Green Action News MOBILISING PEOPLE TO SAFEGUARD OUR ENVIRONMENT
I S S UE 17 • AUTUM N 2 0 1 2
Can renewable energy power our economy? PLUS Life on the Murray-Darling Basin
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
4
Can renewable energy power our economy? Green Action News
Issue 17, Autumn 2012 Design 2Fish Productions Print Print Bound Contributing writers Alex Merory, Ayeesha Cain, Ian Kenins, Juliet Le Feuvre, Kelly O’Shanassy, Mark Wakeham, Nina Bailey, Sarah Dobney, Victoria McKenzie-McHarg Editor Alex Merory (03) 9341 8125 editor@environmentvictoria.org.au Membership enquiries (03) 9341 8100 admin@environmentvictoria.org.au Green Action News is an Environment Victoria publication. For more information, visit www.environmentvictoria.org.au
7
2012 – Make or break for the Murray-Darling! 19%
25%
7% 16%
33%
What Victorians really think
Landing on home planet
10 12
Supermine is the tip of the iceberg
Stories from the Murray-Darling Basin Environmental news around Victoria
A very special donor
6 8
11 14
Protecting a legacy > Kelly O’Shanassy, Chief Executive Officer IN THE EARLY 1970’S, the Victorian Government appointed the nation’s first Conservation Minister Bill Borthwick. Under Bill’s leadership, green wedges were envisioned, parklands were protected, pollution was controlled and Victoria’s environmental protection framework was born. What a time it must have been! It’s amazing to think of today. Especially when you consider that all of this was done under a Liberal state government. Sadly, 40 years later another Liberal/Coalition government is putting this proud legacy in jeopardy. In my book, our environment should be beyond politics. Surely the beautiful places and the clean air, water and food provided by nature should be treasured by governments no matter which political party is in power. I guess you would expect this kind of thinking from an environmentalist. What we really need to know is: what do everyday Victorians think about our environment and about how best to protect it? Thanks to an incredible donation, we’ve made great headway in finding out. We have just completed one of the most comprehensive environmental polls undertaken in Victoria’s history.
2
The poll tells us that: • Victorians are proud of our unique environment but they are worried about its health and see that things are getting worse, especially for our rivers. • Victorians absolutely love renewable energy and energy efficiency and want more of it. On the flip side, only 7 percent want more coal-fired energy. • Victorians expect the state government to act on climate change and don’t support many of the choices made by the Baillieu Government environmental issues. • And most interestingly, these findings are true for Victorians of all political persuasions, Coalition, ALP and Green voters alike. You can read more poll findings page 10. This is clear evidence that our environment is not just the domain of environmentalists and that Victorians expect environmental stewardship from their government. Right now, the Baillieu Government is ignoring the expectations of Victorians, including those who voted for them! Clearly this has to change. We must get our environment back onto the political agenda - not just that of the Coalition but
G R E E N A C T I O N N E W S | I S S U E 1 7 | A U T U M N 2 0 1 2 | w w w. e n v i r o n m e n t v i c t o r i a . o r g . a u
of all political parties that are serious about leading our state. With your support we’ll be working hard over the next couple of years to reach out to Victorians of all political persuasions to talk about the environment and how it can be protected, and what that means for our economy and wellbeing. A key task here at Environment Victoria is to get our environment front and centre on the agenda of all political parties before the next state election in 2014. I don’t underestimate how hard this will be, or the resources it will take. But it’s necessary if we are to protect and build upon the legacy of those that have gone before us. And it’s also necessary if we are to achieve our critical goals of saving the Murray River and transitioning from coal to renewable energy. There’s no doubt that protecting our environment is a tough business. On my darkest days when I wonder if we’ll ever succeed, I remember the words of Bill Borthwick who said that Victoria’s landscape should be managed “as if for a thousand years”. And I start to dream about the day when this is the catch-cry of every Victorian and every Victorian politician. Our job is to ensure that day comes, soon.
S A F E C L I M AT E
Can renewable energy power our economy?
> Mark Wakeham, Campaigns Director and Victoria McKenzie-McHarg, Safe Climate Campaigner
For the past decade, we’ve been running strong campaigns to wean Victoria off its coal addiction thanks to the support of generous donors like you. And we’ve had some significant wins, with a decision expected by the end of June to retire polluting and outdated coal-fired power stations across Australia and in our own Latrobe Valley. But the question we’re most often asked by our supporters is “Is renewable energy ready to replace coal?”
THE GAME IS CHANGING. With mounting evidence of climate impacts, the aggressive expansion efforts of the coal industry and, in the face of large economies massively increasing their renewable energy production, this is a question that needs answering. All polling (including our recent market research, see page 10) shows the community loves renewable energy and energy efficiency. But there is still doubt in many people’s minds about whether renewable energy is up to the job. The question is actually quite complex with lots of variables. For example, are we just talking about renewable energy meeting growth in electricity demand or replacing existing coal-fired power stations? What time-frame are we talking? Is providing baseload power 24/7 the priority or do we just need to ensure we have the power we need at the peaks (eg on hot days when air conditioning use climbs)? Environment Victoria supports a goal of Victoria and Australia achieving 100
percent of our energy supply from clean renewable energy. It’s an ambitious goal, and we’re not saying it’ll be easy. But it’s essential if we’re going to cut our greenhouse pollution far enough to create a safe and healthy future for our kids. Currently there are significant hurdles to achieving 100 percent clean renewable energy. But that doesn’t mean we can’t do it. When we’ve put our mind to it we’ve achieved extraordinary things - we’ve put a man on the moon and mapped the Human Genome. 100 percent renewable energy is well within our reach, if we have the will. The major hurdles in Australia at the moment include investment (it’s going to be expensive), transmission and infrastructure improvement (some of the best renewable energy resources aren’t very close to existing populations and infrastructure), and technology development (some technologies like wind are very mature, others like solar thermal are >>> continued next page
G R E E N A C T I O N N E W S | I S S U E 1 7 | A U T U M N 2 0 1 2 | w w w. e n v i r o n m e n t v i c t o r i a . o r g . a u
3
S A F E C L I M AT E
proven but need to be developed at large scales to deliver the full transition, and others again like geothermal have massive potential but aren’t quite ready to deliver big gains yet). We also need a smarter electricity grid that is more flexible and less reliant on big base-load power stations. We also have a big challenge to deliver massive energy efficiency to cut the amount of energy we need to supply – something that should be relatively straightforward but is happening at a snail’s pace in Australia. But none of these hurdles are insurmountable. Unfortunately our governments’ current commitments on renewable energy aren’t big enough or moving fast enough to make any of this possible in our lifetimes. The Baillieu Government is actively stymieing renewable energy projects and recently announced a decision to scrap the greenhouse pollution reduction target. Clearly we need a serious commitment from government to get the ball rolling towards a clean energy future, now. So where to begin? By doing. As LaoTzu, the founder of Taoism said, “The longest journey begins with a single step”. With just five percent of Victoria’s electricity coming from renewable energy we need to get on with the job of installing renewable energy and improving energy efficiency. We can see significant growth of the renewable
4
energy share before we start encountering technical barriers and difficulties.
‘BILLIONS OF DOLLARS WORTH OF RENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECTS ARE READY TO GO IN VICTORIA — WE JUST NEED TO GET THE POLICY SETTINGS RIGHT.’
>8 6-8 6 <4
Australia’s wind resources (source: CSIRO). Metres/second
G R E E N A C T I O N N E W S | I S S U E 1 7 | A U T U M N 2 0 1 2 | w w w. e n v i r o n m e n t v i c t o r i a . o r g . a u
So let’s have a quick look at some of the key reasons Victoria can embrace renewable energy: WE HAVE A FANTASTIC RENEWABLE ENERGY RESOURCE: As the maps show, we have world-class solar and wind resources in Victoria and Australia. We also have major potential for geothermal, tidal and bioenergy power plants. Compare Victoria’s solar resource to Germany, the global leader in installed solar power - Melbourne gets 2200 hours of sunshine each year while Munich gets just 1800. WE HAVE RENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECTS READY TO GO IN VICTORIA: Billions of dollars worth of renewable energy projects are ready to go in Victoria - we just need to get the policy settings right. For instance the state government has already approved 3150 MW of new wind farms (for comparison, Hazelwood is rated at 1600 MW). Consumer demand for solar power has gone through the roof. And in June 2011, the amount of solar installed in Victoria was a whopping 200 times that installed per month just five years ago. >>> continued overleaf
S A F E C L I M AT E
WE WASTE A LOT OF ENERGY AND CAN REDUCE OUR ENERGY DEMAND THROUGH ENERGY EFFICIENCY: The energy intensity of the Australian economy is higher than that of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) average. This is likely due to Australia’s relatively low energy prices, long distance transport and energy-intensive industries. But we could see big gains from energy efficiency in our homes, businesses, communities and industries. Energy efficiency across the board will lower energy use, reduce pollution and slash energy bills. This will reduce the investment required to reach 100 percent renewable energy, and the community and industry will be better able to afford it. WE HAVE SOME GOOD NATIONAL POLICIES TO DRIVE INVESTMENT IN RENEWABLE ENERGY: The Mandatory Renewable Energy Target (RET) requires that Australia meets 20 percent of our electricity supply with renewable energy by 2020. It’s not enough, but it’s a start and is a long way from where we are today (at around eight percent). What’s more, with the introduction of the carbon price in Australia the Federal Government is committing $10 billion to support the development of renewable energy across the country. This is a big opportunity, and could be a gamechanger for renewable energy in Australia as long as it’s delivered properly, and not scrapped by a change of government. ENERGY GROWTH HAS PLATEAUED: For the first time in decades energy demand is falling in Australia and forecasts of future growth are being questioned. The assumption that we need to build new power stations to keep up with growing population and energy use is no longer true – so rather than supplementing existing fossil fuel energy, renewable energy projects can now replace more polluting power generation.
FOSSIL FUEL POWER STATIONS ARE RISING IN COST WHILE RENEWABLE ENERGY IS GENERALLY FALLING: Fossil fuel power stations face rising costs while mature renewable energy technologies like solar and wind continue to fall in cost. For example black coal prices have doubled in Australia in the past two years. By contrast wind turbine prices fell by four percent in 2011, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, while solar module costs have fallen dramatically as China in particular has ramped up PV manufacturing. With global investment in renewable energy in 2011 exceeding global investment in fossil fuel power the writing is on the wall for our energy future. We need to embrace the clean energy revolution and get serious about replacing coal-fired power with clean energy. And we need to position Victoria and Australia to benefit from the trillions of dollars of global investment in energy infrastructure and services over the coming decade. The question is: are we smart enough to read the writing on the wall or are we going to keep sticking our heads in the coal?
Actual and forecast National Electricity Market energy demand
‘WE NEED TO EMBRACE THE CLEAN ENERGY REVOLUTION AND GET SERIOUS ABOUT REPLACING COAL-FIRED POWER WITH CLEAN ENERGY.’
G R E E N A C T I O N N E W S | I S S U E 1 7 | A U T U M N 2 0 1 2 | w w w. e n v i r o n m e n t v i c t o r i a . o r g . a u
5
S A F E C L I M AT E
Supermine is the tip of the iceberg
>Victoria McKenzie-McHarg, Safe Climate Campaigner
A leaked document has revealed plans for billions of tonnes of brown coal allocation. So what are we doing about it? IN FEBRUARY, ENVIRONMENT VICTORIA exposed plans by coal company Exergen to build a brown coal Supermine in the Latrobe Valley, and revealed their intention to develop a whole new export coal industry to take our brown coal to the developing world. A huge thank you to everyone who made a donation or signed the petition. Your support is helping to build a Superforce of community action to stop the Supermine. Now, that community action is needed even more than before. A leaked document on the front page of The Age and The Herald Sun on 20 March revealed that the Baillieu Government plans to go ahead with an allocation of billions of tonnes of brown coal. The Age also revealed a secret PR plan to promote the “benefits” of brown coal the most polluting fossil fuel in Australia - to Victorians. The Baillieu Government knows that support for coal is waning, thanks to the action of people like you. But now they’re planning to do the coal industry’s dirty work for them by using taxpayer money in a green-washing campaign to clean up coal’s bad image. They say it will be good for jobs, but
6
that’s not what history tells us. Previous coal allocations made in 2002 have totally failed, and not a single job has been created as a result. Coal barons like Allan Blood, CEO of the Australian Energy Company are back on the scene in Victoria. In 2002 Mr. Blood’s company was given a coal allocation on the promise of new ‘clean coal’ developments, but in 2004 the company sold on the allocation for a $100 million windfall profit – with no public benefit by way of jobs or real investment to show for it. Now he’s back again, lobbying for another allocation. The claim that new coal allocations will be good for jobs is a big stretch. The Premier is chasing phantom jobs in the Latrobe Valley and at the same time slashing real and existing jobs in solar and wind. It’s got to stop. And we’ve got to be the ones to stop it. If these plans go ahead it will be a climate disaster. If the 13 billion tonnes of unallocated coal is burnt in conventional power stations it will create the equivalent of 100 years of Victoria’s current greenhouse pollution. Environment Victoria will continue our campaign against any new coal
G R E E N A C T I O N N E W S | I S S U E 1 7 | A U T U M N 2 0 1 2 | w w w. e n v i r o n m e n t v i c t o r i a . o r g . a u
allocations in Victoria and work to stop Exergen’s Supermine from getting the go-ahead. The Superforce you’re helping to build is already having an impact. We coordinated a massive community response after the coal allocation plans were revealed, and thousands of people have already taken urgent action. But we’re just getting started. When the news broke, we had a huge week making sure the story of the impact of the state government’s coal allocation and PR campaign plans was told in the media. In one week alone we appeared on the front page of The Age and Herald Sun, on ABC and Channel 10 news and on many radio programs and regional papers. We’ve also made Freedom of Information requests for all government documentation on coal allocations and correspondence with Exergen. Most of these requests have been rejected, so with the help of the Environmental Defenders Office we’re appealing this decision in VCAT. We’re in for the long haul on this one, so strap yourself in and join us for the ride. We’ve won before and with your help, we plan to win again.
To make a donation, please use the form at the back of this Green Action News or go to environmentvictoria.org.au/superforce
W AT E R A N D H E A LT H Y R I V E R S
2012 – Make or break for the Murray-Darling > Juliet Le Feuvre, Healthy Rivers Campaigner
URGENT! TAKE ACTION TO SAVE THE MURRAY We have just a few days left to have our say on the future of our greatest river system. A BIG thank you to everyone who has sent in a submission already. You can jump online at environmentvictoria.org.au/savethe-murray/take-action to sign your official submission to the MDBA if you haven’t already. And send it to your friends. But hurry – submissions close on Monday, 16 April!
THIS YEAR IS GOING to be one of big decisions for our biggest river system. The draft Murray-Darling Basin Plan is out for consultation and later in the year a final Plan will go before the federal parliament for approval. The question is will the Plan do enough to keep the mighty Murray healthy in the long term? And will it support sustainable agriculture into the future? The draft Basin Plan proposes to return 2750 billion litres of water from consumptive use (mainly irrigation) to the rivers of the Basin to improve their health. While this will certainly be a bonus for our stressed rivers, it’s nowhere near enough to ensure their long-term health or reconnect the rivers to their floodplains. As the floodplains are the “larders of the river system”, reconnecting them to the river channel is really important. The draft Plan has come in for some heavy criticism. The Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists released a statement saying that ‘the Draft Basin Plan should be withdrawn because it does not provide the information required to make an informed decision on the future of the river system’. They are deeply concerned about the way
THANK YOU! A BIG Thank you to our generous donors who supported our Christmas Appeal to give our Mighty Murray and the threatened species that call it home a drop of hope. We would not be able to do our critical work if it weren’t for your support.
science was used in formulating the draft Plan. They say that the MDBA picked a politically acceptably figure (2800GL) and then used the available science to justify it, rather than producing a scientifically rigorous analysis of what the river systems actually need to be healthy. They are concerned about the lack of consideration of climate change in the draft Plan and the proposed big increase in groundwater use (we just don’t have enough information to know if our current level of groundwater use is sustainable, let alone any future increase). Also, the Environment Defenders Office says that the draft Plan does not meet the legal requirement of
the Commonwealth Water Act to return rivers to sustainable levels of water extraction. Another big concern about the draft Plan is its failure to adequately deliver environmental water to where it is most needed – on the floodplains. One reason for this is the rules and regulations designed to prevent flooding of private land. But there are creative solutions. The Australian Floodplain Association, an enterprising group of graziers in New South Wales, is offering the federal government a legal right to flood their properties. The graziers (who are not irrigators) recognise that flooding increases the fertility of their land, creating more fodder for grazing. The inconvenience of flooding is well worth it to them! Despite the howls of protest from the irrigation sector at the MDBA’s public meetings and the repeated assertions that the draft Plan will sound the death knell for irrigation communities, there are many farmers, irrigators included, who appreciate the value of a robust Basin Plan. We’ve been out and about talking to them and other businesses who benefit from a healthy river. Read their stories on Page 8.
G R E E N A C T I O N N E W S | I S S U E 1 7 | A U T U M N 2 0 1 2 | w w w. e n v i r o n m e n t v i c t o r i a . o r g . a u
7
W AT E R A N D H E A LT H Y R I V E R S
Stories from the Mu > Ian Kenins, Media Officer
Barham
Murray River Torrumbarry
Cam pasp e Riv er
Lodd on R iver
Echuca
Shepparton
Nagambie
Newstead
Goulburn River
SINCE ITS RELEASE, the draft Murray Darling Basin Plan has attracted a lot of criticism from farmers groups and conservative politicians. However, along the Murray, Goulburn and Loddon Rivers, there are many people who believe that returning environmental flows to the system will not only ensure
8
the survival of waterways and benefit native flora and fauna, but also benefit their local economies. Earlier this year Environment Victoria, in conjunction with Friends of the Earth, went for a drive along Victoriaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Basin catchments to meet with some of these people and discuss the effects of the
G R E E N A C T I O N N E W S | I S S U E 1 7 | A U T U M N 2 0 1 2 | w w w. e n v i r o n m e n t v i c t o r i a . o r g . a u
Basin Plan. Some were farmers, some ran businesses dependent upon a nearby waterway, and others were concerned environmentalists. But all believed that a healthy river system had benefits far beyond the banks of their local river. Here are their storiesâ&#x20AC;Ś
urray-Darling Basin NEWSTEAD
BARHAM
SHEPPARTON
SHEPPARTON
Ron Snep and his wife Julia Elkins have owned and managed the Welshmans Reef Vineyard near Newstead since 1984. He says having water in Lake Cairn Curran does remarkable things for the economy. He believes people visit the country for its beauty, its flowing rivers and abundant wildlife, all which come from having a healthy river system. “We live in an economy but what’s an economy without an environment?”
Athol Davis is a woodcutter with 40 years worth of memories in forests around Koondrook and Barham. His childhood days were spent on the Murray in the Gunbower and Perricoota forests, fishing, boating and rabbiting, and he remembers the masses of beautiful ibis that used to nest there. Athol who has indigenous heritage says the Murray has a dreamtime story which is particularly special for the Wadi Wadi people who live along the river. It’s like “the veins through your body.”
In 2008 retired school teacher Royce Dickson helped establish the SheppartonMooroopna Urban Landcare Group, a collection of volunteers whose work revitalising Reedy Swamp lead to it being proclaimed the Lower Goulburn National Park. “When we get a fresh flow down the Goulburn we see active platypus families in the river. There are plenty of turtles here as well, and this is a significant breeding area. Here is a good example of a wetland that responds very quickly to an environmental flow.”
Since 1992, Lyal Eales and his wife Joy have sold camping, fishing and outdoor equipment at his stores in six river and lake towns across Victoria. The drought hurt business significantly and he had to stop selling kayaks and fishing gear altogether. Since the recent rains, however, they’ve become two of their fastest growing categories “It’s definitely good to have water in the rivers, because that helps sustain all the activities that go with a reasonably full waterway.”
“We live in an economy but what’s an economy without an environment?” ECHUCA
NAGAMBIE
TORRUMBARRY
For 18 years, Andrew Christian has run a grazing and cropping farm near Echuca. He says the drought led him to use water more efficiently, and he now plants crops that require less water use through irrigation. Andrew believes the current consumption of water is unsustainable and says farmers are being misrepresented by their peak bodies.
Wally Cubbin helped establish the Nagambie Fishing Club in 1976 and is now president of the Goulburn Valley Association of Angling Clubs and regularly meets with water and catchment authorities. He believes excessive draining of the Goulburn Weir has led to fish kills and so applaudes their better record of water management in recent times. “A good clean river produces good clean fish and healthy fish produce a healthy river.”
For the past 16 years, Tuesday Browell has lived on Richardson’s Lagoon, a wetland off the Murray River near Torrumbarry. She said the Murray is the area’s lifeblood and without it, the surrounding towns wouldn’t exist. She remembers the lagoon being empty during the drought, but since rain has filled it again she’s convinced of the need for environmental flows. “We need to make sure the flora and fauna have some sense of longevity.”
G R E E N A C T I O N N E W S | I S S U E 1 7 | A U T U M N 2 0 1 2 | w w w. e n v i r o n m e n t v i c t o r i a . o r g . a u
9
RESEARCH
What Victorians really think > Alex Merory, Communications Manager
Think Victorians don’t care about their environment? Think again. Our market research had some surprising results. IN JUST 18 MONTHS, decades of environmental protections have been overturned by the Baillieu government. Our green future is seriously threatened as Victoria is opened up as a free-for-all for mining, logging and irrigation. We don’t want to see our green future threatened this way, and neither it seems do Victorians. Over the summer, Environment Victoria conducted a major survey of Victorians across the state on their attitudes to the environment. This was the first step of our bold strategy to Reclaim our Environment for all Victorians. While there are many areas where Victorians don’t necessarily see eye to eye, we absolutely agree on the essentials.
Which of these reflects your feeling about the state of Victoria's environment?
19%
25%
7% 16%
Victoria’s environment is in good shape and getting better Victoria’s environment is in good shape but getting worse Victoria’s environment is in poor shape and getting worse
33%
Victoria’s environment is in poor shape but getting better Don’t know
Figure 1 Would you like to see more less of the following in the next 5 years?
We love our environment When we asked people why they like living in Victoria, they pointed to the stunning array of natural places they have access to. The natural places of most importance to Victorians are our national parks and our great Northern rivers like the Murray. While for many, health, cost of living and police and public safety are the most important issues, most people (87 percent) consider the environment important. People think Victoria’s environment is in pretty good shape, but most are concerned that its condition is getting worse (see Figure 1).
10
Figure 2 Baillieu Government, which is dismantling climate change programs and reviewing their commitment to the Climate Change Act.
We want positive action
We want clean energy solutions
We tested what people thought of the Baillieu Government’s environmental decisions. Victorians support the few positive actions the Baillieu Government has taken on the environment such as boosting energy and water efficiency and increasing parks and reserves. But these were overshadowed by the overwhelming opposition to the many regressive environmental actions taken by the Baillieu Government, in particular standing in the way of clean energy, letting big polluters continue to pollute and cutting Environment Victoria’s funding. 76 percent of Victorians believe that it’s our state government’s responsibility to act to reduce greenhouse pollution. This should be a big wake up call to the
Victorians don’t think that Baillieu Government’s policy to give residents right of veto wind turbines is fair. Not even Coalition voters (less than one third) think the policy is fair. Victorians want more investment in renewables and less in coal. It’s that simple. When we asked about what they’d like to see for their future energy production, more energy efficiency got a resounding YES from 82 percent with 78 percent wanting more renewable energy like solar and wind. Just 13 percent want more coal mining in Victoria and a mere 7 percent want more coal-fired power stations (see Figure 2). These findings make it clear that the coal industry’s plans for expansion are
G R E E N A C T I O N N E W S | I S S U E 1 7 | A U T U M N 2 0 1 2 | w w w. e n v i r o n m e n t v i c t o r i a . o r g . a u
unsupported by Victorians. And that HRL, the new coal-fired power station for Victoria, a brown coal ‘supermine’ in the Latrobe Valley and coal allocation across some of our most precious natural landscapes are totally out of touch with the vision that Victorians have of our future.
Caring about our environment is not partisan The final piece of news coming out of the research is none of these findings are based on party lines, showing that no matter who Victorians vote for, they care about our environment. So people like you, who support the work we do at Environment Victoria, are representing the real needs of Victorians. Your passion for the environment and your generous support are helping ensure a beautiful, safe environment for all of us. Thank you.
AROUND VICTORIA
Environmental news from around Victoria > Sarah Dobney, Communications Officer
It’s been a busy quarter from all corners of our beautiful state. Here’s a summary of all the action.
Super Tuesday Bike Count
The Yarra gets environmental water
Hundreds of volunteers across Victoria hit the streets to count bike riders in a bid to help local councils identify how and where bike facilities can be improved. The preliminary results have been a pleasant surprise as they show that Melbourne has made great progress as a bike city than in previous years and there are female riders than before. Looks like we’re on a roll! Keep an eye out for the results here > bv.com.au
In great news, Melbourne Water has just made its second ever environmental release of a whopping 600 million litres into the Yarra River. This means the river is now getting the benefit of the water we campaigned so hard for - the water that will improve the health of the river, encourage vegetation growth and aid fish migration. Very exciting!
Carbon target scrapped
Syliva Creek case comes to a close
The Baillieu Government has broken a preelection promise and scrapped the target to reduce greenhouse pollution in Victoria by 20 percent by 2020. Without a target to guide clean energy investment and planning decisions, big polluters will keep polluting and major opportunities for jobs and investment in new technologies will be lost. It’s an irresponsible decision both environmentally and economically. Stay up to date with the Baillieu Governments performance here > environmentvictoria.org.au/ envirowatch/performance
On March 14, 2012 MyEnvironment lost a bid in the Supreme Court to stop VicForest from logging in the central highlands of Victoria, home of the endangered Leadbeater’s possum’s. In better news, the Justice presiding over the case did call for an urgent review of the system that is supposed to protect endangered animals.
Wide support found for wind farms The CSIRO recently released research that there was much stronger public support for wind farms than media coverage of the issue would suggest. This is due to a ‘’vocal minority’’ who oppose wind farms gaining the majority of media and political attention. How bout that!
Cattle banned from Victoria’s high country Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke announced recently that Alpine grazing by cattle will be banned in the Victorian high country, saying that “a national park should not be used as a farm.” He said the trial posed unacceptable risks to the heritage values of the alpine region and said it was in breach of federal law. Great stuff!
G R E E N A C T I O N N E W S | I S S U E 1 7 | A U T U M N 2 0 1 2 | w w w. e n v i r o n m e n t v i c t o r i a . o r g . a u
11
S U S TA I N A B L E L I F E S T Y L E S
Landing on Home Planet > Ayeesha Cain, Sustainable Living Program Intern
Nagris and her Home Planet friends sharing their sustainable living success.
Multicultural Leaders in Sustainability is back: bigger, better and spreading the message of sustainability.
TWENTY-ONE YEAR OLD Nargis from Afghanistan has only been in Australia for ten months but in that short time has already felt inspired to make a positive impact on our environment and spread the sustainability message. “I took [these ideas] back to my family. If we don’t save, or be careful – it [the environment] could go”. Nargis is one of forty young migrants and refugees currently participating in the Home Planet program (previously Multicultural Leaders in Sustainability). In its seventh year, the program has increased in size fourfold, and is now working with AMES in Footscray and St. Albans and will be delivered in Dandenong and Noble Park in the second half of the year, reaching more than eighty AMES students in total. To begin with, the program will give the group the skills and knowledge they need to help their communities live more sustainably Then, they will go on to produce their own sustainability projects taking the message to their communities in their own unique way. So far, the group has learnt about the ‘Three R’s’ and water and energy efficiency And the room is buzzing with
12
excitement, with everyone willing and proud to share how they have reduced their levels of waste and consumption since being in the program. Nargis was the first to chime in and mention that she’s been washing the dishes and clothes in cold water and using a bucket in the shower to catch dripping water. Others have been ditching the plastic bag for cloth bags when shopping and have been turning off the water when brushing their teeth. Celebrating their achievements is an important element of this innovative program. Nargis recounts, “At first we were confused, now we have confidence,” then Dayan, 23, who has been at AMES for six months chimes in with a big smile and says, “and we know how to manage energy, everything”. At the end of the six-month program participants will be awarded a certificate in Active Volunteering. It doesn’t matter what language you speak, making changes and understanding sustainability is achievable. For Nargis, whose dream is to become a pilot it’s more than just volunteering, “we will continue to save the environment now that we know more”.
G R E E N A C T I O N N E W S | I S S U E 1 7 | A U T U M N 2 0 1 2 | w w w. e n v i r o n m e n t v i c t o r i a . o r g . a u
“WE WILL CONTINUE TO SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT NOW THAT WE KNOW MORE.”
S U S TA I N A B L E L I F E S T Y L E S
Get active in your community: How to run a workshop > Nina Bailey, Sustainable Living Project Manager
Already doing what you can to live sustainably at home? Why not get out in your community and spread the word? Nina Bailey gives the lowdown.
IF YOU WANT TO help the environment by living sustainably, first getting your own home in order is a great start. However, once you’ve changed all your light bulbs, started a compost bin and ditched the car for your bike to travel to work, sometimes people get a bit stuck. The best thing you can do, once you feel you’ve done all there is to do, is first to check if that’s really the case – there’s always something more you can do! Check our website for a range of sustainable living actions. Once you feel like you really HAVE done it all, start talking to others. Spreading the word so that other people become inspired to follow your lead is essential to us getting anywhere near the environmental change we need to achieve, FAST! Our GreenTown participants can provide some motivation here. Over the three years we’ve run GreenTown, our trained assessors and community consultants have delivered 38 workshops to 2,134 people. Presenting a sustainable
living workshop is an excellent way to talk to others, to teach them about the environmental context (climate change, drought) and show them the abundance of actions they can take – straightaway, or with a little more investment. One Saturday in February two GreenTown participants, Nang and Mone, gave a tremendous presentation to their church congregation. The Seventh Day Adventist Church at Ringwood was more than happy to host a workshop on Environmentalism and Christianity, and ways Christians can (and should) protect the earth. Nang and Mone talked about their own experiences of delivering GreenTown home assessments and talking to their community about sustainability. They ran a quiz where members of the congregation discussed ways to ‘reduce, reuse and recycle’ with each other, and gave out free retrofit products – always a great addition if you can provide some. We use our GreenTown budget to
purchase energy, water and waste saving products, but you can also point out helpful public services, such as water companies who install free light bulbs and showerheads. Check your local water company. Running a sustainable living workshop in existing community groups makes great sense. The groups are already meeting, so you’re not asking them to come out to one more community meeting in their busy week. The members know each other and ideally like discussing new ideas together. GreenTown workshops have also been held at the homes of our participants (hold a sustainability ‘tupperware’ party!), a women’s group, Neighbourhood Learning Centres, sports clubs, play groups, language schools and Aboriginal Health Services – try your own community group, or contact your local Council to see if they have community groups who might like to receive an environmental workshop.
NEED A HAND? We’ve got even more tips and tricks for running your own workshop on our website. Check them out at > environmentvictoria.org.au/content /learn-how-run-your-own-programs Keen to do more? Here’s other ways you can get active in your community > environmentvictoria.org.au/content /act/bring-people-together
GreenTown East African assessor Khalid explaining a range of energy saving products at his workshop to the Eritrean men’s and boys’ soccer club.
G R E E N A C T I O N N E W S | I S S U E 1 7 | A U T U M N 2 0 1 2 | w w w. e n v i r o n m e n t v i c t o r i a . o r g . a u
13
GIVE A LITTLE, GET A LOT
A very special donor In response to our appeal to build a Superforce and help to stop the Supermine, we received a gift from a very special donor. OF COURSE, EVERY donor is important and every individual makes an amazing contribution to safeguarding our environment, but there is something extra special about this one. Madeline is just 11 years old yet she still managed to find room in her pocket money budget to help stop the Supermine. As it turns out, this is something of a family tradition. Each week, all the kids put aside a quarter of their pocket money to donate to worthy causes. Then as a family, they talk about the different causes that each child believes to be important. What an inspiring family! We spoke to Madeline’s mum, Jane, who pointed out that the adults in the family donate regularly, so they all decided that the kids would join in too. Madeline is well educated about environmental matters. Her mother Jane is very involved in raising awareness in
14
the community about climate change. She helped to organise Melbourne’s first human sign for climate action in 2006 with the Bayside Climate Change Action Group, and the kids took part too. Madeline also learns a lot about the environment and climate change at school. They even went on a fieldtrip to Hazelwood Power Station to learn about the effects of coal mining and energy production first hand. Children Madeline’s age are the first generation to be growing up seeing the impacts of climate change and understanding what they are. By the time Madeline is 30, current estimates say the earth’s population will pass eight billion. If we don’t make major changes to the way we consume, she and her peers will be the ones who will face a changed world. They are also the ones who will take on the responsibility of
G R E E N A C T I O N N E W S | I S S U E 1 7 | A U T U M N 2 0 1 2 | w w w. e n v i r o n m e n t v i c t o r i a . o r g . a u
protecting our environment for continuing generations. But Jane feels that they are up to the task. “They’re more socially aware and more socially conscious than past generations. I hope they will be.” We’re counting on it. Madeline is certainly a great example of this. It was heartwarming to talk to her about why she made the donation. She said that the world had enough pollution as it is and that building a new Supermine was “just going to destroy the earth more. It didn’t feel right.” We can get very caught up in the complexities, in the science and the numbers of climate change modeling, but sometimes it does boil down to just that. Destroying our environment and threatening our climate is wrong. We know it in our hearts. And sometimes that’s the thing that keeps us going.
S A F E C L I M AT E
d Thank you so much to the generosity of so many who gave to our Supermine appeal. Your donation is helping our work to get this story into the media and generate community opposition. If you haven’t already, please visit environmentvictoria.org.au/supe rmine and sign our petition. And send the video to your friends so that they can join the Superforce too.
A coal company called Exergen is lobbying the Victorian Government to build Australia’s largest brown coal mine just 90 minutes from Melbourne in the Latrobe valley. They call it a ‘Supermine’. Exergen also want to export Australia’s dirtiest fossil fuel to developing nations like India getting developing nations hooked on the same polluting fuel as Victoria. Now secret documents from the Baillieu government have revealed plans to allocate billions of tonnes of brown coal for mining and export. Join the Superforce today and help keep the door open for renewable energy future, not dirty brown coal.
YES! I WANT TO HELP STOP THE SUPERMINE! Please accept my donation of:
■ $100
■ $250
■ $500
■ $1000
■ Surprise us $ _______________
■ Cheque or ■ Money Order (payable to Environment Victoria Inc.) Or charge my credit card as follows. ■ Amex ■ Mastercard ■ Visa
Please find enclosed:
Cardholder’s name: ________________________________________Expiry date: __ __ / __ __ Signature: ___________________________
Card number: | _ _ | _ _ | _ _ | _ _ | – | _ _ | _ _ | _ _ | _ _ | – | _ _ | _ _ | _ _ | _ _ | – | _ _ | _ _ | _ _ | _ _ |
■ Please send me information about how I can create a Victoria that’s FOREVER GREEN by making a gift to Environment Victoria in my Will. ■ Please send me info about how I can safeguard Victoria;s environment for the long term by becoming a green Action Partner Are your personal details correct on your letter? Or are you moving soon? Please update your personal information here if necessary. PERSONAL DETAILS Title:
First Name:
Family Name:
Address: Suburb:
State:
Postcode:
Email: Tel: (BH)
(AH)
Please complete this form, tear off this page and return it to Reply Paid 12575, A’Beckett Street, Melbourne, VIC 8006 or visit
www.environmentvictoria.org.au/give and make your donation online. Thank you for your generosity!
G R E E N A C T I O N N E W S | I S S U E 1 7 | A U T U M N 2 0 1 2 | w w w. e n v i r o n m e n t v i c t o r i a . o r g . a u
15
NOTICE THIS!
WHO’S WHO AT
Chief Executive Officer Kelly O’Shanassy CAMPAIGNS Campaigns Director Mark Wakeham
Our legal challenge to stop HRL ENVIRONMENT VICTORIA WAS back in VCAT in February for the final weeks of our hearing in the legal challenge against the proposed new coalfired power station HRL. Thank you to every supporter who gave to this campaign. Your incredible generosity made this possible. And thank you to the thousands out there who signed our petition, and the many hundreds of you who helped to get more people involved in the campaign and sign the petiton. As this arrives in your mailbox we’ll be on the edge of our seats waiting for the announcement of VCAT decision. Win or lose, we’ve run a massive and successful campaign that has galvanised community support, build networks of Victorians saying no to new coal power, and shown that when it comes to taking the big actions to stand up for the environment, Environment Victoria and our supporters are up to the task.
Whatever the outcome, our fight won’t be over. We’ll continue campaigning hard for the state and federal governments to withdraw their $150 million of funding to this new big polluter – funding that will expire if HRL can’t prove its power station is viable by June 30, 2012. And we won’t stop campaigning until this big polluter is dead and buried. A huge shout out to our amazing lawyers at the Environment Defenders Office and to Doctors for the Environment Australia and LIVE! who brought the case forward with us. It’s time for a clean energy future now. Let’s Stop HRL and get to it!
MAKE SURE YOU’RE IN THE KNOW: Get the news on the verdict as soon as it happens on our website > environmentvictoria.org.au/HRL-result
Healthy Rivers Campaigner Juliet Le Feuvre Healthy Rivers Campaigner Domenica Settle Safe Climate Campaigner Victoria McKenzie-McHarg Safe Climate Campaigner Tricia Phelan OPERATIONS Organisational Services Manager Ivan Kolker Administration Officer Helen Vine Communications Manager Alex Merory Communications Officer Sarah Dobney Fundraising Manager Amber Sprunt Finance Officer Despina Giannakis Database Officer Tony Cox SUSTAINABLE LIVING PROGRAM Project Managers Michele Burton Nina Bailey Charlie Davie Kat Gaita Eva Gaita Alice Sainsbury Hannah Smith BOARD President Russell Fisher
TAKE ACTION: SPEAK UP
TO SAVE THE MURRAY
By the end of the last drought, 75 percent of wetlands in Victoria had disappeared, native fish numbers were down by 90 percent and protected red gum forests were dying. Our food bowl cannot continue to survive these impacts. Please sign our petition to the Murray Darling Basin Authority, calling for a strong Plan that will Save the Murray forever. We have until Monday, 16 April to make our voices heard so get in quick> environmentvictoria.org.au/ save-the-murray/take-action
Vice-President Elizabeth McKinnon Sue Noy Amanda Nuttall James Meldrum Robyn Murphy Simone Zmood Hugh Wareham Alison Rowe Dieter Schadt REGULAR VOLUNTEERS Paul Batey Ayeesha Cain Paul Batey Frank Burden John Egan Polly Hughes Peter Flanagan Janet Gellie Ian Hazewinkel Lance Lessels Bob Michael Les Smith Kate Hoyle Talk to us: Phone: (03) 9341 8100 Email: admin@environmentvictoria.org.au Fax: (03) 9341 8199 PO Box 12575 A’Beckett Street, Victoria, 8006 www.environmentvictoria.org.au