MEDIA RELEASE
Contact : Ruth Rosenhek
Rainforest Information Centre
Email: rainforestinfo@ozemail.com.au
CLIMATE CHANGE, AN OPPORTUNITY?
John Seed and Ruth Rosenhek are taking to the road with their Climate Change Despair and Empowerment Roadshow in an attempt to catalyse and support a strong climate change movement across Australia.
"These are no ordinary times that we live in," says Ruth Rosenhek, director of the Rainforest Information Centre in Lismore. "Glaciers melting, oceans dying, floods and cyclones on the rise; everyday you hear about the latest impacts of global warming. Climate change has hit mainstream media.
"Less known perhaps is that we are now witnessing the extinction of 20,000 species a year when the normal rate would be about 1 species a year. In fact, this is the end of a geologic era, the Cenezoic Era, and as we usher in a new era, the decisions we make will influence the turn of events in terms of the planet and all life forms on this planet.
"Just like the demise of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago signalled the possibility for many other species to evolve and burst forth, the current crisis opens up a time of possibility, an opportunity for innovation in all aspects of our lives as we grapple with finding a new way to be humans on this planet.
Rosenhek and Seed's roadshow brings forth this larger perspective to encourage local communities to think, feel and to make decisions in terms of the larger Earth community.
"We need to invent new ways for our human economy to work within and with all the other many economies, such as forest economy and ocean economy, for the mutual benefit of these other systems, not in exclusion and destruction of them.
"Likewise the educational systems, political systems, religious institutions etc. need to be re-assessed in terms of the larger planetary community
"We need to make decisions that explicitly and transparently put priority on maintaining the conditions of life into the future.
"Rosenhek points out that many people feel despair and helplessness. They wonder 'What can I do?' or "Isn't it too late?' At the presentations, Seed and Rosenhek discuss how these feelings can be transformed into the fuel for inspiration and action.
Rosenhek and Seed then go on to address what they call false and 'business as usual', solutions being touted by the major political parties such as so called "clean coal" and nuclear power.
“We mustn’t fall prey to political and business leaders who want us to believe that we will be able to ‘pay’ the environmental costs of drilling oil by screwing in efficient light bulbs,” said Rosenhek, “or pay the costs of opening a new coal mine by burning the methane that seeps up out of that same mine.”
Participants are encouraged to join or form Climate Study/Action groups to look at where the real solutions are to be found.
"Climate Study Action groups are not only a vehicle for citizens to work with and lobby government for strong climate change strategies, they also are a means for us to support each other in the changes we need to collectively make".
In the next 3 months, the roadshow will visit Coffs Harbor, Northern NSW, Sydney, Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast and Blue Mountains.
To book the roadshow, please email ruthr@ozemail.com.au or johnseed1@ozemail.com.au.
For more information and roadshow schedule, see http://www.climate.net.au