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 nearly 800 supporters. Here are some of the more active people in the group.
Jenny Curtis [Chair] 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.
Derek Bolton [Treasurer], a Balmain resident for 30 years, is retired from a career in computer communications software. He specialises in maintaining our Science and Technology web pages and writing submissions on state and federal government proposals.
"The details are complex, but the basic science is straightforward: we've put enough carbon back into circulation to disrupt the climate. Besides, as the oil runs out going renewable will save the economy billions each year. It's a great investment."
Stephen Arnerich [Secretary] 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"
Dominic Case [Public Officer] works in the film industry and has lived in Balmain for twelve years. He always had an interest in conservation and the natural environment, but after reading Tim Flannery's The Weather Makers he realized that its message was complex, important and urgent, and determined to become more active. After working with the Australian Directors' Guild to establish their annual Grass award for green awareness in filmmaking and writing a report (No Time to Lose) for Screen NSW, he joined Climate Change Balmain-Rozelle for more direct involvement in the movement. He senses a growing understanding in the general population that urgent action is necessary to prevent serious disruption to our way of life, but that this understanding only comes through the activities of a whole network of community organizations such as CCBR.
As well as helping with general organizational work, Dominic has developed CCBR's social media networking through email lists and Facebook.
Neil Hime [Vice Chair], originally from Adelaide, moved to Balmain via the USA where he worked for a few years researching heart disease at an academic institute. He had never engaged in advocacy until he realised how critical it was that action be taken against Climate Change.
"I feel that Climate Change is the most important global problem and that I should do more than just complain that not enough is being done. As a scientist I see human-induced Climate Change as a problem to be solved. My hope is that groups such as CCBR and the individuals associated with them will create the impetus for unprecedented action to mitigate Climate Change."
Past members
We would like to acknowledge the past work and continuing support of Alison, Sabina, Fiona, Sue and Lucy.
History of Climate Change Balmain-Rozelle Article written by one of our supporters, Lucy Macken, that was published in the Innerwest Courier prior to the 2009 World Environment Day Rally One locals journey to march…. What does it take to inspire action from the usual concerned bystander? It is a question often asked in activist circles. Fear? Personal gain? Power? For me, it is sleep. Or rather, a lack of. Atleast, that is the case for this Leichhardt local, whose community involvement used to be limited to voting, paying parking fines and checking out the local real estate at open for inspections. At a time when all three kids were finally sleeping through the night, my sleep started to suffer, again. And I could no longer blame any of my three kids. As the former Howard Government continued its climate change policy of denial and the dire news from scientists around the world continued to worsen, my sense of hopelessness grew. Worse still, when I did fall asleep, exhausted, anxiety dreams about rising sea levels started to haunt me. Now…. I am told no-one has ever died of sleep deprivation, but it certainly was inspiration enough for me to look at how I lived. And that was the point I started to make small, but incremental, changes to my lifestyle. For the greener. Admittedly, nothing this family of five does will have an impact on carbon emissions worldwide, even nationwide. It has always been more about living the change I wanted to see in the world. And getting sleep. You see, the more action I took, the more I embraced this problem, the more I started to live the solution, and the more I could engage with the subject, the more I didn't have to hide from it as a topic of conversation and - this is the beautiful part - the less anxiety I felt about change being possible. And so I made a phone call and had the home electricity sourced from wind. Then I got my first bill, and I started to really turn the lights off. Then the light bulbs were switched to energy-saving bulbs. And every time I made one small change, the next small measure appeared like the riser from one step to the next. So the worm farm was installed, compostable nappies came into my existence and the oil heaters were replaced with expensive quilts and bedsuits. And after turning appliances off at the wall got a bit boring, I started to just unplug them. First the portable phone was replaced with an energy-free handset using Telstra's free home message service instead of an answering machine. The same fate awaited the digital alarm clock, replaced later with a water-powered clock. And so as successive federal and state governments have continued to turn their back on renewable energy jobs and investment, preferring to approve yet another coal-fired power plant or spend billions on the spin known better as Carbon Capture and Storage, I too have raised my own stakes: whirly birds and insulation in the ceiling, and push bikes with babyseats. There is plenty of room for improvement. We drive a seven seater for starters, and are yet to afford photovoltraic cells on our roof but I continue to rise above the Can't-Do party politics of Canberra, reminding myself daily by all these little steps that actually, we can. The problem is that we might all change to energy efficient light bulbs and unplug the cordless phone, but if I let the Federal Government continue its business-as-usual approach to coal, to "lead" international negotiations at Copenhagen DOWN to a dire 5 per cent, if I don't voice my concern at the billions of dollars to be spent bailing out the fossil fuel industries as part of the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme, then I am going to start losing sleep. And so my steps are joining the rousing beat of thousands on Saturday, June 13, at the Climate Emergency Rally as we march from Barangaroo at 10 am around the Rocks to the Prime Minister's office at Philip Street, Circular Quay. Wearing red, I will join thousands of other mums, dads, sisters, friends, colleagues, teammates and grandparents at similar marches around the country to let Mr Rudd know that he might have done a good job representing his mates in the coal industry in the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme, but on election day shareholders can't vote. And we can. And I will sleep well knowing I have what it takes to go from being a former bystander to one of many, marching.
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.
And then two things happened within a few years of each other: I had children, and climate change captured world headlines.
I read all about it, with a slowly rising sense of despair about global warming.
