Catholic church between lightness and love and power and lies

The Sustainable Hour no. 524 | Transcript | Podcast notes


Our guests in The Sustainable Hour no. 524 on 16 October 2024 are Heike Webber and Freya Clough Good, who are members of Extinction Rebellion and on this day are fasting outside of Saint Patrick’s Catholic Cathedral in Melbourne.

“The archdiocese is committed to the safety, wellbeing and human dignity of all children, young people and adults,” it says at the foot of a poster prominently displayed on the Saint Patrick’s Cathedral. Hollow words at the moment, considering the climate crisis we face and the church’s immoral lack of engagement in the global transition towards climate safety.

A small group of climate activists, members of Extinction Rebellion in Melbourne, decided to call out Archbishop Peter Comensoli for the lack of real action on climate in his archdiocese. Significantly, along with the four XR climate activists was a Dominican priest, Peter Murnane. And among the four XR activists was a radio presenter who is well-known to our listeners: our own Tony Gleeson.

Heike Webber is organiser of the action both inside and outside Saint Patrick’s Cathedral. The aim of the action by a group of five fasting climate activists and their supporters is to remind the Catholic Archbishop Peter Cominsoli of Pope Francis’ two encyclicals Laudato Si’ (2015) and Laudato Deum (2023). In these, the Pope urges all Catholics to become aware of the climate crisis and be active participants in the solutions. Heide Webber is member of the local Extinction Rebellion Westside Naarm (Melbourne) Group.

Freya Clough Good is part of the support group for the five Extinction Rebellion activists who are fasting as they interact with the public outside of Saint Patrick’s Catholic Cathedral – the main place of worship in Naarm (Melbourne). 

In the 524th episode of The Sustainable Hour, the hosts discuss the urgent climate crisis, emphasising the need for unified action and language in addressing environmental issues. 

The dialogue acknowledges the wisdom of Indigenous peoples and the importance of community engagement in activism. 

The two guests highlight the role of the Catholic Church in climate action and the potential for a global transition towards sustainability, drawing inspiration from successful initiatives in Denmark. 

In this conversation, Mik Aidt discusses the challenges and opportunities surrounding climate action in Australia compared to Denmark’s approach. He believes the Danes’ proactive narrative around ‘the global transition’ could serve as a model.

Mik highlights the confusion and apathy among Australians regarding climate policies, the importance of media in shaping public perception, and the need for community mobilisation. He emphasises the urgency of the climate crisis and the role of the fossil fuel industry in perpetuating it, calling for a much more united effort to drive the global transition towards sustainability.

For details and information about the video clips, audio excerpts and music we play during the Hour, including Colin Mockett’s Global Outlook, see the transcript below.

. . .

As Colin says as he rounds off today’s Hour, it isn’t every day that The Sustainable Hour gets to take part in a non-violent direct action in a church – action which includes fasting for two days by four climate activists together with a Catholic priest sitting outside Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, the centre of Catholic worship in Naarm (Melbourne). But that is what has been happening between Sunday and Tuesday this week.

The participating Catholic priest is Father Peter Murnane – an 85-year-old Dominican priest who lives his values and beliefs – and coincidently values and beliefs which align with those of his Order, values and beliefs which have a strong emphasis on social justice.  

Father Murnane has been pushing for stronger action on climate within his church for more than a decade. He was excited when the head of his church, Pope Francis, launched his encyclical Laudato Si’ in 2015 and then followed it up with Laudato Deum last year. Both of these stressed the nature of the climate crisis we faced as well as the moral responsibility the church and its members have to be part of the solution. However, Peter’s disappointment grew as he saw nothing being done.

The decision to take action inside the church wasn’t taken lightly. The five activists knew that it would upset some people. “Unfortunately being nice doesn’t have any impact on business-as-usual,” XR-rebel Heike Webber said.

On Sunday, the group stood at the back of the cathedral, and as the procession to end mass started moving outside towards the back of the church, they stood up silently with signs designed to create thought while Peter read out the speech he had specially prepared for the occasion:

The speech essentially calls out Archbishop Peter Comensoli for the lack of real action on climate in his archdiocese. A copy of this, plus a flyer was handed out to people as they walked past:

“As the congregation filed out between the climate activists, there was some anger expressed, but the overwhelming response via voices and eyes was ‘Thank you for doing this!’. We received the same response in the ensuing two days as we fasted outside,” Webber said.

“Sanctuary is an old tradition of the church and to strengthen our point, we asked for sanctuary within the cathedral for two days. Two days in which we’d be open to discussions with the Archbishop or his representatives on what were the possible solutions to the climate crisis we face.”

“As expected, this was refused, so we camped outside on the nature-strip after placing signs with quotes from Pope Francis addressing the importance of the Catholic church getting involved in and lobbying for real action on climate. We also had banners which we placed on the fence to create thoughts and discussion which were successful.” 

The activists had a steady stream of supporters who stopped to calmly discuss why they had decided to act in this way. Again, some people expressed anger, but according to Webber, this was overwhelmingly outweighed by positivity.

This positivity accompanied by the news from Mik about what religions are doing in the country of his birth, Denmark, gave them ideas to make contact with Folkekirkens Grønne Omstilling (‘The Church of Denmark’s Green Transition’). 

What happened over the last three days isn’t the end of the work, rather it’s the start. Both our guests, Heike and Freya, reiterated this. They are committed to continuing this campaign. 

We hope this week’s episode brings some clarity to people’s thinking about why climate activists would choose to take such a provocative action. Everyone involved felt they had no choice but to be involved.


A prayer for our Earth

– and for people of all faiths

All-powerful God,
you are present in the whole universe
and in the smallest of your creatures.
You embrace with your tenderness all that exists.
Pour out upon us the power of your love,
that we may protect life and beauty.
Fill us with peace, that we may live
as brothers and sisters, harming no one.
O God of the poor,
help us to rescue the abandoned
and forgotten of this earth,
so precious in your eyes.
Bring healing to our lives,
that we may protect the world and not prey on it,
that we may sow beauty,
not pollution and destruction.
Touch the hearts
of those who look only for gain
at the expense of the poor and the earth.
Teach us to discover the worth of each thing,
to be filled with awe and contemplation,
to recognize that we are profoundly united
with every creature
as we journey towards your infinite light.
We thank you for being with us each day.
Encourage us, we pray, in our struggle
for justice, love and peace.

~ Page 178 in Pope Francis’ second encyclical letter entitled Laudato Si’ – Of The Holy Father Francis On Care For Our Common Home



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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 millennia before they were invaded. Their land was then stolen from them – it wasn’t ceded. 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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Short video from the Vatican promoting the Pope’s Laudate Deum publication

→ Grist – 4 October 2024:
Can shaming the world’s worst ‘climate criminals’ save the planet?
“Climate Defiance activists direct their fury at the rich and powerful. They’ve also started working with them.”

Ketan Joshi wrote:

  • Coal mine approvals
  • Loopholes for ultra-huge SUVs
  • Subsidies for new fossil gas projects
  • Delaying real mitigation uses empty promises of new technologies like CCS
  • Cruise ships (just….cruise ships)

These are some of the real things we are doing today to intensify every disaster in the future, and many of the disasters happening today were intensified by these activities and many more.

This article by Jess D. shows how powerful and impactful it is to put climate change in its causal context – it’s the consequence of burning fossil fuels, agricultural supersizing and land destruction:

→ ABC News – 12 October 2024:
How Hurricane Milton rapidly turned into a monster as climate change supercharges storms
“To understand how global warming is supercharging hurricanes, it’s important to understand how they work.”

230 people killed, $250 billion lost

Scientists estimate climate change made the high sea temperatures that fueled Hurricane Helene 200 to 500 times more likely and caused Helene to have 50 percent more rainfall

Helene struck six states, stretching more than 500 miles inland, flooding towns, destroying roads and bridges, sweeping away homes, and taking more than 230 lives. Climate change also supercharged Hurricane Milton, roughly doubling property damage. 

These disasters have taken a huge emotional, physical, and financial toll. AccuWeather estimates that damage from Helene alone could reach $250 billion, most of which is uninsured. In western North Carolina, once considered a refuge from the worst effects of climate change, fewer than 1 percent of residents in the hardest-hit counties have flood insurance, likely never imagining they would need it. 

Why do we allow these events – all made far worse by fossil fuels – to happen without demanding change?

“At this very moment, Hurricane Milton is slamming into Florida. It is bringing untold devastation to communities that are still reeling from Hurricane Helene only two weeks earlier.

Tampa Mayor Jane Castor said to residents unwilling to evacuate: “I can say this without any dramatization whatsoever: If you choose to stay in one of those evacuation areas, you are going to die.”

Insane, right? But maybe – finally – Milton and Helene will wake people up to the realities of the climate crisis??? 

Unfortunately, no.

We won’t wake up. We didn’t wake up when Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005, and we didn’t wake up when Sandy hit New York in 2012, even though many at the time said that if Wall Street were ever to be hit by a hurricane then true change would come. 

It didn’t. 

Nor did we wake up when Ivan, Harvey, Maria, Ida, Irma and Ike hit – not to mention the hundreds of other hurricanes, tsunamis, tornadoes, typhoons and superstorms that have ravaged Planet Earth in recent memory.

Why we allow these events – all made far worse by fossil fuels – to happen without demanding change from our elected officials is beyond me. And maybe that’s the problem. Maybe we’re not demanding that change loudly enough.”
~ Joel Bach

Nature positive?

Of all the reports shared and considered at the Global Nature Positive Summit held in Sydney last week perhaps the most dispiriting was that compiled by WWF and the Zoological Society of London. It showed that the size of almost 35,000 wild populations of mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and fish has shrunk by an average of 73 per cent since 1970. That is to say that in the lifetime of most people reading this, we have managed to destroy most of the earth’s living creatures.

At the conference Marco Lambertini, a former WWF director and the driving force behind the nature positive movement, told me this is not just a moral cause, but a crucial one. What is left of the natural world provides incalculable economic value. It gives us not only wood and fibre, protein and energy, but also clean air and water. Unless the economic value of so-called “ecosystem services” is somehow accounted for, he argues, we will continue to destroy the provider. (…)

The conference’s co-hosts were federal Minister for the Environment and Water Tanya Plibersek, who had conceived the summit, and NSW Minister for the Environment Penny Sharpe.

Plibersek, doubtless distracted by the parliamentary sitting week and her ongoing failure to secure the passage of her promised reforms to Australia’s ineffective environmental protection laws, flew in and out of the event.

Sharpe, who is facing down growing fury from the environmental movement in NSW as logging continues at an intensified rate inside the proposed boundaries of the Great Koala National Park she promised to create, was on personal leave and did not attend at all.

The scant progress by both governments on crucial issues was widely, and miserably, discussed throughout the event.

Nick O'Malley
Nick O’Malley
Environment and Climate Editor, The Age

How hurricanes became culture wars

“For years, it was received wisdom in activist and government circles that when climate-driven disasters such as storms, wildfires and deadly heatwaves started to bite, an anguished public would become galvanised in a way they hadn’t been before to face the challenge of global heating.

“Yet that just hasn’t happened – it’s frustrating,” Paul Bledsoe, who worked on climate policy as part of Bill Clinton’s White House, told Oliver Milman from The Guardian.

While polls show a growing number of people accept the climate crisis is real and is affecting more and more lives, its manifestations are now being routinely used to prop up other preconceived political biases. The problem of the climate crisis itself is being drowned out.

Global heating, it seems, is not just an accelerant of extreme weather, it is also amplifying prejudices, conspiracy theories and other embedded political notions, rather than challenging them.”
~ Excerpt from The Guardian’s newsletter Down to Earth



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Transcript of The Sustainable Hour no. 524

Johan Rockstöm:
The window is rapidly closing, but there is still some light in the window.

Jingle:
The Sustainable Hour. For a green, clean, sustainable Geelong: The Sustainable Hour.

Tony Gleeson:
Welcome to The Sustainable Hour. We’d like to acknowledge, as always, that we’re broadcasting from the land of the Wadawurrung people. I’m personally on Wunjerry country. We’d like to acknowledge the elders – past, present and those that earn that great honour in the future. We’re on stolen land – land that was never ceded. Always was and always will be First Nations land. And we know that there is an incredible depth and breadth of ancient wisdom that they learned from nurturing both their land and their communities for millennia before the land was stolen, and in that ancient wisdom lies many of the answers that we need as we navigate the climate crisis.

Tampa mayor on CNN:
Helene was a wake up call. This is literally catastrophic. And I can say without any dramatisation whatsoever: if you choose to stay in one of those evacuation areas, you’re going to die.

Katha Herbers on Instagram:
Hey, friends. So I just wanted to say, we’re seeing a lot of like, oh my God – is this a new normal with the hurricanes? And, I just think, like, it’s going to get worse because we are going to still be drilling for fossil fuels. We are still going to cut down the Amazon for the animal agriculture. The planet is still going to get warmer, which means that these hurricanes will get worse. So it’s not the new normal. It’s a temporary situation that we’re in. And if we don’t all rise up, hit the streets, become angry, join activism groups like Extinction Rebellion or Climate Defiance, donate money to the Climate Emergency Fund, vote in politicians who we can move, who we can influence… – then it’s going to just get worse.

Mik Aidt:
Katja Herbers recorded herself saying this on a video, and then she posted it on her Instagram account. Before that, we listened to the mayor of Tampa speaking on CNN, just before the second hurricane in two weeks hit her town. And as she said, hurricanes are getting more and more dangerous. To no surprise to the scientists who’ve been actually warning us about this for more than 50 years.

And I don’t know how many of you listening to The Sustainable Hour today, for instance, identify yourself as a climate activist? When we look at the way everything is going… As climate activists, as a movement of people who have been screaming up about this for at least more than a decade now, trying to get our governments to wake up and act on this before it’s too late – it feels like… We’ve tried everything. We’ve tried petitioning them. We’ve tried walking in the streets. Climate strikes. We’ve been calling on our leaders to change the law.

And then we’ve seen Extinction Rebellion – and in London: Just Stop Oil – blockading roads – and coal ports, throwing paint at artworks – protesting against building new gas hubs, as people are doing here in Geelong – or an incinerator they suddenly want to put in our own backyard.

And once in a while there’s an election, and then we get involved in politics – for a little while – and often too late.

The bottom line is: we’ve had some wins, like, just recently the protesting against seismic blasting actually made that company that wanted to do it give up and say, ‘We’re not going to do it.’ So there’s been some goals we can tick off. And when it comes to elections, I think the Community Independents movement is an exciting development. It’s going to be really interesting to follow what happens in the lead up to the federal election next year.

But if we look at the way the weather is behaving, the way the temperature graphs keep rising, and all the statistics and data that tells us that human emissions of CO2 and methane, and so on – the so-called greenhouse gases – keep rising. So the climate movement has not succeeded. It’s not been able to get us into action mode before the chaos, the disruption, the deaths, the flooding, the fires and all the devastation began to happen.

But now that it’s happening, it appears to me there’s one thing we haven’t tried yet, at least not here in Australia. We haven’t tried what it feels like when someone comes up with a name for what we should call all these different hundreds and hundreds of different positive changes that are actually already happening.

The solutions that are needed to truly combat this wicked climate problem, to get a handle on it, the emissions, the land clearing, the food waste and all that – what do we call that positive wave or transformation that we know we have to get to? – and fast! But we don’t even know its name. It doesn’t have a name. Instead, it has maybe, like, 150 different names. It’s like a Babylon kind-of tower where everyone is speaking in their own language.

We need to be unified. We need to have a unified language about where we’re heading. The Danes actually have a name for it, and they use it all the time. And I believe we could really benefit from getting more on the same page here in Australia – using just one expression, one phrase that everyone is talking about, which is the positive sum of all those thousands of solutions that are already working.

The Danes call it Den Grønne Omstilling – and I’m proposing for a translation of that is that we talk about the global transition, and I’ll be talking more about that later in The Sustainable Hour today.

But we’re also going to talk climate activism. We are going to talk with two rebels from Extinction Rebellion who are out there, not only are they on a hunger strike right now, but they’re also having, you could say, a talk with God, or at least they are knocking on the door of one of the leaders of the Catholic Church.

But first, the global news is waiting for us. It’s been a pretty heavy week. And – I mean, even my daughter told me that she’s scared when she saw the news coming in from America: The most aggressive storm ever recorded on this planet. Yep. Welcome to what we have been warned about for decades. They’ve called it “climate change”. It’s not. It’s a climate breakdown or a climate emergency. And it’s going to get a lot worse – just like Katja told us just before – in the years to come.

So we need to have a global outlook on things. We also need to have a positive outlook on things. And in that regard, we’re lucky to have a global news bulletin served to us every week on a silver platter from Colin Mockett OAM.

Colin Mockett’s Global Outlook: (at 7:36)
Well, hello Mik. My round up this week begins in America with rescue crews and damage assessment teams are still coming through. Debris left behind by Hurricane Milton, which devastated regions of Florida a week ago. If you remember last week’s program, we began with the same news about Hurricane Helene, which caused devastation all the way to western North Carolina and killed more than 230 people.

The double whammy will change some communities forever, and it’s kindled new conversations about climate change amid a contentious presidential election. Now, it’s interesting that both hurricanes were rated as ‘once-in-100-year events’. Now, I’m not alone in thinking that the U.S. might have to review these ratings in light of climate change. Once-in-a-100-year events are arriving weekly in that neck of the world.

Now to Germany, where Volkswagen Motors dryly noted that China and the West are driving in opposite directions on the matter of electric cars. The company reported a 26% year to date rise in fully electric car sales in China, but this was offset by a fall in sales also of 26% of the same product in the United States, sales in Europe are also down by 14%, and that gap is widening, the company’s third quarter figures revealed.

Volkswagen, which also makes luxury brands Porsche and Audi, so: fully electric vehicle Q3 sales – at the third quarter – grow in China by 5.2%. Now that’s compared to a 41% drop in the U.S., and that leaves the company global sales down 9.8%, but thet’re still selling 189,400 cars for the quarter. The third quarter of the year.

Now, it’s unclear why the transition from fossil fuel cars to clean EVs is so much more successful in China than in the West, but it likely involves a range of factors, starting with political uncertainty in the West and taking on board the fact that China has hardly gone on board with EVs and they’ve got plenty of roll outs of charging stations, whereas certainly in Australia they’re very difficult to find and they’re not always working.

Now to Southeast Asia, where a range of non-government organisations from Japan, South Korea and Taiwan have signed an open letter urging Australia to stop new fossil gas projects. The letter was published as a full page advertisement in the Sydney Morning Herald and The Canberra Times, and it was coordinated by the Australia Institute. The groups say that Asia’s energy systems are shifting to use more renewable energy and less gas. They highlight that new gas projects will excavate the climate crisis, undermine regional security and work against the interests of both Asia and Australia.

Key points in their open letter emphasise that Japan can achieve 90% clean electricity by 2035 and already on sells Australian gas to several third countries. Australia is likely to be one of those third parties. It’s a ridiculous thing. We’re selling our gas to Japan and Japan is now selling – talking about selling – it back to us because we’ve got a shortage.

The other places haven’t got that situation, and they’re all reducing the amount of gas. Solar and wind are already cheaper than gas fired electricity. And Korea, with energy storage costs also declining quickly.

Meanwhile, our environment minister Tanya Plibersek, while talking up her government’s efforts – she recently claimed that Australia had made big gains on the environmental front – she’s approved three giant new coal mine extensions that will cover an area almost the size of Sydney. That makes seven new coal mines and over 200 new gas wells all approved under this government, which was elected with an environmental emphasis.

And while we’re still talking about Australia: A new analysis was published last week showing that our coal mines and gas fields may be emitting double the methane that they’ve officially declared. The Super Power Institute’s open methane tool used satellites and ground based verification to identify 20 coal and gas sites rated to be of concern by the preliminary results from the tool.

It estimate that methane emissions may be around double what is currently of concern. The institute called for satellite verification to replace Australia’s National Greenhouse Energy Reporting Scheme, which relies on self-reported data from the major emitters. So what they’re saying is, look, let’s use the science. So not just ask these people themselves how much they’re putting into the atmosphere.

Now, the chair of the Super Power Institute, Rod Sims, said it’s critical that the upcoming review of emissions reporting, led by Chief Scientist Cathy Foley, takes into account the significant discrepancies of self-reported national inventory data and ensures that Australia modernises its greenhouse gas reporting. Now, Rod Sims is the former chairperson of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and as such, he’s a much more reliable source than the fossil fuel miners themselves.

And I just want to emphasise here that methane – or as they named it, natural gas – is about 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas. And that on-the-nose note ends my round up for this week.

Jingle:
Listen to our Sustainable Hour – for the future.

Tony:
Our guest today is Heike Webber, sitting beside me. Welcome to The Sustainable Hour, thanks for coming on. Tell us what you’ve been up to the last day or so.

Heike Webber:
So I’m a member of XR, and we had a moment there where we wanted to think of new strategies, new approaches, because we were tired and lacking an idea. So I had developed this approach of trying to include allies that we had previously tried to include in the climate movement.

So one idea was to actually look at the Catholic Church as an institution that’s powerful – as an institution that has financial and other resources. Also: people resources. And if we can bring parts of the Catholic Church into the movement, we would have more of a chance to actually make a difference, and we would develop more of a mass movement than we have up to now.

So what we’ve been up to: We’ve been planning for about two months, and yesterday we’ve walked into Saint Patric’s church, and different groups had different tasks. One group walked into the church near the altar area, a banner that said destroying the planet is against my religion. And at the other end of the church, a priest that is part of the section actually spoke to the congregation, but not so much, even the congregation, but the procession that was making their way down towards the main entrance.

And what we are actually doing is we are challenging Archbishop Comensoly to use his influence and power and his resources for halting climate change and healing the Earth. And that was part of the speech: that we need support, that we are in need of allies that can put some, as the Pope says, put some healthy pressure on organisations that either cause the climate change or are complicit with it.

So we had this 20-minute action in the church and then outside in the front of the church, which was absolutely amazing.

Colin:
I understand heard that both you and Tony are there. You’re going to be there at the church for the rest of the day? And you are both on hunger strike?

Heike:
Yes. So let me give you a little bit of context. We also asked of the Archbishop that they give us sanctuary in the church for two days so that we could discuss the climate crisis and arrive on a joint agreement with the priests of the church to give to the media. And then, if they weren’t going to give a sanctuary – and they didn’t – we were having those two days outside of the church, near the church, and would give our message to people about the climate emergency, and also have a hunger strike, slash fasting, because we have older people involved that find it really difficult to be without nourishment.

So we’ve had a lot of interactions outside of the church, not only with people who passed by, but also with people who were in and out of the church and actually found that there are quite a few individuals that totally agree with the notion that the church should be doing more, much more.

Colin:
What was the official response from the church?

Heike:
Nothing. Silence. Anger at first at us daring to bring a banner in, daring to want to speak to the Archbishop or the priests and other officials. There was a lot of anger, to the point that somebody was pushed and that somebody tried to pull the banner out of people’s hands. So of course, they were absolutely surprised. Who would dare to walk into the church and bring the world into the church? …what was it, Christian again?

Or the other one I was going to ask is how many people, how many are you outside the church? First thing….

Heike:
Okay. If go back to that. So there are five people who are fasting or hunger striking, but we continuously get support of other people in the movement to bring us things, ropes, because it’s going to rain a lot today. So we need to make a makeshift structure to protect ourselves from rain. So the core people are the five, but there are people supporting us.

Mik:
But really, it shouldn’t be coming as a surprise to anyone. I mean, Pope Francis, the head of of all Catholics in the entire world, came out with this encyclical letter… how long ago? Almost a decade ago. Laudato si, which we have talked about so much in The Sustainable Hour. And we’ve also talked with Catholic priests about it here in Geelong and so on. So it could barely come like a surprise to anyone that people are getting… what should we call it, a bit impatient with… When is the action that Pope Francis is asking for? – their leader in the religious system there. When do we see the Catholic Church really step into the space that their leader is asking for?

Heike:
And that’s exactly our point, Mik. They shouldn’t be surprised. They’ve had it quiet long enough, and somebody needs to call them out for continuing to refuse to do their bit, even though they’re professing to care for oppression, as they put it.

Absolutely. They shouldn’t be surprised. And hopefully this kind of movement that we are inspiring at the moment will make them look over the shoulder the whole time, because they’ll be more disruption and more challenges. Yeah. The Archbishop was sent a letter almost a couple of months ago asking for a meeting around around all this – and no response. So we felt that you… Yeah. We didn’t have a choice but to do something like this. The issue wasn’t going to go away just because he was ignoring it. So, yeah. And when when we were in the church, there were a number of parishioners that… some were angry and saying that ‘politics and church shouldn’t mix’.

It’s a bit of a… I had a bit of a snicker at that one. But many people realised… and in their words: ‘We say thank you!’ Yeah. ‘Thank you!’ And people were clapping. But we were staying close to the entrance. We had such a live stream and – it’s our Intel, intelligence, that actually a lot of people are absolutely disappointed with the Archbishop’s comments or lack of response to the climate emergency.

It strikes me that they can’t, you know, is taking a leaf out of the federal Labor government. Actually, I think they were saying that what they going to do and they were talking wonderfully, yeah? They don’t do nothing. Yeah, well, there are a number of the cabinet, the Labor cabinet, that are Catholics, apparently. Say they as Catholics had practice of faith. And what we’ve also done in this action is to challenge Comensoly morally and ethically, because that’s what he studied, you know. Is it morally or ethically justifiable that this church has so many resources and could do some so much good for us now and for future generation that they remain an active and responsive?

And, you know, that principle that the people who do nothing are actually worse, than the people who work against a particular principle, that principle truly applies. The church has a responsibility. And we always say that the more gifts you have, the more education you have, the more responsibility you have to act on behalf of the poor, act on behalf of the Earth. They have to step into that responsibility that is us in this terrible time.

Colin:
Now, when you asked for asylum in the church, they must have said something. They just threw you out?

Heike:
What they did, they said nothing. It’s always the silence that speaks. It’s not the issue. We are in this church. We’re in this holy place. We shouldn’t be in there. They didn’t even give the ask for sanctuary a second thought.

And I think that’s because that would have been really confronting if they had actually sat down and said, well, is that our responsibility? Isn’t this an old tradition? Shouldn’t we consider? But that was never on the table. The Dean eventually came to us, but that was pretty well a non-event. Yes, yes, it was obviously felt that he had to. The police arrived and there was… negotiations took place, and part of that was that we would like to speak to whoever was in charge.

And he came, and yeah… he didn’t engage, you know. He just made it known that he had followed our request to talk to him. But he didn’t talk. He didn’t really, truly, give us any time.

Colin:
Have you approached the media?

Heike:
No, we are trying today. I think that there’s big was a big marathon on in Melbourne, but we couldn’t change the date again. And I think the marathon took a lot of the media’s interest and we missed out a bit. We are trying not to put a media folder together, but Violet is helping with that – and to send it out, and do a bit of media wrangling. This is this is the only disappointing aspect, really: that media wasn’t present.

Colin:
I suggest you could take your own photographs, and email them to the media.

Heike:
Yeah.

Mik:
And of course, if you send them to us, we would put them up, you know, along with the podcast notes, we’re happy to produce a special page for you on our website, climatesafety.info, because already we have so many articles there about religious activities like here, in Geelong, as I said, over the last ten years, there’s been quite a lot going on. But you’re right, it still seems to be lacking with, you know, the the top of the Catholic Church is certainly missing in action. So let’s let’s get the message out. Let’s get the pictures out there.

Heike:
Yeah. That would be wonderful. Thank you. That’s great.

Mik:
And also I would add, you know, when you get to speak with the media, you can mention that it’s not such a strange thing at all to be expecting of the big churches in society to step in and really begin to take action on this climate emergency, which is all over the place, and especially as Pope Francis keeps saying, it’s especially hurting the poor. If I can just mention, for instance, an example of that: I was in Denmark about a month ago and I saw the all the different things that are happening in the Danish Omstilling – in the Danish ‘transition’, as they call it. They call it ‘the green transition’ or ‘the green Omstilling’. And there is such a thing in Denmark as ‘The People’s Church’s Green Omstilling’ [Folkekirkens Grønne Omstilling]. And The People’s Church [The Church of Denmark], I should also explain, is the main organisation for the majority of churches in Denmark, which are Lutheran churches. They have this big organisation which is also getting a lot of public funding from the government, and they own a lot of churches, but not just churches, also a lot of land, even agricultural land. So the big thing that is happening now nationwide in Denmark is that the national Danish churches are mobilising into the Green Omstilling, into the global transition towards clean energy and climate action.

And I saw so many examples of that. 45,000 trees were planted, for instance, that was in the news while I was there – from just a few churches in the south of the country. And generally the churches have something like 8,500 hectares of land that where they are now beginning to say: ‘We are growing forests on that land, we are planting trees, and we are installing solar panels on the parish grounds.’

They have, as you say, the resources, and they have a lot of roof space – so much that they can even begin to export energy out into society, so that we can get to 100% of clean energy in society even faster, thanks to the churches. So… it’s possible!

Heike: (28:36)
This cathedral has so many roofs that could, like you said, sell energy. It also, the grounds are beautiful. There’s so much potential to growing fruit here and and having water tanks and having the community involved and tending the gardens, like, there is so much room to model different types of sustainable behaviors. And as that opportunity isn’t used. It lies dormant.

Colin:
Especially when you think that the Pope, who is the titular head, has thrown his weight completely.

Heike:
Absolutely. The global solutions, they are saying, no, no, not us. We just want you to go way. Apparently they are saying that ‘The Pope is talking about things he doesn’t know anything about. He’s a theologian, not a scientist.’ That’s the argument here at the church.

Colin:
Yeah, yeah, I would have thought that if there was going to be one organisation that would listen to theologians, it would be the Catholic Church.

Heike:
One guy approached us last night and he was really angry. And so he said, ‘You’re not even Catholics and you don’t believe in God, and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.’ He was really angry. So I tried to get out of this conversation and I said, ‘In actual fact, the Pope addressed his messages to all people, not just the Catholic Church.’ And he said, ‘Oh, why would that be?’ And I said, ‘Because you weren’t listening.’

Yeah, but and it would be great if you could give us some detail to contact there because, yeah, other churches in other countries modeling different type of behavior must have an effect on the church here. At least we should give it a try. Yeah, absolutely.

Mik: (30:39)
But the thing in Denmark is, I feel, that that people have come together around this in a much broader and more public way. And one reason that’s my theory is that they have one word that they’re all using when they talk about what the goal is and why they are doing this, the green Omstilling, as to say – the global transition. That’s what I think we should translate that to. That’s what you should be talking, in my opinion, to both the media and to the leaders of the church about.

Orpheus:
Unleashing the global transition in Australia. Welcome to the special segment of The Sustainable Hour, where we’re diving into an essential topic that could redefine how we tackle the climate crisis here in Australia.

This is about how we can shift our language and our approach to climate action. Taking inspiration from Denmark’s phrase Den Grønne Omstilling – the global transition.

Let’s start with why I’m so concerned about this.

As scientists have been warning since the 1970s, our world is warming due to the burning of fossil fuels and agricultural practices. The extreme weather events we’re experiencing today floods, droughts, wildfires are just the beginning of a global crisis. And while the signs are everywhere, Australia’s response as a nation has been frustratingly slow. Why?

One factor that stands out is the confusion caused by a powerful fossil fuel lobby through their campaigns, they’ve muddied the waters for everyday Australians, spreading doubt and slowing progress.

On top of this, some pockets of Australian society actively resist the clean energy transition, organising rallies against renewable energy and climate policies. This has left our governments hesitant to move forward without stronger public backing.

The result? Apathy, confusion. Many Australians are unsure where to begin, or they’re waiting for the government to give clearer guidance.

In the meantime, climate action falls further down the priority list, especially amid cost of living pressures.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. In Denmark, things look very different.

Denmark’s transformation, the Omstilling.

Denmark, like Australia, has fossil fuels in the ground: oil in the North Sea. But instead of dragging their feet, Denmark has embraced a proactive and ambitious green transition. Over the last five years, Denmark’s government has led the charge, transforming sectors across the economy. The result a society steering boldly towards full decarbonisation and a circular economy where sustainability is the norm.

This isn’t just a governmental shift, it’s a societal one, grounded in a collective mindset shaped by the phrase Den Grønne Omstilling.

Now Den Grønne Omstilling doesn’t translate easily into English. It’s more than just the green transition. It represents an active, deliberate reorientation of systems, thinking and structures. It’s about recalibrating society for a greener future with everyone on board.

Let’s take a closer look at some real world examples of what this green transformation looks like in Denmark:

1) Charging stations for electric vehicles. By law, all public buildings with 20 or more parking spaces must have electric vehicle charging stations by January 2025. This ensures the infrastructure is ready to support the transition to EVs.

2) Petrol car free zones in city centers. Major cities in Denmark have created petrol car free zones in their city centers, contributing to a 36% reduction in air pollution. This is a bold move. Priority housing, public health and cleaner air.

3) Even the churches are involved in the green transition. In some parishes, they’ve planted thousands of trees on church owned land and installed solar panels. This is part of a nationwide initiative called Folkekirkenes Grønne Omstilling, which supports sustainability across 8,500 hectares of church land. The global transition towards decarbonisation, electrification and circularisation is deeply embedded in Danish society.

And the transition isn’t just government policy, it’s community driven, business led and supported by everyday citizens. Denmark’s national broadcaster, DR, has made climate issues a top priority, featuring regular reports on how businesses and citizens are leading the renewable energy charge.

Now this brings us to Australia’s media landscape where unfortunately we see a very different picture. Australia’s public broadcasters ABC and SBS have fallen short.

SBS in particular has shifted its focus to light entertainment, sidelining crucial discussions about climate action. ABC’s coverage, while better, is sporadic and lacks the urgency that the crisis demands. Too often, climate stories are overshadowed by political bickering or economic headlines.

Imagine if ABC made climate solutions part of its daily reporting, connecting the dots between the climate crisis and the solutions already out there. Solutions-based journalism could make a huge difference in helping Australians feel connected to the global transition, rather than overwhelmed by the problem.

At the heart of this shift is language. In Denmark, Den Grønne Omstilling has given everyone – from politicians to business leaders to everyday citizens – a unifying phrase that makes the transition feel inevitable. In Australia, we need a similar unifying term.

That’s why I’m proposing we start talking about the global transition. It’s time to move away from divisive rhetoric and focus on the positive, forward looking change that’s possible.

This is more than a climate emergency. It’s a global shift towards sustainability.

So what’s next? The global transition is already underway. But we need our media, our government and our communities to pick up the pace.

If Australia’s public broadcasters commit to solutions-based climate journalism, if they hold power to account, highlight best practices and showcase positive tipping points, we can inspire real change. But we all have a role to play, whether it’s at work, in your community or through your local representatives: Start talking about what the global transition looks like for you. We’ve made change happen before and we can do it again.

Thank you for joining us on this journey. Let’s continue the conversation about the global transition and explore how we can all become part of this movement, whether as individuals or businesses or a country. Find your role in the global transition.

Mik: (37:46)
But hey, can I just remind everyone that back in that encyclical letter that the Pope published nine years ago, he actually – and this was on page, let me see, on page 178 – he added a prayer for our Earth. And that was not just a prayer for the Catholic part of the Earth. No, this was a prayer, as he said, for people of all faiths.

‘At the conclusion of this lengthy reflection, which has been both joyful and troubling, I propose that we offer two prayers,’ he wrote. ‘The first one we can share with all who believe in a God.’

So here, I think, it’s time to remind ourselves of what it was that the Pope suggested people of all faiths could be using as a prayer for our Earth:

‘All powerful God, you are present in the whole universe and in the smallest of your creatures. You embrace with your tenderness all that exists. Pour out upon us the power of your love, that we may protect life and beauty. Fill us with peace. That we may live as brothers and sisters, harming no one. Oh, God of the poor. Help us to rescue the abandoned and forgotten on this Earth – so precious in your eyes. Bring healing to our lives. That we may protect the world and not prey on it. That we may sow beauty, not pollution and destruction. Touch the hearts of those who look only for gain at the expense of the poor and of the Earth.

Teach us to discover the worth of each thing, to be filled with awe and contemplation, to recognise that we are profoundly united with every creature as we journey towards your infinite light. We thank you for being with us each day. Encourage us, we pray, in our struggle for justice, love and peace,’ said Pope Francis in the Encyclical that was published in 2015, which was all about – as you could hear also in this prayer – about ecology and about protecting the world, not preying on it, about touching the hearts of those who only look for gain at the expense of the Earth.

Tony:
Wow, we’ve got to use that. Yeah.

Heike:
And you know what, Mik? You just added to lightness and love by reading that poem. So I’m really grateful. Thank you.

Mik:
I mean, not that that I’m planning to go anywhere anytime soon. Hopefully. I’m 62 years old now, but I have friends. I have a good friend who died just last week, and I would say, you know, when my time comes, I would love it if someone would read this prayer by Pope Francis at my funeral – in recognition that we are ‘profoundly united with every creature on this planet.’

Tony:
Yeah.

Mik:
We need to wake up and understand that we are part of life on this planet. We can’t, just, as we have done, eradicate it. There’s just a new report out that 75% – three quarters – of all wildlife on this planet has been wiped out by humans, cutting down the forests and and doing… you know, agriculture so that we can get meat on the table.

Tony:
Yeah.

Heike:
But you just did what he’s asking us to do. You headed towards this journey. You’re headed towards this struggle by reading the poem. Thank you.

Tony:
Yeah. Laudato Si was 2015. He brought another version out last year, 2023: Laudato Diem. So he’s not giving up. Not going away. And I guess one of our jobs is going to be to find out what is happening in. And the good things that are happening that can be fed back to him to say that this is possible. So it’s not a fight, it’s not a, you know, it’s not you don’t have to reinvent the wheel and you’re not alone. It’s that… People have done this. So let’s talk to them and see how it can be done here.

Heike:
And, you know, the, the Pope started the Lo data down by saying he would have so much more had happened during the last nine years. And that’s our hope, too, isn’t it? And that’s our disappointment that we have in many ways, the climate movement has put pressure and really stuck its neck out. And yet we are encountering so much opposition and maybe we need to keep looking for allies – and the Catholic Church, just if they could come on board, even just partially, we’d be in a better position.

Colin:
Yeah, you know, can I bring you back down from your lofty thoughts that you’ve been having up to today, or as we’re speaking now, when did you last eat, you two? How much longer have you got? Two to go before you actually are able to eat and can leave where you are? And, how are you going to finish? You just kind of quietly walk away, or are you going to have some sort of a flourish to end with?

Heike:
I think that the flourish is a good suggestion. I’ll talk to the group about it. You want to answer the question about

Tony:
It is actually, it is just the start of something. It’s certainly not the end. We realise that. And when when we walk away or skip away or however we go away tomorrow, around midday, we’ll have, firmer ideas on what that will look like. And one of the things will be to contact the, the, Danish group, Mik referred to – the Danish churches – and, and just. Yeah, it’s just often when you’re dealing with, issues, so often you just, you just say, climate change is just another one, on top of it. And we can’t we can’t say blow away can. Our job is as much as anything is to educate about what’s already happening and then ask, well, what’s stopping us doing that? What are the issues? And then one by one, you work through them in good faith. So, you know, while all this is going on, we’ve got psychopaths that are that are doing everything they can every day to prolong their demise. So, yeah, that’s that’s the dance for you, right? … the cards we’re dealt at the moment and, yeah, it’s the concerns aren’t going to go away. And, and we’re standing on the shoulders of all of us. See you guys as well, a little bit standing on the shoulders of giants that have come before us that just won’t accept wrongs and, and and say that, yeah, we have a responsibility – because of what they’ve done – to continue that work.

Heike:
Colin, we are going back to our lofty ways.

Colin:
Keep on!

David Karoly:
It’s getting much worse and it’s getting much worse very quickly.

Code Rouge:
Everybody can do something. The time to act is no.

Freya Clough Good:
I think that what the people are doing here is extremely brave, extremely public. They know that they’re going to be experiencing harsh criticism because people hold the idea of the church very strongly and have a lot of fear about, you know, judgment. But I think that it kind of shows the extent of their bravery that they’re coming somewhere that is seem kind of untouchable, and they’re coming here respectfully, invitationally, with open heart saying, we want you. We want you to care for the world in a way that is going to make it livable, sustainable and beautiful for your children and their children. And on and on and on.

And all facets of society need to come together. Whatever groups you’re a part of, that’s the group that you need to mobilise. If you’re a part of a church, you’re part of a community group, a support group. That’s the group of people that you are obligated to mobilise because it’s going to affect every group.

Colin:
So, look, anybody they’re officially from the church keeping an eye on you – or the police around you or you, you just a small group of protesters in the church grounds?

Heike:
We have security here at on the church grounds also,

Oh, so the church are importing…

Heike:
They’re continuously informing the church officials about what we’re doing. They’re on the phone. They’re taking photos of the banners we hang up on the fence along the fence. So there’s constant communication, I think.

Tony:
We’ll take some photos of those – to make a bit of a sense.

Colin:
I’m sure the parishioners of Saint Patric’s would be really interested to know that their donations are going to private security companies.

Tony:
It’s it’s a good way of putting it.

Heike:
By the way, I got to tell you, this private security person who’s there today, he is Sikh, and he is he is not allowed to be supportive in a professional way, but he’s supportive in any other way. He even said, ‘If you need coffee or something to eat’ – though we’re not eating – he would bring it along, he said.

That’s what Sikh do. Sikhs worldwide. That’s not supporting protests.

Colin:
Yeah. That’s nice. I mean, that’s your next target. Once you walked away from this tomorrow lunchtime, nip round to the Sikh temple and say, ‘Hey, we won’t come and protest at you, but what are you going to do for climate change?’

Heike:
Yeah. Do we could, we could. That might be an idea, that.

Tony:
Yeah, there’s a group, Australian Religious Response to Climate Change that we have been interacting with as well – and just seeing how we can work together with them. I think they’ve got concerns that we’re maybe a little bit bolshie for them and may scare some people away, but we’ll have a chat with them and just see, there’s got to be a way that we can work together, because really we’ve got the same aims.

Colin:
I am an atheist, as you know, but it has been my opinion for a long time that probably one of the most used people in history was Jesus Christ.

Yes, absolutely.

Heike:
We have to go away…

Yeah. We’ve got a lawn mover just started up here.

Colin:
We can hear it. Yes. It’s a thank God it’s electric.

Tony:
It’s a brand new one.

Colin:
More power to your albow – you have all of our support.

Heike:
Thank you.

Tony:
Good on you, Colin!

Mik (49:19):
Language learning.

Yellowdot Studio video:

The news you won’t hear on the news. We turn now to the weather, where we will, of course, continue to downplay the weather as a totally random, but in reality, this escalating pattern of deadly weather, it’s all part of a trend directly caused by burning oil, gas and coal. But we can’t say that because the oil companies give us oodles and oodles of money to keep a lid on it, and we love our lid.

Don’t blow our lid. I mean, these guys are burning fossil fuels to create energy released pollution, which does overload our atmosphere with what the kids would call a thick blanket of heat trapping pollution, also known as greenhouse gas. We said: gas. I love a good fart joke. Fossil fuel pollution causes more heat on Earth, causing extreme weather.

Two new Big Oil, that’s true. And instead of doing something about it, they spent billions lobbying against clean power, lying to the public and buying off the media so that we don’t remind you every single night. Big Oil is a shadowy cabal of greedy, selfish, power hungry psychopaths murdering you for a profit. Are we on the air now? Wait. Are we? Have we started? Yeah, we’re on the air. I thought we’re in a commercial break. Whoopsie daisy.

Hi, and welcome to Yellowdot, a production studio devoted to fighting climate disinformation and inaction. ‘Yellowdot’ is the sun the source of all energy on Earth, including the energy that is you. The sun is part of the problem because it’s cooking us under a thick blanket of heat trapping carbon pollution or as oil executives call it, maximum shareholder value.

The sun is also part of the solution because every day it delivers us 10,000 times more energy than humans use energy that could be powering our lives without cutting ducklings and oil, giving kids asthma and creating fire, tornadoes. But the sun can’t buy oil. Executives are both. So oil companies buried us under a mountain of bullshit. Bullshit that says: ‘You aren’t in danger’. Bullshit that says: ‘You are in danger but there’s no other way’. Bullshit that says: ‘We don’t own this conversation. Oh, a little lower and to the right representative with firm pressure. It will take all of us to expose and clean up all this bullshit, because Yellowdot Studios can make a video, but only you can make it go so viral that the uncle you’ve been meaning to block starts sharing this stuff too.

You’re a star. Together we are Yellowdot. Please like, subscribe and share. Like your life depends on it. Yours in comic utility and irrational optimism, Yellowdot Studios.

Learn more and watch our videos at yellowdotstudios.com. Yellowdot Studios is a nonprofit.

Scott Morrison:
This is coal. Don’t be afraid.

Senator Whitehouse:
At the heart of this conflict is a battle between truth and science and power and lies.

Mik:
That’s all we could fit in one sustainable, but also today somewhat religious Sustainable Hour.

Colin:
Yes, it’s probably one of the most unusual podcasts we’ve put together. It’s, It’s not often you get to speak to two people who haven’t haven’t eaten. No, not going to eat now for another 24 hours. Or a Catholic church that hires a Sikh as security. It’s really an unusual and interesting one. And I think this week we should finish not only with ‘be the difference’, but, be the difference and then go and eat.

Mik:
And let’s do, you know, as the Pope was saying: be the difference so that we may protect the world and not prey on it.

. . .

SONG (53:37)
Michael Franti: ‘Brighter Day’
Don’t give up when your heart is weary. Don’t give up when your eyes are teary. Don’t give up when your voice is trembling. When your life needs mending. Don’t give up when a hurt is near you. Don’t give up when the world seems to be broke. I’m still hoping with my heart open to you. For a brighter day.

Oh, don’t give up. When your pride is bruised. And don’t give up when you feel you’re losing. Don’t give up in your darkest hour. Cause you got that power. That don’t give up when you feel divided. Don’t give up, I’ll be by your side, I’m still broken. I’m still hoping with my heart open. Hey, for a brighter day.

And if you stay with me I will stay with you. For brighter day.

For a brighter day.
For a brighter day.

Can’t give up. You just keep on fighting. Don’t give up. You just keep on fighting. Don’t give up. You just keep on fighting. Even when your eyes are crying. Don’t give up. You just keep on fighting. Don’t give up. You just keep on fighting. Even when your eyes are dry. For a brighter day.

Don’t you stay with me. I would stay with you for a brighter day. Don’t give up. You just keep on fighting – for a brighter day.

. . .

Peter Kalmus on Democracy Now: (57:06)
So, the planet’s overheating. It’s irreversible. It’s caused by the fossil fuel industry. And the reason I say ‘industry’ specifically, not ‘fossil fuels’, is because this industry has been systematically lying and blocking action for almost 50 years, for decades and decades.

And they’ve said publicly testifying in front of Congress that they plan to continue systematically blocking action. And this will get worse as the planet continues to get hotter. It’s getting hotter every day. Every day we continue burning fossil fuels and allowing this industry to continue spreading disinformation and blocking action. The planet gets hotter. I feel desperate. As a climate scientist, I’ve been sounding the alarm since 2006.

Other scientists have been sounding it for far longer. Doctor James Hansen in the 1980s, even back before that. And we’ve been completely ignored. You get politicians petitions, even like President Biden and even Democrats saying things that like, we listen to the scientists and then, you know, the last presidential debate, we had, Trump saying this is a hoax and giving word salad with China.

And then, Vice President Harris saying climate change is real, but we’re going to expand fracking, right? And that’s because of climate change. So we’re living in this strange dystopia where scientists are being completely ignored. So I personally don’t know what else to do. I’ve tried a lot of different kinds of activism, civil disobedience has by far been the most effective, the most effective in building the movement, inspiring other activists, getting this urgency.

So we need the public to have two things before, I think, before we’re going to be able to act, before we’re going to hold these politicians to account. We need urgency and we need cause. And the public, in my opinion, doesn’t know those two things. Like they don’t have the sense that this is existentially urgent, that this is irreversible, however hot the planet gets, that’s how hard it’s going to stay for the rest of our lives, for our children’s lives, grandchildren, many, many generations.

And they don’t know cause there’s a lot of confusion. This is caused by the fossil fuel industry. So if we want to stop this, preserve what we can, we need to know that that’s the cause, that they’re blocking action and we have to target that. Financing from the banks is a huge part of this. they’re still expanding new fossil fuel projects.

Just so these fat cats like Joe Manchin can get more rich. People don’t understand this, and they need to know urgency. This is irreversible. These storms, heatwaves, floods, crop failures, migrants, all of this destabilisation is going to get worse. It seems like we’re, you know, just, as humans, more interested in blowing each other up than being grateful and preserving this absolute jewel of a planet that has given up, gives us all of this life, gives us literally everything.

And it seems like we’re not able to get our act together. And yet we we have everything we need to stop this problem. We have solar panels, we have battery storage, we have wind. if there was will if the media let people know if the presidents and world leaders let people know urgency and cause, I think we would solve this so incredibly fast.



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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

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List of running petitions where we encourage you to add your name

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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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