Easter 2013. It ain't easy being a GREEN.

Wondering what you're all doing on this Easter Monday?

Yesterday, we took a little trip to Lake Bolac to see an old homestead. We met the owner of a beautifully pretentious French gothic mansion built in 1875.

The owner, an elegant, well spoken Western District farmer lives in his 1930's childhood home on the same property.  He runs cattle and sheep on the huge acreage. No-one has lived in the mansion since the 1930s. Twice a year he opens it to the public to help raise funds for its restoration.

I stood in a large crowd while he told the story of how he is personally bringing the grand old building back to its former splendour.  As he spoke I thought he might have sounded a little bit Green. The SW of Victoria offers little in the way of Green so my Green radar is always up, hoping to discover a kindred spirit.

He talked about the disconnection between culture and environment and blamed technology. Can't eat technology he said. So afterwards David invited him to join us for a cuppa, provided by the local Uniting Church ladies (Jam and Jerusalem), in his lovely garden.

I waited for my moment and then asked him if he practiced sustainable farming on his land. He looked apologetic and said he didn't but continued to wax lyrical on the problems of overpopulation and our disconnection from the natural world.

I thought he might be gay...but you can't really tell these things unless you ask and that wasn't going to happen. David was already getting a little edgy with me for pursuing the Green agenda with this amicable, gentlemanly farmer who had owned a cafe in Carlton for many years before returning to the land. 

Then our elegant companion started bemoaning plastic waste in the landscape and along the roads and feeling encouraged I told him I am a Green and that I believe we will have to actually change the laws of the land to make things better for the environment but I didn't quite get to say...'and that's why we need the Greens in government.'.

Suddenly he said...'Oh that terrible Sarah Hanson-Young!' (Rolling eyes and waving hands.) 'She wants to open up all our borders to let everyone in and the Greens make such a big deal of the gay marriage thing!'.

My gay suspicions were shot to shreds, unless he was a gay who is against gay marriage, which isn't very likely and then I mentioned that a neighbour of his had written a book about a people smuggler who they call the Oskar Schindler of Asia. He'd never heard of her or him and shrugged his shoulders and with that gesture I knew that our fledgling acquaintanceship would not survive.


David had begun to shift in his seat and was looking uncomfortable so I said, 'Oh is that the time? We must be going.' And as a parting gesture David invited him to coffee at our place sometime even though he knew that wasn't going to happen... was it.

Sometimes I think Greens policies are too good for their own good. Perhaps we should weave in a dose of bigotry or a touch of intolerance just so that we can become, you know, main stream. But that's not going to happen either, thankfully.

Being the best, most virtuous political party in the world has it's down side. People do seem to want to hang on to a bit of prejudice, greed and unchanging hardheartedness. It would seem that the virtues of acceptance and inclusiveness are not best sellers, which would explain why so many still vote Liberal and Labor and also the rise (and eventual decline) of One Nation and Bob Katter's 'tea' party. ( Mad Hatter's tea party!)

 It reminds me of that prayer 'Dear Lord, please make me good but not just yet.' 

Perhaps we should cleverly disguise our inclusiveness to sound wicked and enticing. You know...like...JOIN THE PARTY THAT PICKS ON BIGOTS. I dunno. An overtly wicked title didn't seem to hurt The Sex Party! Perhaps we could call ourselves, 'The Green Sex party'?

I just wish we had some more time to get it right...to convert the world and save ourselves from climate change and deadly pollution. Please God, I'll be good right now if you give us some more time please? What do you think?

As an addendum: Karen Lea reminded me that many do actually see the Greens as wicked because they see the  Greens stance on gay rights, pro-choice, anti-mining, pro-sustainable fishing, forestry and agriculture and pro-carbon price and mining tax and reducing funding to high profit private schools as evil and well...that hasn't helped us either. I guess we just have to learn to argue our case more effectively....either that or storm the citadel....and that's not gonna happen. Just wish we had more time to convince the world before climate change kicks in big time. :(

NO MORE PLASTIC WASTE: YOU CAN MAKE IT HAPPEN!

At the end of this blog, there are a few short videos on the growing plastic waste problem on Midway Island in the North Pacific Ocean. But this is not just a problem for that small island atoll. Plastic is also causing problems in Australian waters and all around the world.

Nearly all our plastic waste ends up in the water where it kills the birds and fish who eat it and entangled by it.  Eventually, as plastic degrades, it becomes a part of the ocean from surface to floor, in the form of a toxic soupy sludge, never bio-degrading and becoming certain death for all the organisms that live in that polluted water, sand or soil. It's effect on the Earth is worse than asbestos is for us and we throw away many billion of tons of it a day.

 There are six plastic rubbish vortexs that take up the ocean from top to bottom, three in the Pacific, two in the Atlantic and one huge one in the Indian Ocean. Some say they each are each the size of the USA and they wash thousands of tons of plastic onto the shores of Hawaii, California, Japan, China, Australia and many other shores every day. The plastic on the beach becomes ever smaller until it resembles multi-coloured sand. Many beaches are now made largely of this plastic sand and every beach in the world has a degree of plastic in its sand.....

If it stays in the water it begins to look like coloured gelatine in which nothing can live.

The plastic comes from everything we use. Nearly all our food and drink is stored and bought in plastic containers with lids. There are polystyrene trays with cling wrap and plastic netting for fruit and veg, plastic bags, bubble wrap and cans are now lined in plastic and can no longer be recycled. 

I know. It's depressing.

Here in Warrnambool some goodly people have formed an 'unpackaged' cooperative. It has been around for about 20 years. Members regularly set up in a church hall with bulk food, selling it to their members who bring their own containers for the food. It's called 'Unpackaged' and if you'd like to find out more the info is at the end of this blog.

But why are we not banning the use of most single use non-biodegradable plastics and un-recycled, unethically sourced paper or any packaging that is unsustainable?  There ARE alternatives and we should all be using them. How can we go on allowing the use of substances that are killing the world's creatures including us, for a single, one-off, toss away convenience. We know about this. So why aren't we doing something about it? 

Right now you can make some changes to the way you buy food. You can try to avoid plastic packaging, use cloth shopping bags, never buy plastic bottled water or drinks or takeaway coffee in non-biodegradable takeaway cups or better still use your own re-usable coffee cup but in the end we all know that there are some things we simply can't avoid.

Have you noticed that an ever growing number of people, especially younger people, seem to have given in to takeaway food and drink marketing campaigns. I'm pretty sure that we cannot rely on consumers, who are always thinking of their purse strings, to make sound environmental choices.

Biodegradable plastic takeaway cup.

That's why I believe the answer is to vote Green and to do our utmost to help the Greens gain greater representation in our parliaments and in governments around the world. It will take people, like you, to be strong and brave and to speak up about this and other problems facing our world. You will have to be the change the earth needs; that we all need. We do, after all, only get the politicians we actually vote for and we only get one chance at life, at saving our beautiful world.

There is a saying that  ' All it takes for evil to flourish is for good men (people) to do nothing.'? We are those good people. If we work as individuals we make perhaps small inroads but together, WE ARE A FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH!

If you really want to make a difference to our plastic waste problems and other serious problems... you're going to have to vote the right people into Government. The Greens are the only party who are willing to do what it takes.

Voting for the Greens is a great way to help. Talking to your friends and family about these issues and why you vote Green is another but the Greens also need help for the coming 2016 Federal election. Help the Greens gain greater representation. Ring them and offer to help in any capacity you can manage.

It's time to stand up and make a difference before it's too late!

NOW IS THE TIME!

Lisa Owen   

Greens Canberra office: 02 6140 3217 or 1800 017 011
Greens Victoria Office:   03 9912 2992

http://greens.org.au/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dc0a4uuI1gY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ur6duw5kIs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVjue0R5tHQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVjue0R5tHQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbqJ6FLfaJc

 

Done and Dusted!

Well, that's another Christmas and New Year under my much bigger belt and now, while there is a lull in our  summer visitations, I'll try to finish my first blog post for 2013.

I do so love hosting extended family for the holidays. We live in happy chaos for weeks and weeks, with lively children and great big family meals outside under the brolly.

The plentiful spring rain seems to have given our beloved mulberry tree a new lease on life but we do have to fight the birds for our share of  its fruit. The birds scoff at the plastic hawk I hung in the tree to scare them away. I read somewhere that birds can see infra red rays which are invisible to us and the lifeless, raylessness of my hawk is probably a dead give away. However, there are still mulberries in the direct vicinty of the hanging hawk...so perhaps he saved us a few for the picking. The hot 41 deg C day blanched all mulberries on the north side of the tree. It worries me that increased extreme weather events will diminish our harvest of berries, nectarines, apples, citrus and veggies. I can see there will be a need for shade cloths in the future.

Have been doing some renovating at our house and have desperately tried to source sustainable furniture. Can't find any affordable old furniture to fit the space and most shop assistants stare at me blankly when I ask them about the materials used in the making of the furniture. Managers assure me that all Harvey Norman wood is sourced from plantation timber but when I ask them if native forests have been destroyed to create those plantations, blank stares return.

Knowing what we all do about deforestation, overpopulation, pollution, over-consumption, waste and resulting climate change, extinction rates and human misery, why is it that companies are still permitted to source unsustainable, unethical materials? Why is it still legal? It is no longer legal to shoot endangered species ( though around here they fish for endangered tuna in its thousands) or overfish the oceans so why is the world allowing unsustainable, unethical practices in nearly all other areas?

I weep when I think of the destruction we are causing. I weep when I discover that so few seem to know or care.
Humanity is proving itself incapable of collectively making the right choices for the earth and consequently the governments of the world must unite to deal with the environmental emergency. They must legislate. They must enact laws making all unsustainable and unethical practices illegal. It's the only way to go. It's the only way we will save ourselves and all other life forms.

During the Christmas rush this year, despite what we know about climate change and what we know about pollution and waste, I noticed nearly everyone and many young people carrying plastic shopping bags, drinking from non biodegradable coffee cups, cans and single use plastic drink bottles and that nearly all the takeaway and supermarket food was in non-biodegradable, single use, plastic packaging. Those unconscious, uncaring, bad consumer choices by the vast majority of people in the Western world not only effect their own health but also yours and mine because of the devastating effect they have on the earth and all its creatures.

One of my biggest frustrations is the lack of choices available to us. I have reduced my waste and packaging but it has taken a lot of hard work, researching and sourcing products that are sustainable and fair trade and if it has been hard for me, how much harder must it be for those who are not as aware or who are busy and pressured to make bad choices? I too have made some poor choices because of the lack of sustainable options. The best I have achieved is a 75% decrease in single use plastic food containers and packaging...and I must say it feels fantastic to make the right choices. I feel really good about myself!

I have managed to reduce by avoiding plastic bags and drink containers and by always choosing food in glass over plastic but how does one avoid plastic with, say yogurt or cream or cheese or milk? One can avoid cans by buying fresh or dried but even then they are in plastic bags. I think we must all reduce as much as possible and reuse again and again. If we all reduced our usage by 75% the world would be 75%  better off.

But most importantly, we need the right people in government to save us from ourselves and to legislate against unsustainable practices. That's why we need the Greens.

That's why I always vote Green...always... and that's why I will always be a GREENS member. Happy sustainable holidays everyone!

So Many Dead Babies

There have been some very disturbing  photos of children who have become collateral damage in the conflict between Israel and Palestine; very, very confronting photos of babies who could be anybody's children, anywhere in the world but they happen, by some mischance of fate, to have lived in a place where adults could not work things out and so they dropped bombs on each other. How does this solve anything?

When did some bright spark suddenly say...'We can't work it out so let's kill each other instead and if babies get in the way, then we'll kill them too. What a grand idea!'.

How completely rediculous is this? In 2012, when the people of the earth should be uniting to deal with human induced climate change, the greatest threat ever to their existence, there are still countries who cannot share and get along. Instead, they bomb each others babies!

No country should support any side that declares war on any other country because war always kills people, including children. Human death in war is just as much murder as someone shooting people on any busy street anywhere in the world. It is not geographic. It does not cease to be murder simply because it has been perpetrated by a soldier in Palestine or Israel or Syria or Iraq or the Sudan.

However, Palestine must have it's own State and Gaza must be renegotiated and supported by the United Nations...NOW! SO STOP KILLING BABIES PEOPLE! Go to the naughty corner right now and do not come back until you agree to stop fighting! 

HAVE A LOOK AT THIS MAP OF ISRAEL AND TELL ME HOW IT MAKES ANY SENSE AT ALL. THE PALESTINIANS NEED A STATE OF THEIR OWN AND ISRAEL IS ACCRUING MORE AND MORE LAND. THERE WILL NEVER BE PEACE UNTIL THIS IS RESOLVED.

http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/asia/lgcolor/palestinianlinks.htm

Coalition 'Fear Through Misinformation' workshops!

I hope you can read these published letters to the editor as they will explain the letter at the end of this post.

And this is my response followed by our Liberal Member Dan Tehan's response!

And there it is! I'm sure the Coalition runs  ' Fear Through Misinformation' workshops for all its MPs. With brain deadening regularity we have heard the same old routine about the evils of the so called carbon 'tax'.

Again, I urge small businesses not to listen to them.

Firstly, Mr.Tehan omits to say that the Multi-Party Climate Change Committee was not unanimous in supporting the application of the carbon price to heavy on-road vehicles. It is yet to be passed in parliament and may not be passed at all.

Even if it is passed, the plan is that carbon pricing for transport fuels will not have an effect at the petrol pump or at service stations. Any extra cost will be handled either through the existing fuel tax system or the new carbon pricing mechanism and after July 1st 2014, small businesses earning under $2 million per year can apply for tax exemptions. Also, there will be a number of grants available to help small businesses become more sustainable.

 Look it up  http://www.cleanenergyfuture.gov.au/transport-fuels/  or talk to someone on the Small Business Support Line 1800777275

 Secondly, it's not a 'tax'  but a system of  permits and in 2015 Australian companies will be able to buy and sell permits from the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme. That's why it's called a ''price' and not a 'tax'. You cannot sell a 'tax'. The Coalition uses the word 'tax' for its  negative impact. It's not a tax.

Giving pollution a value, initially $23 a tonne and now linked with the fluctuating Euro price, motivates the change to  solar, wind and geothermal. Australia's emissions have reduced considerably since its introduction.

Thirdly, the Greens are most emphatically not a part of the Labor Party. Labor is in a minority government and sometimes, if a vote is close, Greens or Independent MPs will caste the determining vote. It's called 'the balance of power'. All parties were invited to join the Multi-Party Climate Change Committee but the Coalition declined.

Attention all Coalition MPs! Stop acting like petulant children, accept defeat and admit that the price on greenhouse gases is essential to the fight against climate change.

Four-Degrees Briefing for the World Bank: The Risks of a Future Without Climate Policy

ScienceDaily (Nov. 19, 2012) — Humankind's emissions of greenhouse gases are breaking new records every year. Hence we're on a path towards 4-degree global warming probably as soon as by the end of this century. This would mean a world of risks beyond the experience of our civilization -- including heat waves, especially in the tropics, a sea-level rise affecting hundreds of millions of people, and regional yield failures impacting global food security. These are some of the results of a report for the World Bank, conducted by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and Climate Analytics in Berlin. The poorest in the world are those that will be hit hardest, making development without climate policy almost impossible, the researchers conclude.

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"The planetary machinery tends to be jumpy, this is to respond disproportionately to disruptions that come with the manmade greenhouse effect," PIK's director Hans Joachim Schellnhuber points out. "If we venture far beyond the 2-degree guardrail, towards 4 degrees, we risk crossing tipping points in the Earth system." This could be the case with coral reefs which face collapse under unabated global warming, or with the Greenland ice sheet. To melt the ice sheet would take thousands of years, yet this might be an irreversible process that could start soon. "The only way to avoid this is to break with the fossil-fuel-age patterns of production and consumption," says Schellnhuber.
Climate impacts: Heat waves, sea-level rise, yield failures
Already today impacts of climate change are observed. The Russian heat wave in 2010, according to preliminary estimates, produced a death toll of several thousand, annual crop failure of about 25%, and economic losses of about US$15 billion. Extreme events like this at 4 degrees global warming would become "the new normal" in some parts of the world, according to the report. In the tropics, the coolest months at the end of the century are likely to be substantially warmer than the warmest months today.
Sea level, under this scenario, would rise by 50 to 100 centimeters within this century, and more so in coming centuries. The rate of rise varies from one region to the other, depending on sea currents and other factors. Projections suggest that sea-level rise will be strongest in countries like the Philippines, Mexico, and India.
Within economic sectors, too, tipping effects with rapidly increasing damages can occur, for instance in agriculture. Already, observations showed that important cereals are sensitive to temperature increases passing certain thresholds, resulting in large-scale yield failure. Changes in the water cycle can aggravate this, when droughts occur or flooding affects farmed land.
World Bank President Kim: "A 4-degree warmer world can, and must be, avoided"
"The report draws from the current state of science and delivers new analysis of heat waves and regional sea-level rise, so of course there remain some uncertainties," says William Hare, co-founder of Climate Analytics in Berlin and guest scientist at PIK. "We work with that by defining risk as potential damage multiplied with the probability -- a rather improbable event can be a great risk if its impacts are huge."
World Bank President Jim Yong Kim who was nominated early this year by US President Barack Obama and assumed his new position in July, has personally been briefed on the 4-degrees report by Schellnhuber some weeks ago in Washington D.C.. "A 4-degree warmer world can, and must be, avoided -- we need to hold warming below 2 degrees," President Kim now said in a statement. "Lack of action on climate change threatens to make the world our children inherit a completely different world than we are living in today. Climate change is one of the biggest single challenges facing development, and we need to assume the moral responsibility to take action on behalf of future generations, especially the poorest."