Bathurst Community Climate Action Network

Issue 26th March 2009

Time to get the candles out! Saturday night at 8.30pm is Earth Hour, 
and we are all invited to switch out the lights and think about the 
state of the planet. With beached whales, declining bee numbers and 
melting ice sheets, it's not looking good. But simply by turning out 
the lights along with hundreds of thousands – perhaps millions – of 
others around the world, we can save energy and do a tiny bit to 
reverse the warming trend.

On Friday, the day before, BCCAN will be joining other climate action 
groups around the country in urging federal politicians to beef up 
the government's response to climate change. The government has 
promised to reduce carbon emissions by five per cent with the option 
of going up to 15 per cent if the rest of the world agrees to go that 
far. The vehicle Rudd proposes to use to take us to that target is 
the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme, a scheme so riddled with 
concessions to the big polluters that even that modest five per cent 
target is unlikely to be met.

As political commentator Mungo MacCallum writes on the Crikey 
website, the problem is that Kevin Rudd has failed to put climate 
change above the usual push and pull of politics. "The fate of the 
planet has been placed on one side of the scales, and the interest of 
the resource industries and their associates on the other; and 
somehow Rudd has found an equivalence."

BCCAN members and supporters will be turning up on Member for 
Macquarie Bob Debus' Bathurst office doorstep (3/217 Howick Street) 
at 10.30am on Friday to hand over a letter outlining our deep 
concerns with the proposed legislation.
,,,
The Rahamim Ecological Learning Community has invited the community 
to share Earth Hour on Saturday from 8pm to 9.30pm at St Joseph's 
Mount in Busby Street. Time to sit, chat and quietly reflect by 
candlelight. To RSVP call 6332 9950.
,,,
Next Wednesday, April 1, there will be a meeting of the Central West 
Renewable Energy Group (CWREG) at the Bathurst Primary Industries 
Centre on Research Station Drive from 5pm to 7pm. The guest speaker 
will be Ben van der Wijngaart, Deputy Mayor of Kiama Municipal 
Council, who will talk about the South Coast Community-Based Wind 
Power Concept Study. For details contact Doug Herrick on 6332 8149.

Issue 19th March 2009

There's a lovely passage in Yann Martel's Booker Prize winning novel, 
Life of Pi, in which the narrator discusses zoos. He says the zoo-
keeper provides for the essence of an animal's needs because he 
can't provide the specific conditions of its previous existence. 
I've seen this at Taronga – mountain goats get a pile of rocks to run 
up and down because clearly they can't be provided with a mountain. 
Meerkats have the opportunity to study the sky and alert their 
companions about planes because they have an instinctive need to keep 
a careful lookout for airborne predators.

As the government's proposed emissions trading scheme limps around in 
parliament being savaged from right and left, the mayors of regions 
connected to the mining industry are warning that the scheme will 
cost jobs. Tuesday's Australian quotes the Mayor of Mt Isa, a region 
with 4000 mine employees: "I believe the ETS should be held in 
abeyance until the economic downturn is over."

It's true that a roadworthy scheme to reduce carbon emissions would 
redraw the economic map. But the economic map has been redrawn 
throughout history; there is nothing unusual about this. The birth of 
the motorcar threw the jobs of carriage-wheel makers into the dustbin 
of history.

We may not be able to continue to provide people with the particular 
jobs they had before, but that doesn't mean we can't provide the 
essence of what people need: a job. Or, more fundamentally: a basic 
sense of material security.

Most of those who work in the coal and mining industries would no 
doubt be happy to work elsewhere if job security could be assured. In 
a green economy, people can have green jobs. The technological 
solutions certainly exist.

A recent CSIRO-sponsored report argues that a rapid transition to 
sustainability would have little or no impact on national employment, 
with projected increases in employment of 2.5 to 3.3 million jobs 
over the next two decades.

The real stumbling block is that the mining industry has made capital 
investments in the past that they want to continue to make returns 
from in the future. They cry "what about jobs!" when what they really 
mean is "what about our money!"

,,,

Next Wednesday is "Ride to School Day". Students who ride their bikes 
to school (or walk for that matter) are invited to meet on the George 
Street side of Machattie Park at 8.15am for a photo opportunity to 
promote clean, green ways to get to school.

Issue 12th March 2009

It's 7.30am and I need to be at work at 9am. I've still got to eat 
something, find something to wear and prepare a lesson plan for a 
class later this afternoon. And write this column. And so we come to 
another day in which the car is looking more inviting than the bike 
to get to work, purely because the car will get me there in five 
minutes and the bike will take at least 20.

It's all about the laws of inertia. That is, you're likely to keep 
doing whatever it is you are doing unless some greater, external 
force makes you change course. I may be running around like a chook 
with my head cut off, but for me, it's all part of the inertia of 
continuing on a known trajectory. Last week, by contrast, I rode my 
bike everywhere. This was because the car was stuck in Canberra with 
a gearbox problems. The larger external force had forced me to change 
course.

There's a parallel here with the wider response to climate change. 
It's clear we need to change course dramatically but the laws of 
inertia seem to be at work. As Victorian environmentalist Daniel 
Voronoff puts it, our Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme is like 
putting out five per cent of a kitchen fire rather than putting out 
as much of the fire as as possible to save the home.

All of which brings me to the National Ride2School Day coming up on 
Wednesday March 25. The organisers (Bicycle NSW) understand that 
there are many blocks and barriers when it comes to trying to change 
habits, and they have promised to help schools, parents and children 
work through them. The problems include safety (schools sited on 
major roads), a lack of safe storage for bikes at school and the 
busyness of parents and teachers. On March 25, perhaps the knowledge 
that thousands of others around the country will be doing the same 
thing will be enough to overcome inertia!

To find out more or register your school go to www.ride2school.com.au.

,,,

You can find out more about Australia's commitment to a coal and 
mining driven economy in the new edition of the Quarterly Essay, 
published in book form on March 16. Quarry Vision: Coal, Climate 
Change and the End of the Resources Boom by Guy Pearse will be available at good bookshops.

Issue 5th March 2009

Progress is slow, but I can now report that I'm starting to shop 
using the bike. I have a lovely set of panniers for the purpose, but 
the other way is to allow a string bag to dangle off a handlebar. 
Said bag, weighted with a few items, then swings around and bangs 
into the front wheel and throws the whole show off balance. But such 
difficulties are worth the sense of virtue at the end of the 
performance when arriving home to the gleeful welcome of a couple of 
Labradors. Carbon emissions reduced, guys! Big tick!

But why bother? This is a serious question in the light of the 
information we are now getting about the government's emissions 
trading scheme. Climate change minister Penny Wong was in Bathurst 
(in a virtual way, through a Sky Channel link up at Panthers) last 
Thursday to answer questions about proposed legislation that would 
see Australia lock in a carbon emissions reduction target of between 
five and 15 per cent by 2020.

It's a complicated scheme, so I won't try to explain it here, but the 
net effect is that individual reductions in carbon emissions simply 
free up permits for the big polluters to make more pollution. If 
individual action achieves the five per cent reduction within two 
years then other sectors of the economy covered by the scheme can 
continue emitting in a business-as-usual scenario for another eight 
years until 2020. So if we put a solar panel on our South Bathurst 
house, it could make zero difference to Australia's total levels of 
carbon emissions.

The heart of the problem is the government's inability to stare down 
the big emitters. But the problem of climate change is too serious to 
give up in the face of government timidity. It is still worth all of 
our efforts, whatever form they may take. The result will be much 
better if we continue to take action than if we don't. As Churchill 
said: "Never, never, never give up!"

In the wake of the Penny Wong information sessions, BCCAN has joined 
64 other climate action groups from around the country in an open 
letter to the government rejecting the scheme, saying that a more 
robust regime is needed. The letter cites a study by the Australian 
Council of Trade Unions and the Australian Conservation Foundation 
that found that proactive climate change policies could generate an 
additional 500,000 green jobs in Australia by 2030.

Issue 26th February 2009

 BIKES: Better for the environment and the waistline

How are you going with your New Year resolutions? My own record is 
patchy but improving. There are still lapses on the plastic shopping 
bag front but on the up-side I have now come back into possession of 
my bicycle after a complete health check and refurbishment at a local 
bike shop. It feels great to be pedalling the streets again and I'm 
hoping it will also improve my waistline.

If you're interested in the history of cycling in Bathurst, there is 
a wonderful exhibition at the Australian Mineral and Fossil Museum in 
Howick Street curated by Hugh Gould. Bathurst was an early adopter of 
bicycles (in their modern form), with the first appearing on the 
streets soon after the cycling craze that swept the world in the 
1870s. The exhibition features a fascinating series of old black and 
white photographs, including of lady cyclists in their long flowing 
dresses. There is a poignant photograph of young men all lined up at 
the start of a race, with all their faces clearly visible. The photo 
was taken in 1914, and many of them would have been off to the 
trenches shortly afterwards.

Stopping to chat to a fellow cyclist near Elie's Cafe on Monday, we 
discussed the way cycling is nowadays seen as a sport requiring hard 
training and expensive gear, at the expense of its other incarnation, 
which is as a simple means of transport. I always loved those images 
of bicycles filling the streets of Chinese cities and feel anxious 
about their switch to the petrol-driven motorcar.

Speaking of cars, it was great to see Phill and Toby Roberts' 
electric powered cars out at their White Rock property last Friday. 
Phill has converted his 1969 mini to run on electric power, while 
Toby has constructed a machine that makes me think of the vehicles in 
Mad Max. For Phill, it's not only an enjoyable hobby, it's a serious 
attempt to opt out of petrol and create a cheaper "daily drive".

,,,

The minister for climate change, Penny Wong, will be in Bathurst at 
1pm today in virtual form, via a Sky Channel satellite link at the 
Bathurst Leagues Club. BCCAN is hoping to put nine questions to the 
minister about the government's proposed emissions trading scheme. 
Seating is limited but if you are interested in trying to get in, 
call 1800 057 590.
 

Issue 19th February 2009

I spent my nephew's third birthday at the weekend surrounded by toy 
cars and vehicles. Everyone knows how much he loves them, so they 
came from all directions, large and small, simple to elaborate. There 
was an ambulance (complete with siren) with a sick man in a trolley 
inside and a bulldozer (complete with sound effects) that even had 
its own bit of plastic rubble. The lump of rubble, on closer 
inspection, had a little toilet bowl and broken breezeblocks embedded 
in it. It was all very enjoyable but I couldn't help reflecting on 
the great irony of toy rubbish in a world already full of real 
rubbish. All this bounty, I might add, came despite my sister's clear 
NO PRESENTS instructions on the party invitation.

Clearly, little Max is joining a world in love with both cars and 
stuff. All this stuff, down to the piece of toy rubble, is using up 
the planet's resources. Despite all of our environmental knowledge, 
it's as though we are all on a giant ocean liner that is proving hard 
to turn around. That piece of toy rubble – along with all the other 
mountains of stuff – is good for our failing economy. The government 
is even giving us $900 each to spend on more stuff so we can keep the 
ship afloat.

It's hard to turn an ocean liner around, but not impossible. We can 
change course, and we are changing course. We have a great chance to 
hear about sustainable living at the Leagues Club on Sunday from 11am 
to 4pm, with Bathurst Community Climate Action Network's Sustainable 
Living Expo. It's a day of stalls and speakers focused on issues like 
solar power for the home, handyman projects to improve 
sustainability, mud bricks and eco-housing. A gold coin donation is 
all you need to get in.

I'm really looking forward to the session on the theory and practical 
construction of an electric car. Phill Roberts from White Rock is now 
converting his car to electric power and he'll be sharing his 
experiences, while BCCAN Vice President Keith Hungerford will run 
though the theory. If we can make cars truly sustainable, then little 
Max's future will be cleaner and greener as well as fun.

,,,

If you're a bicycle rider you might be interested in BCCAN's cycling 
hazards page on our website. If there's something you'd like to share 
with other cyclists, you can post your own comments.
 

Issue 12th February 2009

DISASTER: More extreme fire danger days are predicted 
for the Central West. Photo by Steve Woodhall.

Sweltering through those hot days late last week, I kept reminding 
myself that it wasn't as bad as it was in Victoria and South 
Australia. As the vast pool of hot, still air sat over the continent, 
macabre reports started coming in about the morgues overflowing with 
the old, the frail and the sick succumbing to the hotter than usual 
temperatures.

But then that story was overwhelmed by the horror of the Kinglake 
fires. The horror is still building as the death toll rises and the 
shocking stories of people trying to outrun the flames pour through 
the media.

In amongst the voices of the survivors and the emergency workers and 
politicians, there are the voices of experts who are saying that in 
the future, we are likely to see more of the hot, dry conditions that 
set the stage for these catastrophic fires. On a global level, it is 
predicted that extreme events – cyclones, floods, fires, snowstorms – 
will happen with more frequency and ferocity.

In the Central West, the scientific predictions are for 25 more 
extreme fire danger days per year; hotter temperatures, lower 
rainfall, increased evaporation and shorter cool periods available 
for hazard reduction burning.

We are at a crossroads: we can take decisive action now to slow the 
rate of human-induced global warning, or we can simply continue to 
deal with every disaster as it strikes. We respond quickly and well 
to catastrophe: from Cyclone Tracy, to Boxing Day Tsunami of 2004 to 
the current Victorian fires, we have opened our hearts and wallets. 
Unfortunately, when the enemy is out of sight, it is so easy to put 
it out of mind. We need to hold these terrifying images in our minds 
as we think about climate change.

The modest carbon emissions reduction targets that we've come up with 
so far are like trying to use a garden hose on towering flames. We 
need to go way, way beyond the five per cent emission reduction 
target set by the Rudd government at the end of last year. We need a 
remedy that is as robust as the danger, and that means emissions 
reduction targets that will actually make a difference.

,,,

BCCAN will host a Sustainable Living Expo at the Bathurst Leagues 
Club on Sunday, February 22, from 11am to 5pm. There will be speakers 
and stalls all day with information on everything from electric cars 
to solar powering your home to DIY handyman hints that will make your 
house greener and cleaner. For more information call Iain Townsend on 
63314500 or 0429314500.
 

Issue 5th February 2009

How much food do you eat in a year? How much would it weigh if you 
assembled it all in one spot? Clearly, some eat more than others, but 
Stephen Wade from the agricultural research station calculates that 
on average, we in the Bathurst region work our way through about a 
tonne of food and beverages each.

At the BCCAN public meeting last Thursday night, he gave a 
fascinating account of our "apparent consumption" over a year. This 
is calculated by food production minus exports, plus imports divided 
by the total population in the region. We consume 93.9 kilograms of 
beer, 17.8 kilograms of wine, 2.4 kilos of coffee and 0.9 kilos of 
tealeaves. Each person eats a whopping 68 kilos of potatoes, 24.9 
kilos of tomatoes and 19.5 kilos of leafy greens. Eighty-two kilos of 
meat and meat products go down our gullets, along with eleven kilos 
of seafood. And much else besides.

The point of all this number crunching was to work out how much of 
our diet – assuming that we don't change our preferences – we could 
conceivably produce and consume locally. From a climate change 
perspective, consuming food locally cuts down food miles - the carbon 
emissions involved in the transportation of food. Being more food 
self-sufficient would help if transport costs escalated with 
declining oil reserves. Other benefits of local food consumption are 
the development of a distinctive local cuisine, support for the local 
economy and fresher food.

Stephen Wade argued that we could, given our local geography and 
climate, produce all of our wine locally. It would mean skipping the 
French champagne and even the Margaret River chardonnay and drinking 
more Brock Vintage, but it could be done. We could potentially 
produce 100 per cent of our egg consumption and 87 per cent of our 
meat and meat products. But we'd only be able to 57 per cent of our 
current consumption of beverages, because we'll never be a tea or 
coffee growing area and we can't do beer either. And seafood wouldn't 
be a strong point, either.

The take-home lesson was that massive savings could be made in terms 
of freight if we produced and consumed more local food. But how can 
we increase local food consumption? Stephen Wade suggested a colour-
coded labelling system to help consumers distinguish local products. 
He suggested red for local food, green for local organic food and 
brown for local processed food. It's all food for thought!
 

Issue 29th January 2009

It was wonderful to enjoy a Green Australia day down at Peace Park on Monday. The Country Energy Sustainable Living expo was a real hit, with at one point quite a crowd forming around a local solar panels supplier. As the BCCAN stall was right next door, I had the opportunity – between “customers” – to have a chat about the state of the photovoltaic industry in Australia. Incredibly, there are only about 14,000 homes in the whole country that are currently powering their homes via photovoltaic cells on their rooves. In Bathurst, we can almost count the number on one hand. The key message for anyone umming and erring about it is that the federal government’s subsidy system will change dramatically in the middle of the year. So now is a good time to get your application in! The new system will not be a straight grant but a more complicated system of acquiring and selling Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs). If you’re interested in finding out more, BCCAN can help point you in the right direction.

Congratulations to Nevil Barlow from Macquarie Rivercare on taking this year’s Jo Ross Memorial environmental award. And congratulations also to Rahamim based at St Joseph’s on the Mount in Busby Street, who won a special Jo Ross Memorial award for innovation. The sisters at St Josephs have turned their attention to creating an ecological community up on the Mount, complete with a magnificent “chook chapel” and community gardens. The Rahamim project is a great illustration of transformative action at work. According to a recent report by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) such transformative action must take place at all levels of society if we are to confront the climate change challenge.

Earlier in the day, I took a moment to pop in to the Bathurst Regional Art Gallery to see the massive Aboriginal artwork created in the Great Sandy Desert in northern Western Australia. The gorgeous colour and richness of the design was almost overwhelming. On Australia Day, it was a reminder of how deeply connected Aboriginal people have always been to their environment, and how much we can still learn from them.

,,,

BCCAN is hosting a public meeting at 6pm tonight about how we can produce, consume and promote local food, with expert speakers from the Department of Primary Industries. It’s at the Bathurst Council Chambers and all are welcome.

Issue 22nd January 2009

“Yes, we can!”

Change is possible. If a black man can become president of the United States, something unimaginable just a few decades ago, then maybe the world can get together and head off catastrophic climate change. 
Looking around at our big cars and bloated lifestyles and the rapid industrialisation of China and India, it seems impossible. But then, Barack Obama has gone from having white couples throw him their car keys when he has been standing outside restaurants, assuming him to be the parking valet, to the triumphant drive down Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House. And George Bush has had to give him the keys. If change of this scale is possible within just a few years, then we have enough evidence that equally dramatic and positive 
changes can occur. As Obama said again and again during his election campaign: “Yes, we can!”

We can, but will we? We’ll have to wait and see what Obama actually does about climate change. The reality of the haemorrhaging US economy will present extraordinary challenges to the new president. But for now we can take heart from his inaugural address, in which he promised to "roll back the spectre of a warming planet" and "restore science to its rightful place.” This immediately reverses former president George Bush’s obstructionist attitude to action on climate change. It is a clear signal to the fossil fuel lobby that the days of a fawning servant in the White House are over.

Closer to home, I have just had a letter from a reader in Rock Forest who describes the sustainable house designed and built by her late husband. The home is earth covered with north facing double-glazed windows. The eaves admit sun in winter but not in summer, and it is cooled by a natural draught air-conditioning system. The place is entirely solar powered, with a back-up for emergencies. The house was built 12 years ago, long before climate change became a fashionable issue.

Such positive action is everywhere, once you get your eye in and start looking for it. Just about every primary school has an ecological project on the go, and community gardens are quietly growing in odd corners of many towns. Yes, we can!
,,,

BCCAN will hold a public meeting at 6pm next Thursday, January 29 at the Bathurst Regional Council Chambers to discuss and promote local food production and consumption. All welcome.

Issue 15th January 2009

Issue 8th January 2009

Issue 1st January 2009

Happy New Year! I hope your Christmas was as joyous as mine and that you are bright eyed and bushy tailed today, the first day of 2009. I'm not. I'm suffering from a bad cold brought in by a small nephew. The cold was begun on man-sized hankies but is being finished off on a box of tree-negating tissues. So, environmentally speaking, I'm off to a poor start. But though the fog of my cold, I've managed to come up with some climate-friendly New Year's resolutions. Resolution One: No more plastic shopping bags. I have to confess that despite an impressive collection of cloth bags, I do tend to forget all about them at the crucial moment. I enter the supermarket bagless, scanning the crowds for environmentally conscious friends who might see me sneaking away from the checkout with contraband. This resolution is reinforced by news that South Australia starts its official ban on plastic shopping bags from today. There will be a phase-in period for forgetful shoppers until May 4. After that, they're on their own: there will be no more lightweight plastic bags at the checkout. I suspect they will survive this radical change and even look back with a smile at how wasteful they once were. For us here in the central west, it's also a good way to remember the legacy of the late Federal Member for Calare, Peter Andren, who introduced a private member's bill to phase out the use of plastic shopping bags. Resolution Two: Walk or cycle to work. In some ways this is really easy because I do quite a lot of work from home. But there are days each week when I need to be somewhere else and I have to admit that I tend to jump into the car at the last minute. Walking or cycling takes longer, so I'll have to be more organised. Much more easily said than done. I could continue with a long list of other resolutions, some unrelated to the environment (see getting more organised, above), but two will do for now. That second one is making me feel tired already, but then I am ill today. ,,, For those who have been following this column, I did manage to make a set of hand-sewn felt animals to decorate the Christmas tree this year, although some are still without eyes or noses (there's always next year).