MASG news May 13th 2011
Posted on 13 May 2011 by e-news
MASG EVENTS and NEWS
Download a text version of the enews here ( 51 kb) text version enews 13may 2011
Comfy Homes Tradies’ Mini-Expo
Over 70 people braved the cold evening to attend the The Tradies’ Mini-Expo last night.
A quality lineup of exhibitors showcased the products and services needed to make our homes more comfortable and energy efficient with information on solar evacuated tube hot water systems, sustainable home design from the builders, grey and black water plumbing systems, LED lighting, 6+ star thermal and fire ratings, owner building, renovating and more.
If you want to contact any of the exhibitors or for any more information contact Deanna on 5470 6978 or email deanna@masg.org.au
Many thanks to the ATA and L&H lighting for donating the great door prizes and to the door prize winners Raphael (a year’s subscription to ReNew magazine) and Theo (a LED spotlight combination).
MASG CoG meeting
The CoG =The MASG committee + working groups representatives + staff and is a forum for making decisions and sharing information on all things MASG.
The next CoG meeting is on 7pm on Thursday 26th May, at the Forge and all are welcome to attend.
World Environment Day
Sunday June 5th, 10am to noon at the market building, Castlemaine. Come and celebrate the great energy and success of all the wonderful local environment groups and see a showcase of their local environmental initiatives.
Goldfields Solar Hub
We have now had about 650 registrations of interest to the program, at least 470 site visits and over 200 acceptances of quotes and looks like we’ll probably finish up in the 350s by the end of June. Installations have started and we are getting lots of queries both new and from existing participants. We have closed registrations for this round now and Braemac have stopped doing site inspections and quotes. Anyone can still register online or by calling our office to be part of the next round which we are in the process of working on a new Round 2 offer. We have had a few calls from people who registered early on but hadn’t heard from Braemac Energy and we are working on each one on a case by case basis.
The next Sunny Information Sessions are:
Wednesday May 18th @ The Hub 7.30pm-8.30pm (EVENING)
Wednesday May 25th @ The Hub, 12.30pm- 2.30pm (LUNCHTIME)
Wednesday June 1st @ The Hub 7.30pm-8.30pm (EVENING)
MASG will be talking to our local Member Steve Gibbons.
Representatives from MASG and the Bendigo Sustainability Group are meeting with our local MP Mr. Steve Gibbons this Tuesday the 17th of May at 1pm.
From our surveying in the Mount Alexander Shire and Bendigo and a recent national opinion poll we also know that 87% of Australian’s want to see the revenue raised from a price on pollution invested into renewable energy innovation, and more than half opposed any compensation for the big polluters.
Therefore on Tuesday we will be congratulating Steve for committing to putting a price on pollution and we will be asking him to:
1. Publically support all of the carbon price revenue being used to fund renewable energy and energy efficiency, as well as compensate low-income households
2. Ring Greg Combet, Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency by COB Tuesday the 17th of May and tell Mr. Combet that he supports all the carbon price revenue being used to fund renewable energy and energy efficiency, as well as compensating low-income households & that as a Member of the Government he wants Mr Combet to support this as well.
And
Finally he is passing on a reminder to Mr Combet that he has an invitation from the Newcastle Climate Action Group to attend a public Renewable Energy Support Forum in Newcastle in June and that Mr Combet’s constituents want him to commit to attending that Forum.
We are looking forward to the meeting with Steve and will let you know the outcomes of the meeting.
Ring MP Greg Combet today or on Monday
Support our efforts and make a call to Greg Combe, Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency today or 
Monday the 16th and tell him
• You’re from regional Victoria
• You support a price being put on the large polluting companies
• You want a significant amount of the revenue raised from the polluters to build large scale renewable energy
Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency Greg Combet Electorate office: (02) 6277 7920
Canberra office: (02) 4954 2611
Join the letter writing group
The Letter writing group will also be meeting Wednesday May 18th @ 7.30pm at The Public Inn, Barker St. Contact Dean on 0448 327 791 or dc@masg.org.au for details.
OTHER LOCAL SUSTAINABILITY NEWS AND EVENTS
Bush Dance against Want
Take steps against poverty Easy, called dances from many nations with Centenary Bushband Jane Thompson, James Rigby & friends Saturday 4th June 2011 6pm – 10pm Campbells Creek Community Centre Cost: Single $10, family $25 Donations to Oxfam encouraged Home-made soup, bread & fruit: 7pm Enquiries: Judith 5470 5747
Growing Abundance films and workshops.
1. “ Food for Thought” films
The real dirty on Farmer Brown. Sunday May 22nd. 4.30pm @ Ray Bradfields Room.
2. Preserving Workshops
- Olives: Preserving & pressing. Sat May 28th 11am-2pm @ Uniting Church Hall Lyttleton St
- Apples and Pears: Making juice and cider. Sat Jun 25th 11am-2pm @ Town Hall Frederick St. Costs $20/30 Bookings essential lucy@cch.org.au or 54724842
NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Climate Legislation coming in 16 major countries
A new study released by GLOBE international – a coalition of legislators from around the world – found that climate change is featuring prominently on the legislative agenda across the 16 major economies. The GLOBE Climate Legislation Study, which was produced with Grantham Research Institute at the London School of Economics, shows that 16 of the world’s largest economies are now advancing laws to tackle climate change. The 16 countries – which together make up around three quarters of global greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions – are: Brazil, Canada, China, the EU, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, the UK and the US.
Federal Budget a win for pollution reduction but very little for renewable energy
The fringe benefits tax on company cars has finally been reformed, saving $ 970 mill of taxpayer money over the forward estimates by unwinding a perverse incentive that rewarded people to drive their cars further and resulting in a mountain of pollution. The reform changes the concession to a flat rate of 20% rather than a tiered formula giving bigger tax breaks to those who drove further.
And the Government is still overwhelmingly subsidising pollution with our taxes
A Recent analysis by ACF that notes that the federal government spends $12 billion a year on subsidies that encourage greenhouse pollution, but only $1 billion on programs to tackle climate change.
The Slow Money Principles
A movement based on slow money principles that aims to to enhance food security, food safety and food access; improve nutrition and health; promote cultural, ecological and economic diversity; and accelerate the transition from an economy based on extraction and consumption to an economy based on preservation and based on a series of 6 principles. Read more here http://www.slowmoney.org/
Operation Bolt-Cutter
Australia’s richest person, Gina Rinehart bought into Channel Ten and gave Andrew Bolt a TV show. She is a climate change denier as is Andrew Bolt. The purpose of the show is to further support climate change denial amongst the Australia population – amongst the other political goals of Bolt and Rinehart.
In the USA a group of people called Stop Beck! recently succeeded in getting the extremist Glenn Beck fired from the Fox News Channel using the technique of contacting all the advertisers during his show and threatening a boycott.
This is the same technique we are using to get Bolt off the air. It is turning the very greed of these corporations against them without helping to boost Bolt’s profile.
Below is a suggested email or phone script (I suggest you do both):
Dear ###,
I am very disappointed to see you advertise during the new Andrew Bolt show on Channel Ten. Andrew Bolt spreads misinformation about climate change science (amongst other things), which is already costing lives and damaging economies here and overseas.
I am letting you know that I will boycott the products your company provides unless you withdraw your support for Andrew Bolt’s TV show.
Yours sincerely,
#####
Below is a list of all the advertisers for the airing in Melbourne.
Tele-Choice http://www.telechoice.com.au (Email feedback form on website) Phone: (03) 8699 2555
Mr Rentals 1800 880 778 http://www.mrrental.com.au (Feedback form on website)
Garnierhttp://www.garnier.com.au tel: 1300 651 743
iPrimus http://www.iprimus.com.au tel: 1300 85 44 85 or PO Box 631 Collins Street West, Vic 8007
L’Oreal http://lorealparis.com.au Tel: 1300 659 359
Buffalo being returned to Montana tribes
For the first time in nearly 140 years, the Indian tribes of northeastern Montana are preparing for the return of wild buffalo that are descended from herds that once thundered across the vast American West. The Sioux and Assiniboine tribes of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in coming months will claim dozens of buffalo originating from Yellowstone National Park, home to the last free-roaming, purebred bands of buffalo, or bison, in the United States. Read more about the buffalo here.
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