November 17th 2006
Posted on 17 November 2006 by e-news
MASG News
* Office drop in hours To assist the smooth running of our office we are open for drop in visits from 3pm to 5pm Monday to Friday. We are happy to make appointments outside of these hours to see you just ring us on 54 70 6978. Volunteers working on current projects or picking up printed material for distribution can still drop in when mutually convenient.
* Movie Screening of Al Gore’s “Inconvenient Truth” Nov 23rd Will be a full house !! The office has been running hot, and we are very excited about this event. Thanks again Volunteers.
* Castlemaine State Festival Working Groups You are probably wondering what the groups are up to, here is little summary:
Transport Working Group-designing walking and cycling maps of Castlemaine to encourage festival patrons to walk and cycle more
*Walking tours of Castlemaine with different themes
*Having bicycles available for visiting festival patrons
Food Working Group-collating a comprehensive local food directory
*Working with local food outlets to have 3 “100km” meals during the festival
Showcasing regional produce
Waste working Group-improving waste management systems within the Festival Environs
*6 Food outlets and those food outlets at the Sunday in the Botanical Gardens to be 2 star “waste wise” accredited (composting food waste and reducing amount of solid waste going to landfill)
Arts Working Group-arts carbon neutral flyer explaining how to reduce carbon emissions in art work
Carbon Neutral Hub- space for information and events on climate change and information on carbon neutral component of the Festival
*Street theatre engaging with patrons on issue of climate change
If you would like to be involved in one of the working groups to help make the SF carbon neutral contact Carolyn 54 70 6978
* Question the Candidates on Climate Change Congratulations to Wendy French who organized the public forum in Maldon on Mon 13th. It was full house (over 100 people) with ALL the candidates accepting the reality that climate change is a serious problem that needs action, the devil of course was in the detail of what they believed ACTION would entail. Ring the office for a summary of what was discussed or see the respective parties or the Environment Victoria websites to be informed on how to vote cool on November 25th.
* CSIRO Sustainable Communities Initiative
We have received notification that our application has been accepted …YAY. On Dec 12th MASG will be convening a meeting with the chief scientist from the CSIRO Intelligent Grid project Dr Peta Ashworth to scope out the project. The project aims to work with the major energy users in the shire and the power infrastructure companies to deliver 1, a 50% reduction in the greenhouse gas emissions from this sector by 2012 and 2, increase the security of energy supply in the Municipality. Having the key scientific resources of the CSIRO in this project is a major coup for our municipality.
MASG Requests
1. “An Inconvenient Truth”. Thanks to those twelve people who have put up their hands to assist us put on the special screening on Nov 23rd. We still need volunteers to staff a MASG table during other screenings. Ring Dean @ office 54 70 6978 or email dc@masg.org.au
2. One paragraph success stories We want some short stories of how you were inspired to do something and what you did to reduce your ecological footprint for our sustainability stories on our funky website. See Just do IT on the website www.masg.org.au for an example and email or drop your contribution into us.
3. MASG Media file Are you a regular reader of the local papers and the AGE? We need someone to cut out and collect for us stories about MASG and Climate Change for our files. Ring Dean on 54 70 6325
4. Climate Change Joke Competition. If you would like to help bring some levity into our wacky ride to global meltdown please contact Luke Bennett who has offered to convene this project : email: lukeb@gcom.net.au or contact the office 54 70 6978.
OTHER:
Please note these events/ websites/ literature are not MASG endorsed and are for member’s information only.
* Ma Lets Trading Days, 3rd Friday of every month: Friday 17th Nov and Friday 15th Dec, Wesley Hall, 5pm -7pm
* An Inconvenient Truth. Will be screening at the Theatre Royal every day from Friday 24th to Wednesday the 29th. Ring 54 72 1196 for bookings.
FINAL WORD
The release of the Stern Report has been a watershed (in a period of a water crisis..!!) and promises to move the debate beyond Climate Change being all “alarmist greenie doomsaying”.
For example the report estimates that at least $85 (US) of damage is caused by every tonne of CO2 we emit if we do not reduce our emissions soon. Having an esteemed World Bank leading economist calculate these figures has moved the debate enormously. And for those sick of the Climate Change story being dominated by economics, Sir Nicholas notes that these costs don’t and can’t include the inevitable massive extinction wave and tide of human suffering that will result if we continue on our fossil fuel frenzy.
Click on to read the executive summary of this report.The report also noted that we all have a personal role and responsibility to reduce our own use of highly carbon intensive goods and services.
“Mitigation-taking strong action to reduce emissions-must be viewed as an investment, a cost incurred now…to avoid the risks of very severe consequences in the future.”
Sir Nicholas Stern
Author of Stern Report
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