Who is Climate Change Balmain-Rozelle?

Climate Change Balmain-Rozelle is a collective of local parents and residents who have come together out of mutual distress over Australia's excessive greenhouse gas emissions and the world our children will inherit.
The group is an incorporated body with an email list of 800 supporters (and growing).  Here are some of the more active people in the group.

Sue Lewis is a founding member of CCBR, a mother of two who has lived in Rozelle for 8 years. Currently working part-time as an education officer, Sue began her teaching career in the mid-'70s in South Australia. Her partner is a builder. In 2005 pivotal events were:
• amendments to the EPA act in May 2005 eliminating all environmental safeguards in favour of developments which have major economic value to the state
• reading The Weather Makers by Tim Flannery
• becoming aware, through friends living in 'coal communities', of the growing number of coal mines and potential coal-fired power stations in NSW .
"As someone who has been using photovoltaic cells for over 20 years to power my house, I find our continuing use of a 19th-century polluting fossil fuel a total no-brainer."

Sabina Carney has come to Rozelle via Tasmania, South Australia and Far North Queensland. With a background in Visual Arts, Sabina now works as a publicity and touring coordinator in the music industry. The mother of two has always possessed a passionate interest and concern for the natural environment, but was spurred into action after reading Tim Flannery's The Weather Makers.
Sabina strongly feels that "We can no longer believe that current politicians are going to lead us in the right direction on this issue of global warming. We all have the power to change. We must all take up the challenge to act immediately, individually and collectively, to take positive steps towards reducing carbon emissions. We have a moral obligation to our children to fight for vitality and biodiversity of the natural world."

Alison Potter lives with her husband and young son in Rozelle, having grown up in Sydney. With an Applied Science degree in agriculture and equine studies behind her, Alison moved into publishing and later worked for the Australian Conservation Foundation, producing its environmental magazine, Habitat. Now working as an editor, she's watched the climate change issue turn from a back-pages environmental debate to a subject that makes daily headlines. Alison has despaired at seeing useful greenhouse initiatives being dismembered by the retraction of government support, and is frustrated by the hold mining industry titans seem to have over Australia's political leaders. Alison believes that climate change is the single greatest threat to our planet and our way of life.
"I don't want to imagine what the world will look like in 40 years if it goes unchecked. I owe it to my children and their kids to do what I can to avert the dangerous effects of this global disease."

Jenny Curtis is a landscape architect living in Lilyfield with her partner and their three pre- and primary school-age children. In recent years Jenny has become increasingly aware that the way most of us are living is contributing in a catastrophic way to the demise of the balanced systems of our world. Her concern for the state of the planet that will be left for future generations has led her to consider what we can all do as individuals and communities to arrest the devastating consequences of climate change. She is driven by her experiences with and within the Australian landscape, and by the idea of individuals being empowered to be part of the solution.

Alex Peters is another local parent with a background in news journalism and science documentaries, and a newly acquired Masters degree in Gastronomy. She has become increasingly alarmed at the impact of climate change on all facets of human life & endeavour - from food production to the physical, social and economic health of thousands of communities around the world. On the bright side though, she is constantly amazed by what a small band of passionate people can achieve when they pull together.

Derek Bolton has lived in Balmain for 30 years and recently retired from a career in IT.  With his scientific background he specialises in maintaining our Science and Technology web pages and writing submissions on state and federal government proposals.

Stephen Arnerich moved from New Zealand to Sydney in 1987 and currently works in tourism. He can see how his very workplace (the Blue Mountains) will be transformed by climate change and decided to act locally to help shift attitudes. He read Tim Flannery's "The Weathermakers" when it was released and that was the catalyst for action.

"I would love to see Australia transformed into 100% renewables by 2020 and with our natural resources it should be an easy transition. I understand that the politicians have a difficult job of balancing the economy but I would rather live in a healthy environment than a booming economy"

 

History of Climate Change Balmain-Rozelle

Like many similar groups, Climate Change Balmain-Rozelle began because a few individuals saw a desperate need for change and set out to galvanise many. However, this group differs from others in one key respect: CCBR was the first climate change action group in Australia to be run by local residents for local residents.

The evolution

The seeds of the group were sown in July 2005 at a global warming forum at the Balmain Town Hall. A small group of parents and residents began meeting with a view to creating a local action group. This embryo group was initially nurtured by the environmental organisation the Nature Conservation Council of NSW and began meeting regularly and having a presence at local shopping precincts and markets.
In early 2006, five members of the original working party decided that the most effective way to bring about real change within the local community was to focus their energies on a single key issue and they formed a new, completely non-partisan group. Climate Change Balmain-Rozelle was incorporated on February 3, 2006.

Our achievements

With a working party made up of a core of the earliest members, the highly motivated Climate Change Balmain-Rozelle group has a growing local supporter base and has made considerable gains in its short life, including:

•    A fundraising dinner which attracted over 70 people and raised more than $3,000
•    A letterbox drop of 10,000 postcards to every household in the Balmain/Rozelle neighbourhood introducing the group
•    Attracting the attention of established green groups and being approached for advice by other local communities
•    Widespread media coverage, including headlines in the Sydney Morning Herald
•    The launch of its Solar Schools project

Climate Change Balmain-Rozelle will continue to concentrate on one of the biggest issues facing the local community - the predilection of governments (both state and federal) for fossil fuels and their support for industries which produce energy from damaging and unsustainable resources, notably coal. As well as lobbying governments, Climate Change will encourage the residents and businesses of Balmain and Rozelle to take their own action by choosing renewable, clean sources of energy.

There is so much to come.