Celebrate
THE BYRON SHIRE Volume 25 #20 Tuesday, October 19, 2010 Mullumbimby 02 6684 1777 Byron Bay 02 6685 5222 Fax 02 6684 1719 editor@echo.net.au adcopy@echo.net.au www.echo.net.au 21,000 copies every week
ADDED RIBBING FOR EXTRA PLEASURE
Show celebrates local heroes
‘We are in deep trouble’: Suzuki Hans Lovejoy
Renowned scientist and author David Suzuki believes the planet is in deep trouble and the human race needs to take climate change seriously in order to survive. Suzuki will be speaking at the Bangalow A&I Hall on Wednesday October 27 at 7pm. I asked him if the impacts of the permafrost melting could now be gauged. ‘We have no idea what the longterm ecological consequences of these effects will be,’ he said. ‘Same with ocean acidification, we’re all terrified but really don’t know what will transpire.’ And what is his impression of our new PM Julia Gillard? ‘I have no idea how Rudd was [as PM] but was disgusted that a party would dump the guy who led them to victory without even letting him have a go in one election. It only confirmed to me what a disgusting thing politics can be.
Backing away ‘Believe it or not, we don’t hear much about Australia in our news. I gather the new leader has backed away from serious climate initiatives and that really worries me after the long years of Howard.’ So what current politician or leader is impressing you with progressive action towards environmental protection? ‘Evo Morales [president of Bolivia], the first indigenous leader of any nation in the world.’
The 125th anniversary North Coast National’s big ticket event each night from October 21 to 23 in Lismore is the Arena Spectacular Celebrating Our Local Heroes. Bringing together hundreds of local performers and real life local heroes, the Arena Spectacular will feature crews from the NSW Police, SES, Ambulance Service, Surf Life Guards, Salvation Army, local soup kitchens, and of course the NSW Fire Service. Tanya Burkhardt, pictured above, from the Mullumbimby Fire Brigade, is ready to kick up her heels and, with a crew made up from Mullumbimby, Bangalow, Lismore and Goonellabah, to demonstrate to the crowds just how essential fire fighters are in the community. And right: adding a Nikki Webster-like flavour to the Arena Spectacular Celebrating Our Local Heroes each night at the North Coast National this week will be 10-year-old Bayley Kilpin, a student at the Cape Byron Rudolf Steiner School, who was selected from scores of hopeful young girls to sing the show-stopping number ‘There’s A Hero’. Bayley’s hoping her star turn at the Lismore Show will be the first step on her path to stardom. She’s also studying at the Scarlett School of Contemporary Music in Newrybar to help her along the way. See more at www.lismoreshow.org.au. Photos Jeff ‘Hero Sandwich’ Dawson
Melbourne Cup party time page 20
How can carbon offsets and/or taxes truly make a difference in light of the fact that there is no unified global position on polluting? Is leading by example the best we can hope for? ‘Look to Sweden, which took climate change seriously and imposed a carbon tax in the 1990s. They now pay $110 per tonne of carbon and have reduced emissions eight per cent below 1990 levels (thus exceeding the Kyoto targets) and their economy grew by 44 per cent during that time.’
‘Too late’ Do you remain an optimistic person? What keeps you optimistic in the face of ongoing environmental degradation? ‘I am not an optimist or a pessimist. I am a scientist and can see where the curves all lead. ‘We are in deep trouble. Many environmentalists are now saying it’s too late, that we’ve passed too many tipping points to go back. ‘I only have hope. I believe we don’t know enough to say it’s too late. Nature has a lot of secrets up her sleeve and is going to surprise us, no doubt not happily, but it is my hope that if we can give nature time and room, she may surprise us with a generosity we don’t deserve. So we just have to do our best and hope.’ Tickets to David Suzuki’s talk are $15 and available from the Northern Rivers Writers Centre, Byron Bay, phone 6685 5115 or SCU Co-op Bookshop, phone 6621 4484.
Scientist and author David Suzuki. Photo Kent Kallbe
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