ method.
Whether we should allow that our air and water is being polluted, and that our forests and farm land are being industrialised by fossil fuel companies is often not as distant a question as you may think. For instance, in the Geelong area, energy companies are eager to start extracting gas in the area between Geelong and Torquay, and they hope to be allowed to start digging for coal at Bacchus March. The Victorian government is currently in “thinking-box” about whether to give them the permission. If it does, how will the local residents then respond to that? Already, some groups are preparing, mobilising and educating themselves about civil disobedience and non-violent action.
The Pilliga – an iconic area of public bushland, located between Narrabri and Coonabarabran in western New South Wales – is under threat from the largest coal seam gas project ever proposed for New South Wales. The group of protestors, who have organised a protest camp there, see themselves as Australian patriots and protectors of the land. The Energy Minister, however, calls them ‘eco-fascists’.
In The Sustainable hour on 94.7 The Pulse on 9 March 2016 we explore what to think about civil disobedience. Anthony Gleeson visited the Pilliga in February 2016 and interviewed several of the people there: Amanda, Rosco, Peter, Rob, Cassidy, Kit, Leigh, Benny, and Nanna Pearl.
We also talk with musician Simon Kerr, who brings a visual performance to Geelong on Friday, ‘Music for a Warming World’. More info below.
Listen to The Sustainable Hour no. 112:
» To open or download this programme in mp3-format, right-click here (Mac: CTRL + click)
» Subscribe to ‘The Sustainable Hour’ podcast — via iTunes or via your own podcast/RSS software
LISTENER SERVICE
Audio excerpts
Interviews featured in this Sustainable Hour
Gas field protests in the Pilliga
There are near constant protests happening on site at the Pilliga. People want to ensure the Pilliga and the local communities are protected from becoming a polluting coal seam gas field.
Santos wants to drill for gas, building more than 800 gas wells in the Pilliga forest. It is a widely despised project that over the last two years has lost nearly $1.4 billion in value and will produce the nation’s most expensive gas.
The Pilliga interviews
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The Pilliga Push
Connect and learn more
» www.facebook.com/protectingthepilliga
» www.stoppilligacoalseamgas.com
» More about civil disobedience on the page Activism: Fight of our time
Also, there is more infomation about the Pilliga further below on this page.
Anyone who has been lucky enough to see the Climate Guardian Angels portend knows how amazing they are.
They are also running a Twitter campaign called #KeepYourPromise in the lead up to the election to help hold Australia to the commitments that it made at the Paris #COP21 climate talks.
Here is the link to this beautiful tweet for those who are on Twitter so you can like and retweet to support their awesome campaign!
Andrew Laird
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Interview with Simon Kerr
» Right-click to download the audio file (MP3)
“Simon Kerr’s musical and visual interpretation of climate change, ‘Music for a Warming World’, is a must experience for everyone concerned about the biggest issue facing humanity. He doesn’t shy away from the facts, but ends with great hope.”
Tony Gleeson, radio presenter, The Sustainable Hour, 94.7 The Pulse
» Read more: www.simonkerrmusic.net/music-for-a-warming-world
LISTENER SERVICE
More information
Links, quotes and excerpts in relation to this Sustainable Hour
‘Looking after our Blessing’ – a five-minute video film on the Pilliga region and the anti-fracking movement.
“Coal seam gas mining puts our communities at risk.”
As toxic spills and heavy metals contaminate groundwater beneath the Pilliga forest from coal seam gas mining, Anne Kennedy – President of the Great Artesian Basin Protection Group – is determined to save the precious finite water for communities throughout New South Wales’ unique agriculture belt, before it’s too late.
Stop Baird’s crackdown on my farming community
You really should sign this petition supporting farmers in North West NSW fighting to protect the Pilliga and the Great Artesian Basin. But before you do, read Anne Kennedy’s introduction:
“My name is Anne Kennedy, and I’m a farmer from Coonamble, in north-west NSW.
New laws proposed by the NSW Government this week would mean a possible seven year jail term for farmers like me if we try to stop coal seam gas mining from destroying our groundwater.
I am a conservative 68-year old grandmother of 13, and I would like nothing more than to be spending my time with grandchildren and my husband on the farm. My husband is a fifth generation Coonamble farmer, but we will lose everything if coal seam gas mining is allowed to destroy our land and our water.
I believe it’s all about the water. You see, I’m the President of the NSW Artesian Bore Water Users Association, President of the Great Artesian Basin Protection Group, and on the committee of the Great Artesian Basin Advisory Group. I am painfully aware that farmers in our region are entirely dependent on the groundwater of the Great Artesian Basin. We have absolutely no other source of water. Our groundwater is all we’ve got.
I am one of the people that the NSW Resources Minister was describing as an ‘eco-fascist’ this week as he announced these new laws. I must say I’ve never been called anything like that before. Last year I was named Coonamble’s Australia Day Citizen of the Year, which was a great honour to me as it meant Coonamble Council and community valued so highly the work I am doing trying to save our artesian water.
It’s clear that this Government will stop at nothing to crush our opposition to CSG mining. These new laws could go through Parliament as early as next week – please act with us today.
At the same time as they crack down on my farming community, the NSW Government is introducing incredibly weak penalties, of only $5,000 for CSG companies that breach their drilling authorities.
It’s a brutal double standard that is designed to favour mining giants over farmers and to allow CSG drilling at any cost.
I’ve been to Queensland and have seen what coal seam gas mining does: water bores drying up, the Condamine River bubbling with gas, local communities fractured.
I just can’t accept that in NSW. Please stand with me to protect the Great Artesian Basin. Future Australians will thank you, for saving their water.
Please sign the petition to stand with me and my farming community as we fight to defend our water and stop these shocking, unfair new laws.
Thank you for your help,”
Anne Kennedy
Coonamble
“See the place for yourself. Ask yourself the question. Will you stand up for the Pilliga?”
Published on youtube.com on 16 December 2011
“The Pilliga is the largest forested area left west of the Great Divide, an amazing refuge area for wildlife that are in decline all around the state. It is a truly iconic and precious place. Stretching across 500 square kilometres it bursts into flower in spring, carpeting the landscape with colour.
It is perhaps the only place left in NSW where you can look out across flat land and see only forest as far as the eye can see.
It filters the water that recharges our greatest inland water resource — some of the sweetest water that you will ever taste lies beneath the Pilliga sandstones in aquifers of the Great Artesian Basin.
An amazing diversity of plants and animals live here, including threatened species such as the Eastern Pygmy Possum, Pilliga Mouse and Black-striped Wallaby.
But all is not well in the Pilliga. All this beauty is now threatened by the beast – a massive coal seam gas development.”
The Pilliga: How Santos sees it
“It is estimated the project will deliver approximately 1,200 jobs during construction and 200 ongoing positions as well as significant opportunities for local businesses, contractors and suppliers. Royalties of more than $1.6 billion will be generated to fund state services and facilities and a $160 million fund will be established to benefit the local community.”
“Santos is finalising the Environmental Impact Statement for the project, which will be submitted later this year. The project will be assessed by both the State and Commonwealth Governments, with extensive community consultation throughout that assessment process. Should approval be granted, Santos will develop the project safely, sustainably and without impacting local agriculture.”
Hope Land
Poem by Nanna Pearl
Would you lay down your life for your children?
You took a job in mining – there wasn’t any other way;
You left your home and family on the promise of big pay.
They fly you in; they fly you out, less time at home than you’re away;
Missing every milestone, your family missing you each day.
Home you go bone weary from semi-permanent detention;
You’re partner’s tired, the kids ‘act up’, starved for your attention.
The bottle calls, the music blares, you push away your pain;
And then before you know it, you’re on the plane again.
You can’t eat coal, you can’t drink dust, the jobs go boom, the jobs go bust;
Do you think the banks will care, when you can’t pay back their welfare?
It doesn’t matter what you earn, you never seem to get ahead,
Round and round and round it goes until you think you’re better off dead.
We mourn the workers who take their own lives, leaving behind husbands and wives;
One left with two jobs, raising kids alone, stuck in poverty, chucked from their home.
Think of not giving your daughter away, or never seeing your grandkids play.
Will it still be worth it when you don’t see your sons grow into men?
Why are workers dying, do you think they care – will they take care of your family when you’re not there?
We’ve met workers – eyes filled with tears – for the earth, the future and those they hold dear;
Miners who’ve worked for many a year, abandoning jobs because of this fear.
You see the very thing you believe will nurture, is the self same thing eating your children’s future.
Do you know what you’re being exposed to; are they giving you warnings they’re supposed to?
Black Lung, silicosis, cancer, depression – what poisons are pumped and called dust suppression?
The bigwigs will tell your health is fine (you don’t see these bosses on the front line).
Spinning and spinning and feeding you lies, which will soon become their alibis.
Now look to others on farms and in town; and the homes of the animals you’ve mown down.
They have pitted us against each other; son against father, daughter against mother.
So much consumed by mining’s vast maw, so just whose family are you fighting for?
We know you think there’s no other way, but just what price are willing to pay?
Rising salt – falling water; think of your son – think of your daughter,
Think of your grandchild yet to be born; think of their lives so badly torn.
We know that you’re good people, just trying to get ahead;
But what will your grandchildren eat, when all the farmland’s dead?
Twenty years down the track, what will you say when you look back?
“I didn’t know, I was too weak, I didn’t act, I didn’t speak”;
Or will you hold your head up high, now you know the truth from the lie.
“I crossed the line, and became a defender” – it’s this your family will remember.
Come join us!
We are the People and we say ENOUGH.”
Baird's new fascist laws will not stop us protesting Santos destroying Pilliga @ #nswpol #pilligapush #lockthegate pic.twitter.com/l3E8iQLytn
— Bill Ryan (@BillRyan1922) March 11, 2016
Where Minister for Santos describes anti #CSG protestors as "Eco-fascists", threatens jail. https://t.co/zTxYMbLaOk
— Market Forces (@market_forces) March 6, 2016
Speech by Uncle Paul Spearim, a Gamilaraay traditional custodian, while he was locked-on to two concrete barrels blocking the main entrance to Whitehaven Coal’s Maules Creek Mine.
“We are asking Greg Hunt to commence an independent report including oral evidence to make an informed decision. We are asking him to do his job right and protect our Lawler’s Well.”
Dolly Talbott, Gomeroi Traditional Custodian
TAKE ACTION NOW. Support the struggle to save sacred sites
This is how you can support the Gamilaraay People: Call Greg Hunt now on 02 6277 7920
» More info www.gomeroitraditionalcustodians.org/take-action
» Full story at www.frontlineaction.org/gamilaraayprotectcountry
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“These Eco-Fascists are like a cancer. A bureaucracy that only knows one way forward … to get bigger in an uncontrolled fashion.”
Steve, on JoanneNova.com.au – “Skeptical science for dissident thinkers”
This video had over 17,000 views on Facebook and Youtube
“Many of those taking direct action against coal seam gas projects are farmers who feel they must act to protect the land and water from being poisoned or destroyed. They are Australian patriots, not ‘eco-fascists’.”
Jeremy Buckingham, Greens MP and mining spokesperson
Minister for Santos describes anti-CSG protestors as ‘eco-fascists’
“The laws will allow police to deal with people trying to lock-on to equipment to disrupt operation, and the fines for aggravated unlawful entry on enclosed lands will rise from $550 to $5500. Energy Minister Anthony Roberts said the measures were necessary to protect miner and police lives from “eco-fascists” and said jail terms could even be considered in future if the tougher penalties were not enough.
The changes come after 30 incidents of unlawful entry to the Santos-owned property Leewood were recorded in the first two weeks of February. More than 300 incidents of obstruction have been recorded since November.”
» Daily Telegraph – 6 March 2016:
CSG protesters: New laws will crack down on ‘fascists’
» RenewEconomy – 7 March 2016:
What we’re reading: NSW Energy Minister labels anti-CSG farmers “eco-fascists”
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Want to help #pilligapush but can't get there? I think this is a great idea, you can send items for care packages >> https://t.co/hAcF7axglI
— LadyBatGirlKimberley (@earthma23) March 11, 2016
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» ClimateProgress – 10 March 2016:
Family Wins Case Against Fracking Company After 7 Years Of Polluted Drinking Water
Two Pennsylvania families who have been fighting to prove that a fracking company polluted their well water got a major win in court this week. A federal jury awarded the Dimock, PA residents $4.24 million Thursday, after finding that Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. — one of Pennsylvania’s largest oil and gas companies — guilty of polluting their well water with methane.
» The Guardian – 13 May 2016:
Civil disobedience is the only way left to fight climate change
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Petition to sign:
NSW Premier Mike Baird just wrote a new law to help Santos
The NSW Government is introducing harsh new laws and penalties to crush peaceful protest against Santos’ dangerous coal seam gas project in Narrabri, while at the same time helping the CSG giant avoid massive penalties.
By GetUp
Since 2010, Santos has donated $568,857 to the LNP.[1] Now, the NSW Government have written them a suite of new laws to make their life easier. This is the toxic influence of mining companies over our politicians at its very worst.
The NSW State Government is increasing the current penalty for protesting at CSG sites by more than ten times, from $500 to $5500. Worse, protesters could be thrown in jail for seven years for peacefully defending their land and water.[2]
At the same time they’ve introduced a pathetic new penalty regime for CSG companies that could see companies fined just $5000 for drilling without approval.[3] Before now, a court could prosecute companies up to $1.1 million. At $5000, CSG companies like Santos can now be fined less for endangering our land and water than we could be for trying to protect it.
And it gets worse — these new laws would also restrict the right to free assembly — giving police extra powers to move people on. Even if they are on public land.[4]
It’s no coincidence that these laws are being introduced now just as pressure mounts on Santos to abandon the last CSG project standing in NSW — the Narrabri gas project, in the heart of the beautiful Pilliga forest.
For too long mining companies have been able to purchase power, holding disproportionate influence over our government, and we’ve had enough. Civil rights shouldn’t be sold to the highest bidder.
Say no to NSW Premier Mike Baird’s Santos laws: Sign the petition against these outrageous law changes.
Adam and Sam R, for the GetUp team
References
[1] AEC Political Donations
[2] Mining protesters could face seven years’ jail under Baird government CSG plans, Sydney Morning Herald, 11 March 2016
[3] Smaller penalties for CSG companies amid crack down on protesters, Sydney Morning Herald, 7 March 2016
[4] EXPLAINER: Mike Baird’s Anti-Protest Laws – What Are They And Who Hates Them, New Matilda, 7 March 2016
GetUp is an independent, not-for-profit community campaigning group. We use new technology to empower Australians to have their say on important national issues. We receive no political party or government funding, and every campaign we run is entirely supported by voluntary donations. If you’d like to contribute to help fund GetUp’s work, please donate now!
Our team acknowledges that we meet and work on the land of the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We wish to pay respect to their Elders – past, present and future – and acknowledge the important role all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people continue to play within Australia and the GetUp community.
Authorised by Paul Oosting, Level 14, 338 Pitt Street, Sydney NSW 2000.
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https://www.facebook.com/groups/gas.alliance/permalink/1087371844660827
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Attacks on our ability to protect our environment are attacks on our democracy
“Governments across Australia are eroding some of the vital foundations of our democracy, from protest rights to press freedom, to entrench their own power and that of vested business interests.”
Hugh de Kretser, Human Rights Law Centre
» The Sydney Morning Herald – 22 March 2016:
NSW anti-protest laws are part of a corrosive national trend
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Alan Jones talks to the Greens M.P about draconian new anti-protest legislation in NSW
» Read more at www.2gb.com
https://www.facebook.com/groups/ProgressiveAustralians/permalink/1030179457051476/
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New South Wales Greens MP Jeremy Buckingham appeared in a Sydney court on 15 March 2016, charged with trespassing on land owned by mining giant Rio Tinto in August 2015.
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Psychopatic behaviour
“It is not just a question of psychopaths in power; the whole society reacts to threats like a psychopath: with the emphasis on doing “something”, without much concern about whether it is the right thing to do and what would the consequences could be. So, if climate starts to be perceived as a real and immediate threat, we may expect a reaction endowed with all the strategic finesse of a street brawl: “you hit me – I hit you.”
A possible, counterintuitive, panic reaction might be of “doubling down” in the denial of the threat. That could lead to actions such as actively suppressing the diffusion of data and studies about climate; de-funding climate research, closing down climate research centers, marginalizing those who believe that climate is a problem; for instance classifying them among “terrorists.” All that is already happening in some degree and it may well become the next craze…”
» Resilience – 15 March 2016:
The Climate Emergency: Time to Switch to Panic Mode?
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Booh, Australia: ranked 150th
In case you missed it: “The country’s worst performance, though, came in the climate and energy category, where Australia was ranked 150th for its trend in carbon emissions for electricity generation.”
» Read more: www.smh.com.au/environment
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February 2016 hottest month on record
Mind-blowing February 2016 temperature anomaly, close to 2°C above true pre-industrial
NASA say February 2016 hottest month on record, jaw dropping 1.35°C above mid-20th century average as climate cooks:
Note this anomaly is over the 1950-1980 baseline, which is 0.3°C warmer that late around 1900 and around 0.6°C warmer than true pre-industrial around 1750. This is close to 2°C warmer the true pre-industrial temperature. As Professor Michael E Mann of “hockey stick” fame says on Twitter:
Yes, Feb 2016 saw 2C warmer-than-preindustrial "dangerous" warming: https://t.co/ydpf4axJlQ
— Michael E. Mann (@MichaelEMann) March 13, 2016
“Feb GISTEMP +1.35C 1951- is ~2C relative to true pre-industrial baseline”
David Spratt commented: “This is seriously crazy. Before October 2015, the highest GISS monthly anomaly was 0.96°C (Jan ’07). The last five months: 1.06°C, 1.03°C, 1.10°C, 1.14°C, 1.35°C! And March is also running above 1.3°C. It seems that the UK Met Office predicting that 2016 will be hotter than record breaking 2015 is on track.”
» Graph at www.data.giss.nasa.gov
“Compared with the rival record giant El Nino of 1997-98, global temperatures are running about 0.5 degrees hotter.
That shows how much much global warming we have had since then. The first half of March 2016 is at least as warm, and it means temperatures are clearly more than 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels.”
Stefan Rahmstorf, professor at Potsdam Climate Institute & UNSW
“This is really quite stunning … it’s completely unprecedented,” said Stefan Rahmstorf, from Germany’s Potsdam Institute of Climate Impact Research and a visiting professorial fellow at the University of NSW, noting the NASA data as reported by the Wunderground blog.
“We are in a kind of climate emergency now,” Professor Rahmstorf said, noting that global carbon dioxide levels last year rose by a record rate of more than 3 parts per million.
Something to write in the diary: 2016 is the first year that global temperatures exceeded 1.5°C over the preindustrial level.
Source:
» The Age – 13 March 2016:
Scientist says February temperature spike sign of “climate emergency”
Related articles:
» Climate Code Red – 14 March 2016:
Mind-blowing February 2016 temperature spike a “climate emergency” says scientist, as extreme events hit Vietnam, Fiji and Zimbabwe
» The Guardian – 14 March 2016:
February breaks global temperature records by ‘shocking’ amount
» Wunderground – 13 March 2016:
February Smashes Earth’s All-Time Global Heat Record by a Jaw-Dropping Margin
Changing climate in northern Victoria
Changes in the climate are already happening in northern Victoria and southern New South Wales.
Recent research from the Australian Export Grains Innovation Centre (AEGIC) says the region is already experiencing a ‘new climate’, one that has become noticeable since about 2000. This is most noticeable in the shift of rainfall patterns. Meanwhile research carried out for the state government documents – yet again – the expected increases in average temperature, extended heatwaves and ongoing water stress that is coming with climate change.
» Source: www.aegic.org.au
» Friends of the Earth Melbourne:
Climate change impacts on Northern Victoria
$10m drought fund – but more needed
Farmers across 11 western Victorian shires have been given access to risk management grants of up to $10,000 and a second round of $2000 stock containment grants under the State Government’s $10 million Drought Support Fund.
“It’s valuable support at a time when drought conditions are looking grim, right across the state,” Victorian Farmers Federation President Peter Tuohey said. “This funding will help our farmers deal with the impacts of drought and the ongoing dry that’s undermining the carrying capacity of many farms as they face repeated seasons of low rainfall and stock water shortages.”
The $10m Drought Support Fund includes $1.5m for Farm Risk Management Grants, with farmers able to claim $3000 to do a business plan and up to another $7000 for training or to build on-farm infrastructure to help manage climatic risks.
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Rough start to the year
The Australian Youth Climate Coalition wrote:
“On 3 March 2016, for the first time in human history, we passed a scary milestone for extreme heat. In the Northern Hemisphere temperatures briefly breached the two degree warming limit scientists have long warned of.
A warning sign that makes the shift to 100% clean energy and keeping fossil fuels in the ground so necessary.
Then we heard that abnormally warm waters on the Great Barrier Reef are causing huge coral bleaching at several locations, very likely to only get worse, increasing to the highest warning level and possibly killing off coral in many areas.
For too long Australia has mined and burned the polluting fuels at the heart of this problem. Prime Minister Turnbull can do better.
It’s time for Prime Minister Turnbull and his government to turn this around. Call Turnbull today and tell him that you want a commitment to 100% renewable energy and keeping coal in the ground this election year. ”
» www.aycc.org.au/call_malcolm
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NEWS & NOTES
Clippings from the news stream
News stories from the week that passed
Musician Matt Wicking asks why we should support Sustain Me
Sustain Me’s crowdfunder campaign ends in a few days. Matt Wicking considers why you should donate.
By Matt Wicking
When I was asked to write this post to support Sustain Me’s crowdfunding campaign, my first thought was: I’m not sure what I have to offer here.
After all, if you’re reading this, you likely already ‘get it’ anyway. You know enough about climate change and biodiversity loss, over-consumption and pollution. You don’t need me to add to the never-ending stream of stats. Or trying to find the perfect graph.
I expect if you don’t know why waste is a bad thing or why a national app that puts localised recycling information in the palm of people’s hands is a great idea, then I probably don’t have the magic combination of words to convince you.
Then I realised that there’s something bigger than a recycling app (if that’s possible!) happening here that’s really important to me. Through over a decade working in the sustainability space, like many others, I’ve sometimes felt frustration at the slow pace of change. I’ve dipped in and out of hopefulness about the future. But something that has remained consistent for me is a belief in the importance of the efforts of passionate people – those willing to take risks and trust themselves, to step up above what is expected of them, to see a problem and to be willing to work collaboratively with others, across comunities and sectors, to make change happen. That’s what I see happening here.
I’m supporting this effort to take Sustain Me national. Not just because the app is great (it is). Not just because it is much needed and fills an important gap (though it does). Not just because it’s already proven its success on a smaller scale (though it has). Above and beyond all of that, I’m supporting this campaign because it’s born of the creative energy of two wonderful young people who are passionate about creating a more positive future.
As the glaciers melt and oceans rise, as species and ecosystems disappear from under our noses, and as the global economic system hits the buffers, stalls and stumbles, that’s where I want to put my energy. Because it’s exactly the sort of attitude we need more of. And because we encourage more of that wonderful positive spirit in the world by supporting it when we see it. I encourage you to do the same.
Join the movement. Download Sustain Me and give to their crowdfunding campaign.
» www.startsomegood.com/sustainme
» View this email in your browser
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Renewables cut energy demand by a third
“For starters sun, water and wind are free. Then there’s the efficiency factor: Less than 1 percent of power generated from solar and wind gets lost as heat, while more than half the power produced from natural gas, and two thirds from nuclear and coal is heat loss. Because of this efficiency differential, switching to all renewables by 2050 would actually cut global energy demand by a third, according to climate and energy guru, Mark Jacobson, director of the Atmosphere and Energy Program at Stanford University.”
» Huffpost Green – 11 March 2016:
Only Renewable Energy Revolution Can Reverse Runaway Climate Change
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Petitioning against the Shenhua coal mine
“Hey it’s Josh Hawkins here. Common Grace asked me to be the face of their new campaign. I guess they didn’t have many options. What’s it about? Right now, Shenhua corporation plan to dig a 35 square km coal mine in the heart of Australia’s food bowl. It will risk thousands of years of future farming for a 30 year mine that will make climate change worse! As stewards of this precious land, urge Deputy PM and Minister for Agriculture Barnaby Joyce to #stopthemine before it’s too late.
Most of you are probably wondering “who IS this guy?” I’m a pastor by day and d-grade YouTube celebrity by night. I suppose I was one of those people that heard the words ‘climate change’ and thought, “Ah yeh, that’s someone else’s problem, my brain can’t take in that much information” but as I learnt more I was like “OH MY GOSH WE NEED TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS!”
So I went on a journey and met a legit climate scientist, young farmers from Liverpool Plains Youth and even attempted my very first “I have a dream speech”.
Don’t judge me – just watch the video.” bit.ly/1LuEKNG
And sign the petition here: www.commongrace.org.au/stopthemine
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» The Guardian – 11 March 2016:
Sea level rise is accelerating; how much it costs is up to us
Important new research shows that sea levels are rising at unprecedented rates, and will have tremendous costs if we don’t slow them
Climate crimes against children
“Top Australian ABC TV journalist and mother Leigh Sales commented thus on the failure of Catholic clergy to report on horrendous child sexual abuse imposed on 40,000 Australian children by Catholic Church personnel: “How is it that there was not one good man there who was willing to stand up and say… and blow the whistle on this?”
Evil happens when good men do nothing (Edmund Burke) but Western and Australian mainstream journalists, politicians and academics have failed to report the following immense crimes against children:
10 billion people including 6 billion under-5 infants will die prematurely this century from a worsening climate genocide if man-made climate change is not requisitely addressed. Already about 0.4 million people presently die thus each year, and 7 million die annually from carbon fuel burning pollutants, including 75,000 from the burning of exported Australian coal.”
Dr Gideon Polya, ‘Australian And Western Mainstream Media Ignore Massive And Deadly Western Child Abuse In War And Peace’, 9 March 2016See also:
» Climate Genocide
» Stop air pollution deaths
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Kids know a liveable planet is more important than political donations & the electoral cycle #KeepYourPomise #Auspol pic.twitter.com/wwR6i5uKbb
— Climate Guardians (@ClimateGuardia) March 9, 2016
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This list of petitions was launched on Tuesday 8 March 2016.
Podcasts and posts about climate change
Streaming live
» The Sustainable Hour is streamed live on the Internet every Wednesday from 11am to 12pm (Melbourne time):
www.947thepulse.com – click on ‘Listen Live’
Podcast archive
Hours and hours of sustainable podcasts
Listen to all of The Sustainable Hour radio shows in full length and in selected excerpts:
» Archive on climatesafety.info – with photo and direct link to podcast audio file
» Archive on climatesafety.info – with longer descriptions
» Archive on cpod.org – with even longer descriptions
» Archive on itunes.apple.com – mobile phone friendly
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Pete Seeger, American singer