Members would have received their annual FoE Tax Time Appeal in the mail
recently. For those of you who are not FoE members - please consider making a
donation before the end of the financial year and help us to continue our
efforts towards social and environmental justice.
Thankyou to everyone who has responded to our
action alert on the Climate Bill. We have been geting many cc'd messages to the
premier. We need them to keep coming in.
Please consider circulating our action alert (see below) to your friends or
networks - it would be hugely appreciated.
Thanks!
“clean
coal†is a dirty lie: protest
8.00am Tue 22 June
Crown Conference Centre
Crown Promenade Hotel, 8 Whiteman St Southbank Victoria 3006
Fund renewable energy
No new coal
Climate jobs now
“Coal is king†declares the brochure for the $5,000 per head 2010 Carbon
Capture and Storage World Conference. Speakers include Graeme York, CEO,
International Power Hazelwood and Peter Batchelor MP Victorian Minister for
Energy and Resources, alongside a host of climate criminals. 12 new coal-fired
power plants, helped by the lie of "clean coal", are planned for Australia.
Renewable energy works now. Solar thermal with storage can supply baseload
electricity night and day. Tell the government and the coal industry to stop
gambling with our future.
endorsed by
Friends of the Earth, Climate Emergency Network, Melb Uni Climate Action
Working Group, Switch Off Hazelwood Collective, The Climate Action Centre,
Renewable is Do-able
for more info contact the Climate Emergency Network
The state ALP has committed to developing a
Climate Bill for Victoria.
The draft structure will be released before the state election in November.
This is our last chance to have influence over the structure of the Bill. Given
the failure of the federal government to act decisively to reduce greenhouse
gases, it is now imperative that the Bill be as strong as possible.
Please write immediately to the Premier and members of Cabinet. Feel free to
add your own thoughts and ideas to the letter – but if you want to see a
meaningful Climate Bill enacted by the state government – PLEASE ACT NOW.
Thankyou to the many people that have already responded to this alert.
FUNDRAISERS
WE NEED A
COMMUNITY CAMPAIGNER
FoE survives through people supporting our work. We are doing our absolute
best in the build up to the election, but have no staff actually employed to
work in this area. This greatly limits our ability to be as effective as we
would like. If you can help in anyway that would be wonderful. We can promise
to make any cash support go a long way – FoE is by far the leanest and most
effective large green group on a dollar for dollar basis.
In addition, we are seeking $6,000 to be able to produce campaign materials on
Hazelwood and the North South pipeline. If there was any way you could
donate towards these costs that would be fantastic!
Please see here for extra info, or email Cam
if you would like to discuss this.
http://www.melbourne.foe.org.au/?q=support
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ANNOUNCEMENTS & CAMPAIGN INFORMATION NIGHTS
Give our streets the green light
If all the
old street light lamps on streets across Victoria
were replaced with energy-efficient lamps, we could save 1.56 million tonnes of
greenhouse gas emissions over the life of the new lights. That’s 31.2 billion
black balloons, 341,917 cars off the road for a year, or a city the size of
Mildura’s entire household emissions for a year.
The difficulty with switching to energy-efficient lights is the high upfront
costs. In the case of a Victoria-wide switch, the cost would be around $120
million, depending on which new lights councils select. Obviously, this cost is
difficult – and in some cases prohibitive – for councils and ratepayers to
afford.
Our councils in Victoria
are willing to do their bit but they need the help of the Victorian and Federal
governments. If the other levels of government fund a quarter to a third of the
total upgrade costs across the state, we will achieve a 78,000 tonne greenhouse
gas emissions reduction, and a $7 million cost saving, each year.
Councils are asking for a minimum $150 funding contribution per street light
switch from Victorian and Federal Governments. Victoria-wide, this would add up
to around $50 million over four years. We think this would be money well spent
for the people of Victoria.
Please sign the petition here:
http://www.greenlightourstreets.com.au/?page_id=25
A new force in the struggle against global
warming
Protect Our
Winters (POW), the global environmental foundation founded in 2007 by legendary
pro snowboarder Jeremy Jones, is broadening their reach this winter by opening
a local chapter in Australia.
POW is a US-based non-profit organisation dedicated to reversing the global
warming crisis by uniting and mobilising the global winter sports community.
Jeremy has witnessed first-hand the impact of climate change on our mountains.
“POW was founded on the idea that if we harness our collective energy and put
forth a focused effort, the winter sports community can have a direct influence
on minimising the damage that’s been done and ensure that winters are here for
generations behind usâ€, said Jones.
2010 is the
Year of Indigenous People and we want to celebrate and honour indigenous people
from around the world by holding a gathering in Alice Springs in the Northern
Territory of Australia on July , 9, 10 and 11.
It was decided to hold this year's gathering in Central Australia in response
to the curtailment of the rights of the Indigenous communities of the Northern
Territory embodied in the Northern Territory Emergency Response (NTER), the
de-funding of the homelands, the threats to bi-lingual education, and the
compulsory takeover of the Alice Springs town camps.
The gathering will focus on the environmental impacts of mining, proposed
uranium dumping, and tourism on indigenous communities in this region and Australia wide.
The mining companies often seek to divide indigenous people by holding out
false promises of jobs and the payment of compensation to pay for improvements
to the infrastructure that should by rights be a governmental responsibility.
There are many indigenous activists campaigning against environmental
destruction and there will be plenty of workshops and forums at the gathering
where they will be able to share information and strategies.
The gathering will take the form of workshops, forums, cultural events and art
shows.
Indigenous world views are largely neglected in debates around social change,
the impact of globalisation and climate change. However, Indigenous peoples
have long histories of resistance, and differing models of social organisation
and ways to protect homelands. By bringing together indigenous and non
indigenous communities, we can start to build the bridges that will create a
constructive dialogue between peoples, and share not only knowledge and
experiences but come closer to understanding our radically different world
views.
If you need more information please contact Marisol Salinas 0413 597 315
SPANISH CLASES for activists July 2010
For
enrolment forms please call Marisol
Note: The first class is an introduction, please don't forget to bring pen/paper.
The cost per each class will be $10 in support of the Indigenous communities NO
mining NO forestry Campaign at Friends of the Earth Melbourne.
Private Spanish Classes also available during the week.
Please let your friends know about the Spanish classes for activists, more
information call Marisol at foe office 9419 8700 or 0413 597 315
BOOKSHOP
Volunteers Required !
Volunteers are always required in the
Bookshop. It's a great way to get involved in the community and to improve your
retail skills... and you get a discount in the shop !
The Bookshop is located at 312 Smith Street,
Collingwood (close to the Johnson
Street intersection)
Opening Hours are from: 10am - 6pm
Monday to Friday and 10am - 4pm on Saturdays & Sundays
Secure
online shopping available at: www.foe.org.au/shop
FOOD CO-OP
Volunteers
Required !
Volunteers are always required in the Bookshop.
It's a great way to get involved in the community and to improve your retail skills...
and you get a discount in the shop !
The Food Co-op is located at 312
Smith Street, Collingwood (close to the Johnson Street
intersection)
Opening Hours are from: 10am - 6pm Monday to
Friday and 10am - 4pm on Saturdays & Sundays
CAN YOU HELP?
Port
Phillip Rising - Part 2
As members know, we walked from Sorrento to Port
Melbourne last November to raise awareness about the threats of climate change
through the entry point of sea level rise. Details on the walk can be found
here: http://www.melbourne.foe.org.au/?q=node/594. We had hoped to do the
second stage of the walk in the autumn but were not able to raise the finds to
employ a co-ordinator to organise the walk (the logistics are substantial,
especially in terms of the route: we need to be exact in terms of timing if we
are to facilitate local people joining us). We are now considering
holding the second phase - from Williamstown to Geelong
and the Bellarine Peninsula before ending
at Torquay in spring.
So this is a call out to see if people would be interested in getting involved
in preparing the walk, taking on a section of planning such as:
fund raising
route logistics
organising the public forums and public mobilisations
etc
If so, we would love to hear from you!
cam.walker@foe.org.au
South
Melbourne Commons
We are looking for a talented and passionate
designer or designers to help out with some promotional materials for the South
Melbourne Commons. We need flyers, leaflets, postcards and some other bits and
pieces designed. There is some budget to pay you for your efforts.
If you are interested please contact Meg Ivory meg.ivory@foe.org.au or call
0416 469 144
OTHER GROUPS EVENTS
We like to support the initaitives of a wide range of
groups and community organisations. Listing here does not necessarily imply
endorsement by FoE
For a very comprehensive list of Climate Action
events go to The Victorian Climate Action Calendar (The VCAC)
To add an event to the calendar email: decortis@bigpond.net.au (please ask for
the event Template)
National
Tree Day & Schools Tree Day
Each year thousands of schools and community groups around Australia
participate in Schools Tree Day & National Tree Day. These activities all
contribute to a magnificent national effort of tree planting and landcare
activities.
Schools Tree Day will be held this year on Friday July 30 2010 with National
Tree Day on Sunday August 1 2010.
To register a school or public site or for more information visit our website
at http://treeday.planetark.org/involved or call the National Tree Day hotline
on 1300 88 5000.
http://treeday.planetark.org/
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MEMBERSHIP
As an independent activist organisation, we absolutely rely on our members
and supporters to keep us going. If you are not already a member, please
consider joining us. Your membership directly funds our campaigns, and keeps us
free from corporate funding. It's only $50 per year if you are waged, or $30 a
year concession. You can download a membership form from: http://www.melbourne.foe.org.au/?q=support
- or ring the campaigns office 9419 8700 and we'll post you one.
For any membership issues, including changes of address and any problems
with this list, please contact Justin Butler: justin.butler@foe.org.au
For any changes to your financial contributions to FoE, please contact Mara
Bonacci: mara.bonacci@foe.org.au
To have items included in future bulletins, please send (brief) details as
plain text to Pat: justin.butler@foe.org.au
PRIVACY
As part of our commitment to ensuring the privacy of our members and
supporters, we do not sell or exchange names or any other personally
identifiable information from this or other lists with any company,
organisation or individual.
