It's a gas! - climate activists out & about again

Today was another day of action for climate activists around the country. The schoolkids initiated it, but oldies were welcome to turn up or to organise their own events.

COVID restrictions meant there were to be no mass rallies. Lots of smaller gatherings of up to 20 were encouraged, complete with masks, sanitiser, and contact-tracing registration. 

The primary focus was the federal government's big push for a 'gas-led COVID recovery'. The fossils in charge have moved on from their previously favourite fossil fuel, coal, and now want a massive expansion of fossil gas extraction. I'm sure it's just coincidence that the panel they chose to advise them on economic recovery was heavily stacked with gas industry people! 

I used to think that gas was probably appropriate as a transition fuel along the road to 100%  renewables. You can turn it on and off quickly, and when you burn methane, it produces less greenhouse pollution than oil or coal. Trouble is, it turns out that you don't burn all of it. It's gradually come to light that fugitive emissions in extraction and handling total several percent, and unburnt methane is such a powerful greenhouse gas that it's then actually WORSE than the other fossils.

Hornsby Shire Climate Action did their bit this morning, with a spirited showing outside local federal member Julian Leeser's office. There was plenty of support from the passing motorists (and truck drivers too) on busy Pennant Hills Road, but the good Mr Leeser declined our invitation to come out and address us.

Photo courtesy Hornsby Shire Climate Action

Droughts and flooding rains

It was almost inevitable that our worst ever drought, hottest ever heatwave, and worst ever bushfires, would be followed by one of the wettest ever downpour events. That's what happened last weekend. My rain gauge recorded 250mm, the highest for any three or four day period in its lifetime, and some areas in the Blue Mountains recorded over 500mm.





Remembering the minor flood we experienced a few years ago during a lesser rain event, I did a bit of quick civil engineering outside, and hastily constructed a drainage channel to steer the water safely down the side of the house and out towards the street.




Dorothea Mackeller famously wrote about her love of her sunburnt country, a land of droughts and flooding rains. Several of our shockingly ignorant, coal-loving politicians having been quoting Dorothea Mackeller a lot lately, implying that climate change has nothing to do with our current climatic extremes. They're no longer managing to convince many though.

OK to lie around here

I attended an excellent little event this evening outside News Ltd's Sydney headquarters. It was convened by GetUp! and it was a lie-in.
 










As some of the posters explained, it's OK to lie here. That's what News Ltd  have been doing for quite a while, after all. Especially on the subject of climate change, to the detriment of the country, and the whole planet in fact.

After the fires - green shoots

Or pink shoots more often. Signs of life re-establishing itself. It's going to be much harder this time, such was the scale of the destruction and the heat of the fires.

The green shoots that might really matter are the slight glimmerings of climate change awareness at last appearing among some, but by no means all, members of the weirdly ignorant Australian conservative political classes. There again, maybe I'm deluding myself.

Fuelling our climate crisis: criminal media moguls and moronic politicians

Here's what Australia's so-called national newspaper had to say yesterday on its front page about the bushfires literally burning up the country: Nothing!

Here it is, alongside a selection of international papers:

Photo courtesy of the Guardian Australia. I heartily recommend the Guardian article:
Odd one out

Take a look too at the rather fine reports about the PM's unbelievable incompetence in dealing with the fire emergency, and intransigence regarding climate change mitigation or even acknowledgement usually:
'Climate lunatics' article
'Politics has to change' article
'PR nous deserted him' article

We voted this government in again last May. They're largely uninformed, incompetent fools. They have little knowledge of, or interest in, reality or managing it. They're highly skilled only in managing perceptions. They're the government we deserve. Except it wasn't just a matter of us the voters making our choices. Those choices were 'informed' by media moguls like the one who controls most of the Australian print media. His newspapers have for years now featured daily rants about the non-existence of human-induced climate change and the evils of clean energy. Our commercial radio stations are full of horrendous 'shock jocks' spouting all the same stuff. It's surely been a criminal level of misinformation.

Worst air in the world

Our Sydney air is usually pretty good, as big city air quality goes. Last week it was about the worst in the world, with air visibility index numbers higher than Beijing's and Delhi's.

It's been caused by the massive bushfires raging around us. The nearby mega-blaze they call the 'Gospers Mountain' fire could more accurately now be called the 'Whole of Wollemi National Park, whole of the Yengo National Park, Much of the Blue Mountains National Park, and Many State Forest and Recreation Areas' fire. It's horrendous. Most of the best bushwalking areas I've been visiting in recent years are gone. All the other parks are closed, and it's looking like the whole Blue Mountains region will soon go up in smoke. As well as the bushland, that's also a serious number of towns and homes now under threat. Temperatures across Australia are the highest ever recorded.

So far nothing much has happened here in Sydney proper, though that could change at any moment. Everyone's screaming for much more support for the fire brigades and much more action on climate change. The Prime Minister has taken his family overseas for their holidays. The Acting Prime Minister says this concern about climate action is just something the 'raving inner city loonies' worry about. We're in good hands!

A climate emergency - not according to this local council!

All over the world, governments and local councils have recently been declaring climate emergencies. It's hard to see a reason not to - there clearly is a climate emergency, and while a declaration might be largely symbolic for a local council, it does assist them prioritising activities and pressuring state and federal government. In Australia the federal Government has been not just missing in action, but actively fighting on the wrong side of this battle. Just a bunch of coal salesmen really.


About 100 local councils around Australia have declared emergencies to date, including several within Greater Sydney. The last few weeks have seen a massive (and massively successful) campaign to gather support within northern suburban Hornsby Shire. It's been largely powered by energetic Greens councillor Emma Heyde, with the help of several local climate action groups. Over 6000 signatures of support were collected, mainly at local railway stations. The response was overwhelmingly positive. Demographic statistics and several opinion surveys would indicate that a big majority of residents of 'The Bushland Shire' favour drastic action on climate change.



There's a problem though. The local council is Liberal-dominated. And the mayor just happens to be a former Howard Government minister and current state Liberal Party president.

So it was anyone's guess  how the climate emergency motion would turn out. About 100 concerned local citizens turned up at the council chambers, possibly a record. About 20 spoke eloquently and knowledgeably in support of the motion. There were scientists, doctors, a statistician or two. The mayor was rattled. He  treated us as though we were all unruly undergraduates bussed in from Newtown. (Maybe that's how he has to chair state Liberal Party meetings!)



It was time for the councillors to vote. It all got lost in a mischievous tangle of amendments and amendments to amendments. The emergency declaration was lost, and what was passed was a long eulogy to the fabulous things they do anyway for the environment.

In hindsight it was obvious this would happen. There was no way this Liberal mayor was going to allow something that would embarrass his state and federal government colleagues, and highlight just how deficient they've been on climate.

But the climate activists have vowed to return. To every council meeting. They're monthly, and there are only 12 or so until the next council elections...........

Some photos courtesy Save Beecroft & Cheltenham Alliance, Hornsby Greens, Hornsby Shire Climate Action Group, Extiction Rebellion Northern Sydney, and commons.wikimedia

Voting Tony out - a visit to Ground Zero

Your correspondent loves his election campaigns. The colour, the passion, the drama. The endings aren't always happy ones though. And in just seven days time we should know how this one ends up.

What better place to visit then than the pre-poll booth at Brookvale, in the Northern Beaches electorate of Warringah, where the sitting member is one Tony Abbott. He's a former PM, a climate denier extraordinaire and an experienced fighter and survivor.




Passions are running high around here. They're traditionally rusted-on Liberal voters, but they may well be ready for a progressive change. The leading contender for liberating them from the incumbent is independent Zali Steggall, Olympic ski champion and barrister. She has impeccable conservative credentials, but is running strongly on climate action and other progressive causes.













I met Zali's proud dad. He's a former local rugby league hero.

Early polls indicate she might just do it. Stay tuned.

Schools out! Reinforcements at last for the class of '69!

Yesterday the schoolkids went on strike for action on climate change. The Sydney rally was one of hundreds of such events around the world.

I've covered many political protests at Town Hall, but this was the biggest yet. Even the normally antagonistic Australian newspaper estimated the crowd at 20,000.

And it was so good to see it. It's wonderful that at last, after all these decades, a generation of caring youthful activists is at last emerging to rival that of 50 years ago!

There was the predictable criticism from the usual quarters. Children should be at school, 'learning stuff'! Well, they learnt lots here, and in fact taught their elders a lot too. The words on their placards said it all.

There were a fair few parents and other oldies in the crowd too of course. Some of the seasoned ones had signs like "Class of '87", and "Class of '69". Come to think of it, I was in the class of '69. I might be able to think about retiring at last.




Keep it up kids!