We have the opportunity to build Australia’s first ever solar thermal plant, right here in South Australia.  The local community wants it because it’s better for health and jobs.  Australia wants it because it’s better for our climate and our environment.

Let’s get Premier Weatherill out of last century and listening to his community: we don’t want a future powered by gas.  It’s time to Repower Port Augusta with solar thermal.

Can you go a step further today by calling Premier Weatherill on 8463 3166 to make sure he gets the message?

We’ve put together some pointers for you so don’t worry if this is your first call to a politician’s office, it’s easier than you think:

Step 1:Keep calm and put a smile on.
The Premier needs to hear that the community wants renewable energy.  You’re doing a great thing!

Step 2: Explain who you are and why you’re calling.
For example you could say: Hi, my name is … from South Australia, I’m calling to show my disappointment in the Premier’s support for gas and to say that I want SA to be powered by solar.”

Step 3: Add extra information if you get the chance:

• There is significant evidence to suggest that shale gas is worse for the climate than conventional gas and we know that there are viable alternatives, like solar thermal in Port Augusta
• SA has the opportunity to be a leader in large scale renewable technology, creating 1800 jobs, as opposed to 40 that will be created with gas
• The Port Augusta community supports solar, so should the Premier.

Thank you and good luck!  

Let us know how you go by sharing your comments on Facebook.

“Madlands” written by AYCC Chair and co-founder, Anna Rose, is about an adventure around the world where Anna tries to change the mind of well-known former Liberal politician and climate skeptic, Nick Minchin. To Minchin, I would say this “A belief in invisible cats cannot be logically disproven. It does, however, tell us a lot about the views of the person who holds it” – C.S Lewis.

Tweet

I gave “Madlands” to Anthony Byrne because action starts at home. It starts in the local suburbs of the state. Go back to the early 1960’s and immerse yourself in the activities of the Civil Rights Movement in America. Before the movement went to politicians and leaders of the country, they wanted to influence the view of the public. It is the same with the AYCC. We want to gain confidence from the public and help them to understand the importance of climate change as an issue.

As I walked into the office of the Federal Member for Holt, my heart started to pound with excitement and nervousness all at the same time. Anthony Byrne MP was very welcoming as we sat down to chat about the biggest issue of our time. My reason for being there was not only to talk about climate change, but to present Minister Byrne with the Repower petition which now has over 26,000 signatures!

It was great to talk to Anthony. I learnt that politicians are people too, in the sense that they understand the pressures that families are facing and are not always concerned about the next election or the latest opinion poll. I told him that we need to have a clear-cut investment in renewable energy via the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC). We also had some great talks about Instagram (and yes, we are Instagram buddies now)!

It was so easy for me to arrange to meet with Anthony Byrne. I just went into his office and told the receptionist what I wanted to talk to him about. A few weeks later I was sitting in his office. You can contact your member today. It can be a simple phone call, e-mail or a visit to their office like I did. Federal Members, especially, are great to get into contact with because they, naturally, want more media attention focusing on their views on the carbon price and the $10 billion investment that the Federal Government will be making towards our “100% renewable energy future”.

In the end, it was a great experience – I felt like I was doing something really productive and real to fight the climate crisis. As I have mentioned previously, the importance of local action is immeasurable and the people of the outer suburbs should not feel like they can do nothing.

Written by AYCC VIC volunteer, Kate Gill

We began early on Saturday morning. I missed the first bus but after a small time panicking just shrugged and caught the next one, arriving just before the first session was due to start. Charles Darwin University’s Casuarina Campus isn’t well known nationally but it is actually really daunting standing at the entrance surrounded by three-story-high buildings with tinted windows.

Tweet

I was impressed that the core team for AYCC NT made it to training. Sometimes you get caught up thinking about what you will experience at a training but the thing is, everyone experiences something. As corny as this may sound to you, we go to training and no matter what else we learn from it, we grow together.

Nick was really amazing. We learned about the positive, inclusive culture of the AYCC; Repower Australia campaign goals; and strategised growing AYCC Darwin around up-coming actions and events. We also gained a broad knowledge of our government’s Clean Energy Future package; the Beyond Zero Emissions reports and covered so much more in just two days.

A personal highlight for me was practicing facilitating. Specifically brainstorm and energiser activities with some of the most useful and positive feedback I’ve ever received. Day two, Sunday, was packed with inspiring, skills-focussed planning for AYCC Darwin’s next three months and holding trainings we facilitate ourselves for new members. We have a very possible growth model now among many other things, so keep your ears pricked and your eyes perky, the sky is our limit!

The next NT Training is being held at the Alice Springs Youth Hub on Willis Terrace this weekend of the 26th and 27th of May. Trainings are FREE! You can register and also get more info by contacting Jeremy.gillen@aycc.org.au

Does this all sound like pure amazingness? Would you like to attend a training camp? You can find out more by clicking the Join tab at the top of this page and finding your nearest group.

AYCC NT likes you so like ‘em back!

Written by AYCC NT volunteer, Aja Whelan

Tim Flannery – Australian of the Year, Will Steffen – one of the most prominent climate scientists in the world, Gerry Hueston, and Veena Sahajwalla presented climate science and solutions to about 150 students from Western Sydney.

Tweet

We then followed it up with a workshop from our amazing volunteers Amy, Emma, Kat, and Sam. Students learnt about how they can build support for renewable energy in their communities by running Repower events, and had a very lively first planning session. Some great ideas came out of the brainstorms – from art competitions using only recycled objects, to trivia nights to raise money for skylights for the school hall, and so much more.

Later that night we headed to the Climate Commission’s public forum at Parramatta RSL.
We were very keen to ask the commissioners about their most recent report about the effects of climate change on Western Sydney, and what it meant for our generation.

Sam and Kat both asked questions, Kat even answered some questions from the audience and the commissioners about the positivity and power of youth getting involved with the AYCC and Repower!

We were also very inspired by one lady from Kiribati, a Pacific Island nation, who asked about the devastating effects of climate change and sea level rises on her country.

Our volunteers also spoke to the media including 2ue and local papers about Repower and the AYCC!

One of the highlights of the day was taking photos for “Hug a Climate Scientist Day” – we were all a little bit star-struck to be so close to such inspiring climate scientists and activists!

Written by AYCC NSW volunteer, Sam Cooper

Here’s a snapshot of some of the media we got…

A huge congratulations to everyone who’s been holding amazing Repower Events across the country and using media to inspire local communities and show our politicians that we want to power Australia with 100% renewable energy.  If you want support in getting media for your repower events, email me on kirsty@aycc.org.au

Tweet

It brought me back to the fundamentals of why I am involved, why we can’t stop campaigning on this issue and why I believe that this movement will keep growing. It reminded me of my first involvement in AYCC and in the climate movement and I remembered every step that I’ve taken as part of AYCC.

I am currently in year 10, and I have been involved with AYCC for two and a half years. I was fortunate enough when I was growing up to have parents who took me travelling throughout Australia’s stunning national parks; I marvelled at the incredible diversity of environments here on planet earth. My grandparents have an apartment in the French alps and I remember at about the age of eleven my grandfather saying: “I have visited the same glacier for over 40 years, and now it is no longer a question of if the glaciers are melting, the glaciers are melting.”

Tweet

We first met three scientists working in the field of adaptation technologies for ecosystems and biodiversity. They showed us a map of Australia displaying the different ecosystems at risk from the rise in temperature. Seeing that these amazing places I had visited with my own eyes were under threat gave me goosebumps and a sense of urgency to act.

We visited Michael Raupach, a scientist who has been working on climate science for almost 40 years. We then heard from David Post, a hydrologist who showed us the impacts that climate change would have on south-eastern Australia’s rainfall and I thought back to the drought we had experienced when I was younger, and to seeing the mighty Murray river dry.

I’ve heard it said that young people are the leaders of tomorrow, but in my opinion, in this debate, young people are the leaders of today. It’s time we stepped up and took our futures into our own hands to show the ones in power how this change will occur and how we will make it happen.

That’s why youth empowerment is so significant in solving climate change; we need to give young people the key to solve their generation’s biggest challenge yet. Climate change is an issue that encompasses all the problems we are facing today: whether you are passionate about global poverty, deforestation, conservation, agriculture or human rights.

Sometimes, I feel helpless about the climate crisis: when I look at the map of endangered ecosystems, when David Post was talking to us about the extent of droughts and flood impacts on communities, and at times like this I think about the quote by Aung Sung Suu Kyi, Burmese pro-democracy leader.

“If you’re feeling helpless, help someone.”

This is what I strive to do everyday, and this is what my involvement in the climate movement is about. The youth movement and our passion for this issue will not go away. We will keep fighting because we know what is at risk if we don’t.

Written by AYCC Canberra volunteer Noemie Huttner-Koros

We were also given an opportunity to give a 30 minute presentation to expo goers.
Our state coordinator Katherine Tu spoke to the audience about intergenerational equality, repower, renewable energy and Anna Rose’s book Madlands.

The response was so positive! Afterwards, we had many great conversations with people of all ages about the work we do and the endless possibilities of renewable energy.

The thing I took away from the weekend was the older generation’s respect and gratitude for all we do. Everyone that I spoke to was so impressed with the stories from the repower events happening all over the country!

It’s so important that we all get out into the community at every opportunity we get to have the conversation about Climate change, repower and renewable energy.

So a big Thank You is in order to the EcoXpo who provided such a great event for some intergenerational communication and, of course, their continued support of the AYCC.

Written by AYCC NSW volunteer, Amy Gordon

I arrived about half an hour before the doco began to a very good gathering. Although I’d just had dinner, I was pretty happy to note the freshly made nachos. Sitting with my laptop, ready to begin tweeting, I couldn’t think of twenty people I’d rather be with.

Tweet

For those of you who don’t know, the ABC special consisted of a documentary, “I Can Change Your Mind About… Climate”, in which Anna and Nick Minchin, a formal Liberal senator and climate delayer, visited a number of people around the world to change each other’s mind on climate change. After this show was a Q&A special, including three others: mining magnate/Jabba the Hutt impersonator Clive Palmer; Dr. Megan Clark, of the CSIRO; and Rebecca Huntley, a social scientist.

Anna Rose began the AYCC in 2007, and was involved until 2010. I heard her speak at Power Shift, went to a UN Climate Conference in a team with her, and benefitted from her training. Suffice to say, she is someone who inspires me, and her dedication to campaigning on climate change is simply heroic.

She’s also somebody whom we can learn a lot from.

What most struck me in the Q&A was Anna’s use of new language on climate change. While the climate sceptics on the panel trotted out the same tired lies – about jobs going offshore, about the cost of renewable energy, Anna was offering fresh and new ideas to the audience. Examples of this include Anna’s excellent analogy between the carbon budget and a household budget, or the comparison of Australia (the largest per-capita polluter in the OECD) to a pack-a-day grandpa who wants his teenager to give up smoking.

The climate movement needs to be better at simplifying complicated things, and that’s what analogies are for. Analogies enable you to explain something unfamiliar by comparison to the familiar. They take something that means nothing to most people – carbon budgets, climate justice – and express it with reference to the everyday. We need new and better analogies, and Anna offered some.

Secondly, Anna demonstrated a new way of relating to sceptics. Anna engaged with sceptics with an openness and empathy that we can learn from, because decisions are substantially influenced by emotional feelings towards individuals. For example, somebody’s choice to vote for a politician is primarily about their emotional feelings towards that person and perception of qualities such as credibility and integrity. We can take this a single step further – when there is a deep neural connection between a person and an issue, as with, say, Al Gore and climate change and, potentially, Anna Rose and climate change, feelings towards that person will influence feelings on the issue.

So this is what happened last night; 1.7 million people watched Q&A. Many of these people must have been soft sceptics, open to having their mind changed on the issue of climate change. In Anna Rose, people saw somebody empathic, erudite, selfless, and interested in them, who advocated action on climate change. People saw somebody likeable. And that makes them more likely to like what that person is about.

What does this mean for us? You can’t change minds, of climate sceptics or anybody else. Decisions are largely subconscious. While talking to a soft sceptic, the most important thing you can do is come across well. Listen to them, show respect, acknowledge and empathise with their concerns, without necessarily legitimising them. No, this doesn’t mean listening to a climate denier rabbit on about conspiracies; yes, it is still important to discuss concerns or questions. Ultimately though, nobody’s mind is changed in an encounter, but everybody’s brain changes a bit. If you are associated with climate change action, and you, during outreach, give people positive experiences, you are helping the cause.

Over the next few months I’ll be part of a team of volunteers working with Anna Rose to promote her new book, Madlands, and engage climate soft sceptics around Australia.

Written by AYCC Vic volunteer, Joel Dignam