The Greening of Gavin

The 8000

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On Saturday, I attended the Getup! Price on Pollution rally at Treasury Place, Melbourne.

There have been media stories for and against both sides.  There were many reports that the 8000 odd people that attended the pro carbon tax rally were a bunch of pot smoking university student rent a crowd types that were paid by the Labor party and the 400 people who attended the anti-carbon tax rally in Werribee were a ‘grass roots’ movement.  Make your own mind up, but from someone who was there with my daughter, who are far from being dope smoking hippies, I did not see anyone being paid to attend or did I see any rent a crowd types, just concerned citizens who voiced their opinion for action on mitigating climate change.

Anyway, my lovely daughter Megan took lots of photos which I made into a presentation video.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I did in attending the event!

This post will be the last climate change one for a while.  I want to get back to simple and sustainable living again.  I think that you can only protest so much, and you need to balance that with a whole lot of just getting on with it.

Gavin

Our Children’s Future. Act This Saturday!

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That is what is a stake if this country does not take climate change mitigation action within the next few years!

So please join me and my family this Saturday at the Climate Action rally at Treasury Place, Melbourne along with other concerned citizens to counter the fear campaign being set up by Australia’s climate deniers, right-wing shock jocks and big polluters who are jumping on board the Opposition Leader Tony Abbott’s scare campaign against a price on carbon.  They’re trying to stop action on climate change by frightening people with misinformation and scaremongering. And they’re planning anti-carbon tax rallies across the country – starting this weekend – to frighten our politicians into further delay.

Join me and many others including members and organizers from GetUP!, Environment Victoria, the Australian Conservation Foundation, and the Australian Youth Climate coalition to send a message loud and clear that the majority of Australians and the global community want climate action and a strong price on pollution now.



For those readers in the Melbourne area, See you all there!

If Oprah Turned Green?

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What if Oprah decided to turn green?  Not just a light shade of green, but dark Kermit the frog green.  She may have already, and she definitely promotes it on her website, but I really don’t know.

However, if she did it for real and not just rhetoric, then amazing things would happen.  If I have learn anything from the media circus that has been following her around during her visit to Australia, that is that Oprah and her entourage are very, very influential amongst the people of many western nations.  Hey, she even has our Prime Minister in her spell, and I believe she interviewed the US President more than once.  This influence can be, and is a very powerful tool, which I think Oprah wields in a deliberate way.  Everything or everyone that she endorses becomes an overnight sensation and very popular with the masses.

Which leads me to my question.  Just imagine, if you will, an awakened Oprah who begins to take real baby steps towards a sustainable lifestyle.  People would follow her in droves, mimicking her every action and make a start to reducing their own environmental footprints.  If that was not enough, if Oprah sustained this behaviour on her shows, then the groundswell would be noticed by politicians who would be very nervous that they were not being seen as doing something by popular consensus of the masses, would actually begin to take climate change seriously and set emission reduction targets and meet them with help of the now aware masses.

With Oprah leading the way, even the worst political leader would look good if they jumped on the bandwagon.  Even the entire United Nations would follow by finally negotiating a binding climate agreement and all fully fund the required actions.  Success at last, and all because Oprah turned green.  What a wonderful place the planet would become!

Now, we just have to convince her that this is a good idea.  Does anyone have any suggestions, besides me writing her a great email?  Do you think my cunning plan would work, or would the masses tire of it quickly.