It's Complicated - 18 Feb 2010
On Facebook, your relationship status is on permanent display. You get to tick boxes like "married", "single", "in a relationship" or if none of those fits precisely, you can click on "it's complicated."
"It's complicated" is also a good description of just about everything to do with climate change. The science is complicated, the effects are complicated and attempts to manage it are very, very complicated. In fact, the government's proposed emissions trading scheme is so complicated that very few of us have managed to get our heads around it.
Yes, it's all very complicated but it's also crucially important. With politicians bogged down in trying to appease the fossil fuels lobby, it's up to us, at a grassroots level, to educate ourselves about the issue and demand decisive action.
So, where to begin? One place is our local library, which, advised by BCCAN, is developing a set of resources on climate change. Their collection includes The Weather Makers by Tim Flannery and Carbon Grazing by Alan Lauder (who argues the case for paying farmers to keep carbon in the ground). There are DVDs as well, including the documentary The 11th Hour produced by actor Leonardo DiCaprio. The library will also shortly have a copy of the DVD Climate Change Goes Bush, a short documentary by Yours Truly based on interviews with participants in the 2007 Managing Landscapes for Climate Change conference held at CSU.
Another good place to become acquainted with the issues and join local discussion is the BCCAN website (address below). Our webmaster, Patrick Forman, has been working on the Public Forum section which includes (fledgling) local discussion threads about issues like local gardening, energy and building materials. If these discussion forums take off, they will be a great way for people to join the debate from the comfort of their own computer desks.
Of course, there's nothing like face to face discussion of the issues, which you'll get if you come along to any of BCCAN's regular meetings. The next meeting is the Community Awareness Action Planning Team meeting upstairs in the Bathurst Council building at 5pm on Tuesday, February 23. All welcome.