CEN News
The National Climate Emergency Rally will be held on Saturday 13 June, with concurrent rallys in Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Hobart, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney and Wollongong.
Details of the Melbourne Rally are as follows.
| Time: | 1.00 pm |
| Date: | Saturday 13 June |
| Place: | State Library of Victoria cnr La Trobe and Swanston St |
| Speakers: | Peter Marshal, United Firefighters Union David Spratt, author of Climate Code Red |
| Entertainment: | Melbourne comedian Rod Quantock |
If you have thought of taking action on climate change, now is the time. Drought, bush fires, floods and rising seas are already hitting hard. It's an emergency and we need emergency action.
In December 2009, governments of the world will meet in Copenhagen to create a new global climate agreement. Australia must support, not stop, strong global action.
We can tackle the recession and climate change together. Direct investment in renewable energy will create jobs, stimulate the economy and begin to create the carbon-free economy of the future.
100% renewable energy by 2020
Australia must make the shift from fossil fuels to 100% renewable energy from wind, solar and other available technologies.
Green collar jobs not job cuts
We can renew our economy by creating hundreds of thousands of 'green jobs' and supporting workers to make a fair and just transition to sustainable industries.
A strong international agreement with climate justice for all
Australia must take the lead in global climate talks, not undermine them with an ineffective 5%-15% target. Globally, we must to those who are most affected by climate change and least responsible for it.
Don't pass the Carbon Pollution law
We need climate policies that make the big polluters pay and not allow big companies to go on polluting. The CPRS won't reduce Australia's greenhouse pollution.
Protect Australia's Forests
Logging and clearing vegetation are major contributors to climate change as forests and woodlands are important carbon stores.
Come with your friends and family to the Rally on Saturday 13 June. Help promote the rally in your community. Only a strong and growing movement for change will make a difference.
CLEANSA Greens CPRS Petition
CLEANSA have asked that this petition be sent to all the climate groups in the National Network. It's an opt-in petition campaign, petitioning the Greens senators to reject the CPRS Leglislation without seeking amendments. CLEANSA will be gathering the signatures and presenting them to the senators at the end of May. The petition is open to both groups and individual members of the public to sign.
 | Read arguments challenging Ian Pilmer's book: Heaven and Earth – Global Warming – The Missing Science |
Monday 20 April - Video of Moreland Climate Group Meeting with Kelvin Thompson and David Spratt.
Submission in response to the Senate Inquiry into the exposure drafts of the legislation to implement the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) from the Climate Emergency Network Facilitation Committee. It was written by Jane Morton with help from Deborah Hart and Steve Meacher and includes some of Peter Campbell’s work.
CPRS Protest LeafletClick the images to see a size suitable for printing. | |
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Submissions on CPRS Leglislation
The CANA conference session on the CPRS discussed three inquiries that all CEN members should make submissions to. Below is information on each. The first is quite urgent.
The first is the Senate economics committee inquiry into the Exposure Draft legislation to implement the carbon pollution reduction scheme. See the committee website at http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/economics_ctte/cprs_09/index.htm
This committee has a very short public submission deadline: The Committee is inviting submissions to this inquiry by 5pm, Wednesday 25 March 2009. Further infomation is here http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/economics_ctte/cprs_09/info.htm
The second is the Joint Standing Commitee on Treaties at http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/jsct/index.htm headed by Kelvin Thompson the ALP member very supportive of climate issues who mentioned the ring around parliament in a speech in the House the day it happened.
The third is the biggie: The Greens and Coalition joined forces to establish a new committee, the Senate Select Committee on climate policy. http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/climate_ctte/index.htm The terms of reference are here: http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/climate_ctte/tor.htm This one is due to report on 14th May.
How to survive the coming century, by Gaia Vince, a frightening but interesting article from New Scientist of 25/2/2009.
Videos showing methane bubbling in a tundra lake in Alaska. The source is the University of Alaska at Fairbanks.
AIPLOT - GREENPEACE plan to stop Heathrow Airport expansion
Launch green economic revolution now, says Stern
John Holdren is Obama's Chief Science Advisor. In this video Holdren explains his views on global warming and climate change.
Flat screen TVs blamed for accelerating global warming
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| Click here to read about Plan Z.E.D. - a project to model the path to have Australia reach Zero Emissions in a Decade. |
"RUDD THE DUD" by Paul Mahony | The Australian | 17 DEC 2008
Kevin Rudd, you're a dud. The climate change crisis requires leadership, not middle-ground marketing strategies aimed at matching the views of the majority. The problem is that the majority of people are yet to grasp the scale of the crisis we're facing. A true leader would ensure they understood so that they'd support the drastic measures required to deal with the problem. Paul Mahony, Beaumaris, Victoria
Energy secretary nominee sees coal as 'nightmare'
President-elect Barack Obama's pick for U.S. energy secretary, Steven Chu, isn't sold on the idea that technology to capture greenhouse emissions and pump them underground will save the coal industry.
Ken Ward Jnr | Charlestown Gazette | 17 December 2008
Press the panic button It's much worse than we thought. An emergency review of climate change is needed immediately.
Jonahan Porrot | The Guardian | 10 December 2008
It was a bit uncomfortable around the dinner table last night
Green Super-Grid could let Europe harness African Sun.
Fred Pearce | New Scientist | 12 December 2008
Survival is NOT Negotiable!
Al Gore's Poznan address is inspirational as is the message "survival is not negotiable", which was displayed by 200 youths from Australia, who were outside during Gore's speech.
Managing catastrophic climate risk - the six step plan by Ian Dunlop
ecoSanity.org is a Canadian group with the same objectives as CEN. ecoSanity.org describe themselves as "an impassioned, multidimensional activist effort to warn and educate people about the unparalleled threat and rapidly intensifying GLOBAL EMERGENCY posed by climate change. It is an urgent CALL TO ACTION for each of us to learn the basic science, spread the word, organize and mobilize to inspire immediate, responsible, expansive ecological reform on a massive scale - FAST! The planet won't wait for us to save it, ourselves or those we love. WE MUST ALL - ACT - NOW."
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| Barack Obama speaks about his plan to combat climate change. |
40 Australian scientists sign on to a target between 300 and 350 ppm, call for urgency in the fight against climate change. Read More >
"Sign of the Times" by Sue Jackson
"Why march, what difference will it make?" The article "Sign of the Times", by Sue Jackson, will help answer this question. It will lift your spirits, and in the midst of all the "dire warning" articles on climate change, will give you hope that "people power" does work. Marching in a rally is time well spent!
World needs climate emergency backup plan, says expert
Climate scientist, Ken Caldeira, of the Carnegie Institution, warns that the world needs a backup plan if emissions cuts are insufficient to stave off catastrophic warming. The full story is here . . . http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-11/ci-wnc110708.php
INVITATION TO AUSTRALIA'S CLIMATE ACTION SUMMIT
Our climate. Our future. Our summit.
From January 31st to February 3rd, community climate action groups from across the continent are joining together for Australia's Climate Action Summit in Canberra, the weekend before the first day of the 2009 Federal Parliament.
Australia's Climate Action Summit will have two distinct, simultaneous parts: a weekend strategy meeting on Saturday January 31st and Sunday February 1st for delegates from climate change action groups to build a unified national climate campaign, and a weekend public conference on the urgent climate crisis. On Monday February 2nd, there will be a day of dynamic training in climate campaigning skills for taking action, facilitating climate action groups, effective lobbying and more. On Tuesday February 3rd, the first day of the 2009 Federal Parliament, we will mobilise thousands of people in a high profile demonstration for real action on climate change.
We are inviting submissions for workshops, skillshares and forums for the weekend public conference of Australia's Climate Action Summit.
Workshops will be 90 minutes in length. We are looking for workshops on:
- Campaign skills: workshops on campaign strategy, media, lobbying, community engagement and outreach on climate change issues;
- Group skills: workshops on facilitation, building and maintaining a climate change group;
- Action skills: workshops on how to organise a variety of community action (non violent direct action on coal infrastructure, rally, human sign, etc).
- Informative and practical workshops on climate change myths (nuclear, "clean coal") and solutions (Transition Towns, solar technology, etc);
- Workshops that explore social and environmental justice issues and climate change;
- Workshops specifically for children; and
- Success stories and discussions on projects/campaigns that have been successful, strong climate action groups, and great workplace initiatives to show, learn from and celebrate what has already been achieved!
If you or your group have a workshop you would like to hold, please send a short description and your contact details to program[AT] climatesummit.org.au by December 30th, 2008.
If you haven't facilitated a workshop before and would like some support, get in touch! We can send you some resources, talk on the phone, pair you up with an experienced facilitator, or send you a variety of existing workshop plans to help you out: program[AT]climatesummit.org.au. Not all the workshops will fit on the published program, but there will also be "open space" time throughout the Summit where people can submit and create workshops without organising beforehand.
For more information about Australia's Climate Action Summit, flyers and posters for your group, or to get involved, please contact
info[AT]climatesummit.org.au or call 0417 682 541. http://www.climatesummit.org.au/
