Weekly News Digest – Friday July 13th 2007
Posted on 14 July 2007 by e-news
MASG NEWS…black Friday doesn’t scare us….
Membership over 400
MASG is very proud to welcome Alan Jones as member number 425. Thanks to Alan and to all our new members who are supporting our work.
Results of Special General Meeting
The proposed changes to our Rules which were considered and voted on at the Special General Meeting on July 3rd were accepted unanimously by the members present, and have since been approved by Consumer Affairs Victoria.
Annual General Meeting
Preliminary notice is given of our AGM to be held in the Ray Bradfield Room at 7.00pm on Thursday August 2nd .The meeting will be followed by a talk by Dr. Peter Christoff, and will be open to the public. More detailed information will be available soon.
MASG Library
We have a modest library of sustainability books including those focussing on renewable energy, peak oil and permaculture, as well as a mass of newspaper articles and other information. If you want to come in and have a read please feel free. We would also like to thank those generous people who have donated to the library including the students of Braemar College for their donation of the Peak Oil expose “The End Of Oil” by Paul Roberts.
Tarrengower Prison Grey water presentation
MASG volunteer Helena Read recently gave a presentation to women at the Tarrengower Prison. She said that they had a lot of laughs and that a few of them are keen to implement grey water systems at their homes once they are out. Thanks Helena and the management of the Prison for helping us spread the sustainability message.
MASG and John Howard
MASG was invited to a “community morning tea” with Liberal Senator Mr Michael Ronaldson and Prime Minister Mr John Howard in Bendigo on Wednesday the 11th of July. Dean spoke to Senator Ronaldson about the work of MASG and how the government could support us and listened to the Prime Minister’s speech, which was a pitch for re-election and unfortunately did not contain any sustainability initiatives or understanding of the need for immediate, concerted action on climate change.
MASG on the Radio
Dean was interviewed by ABC Rural Reporter Warwick Long from ABC Goulburn Murray on food miles and relocalising food production which will go to air on Monday the 16th at 6.30am in the Shepparton area. We hope this is the start of greater media interest in this important issue.
Maldon in Winter
The Tarrengower branch of the Sustainability Group will be staffing a stall at the Maldon in Winter fair on Sunday July 15th from 10am to 2pm. Ross Blade will bring his electric car to display as well. Many thanks to the Tarrengower MASG members for setting up this opportunity and to Ross Blade of Blade Electric Vehicles. see www.bev.com.au for more information on Australia’s first electric production car.
Solar Power Initiative… Dob in a community building
MASG aims to have 20 solar farms on schools and public buildings in our shire to take advantage of the increased State and Federal rebates. We are working closely with schools in the Mount Alexander Shire to assist them with a single coordinated funding application and to raise funds by donation to cover the gap between the rebate and installation costs. MASG also wishes to hear from committees of management and other community groups who may be interested in joining this program to install solar PV onto their buildings. Contact Jayson on 5470 6978 or Jayson@masg.org.au
WANTED
Donations to our tax deductible fund
To assist our schools and community buildings become solar power stations. Contact Dean or Jayson on 5470 6978 or Jayson@masg.org.au
iPod or MP3 Player
The office is downloading some fascinating talks to form an audio library and we are also building a record of our radio interviews. To enable volunteers and others who come in to listen to these we would appreciate a donation of an iPod or MP3 player.
OTHER EVENTS, not MASG endorsed:
MA LETS Winter Trading Tea Party: Friday July 20th 4-6pm at the Castlemaine Community House. Traders display with free activities for kids like face painting, clowns and food. Drop in to join or learn more about community based trading systems or email ma_lets@yahoo.com for more information.
Castlemaine 500 Project are seeking homes who wish to have a home energy assessment undertaken. If interested please contact: Geoff Brown, Castlemaine 500 Project Team, geoff@tangentconsulting.com.au, Mob: 0403 763 660
Managing Farming Systems in a Changing Climate – July 19-20th. Central Highlands Agribusiness Forum, Ballarat.
National Business Leaders Forum on Sustainable Development. Over 100 Business leaders from several of Australia’s largest companies, including BHB Billiton and Telstra, called for Australia to take the lead in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In a recent segment on ABC radio’s AM program they discussed how a 20% reduction target by 2020 is possible.
Final Word
Some words of advice to our Prime Minister, and topical in the light of the MASG solar power initiative:
“A peace treaty between humankind and nature is not possible without a global solar energy economy…we should no longer bear with the inhuman delaying tactics of those who “don’t do what they know must be done”…we need to mobilize people’s energies to stir up a solar energy revolution…”
Hermann Scheer, German Politician and author of a Solar Manifesto.
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