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The Sustainable Hour no. 417 | Podcast notes
“The climate crisis is our number one emergency.
The renewables revolution starts now.”
~ Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations, on 17 June 2022
Our guests in The Sustainable Hour on 22 June 2022 are Steven Hail and Gabrielle Bond. They have become regular guests on our show – our listeners would remember Gabrielle being on a couple of weeks ago talking about her role in non-violent direct action with Scientists Rebellion in Adelaide. Today Steven is with Gabrielle to talk about the exciting new course they will be running with eco-economist Philip Lawn at Torrens University in Adelaide. It is the first course in the world that deals with Modern Monetary Theory & Ecological Economics – putting monetary values on the environment and a cost on when the environment is damaged or destroyed. We also learn about the podcast they call Modern Money Doughnuts – it can be found here. Their latest episode, number 20, can be found here. You may ask what doughnuts have to do with modern money theories. Quite a lot as it turns out. In the podcast series, Gabrielle and Steven explore the relationships between deficit myths and doughnut economics. If you would like to know more about their work and their workshop in Sydney in two weeks, go to: www.modernmoneylab.org
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Mik Aidt pays a very fitting tribute to Philip Sutton who died suddenly last week, playing three short excerpts from a longer podcast interview which Robert McLean from Climate Conversations did with Philip in November 2021 about his Climate Rescue campaign. Philip devoted his life to creating a better world by taking greater care of our environment. We are going to miss his visionary, big-picture thinking and willingness to tackle “taboo” subjects to get where we need to be. We will miss you Philip. Now it’s up to us all to see that your climate dreams are realised. More below on this page.
Our roving reporter Rusty speaks about a number of local councils that have declared a climate emergency and how they are, or are not putting that into practice in their constituencies. He is very concerned that very few of any of these councils are bringing along their communities with them. Rusty has recorded a longer and more in-depth report about these matters, which can be heard further below on this page.
We also hear former American president Jimmy Carter’s view on what is important in life from almost 50 years ago in a speech to his nation.
The songs we play are Baba Brinkman‘s ‘Keep it positive’ and ‘Greenhouse’, Youth Vs Apocalypse: ‘Where’s The Money At’, and ending with Missy Higgins‘ ‘The Difference’
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Colin Mockett’s Global Roundup starts this week in Bangladesh and Eastern India – also parts of nearby China where the monsoon season has begun with a vengeance with 60 people dead in one Bangladeshi province alone. As if the world’s poorest nation didn’t have enough to deal with. Monsoon floods are no new thing, of course, but this is the first time they have arrived so early and so big.
We then zoom to western USA where the opposite is happening. The latest news from that region’s ongoing drought is that The Colorado River’s reservoirs have reduced to the point that significant cuts to the water supplied to the seven states will be necessary next year: the seven states are Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming, Arizona, California, and Nevada. They all draw their water from the Colorado River and next year will see a decrease in that supply. It’s reckoned that the ongoing drought that has gripped most of the Western U.S. for the past 20 years is the worst weather event there in 1,200 years.
Similar story in Europe, where the ongoing heatwave in central Europe – from France through to the Urals – has scientists revisiting their climate change predictions from 10 years ago. Where previous modelling predicted high midsummer temperatures of 43°C arriving mid-century, they’re hitting them now in 2022!
Still in Europe, 8 June 2022 will go down as the day the European Parliament voted to ban combustion engine cars from 2035. Lawmakers in the European Parliament plenary voted to mandate that all new car and van sales should be zero emissions from 2035 as part of efforts to clean up road transport. And that’s a good upbeat item to end this week’s roundup.
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That’s it for this week. We’ll be back again next week with lots of thought provoking content. As always inviting each and every one of our listeners to find their role in the climate revolution.
Take care all, appreciate life and be the difference!
~ Colin, Mik, Rusty & Tony – The Sustainable Hour team
“I want to speak to you first tonight about a subject even more serious than energy or inflation. I want to talk to you right now about a fundamental threat to American democracy. (…) It is a crisis of confidence. It is a crisis that strikes at the very heart and soul and spirit of our national will. We can see this crisis in the growing doubt about the meaning of our own lives and in the loss of a unity of purpose for our Nation.”
“Too many of us now tend to worship self-indulgence and consumption. Human identity is no longer defined by what one does, but by what one owns. But we’ve discovered that owning things and consuming things does not satisfy our longing for meaning. We’ve learned that piling up material goods cannot fill the emptiness of lives which have no confidence or purpose.”
~ Jimmy Carter, American president from 1977 to 1981, in his “Crisis of Confidence” Speech on 15 July 1979
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We at The Sustainable Hour would like to pay our respect to the traditional custodians of the land on which we
are broadcasting, the Wathaurong People, and pay our respect to their elders, past, present and future.
The traditional owners lived in harmony with the land. They nurtured it and thrived in often harsh conditions for millenia before they were invaded. Their land was then stolen from them – it wasn’t ceeded. It is becoming more and more obvious that, if we are to survive the climate emergency we are facing, we have much to learn from their land management practices.
Our battle for climate justice won’t be won until our First Nations brothers and sisters have their true justice. When we talk about the future, it means extending our respect to those children not yet born, the generations of the future – remembering the old saying that,
“We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors. We borrow it from our children.”
The decisions currently being made around Australia to ignore the climate emergency are being made by those who won’t be around by the time the worst effects hit home. How disrespectful and unfair is that?
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Father’s Day pledge
“My Father’s Day pledge 2022 to my children – from today, my career, my friendships, my comfort and sense of safety, my liberty, are secondary to stopping the climate crisis from destroying your future. That is the only way to be the Dad you need in these terrifying times x”
“No choice and the least I owe them. They didn’t ask to be born on a broken planet. We broke it. Now we have to mend what can still be mended, no matter that it costs us.”
~ Steve Tooze
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Philip Sutton (1951-2022)
The world has lost a groundbreaking climate thinker
It is really important that Philip’s dreams for a better world live on in all of us. He is such a sad, sad loss.
The Sustainable Hour team wish to send our deepest condolences to Philip’s family and friends.
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→ Climate Conversations via Apple Podcasts – 19 June 2026:
Vale Phillip Sutton: I’ll miss the comforting voice and the world will miss his sweeping knowledge
“Phillip Sutton was one of Australia’s busiest climate activists, but sadly he died in mid-June, robbing Australia, and the World, of one of its clearest and most far-reaching thinkers.”
→ The Guardian – 21 June 2022:
Philip Sutton, inspiring Australian activist who sounded climate emergency alarm
“Obituary: Sutton’s 2008 book Climate Code Red was a prescient warning of the need for more urgent and immediate action on global heating.”
→ RenewEconomy – 21 June 2022:
Vale Philip Sutton: Big picture strategist, courageous thinker, climate activist
“The term “climate emergency” has become ubiquitous. The catch-cry has captured the imaginations of both policymakers and the public, but its origins began with a 2008 book by committed environmentalist and climate pioneer Philip Sutton, who passed away last week aged 71.”
→ Read more on www.climateemergencydeclaration.org
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2nd – 3rd July 2022 in Sydney
Economics as if people and the environment matter.
This two-day interactive seminar led by Associate Professor Steven Hail will include discussion on some of the most pressing economic issues facing Australia today.
Topics include inequality, insecurity, climate change, state and regulatory capture, the federal budget and a campaign for a fairer and more sustainable economy, drawn from modern monetary theory and ecological economics.
“After this course I have a lot better understanding about debt and deficit and I feel confident to speak on economic issues and know what I’m talking about”
“Loved the format, loved the small group discussions!”
READ MORE AND REGISTER HERE
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Podcast: Modern money doughnuts
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The climate emergency and local government budgets
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“Very big EU EV news, as the European Parliament effectively bans combustion engine vehicles by 2035. And that, my sustainability and emobility friends, is the end of fossil fuelled vehicles in Europe, if not the world. Historic moment.”
~ Ade Thomas
→ Politico – 8 June 2022:
European Parliament votes to ban combustion engine cars from 2035
“Lawmakers in the European Parliament plenary voted Wednesday to mandate that all new car and van sales should be zero emissions from 2035 as part of efforts to clean up road transport.”
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‘Planet Local: A Quiet Revolution’, a film by the international NGO Local Futures, shows a quiet and transformative revolution emerging worldwide.
“As people work to protect and restore their local economies, their communities and the natural world, countless diverse initiatives are demonstrating a new path forward for humanity. It’s a path that localizes rather than globalizes, connects rather than separates, and shows us that human beings need not be the problem – we can be the solution.”
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Events we have talked about in The Sustainable Hour
Events in Victoria
The following is a collation of Victorian climate change events, activities, seminars, exhibitions, meetings and protests. Most are free, many ask for RSVP (which lets the organising group know how many to expect), some ask for donations to cover expenses, and a few require registration and fees. This calendar is provided as a free service by volunteers of the Victorian Climate Action Network. Information is as accurate as possible, but changes may occur.
Petitions
→ List of running petitions where we encourage you to add your name
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Live-streaming
The Sustainable Hour is streamed live on the Internet and broadcasted on FM airwaves in the Geelong region every Wednesday from 11am to 12pm (Melbourne time).
» To listen to the program on your computer or phone, click here – or go to www.947thepulse.com where you then click on ‘Listen Live’ on the right.
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Podcast archive
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