Earth Hour more than a token

Last week's edition of The Sunday Age carried Stephen Cauchi's story, "Melbourne's Earth Hour enthusiasm dims". The story notes the lower engagement with the event by Melbourne residents, and Clive Hamilton's fear that the event risks tokenism.

While this may well be true for some, it certainly isn't the case for many climate advocates for whom the event is part of sustained local campaigns - including that being run by Darebin Climate Action Now to draw attention to the climate impacts sanctioned by local federal member for Batman, Martin Ferguson, who is also resources and energy minister in the Rudd Labor Government.

Today The Sunday Age published my response to the Cauchi piece:

I CAN'T agree with Clive Hamilton that Earth Hour is tokenistic. The small crowd gathered outside Martin Ferguson's office in High Street, Preston, wasn't there to tick a box and then go home to resume carbon-intensive lifestyles. Instead, they highlighted the connection between Ferguson as their federal member for Batman and his role as the Rudd government's energy and resources minister, in which he ceaselessly promotes the fossil fuels that scientists say must be phased out if we are to avoid dangerous warming.

Ferguson is, in essence, our local member for global damage. Climate risk - unlike coal - can never truly be exported. Wherever the stuff is burnt, its carbon emissions accumulate in the only atmosphere we have and we all share the impacts while the coal companies keep the profits.

Calling for Ferguson to turn away from fossil fuels and towards renewable energy didn't feel at all tokenistic.

The letter can also be read on The Sunday Age letters page (scroll down to "More than a token").

For those interested in how longer letters get edited, here's the version submitted:

Perhaps the response to Earth Hour was somewhat muted this year. That is understandable given the fiasco of the Copenhagen climate talks and the essentially political, unscientific climate debate in Australia, where the two major parties both advocate climate inaction despite the apparent differences in their rhetoric.

However, I can't agree with Clive Hamilton that Earth Hour is tokenistic. The small crowd gathered outside Martin Ferguson's office in High Street Preston wasn't there to tick a box and then go home to resume carbon-intensive lifestyles. Instead they highlighted the connection between Ferguson as their local federal member for Batman and his role as the Rudd Government's energy and resources minister, in which he ceaselessly promotes the fossil fuels that scientists say must be phased out if we are to avoid dangerous warming.

Ferguson is, in essence, our local member for global damage. Climate risk - unlike coal - can never truly be exported. Wherever the stuff is burnt, its carbon emissions accumulate in the only atmosphere we have, and we all share the impacts while the coal companies keep the profits. Climate risk is a very dangerous boomerang for Australia, the world's largest exporter of coal and among the countries most vulnerable to climate change.

Calling for Ferguson to turn away from fossil fuels and towards renewable energy didn't feel at all tokenistic, and I thank Darebin Climate Action Now for organising this important local event - part of a sustained campaign that will follow Ferguson all the way to the ballot box.

See Earth Hour "with" Martin Ferguson for details and a short video about DarebinCAN's Earth Hour event.

Comments welcome.

Earth Hour 'with' Martin Ferguson

Update: for an extended version of my Crikey article about the meeting with Ferguson that followed this event, see 'Ferguson the real face of Rudd on climate'.

Last night, Darebin Climate Action Now organised a great local Earth Hour event at the electoral office of Martin Ferguson AM MP, local member for the Victorian federal seat of Batman, and the resources and energy minister in the Australian Government.

A staunch advocate for "clean" coal through carbon capture and storage, Ferguson was called on to turn away from coal and towards renewables - afterall, a safe climate is much more important than preserving the export dollars of the world's biggest coal exporter. Coal companies get to keep their profits, but the world shares the climate impacts from our most emissions-intensive energy source.



The event follows a recent visit to Australia by Dr James Hansen, the world's foremost climate scientist, who says that leaving coal in the ground is a pre-condition for bringing the earth's atmosphere back to safe levels of carbon dioxide. In his latest book, Storms of my Grandchildren, Hansen states:

The clean-coal concept, at least so far, has been an illusion, a diversion that the coal industry and its government supporters employ to allow dirty-coal uses to continue.

His comments follow a report by ABC TV's Four Corners program in September last year ("The Coal Nightmare") seriously undermining any prospect that carbon capture and storage will be a viable climate change solution for coal in the timeframe necessary to avoid dangerous climate impacts.

Last night's event connected Ferguson's role as local MP and his broader role as federal minister for coal - in essence, he's our local member for global climate damage. Naturally, Martin wasn't there, even though the external lights of his office were left blazing. Somehow, though, I think he'll get the message.

Not captured in the video were presentations by Carol Ride, Convenor of DarebinCAN and other local climate luminaries. Radio 3CR was there, however, and interviewed a few people for their Beyond Zero Emissions program.

Well done to DarebinCAN!

Video from Earth Hour at Darebin Parklands

Here's the promised video for last night's Darebin Parklands Earth Hour event, organised by Darebin Climate Action Now (DarebinCAN). Understandably, with all the climate-friendly darkness, it was tough to film, so these are just some of the highlights. Please note that what light there was came from renewable sources (supported by The Environment Shop), and that my video camera was recharged with 100% green power.



As mentioned in the video, DarebinCAN met this morning with Martin Ferguson, whose office was the scene of a DarebinCAN community demonstration last Friday. I wonder if Martin switched off for last night's event?

Finally, last night also featured an excellent short animation on climate tipping points called 'Wake Up, Freak Out - Then Get a Grip' by Leo Murray. Certainly worth a look!

Earth Hour sends a community message

Tonight's popular Earth Hour event at Darebin Parklands (Victoria, Australia) sent a grass-roots message to the nation's politicians - especially Prime Minister Rudd and Federal MP for Batman (and energy and resources minister), Martin Ferguson - that Australia needs to take stronger action on climate as we head towards post-Kyoto negotiations for an international climate agreement in Copenhagen this December.

The Alphington Community Centre event was organised by Darebin Climate Action Now (DarebinCAN). It followed the Friday 27 March protest at Martin Ferguson's office, and preceded a meeting between the fossil fuel industry's favourite MP and DarebinCAN scheduled for tomorrow.

Video from the event, which included music, presentations and an animated short film on climate change, will be posted here shortly. A highlight was the presentation from a Year 11 student at the local Santa Maria College - a hopeful sign that young people will lead change on this critical issue for the planet's future.

Switch off tonight for Earth Hour

As part of an annual global event to raise awareness about global warming and climate change, Earth Hour will take place at 8.30pm tonight local time around Australia.

If you live in the City of Darebin, Victoria, switch off at home, or join your community at Darebin Parklands from 7.00pm, where Darebin Climate Action Now is running an Earth Hour Event for Alphington Community Centre.

Live local music will be followed by a short animated film about climate change powered by renewable energy from 8.30pm.

The Earth Hour Australia website tells how you can use the web to share your Earth Hour experience and Vote Earth.