March 2021 Newsletter

Some good things have happened: NT has banned sea bed mining; Vales Point (Trevor St Baker’s coal plant) has dropped bid for Federal government funding; two more insurance companies Brit and Hiscox will not insure Adani’s mine; Victoria to ban single use plastics by 2023; South Australia already has banned all single use plastics; farmers are challenging the IPC decision to allow Santos to mine in Pilliga;

WHAT’S ON

Film – “When the River Runs Dry  will be shown on 15 March 7pm at NSW Teachers Federation, 23/33 Mary Street, Surry Hills. It is about the devastation of the Darling-Baaka River due to political incompetence and the people fighting to save it. Seats limited. Booking essential at  https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/ncc-screening-when-the-river-runs-dry-tickets-143860154595

Sacred People Sacred Earth  On Thursday 11 March at 11am there will be meetings of religious groups concerned about climate change. To see where events will be held go to https://www.arrcc.org.au/global

Councils and climate change  Citizens’ Climate Bennelong is organising a Zoom meeting on Wednesday 17 March 7-8pm so you can hear what Ryde and other councils are doing to address climate change. To register go to http://cclbennelong.org/tickets

Save our koalas  rally will be held on Sunday 21 March at 11am. Meet at Hyde Park, Sydney near Archibald Fountain.

Earth Hour will be on 27 March at 8.30pm. WWF is encouraging you to #SwitchforNature. Go to https://www.earthhour.org.au/ and find out what you can do.

WHAT WE’VE BEEN DOING 

Wrote to John Alexander expressing our concerns about government’s poor EV policy

NEWS AND EVENTS

South Australia leading the way In the last 12 months SA achieved 60% share of wind and solar in its grid – a world leader! https://reneweconomy.com.au/south-australia-achieves-world-leading-60pct-wind-and-solar-share-over-last-year/

Has AGL turned?  Are AGL’s write downs the beginning of a change of policy? https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/write-down-shows-agl-has-read-the-writing-on-the-wall-20210207-p570ap.html

Farmers understand climate change – the National Party doesn’t https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/more-pros-than-cons-farmers-ahead-of-divided-nationals-on-climate-policy-20210208-p570kl.html
Will the National Party sell out farmers to the coal industry?  https://reneweconomy.com.au/nationals-ready-to-sell-out-farmers-for-coal-in-push-for-zero-carbon-carve-out/
Farmers call for regional renewable energy zones while the National Party is pushing for gas and nuclear. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/feb/23/australian-farmers-call-for-renewable-energy-zones-as-nationals-push-coal-and-nuclear
Repower our Communities campaign. This campaign, based on Helen Haine’s Local Power Plan, aims to help build public support for the roll-out of community-owned renewable energy projects in regions. If you are interested in supporting this, go to https://www.repowerourcommunities.org.au/
Agrivoltaics – combining farming land and PV https://renew.org.au/renew-magazine/solar-batteries/sharing-the-sky-the-case-for-agrivoltaics/

Joel Fitzgibbon thinks coal is forever This coal miner doesn’t think so.  https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/i-m-a-coal-miner-and-i-can-t-see-how-fitzgibbon-represents-me-20201119-p56g73.html

Government’s is working out how to support gas Do a submission using the template and say how you want money spent for Covid recovery https://fossilfuelwatch.good.do/nogasbailouts/gas-consultation/   or your could write what you’d like funded using the template, photograph it and send it off to https://350.org.au/fund-_____-not-gas-photo-petition/

Australian Open has signed a deal with Santos Sign the petition asking them to reverse this decision. https://act.350.org/sign/tell-australian-open-say-no-santos/

Petroleum licence The federal government is keen for a Petroleum Exploration Permit (PEP) 11 to proceed that will allow oil and gas exploration off the NSW coast. The federal minister Keith Pitt needs to be convinced we don’t want this. Write to him at http://keith.pitt.mp@aph.gov.au or  http://https://www.facebook.com/KeithPittMP

Adani The local council where the mine will be built has criticized Adani for detrimental treatment of local landholders, failure to recruit locally and poor road upgrades. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-02-24/isaac-regional-council-slams-adani-bravus-landholder-treatment/13188184
Sign the petition asking Siemens not to aid Adani https://actions.sumofus.org/a/act-now-siemens/
Sign the petition asking banks like Barclays not to support Adani’s port https://www.marketforces.org.au/deutsche-bank-refuses-adani-ports-financing/

Bushfire recovery money Less than half the money promised to communities affected by the bushfires has been paid out. Read the report and then contact your MP to voice your concern. https://www.getup.org.au/campaigns/climate-justice/smokescreen-share-with-your-mp/the-new-bushfire-investigation-your-mp-needs-to-see

Coal-fired power stations unprofitable Up to five will be unprofitable by 2025 https://www.afr.com/companies/energy/up-to-five-coal-plants-unprofitable-by-2025-20210222-p574uz

Native forest logging Sign the petition asking for this to stop. https://davidshoebridge.nationbuilder.com/end_native_forest_logging

RECYCLING AND SUSTAINABILITY

Recycling toothbrushes and coffee pods There needs to be mainstream recycling for these types of items https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-02-07/how-to-encourage-more-programs-for-hard-to-recycle-items/13125678

Repairability Index scheme in France This is a scheme to make repair of electronic equipment easier. https://grist.org/climate/why-frances-new-repairability-index-is-a-big-deal/