Please note: As of 16 June 2008 this site will not be updated again until February 2009 as the SAO web manager is on sabbatical. To stay up to date with events and information, please subscribe to SAO Bytes (if you haven't done so already) by going to the Publications page.
Refresh
Australia's Climate Change Policy
Click
here for the SAO Refresh
Australia! Campaign
which includes a Briefing
Note: Refresh
Australia's Climate Change Policy
– Maximise
renewable energy sources |
Action for Climate Change
2020 target for greenhouse gas emissions -
Please support the Australian Conservation Foundation campaign for strong 2020 targets.
The Great Solar PV Swindle in Queensland!
In March (2008) the Queensland Government announced plans to bulk purchase 1,000 1kW Solar PV systems to initiate a Solar Homes Scheme. It was reported that within 24 hours the State Government had received over 5,000 registrations for the offer.
Following the Solar Homes Scheme, the Government announced the Solar Bonus Scheme, a program to introduce a feed-in tariff for solar PV systems. A tariff of 44 cents was to be made for all electricity provided to the grid from solar PV systems. In Queensland, virtually all current suburban PV customers have their systems directly connected to the grid. They draw power through a second meter from the grid. Under these conditions the Solar Bonus Scheme for householders was an attractive proposition. Customers receive 44 cents for the gross generation and pay 15 cents for what they use.
However, the Clean Energy Bill which will shortly be debated in Parliament seeks to change these arrangements. The Department of Mines and Energy now propose that PV systems be wired to the house, and then the grid with the feed-in tariff will only be paid for any net (surplus) power generated. The new metering arrangements will mean that virtually no-one will qualify for the tariff, effectively removing the feed-in incentive to go solar.
Queenslanders need to take action now by contacting your local member about the Solar Bonus Scheme and asking them to oppose the Clean Energy Bill as proposed.
Click here for more information and a list of Queensland State MP’s email addresses. Just send a brief email to your local MP and to the Premier to let them know that you’d like to see Queensland get serious about our clean energy future right now. [Campaign initiated by Queensland Conservation Council].
Cyber Action for Climate Refugees
Friends of the Earth (FOE) are calling for citizens to participate in their cyber action on climate refugees. One of the serious impacts of climate change is rising sea levels which will displace many people in low-lying Pacific island nations. FOE is asking you to sign their electronic petition calling on the Foreign Affairs Minister, Stephen Smith, to implement the ALP’s policy on climate refugees. To find out more and to sign this petition, click here.
Make Reel Change - a short film competition
Emerging and established filmmakers with a passion for human rights are being invited to make short films addressing the human impacts of climate change. The Human Rights Arts and Film Festival and the Make Poverty History coalition have joined forces to launch the Reel Change short film competition which is seeking powerful and innovative films from throughout Australia and the world. The best films will screen as part of the Human Rights Arts and Film Festival (HRAFF) in Melbourne, Sydney, Perth and Canberra, throughout November and December 2008.
World Environment Day - 5 June 2008
World
Environment Day, commemorated each year on 5 June, is
one of the principal vehicles through which the United Nations
stimulates worldwide awareness of the environment and enhances political attention and action.
The World Environment Day slogan for 2008 is CO2 Kick the Habit! Towards a Low Carbon Economy. Recognising that climate change is becoming the defining issue of our era, UNEP is asking countries, companies and communities to focus on greenhouse gas emissions and how to reduce them. The World Environment Day will highlight resources and initiatives that promote low carbon economies and lifestyles, such as improved energy efficiency, alternative energy sources, forest conservation and eco-friendly consumption.
Join the WED Festival on 5 June at Griffith University, Multi-Faith Centre, Nathan Campus (Brisbane) 12.15-1.30pm featuring prayers and readings from diverse faith traditions and film clips on Kicking the Habit. Complimentary light lunch. RSVP by 1 June to (07) 3735 7052 or mfc@griffith.edu.au.
Arbor Day - Sunday 27 July 2008
Schools Tree Day - Friday 25 July
On Arbor Day particular attention
is drawn to the part trees play in our lives. It’s not
just a day to plant trees and then forget the gesture for another
twelve months. Planting a tree
one day is no credit to us if, during the rest of the year, we
neglect to care for it and those already growing. Our thought on Arbor Day
should be an expression of enduring feeling, thought and action
and not just one single, isolated flame of interest. Arbor Day
in Australia was first observed on 20 June 1889, in Adelaide. Click
here for ideas on how to celebrate the day and how you can
be involved.
2008 – Year of Planet Earth
2008 is the UN declared Year of Planet Earth. Take time to act for the Earth. The logo consists of an inner circle (red) representing the solid Earth, then the biosphere in green and the hydrosphere in dark blue, above which is the pale blue atmosphere, all constituents of the Earth System.
Garnaut Climate Change Review
Professor Ross Garnaut’s climate change review has already released an interim report and has now produced a discussion paper on emissions trading schemes. Click here to find out more about the review and to read the report and discussion paper.
Act Now and Speak Out for the Earth
– Climate Biscuit Budget
GetUp! have come up with a new and novel campaign – Climate Biscuit Budget campaign. Act now and have your say about budget priorities for Climate Change.
Measure Your Own Ecological Footprint
Identify the things you do that contribute to global warming and look for ways to reduce your impact. Go to www.earthday.net/footprint/.
Stop Fuelling Climate Change
- Give Renewable Energy a Fair Go!
Climate change is the most serious challenge facing the planet. However, governments in Australia continue to spend twenty-eight (28!) times more taxpayer’s money on fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas than they put into renewable energy like solar and wind. It’s time to give renewables a fair go!
Sign the petition asking new Treasurer Wayne Swan to take decisive first steps in this May’s Federal Budget, replacing handouts to antiquated fossil fuels with clean energy investment! This is urgent, as there is less than 6 weeks to the budget in May.
Greenpeace has created a kit that can help you raise grassroots awareness in your community on this issue. Click here to download the kit.
Acting for Climate Change
Al Gore addressed the UN
Climate Change Conference in Bali. In front of representatives
from the world’s countries he spoke about the need
for a visionary treaty to be completed, ratified
and brought into effect everywhere in the world by 2010. He brought the petition on stage
with him as a clear demonstration of our resolve. He
is still inviting you, your friends and family to sign
this petition calling for a new, positive leadership role
by our elected leaders. This petition
shows our commitment to solutions to the climate crisis. Please add
your voice today and urge your friends to add theirs. The
time for action is now. Only together can we make
the change.
Climate Change Concerns
– Send a Message
in your Electorate
It
takes many voices to convince a government to act. WWF is asking
you to send a message about climate change to
your local Federal politician. Click
here to access an automated email to local Federal representatives
in your area. Every voice makes the message a little
bit louder.
The Big Switch
The
Queensland Conservation Council’s new
Energy Campaign – The
Big Switch – is up and running. Read some inspiring
stories from
Queensland and other States and get information on the real
science of Global Warming. Learn what action
you can take to make our leaders take notice of the
problem.
Take the Live Earth Pledge
Help
end the climate crisis – sign
the Live Earth Pledge. The pledge will be signed by
millions of people from every part of the world, to launch
a movement to save ourselves and our planet. Please sign
it (if you haven’t already), and ask everyone
you know to sign it as well.
Working to reduce global warming
The
SAO Climate Change Circle has produced a flyer in the form of
an invitation to recipients to make a commitment to at least
one of three lines of action to slow down our race to global
warming. Click
here to download a copy of this flyer. We hope that the ripple
effect of our promotion will get a multitude of people taking
small steps consistently with very positive results for our planet.
Respect and Reverence for Earth and Earth-Human Wellbeing
Earth
Link’s calendar of
events for 2008 is attached and
can also be downloaded from the Earth
Link website. In 2008 Earth Link will be offering programs
in the area of spirituality and earth-human wellbeing.
Please check your calendar and claim some dates NOW.
CLIMATE CHANGE
CONFERENCE
In March 2007 the Catholic Justice and Peace
Commission, Archdiocese of Brisbane and the Social Action
Office, Conference of Religious Institutes of Queensland
co-sponsored
Responding to Climate Change:
the
call to ‘ecological
conversion’
This conference was for Catholics
and other people of faith to
• consider the evidence for climate change and its impacts
• explore the biblical, theological and spiritual dimensions
of a Christian response
• learn about practical ways to take the urgent action
required in various dimensions of our lives.
Invited resource
people included
• Dr Clyde Wild, Associate Professor and Director
of the Centre for Innovative Conservation Strategies, Griffith University
• Dr Veronica Lawson, Scripture Scholar, former
Senior Lecturer in Theology, Australian Catholic University, Ballarat Campus
• Mr Col Brown, Executive Officer of Catholic Earthcare
Australia
This conference was very successful
receiving good feedback
from the 90 participants.
Below are some photos from
the Conference:
|
Global Warming
When will we reach the point of no return?
Climate Change is a topic that has been hotly debated for years.
Almost every publication carries an article; nearly every television
channel presents some program on the topic. For years we’ve
been presented with two opposing points of view on the topic.
One side asserts that the changes in our climate that we are
currently experiencing are just part of the cycle of nature and
there is nothing unusual happening. The other side, however,
asserts just as strongly that we need to do something about this
phenomenon and do it NOW. The Church in Australia, having come
late to this issue, launched a Conference on Climate Change in
Canberra in November 2005.
In actual fact, most scientists now
agree with the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change,
(IPCC) instituted after the Rio Earth Summit, that the rate of
global warming is much faster than had been predicted and that
human intervention is the cause. And in the face of this, many
of us continue to blithely drive our cars and use energy produced
by fossil fuels without a second thought. To slow the rate of
carbon dioxide emissions, the greatest cause of global warming,
we need to reduce our rate of consumption of coal, oil and natural
gas.
Governments of highly industralised countries like Australia
have subscribed to the idea of ‘carbon offsets’ and
carbon credits. In actual practice, this means giving a licence
to their citizens and companies to continue releasing carbon
dioxide into the atmosphere to the detriment of all, especially
the less industrialised countries. Our governments would do better
to clean up their act.
In the current debate, governments are
advocating the use of nuclear energy to reduce carbon dioxide
emissions. Nuclear reactors are now being touted as the ‘new’ clean
energy source, no matter that an enormous quantity of fossil
fuel is needed at the initial phase of mining, milling and enriching
the uranium. Who remembers Chernobyl? There are even some who
believe that the damage caused by nuclear accidents is trivial
compared with the disaster that will happen if we continue our
unrestricted use of fossil fuels.
Many scientists believe that
20 years will bring us to the point of no return. Some believe
it is fewer than 20. Others advocate a change to nuclear energy
as simply an interim measure while we work to develop other viable
energy sources that use neither nuclear nor fossil fuels.
Meanwhile,
on the West Bengal coast of India, several villages have already
been lost to rising sea levels and thousands of climate refugees
have swelled the already huge population of Calcutta. In the
Pacific, the people of Tuvalu, Kiribati and other low-lying island-states
are trying to find countries to accept them as the sea claims
their land. Ironically, countries whose affluent lifestyles have
directly contributed to the desperate situation in which these
people find themselves have been slow to accept these climate
refugees.
Our whole contemporary economic and cultural model is
based on encouraging people to consume. No wonder there are some
who argue that our individual efforts to use energy-efficient
lighting and household appliances and to restrict the use of
our cars are useless. To take such action would result in less
consumption! The god of economic growth is exposed for what it
is.
The call to “ecological conversion” was sounded
by Pope John Paul II in 2001, and strongly reiterated at the
Climate Change Conference in Canberra in November 2005. We know
from our scientists that dramatic impacts are predicted for Australia.
However, we can no longer restrict our view to our own backyard.
As Christians, as global citizens, we need to do our part. How
do we persuade EVERYONE that each of us must take action now?
Governments included!
Annette Shears pbvm
August 2006
References:
New Internationalist, July 2006
A Big Fix, Ian Lowe 2005, Black Inc, Schwartz Publishing, Melbourne
Is Nuclear power Clean and Green? Sean McDonagh in Vocation
for Justice, Spring 2006
http://conservation.catholic.org/ecologicalcrisis.htm
http://www.catholicearthcareoz.net/conference.html
Photo courtesy of NASA
Links to other websites on this issue:
Click here for the Eco-justice
Archive
