Thanks for visiting this site. We have moved to our new site (Sat June 24, 2006) at the following address:

http://cleanenergyforeternity.googlepages.com

 See you there!

Nott's climate change campaign continues

  Bega District News

 Friday, 23 June 2006 

 
SUNDAY, June 11, was the worst day of the year at Jindabyne, according to Bega Valley campaigner against climate change, Dr Matthew Nott.

That was the day he and fellow Tathra campaigner, Mr Grant Prowse, swam six kilometres in Lake Jindabyne to draw attention to the dramatic changes being wrought by our overuse of fossil fuels to create energy.

"The water temperature was 8 degrees, and the air temperature was 1 degree," Dr Nott said.

"There was a southerly gale blowing and there was snow falling.

"We were advised to abandon the swim because the weather was so bad but the idea was to draw attention to climate change so we went ahead," he said.

Dr Nott and Mr Prowse were joined for half of the swim by 13-year-old Jesse Greenwood of Batemans Bay and by Ms Julie Mayo-Ramsey, an environmental lawyer from the Eurobodalla.

"They retired after three kilometres because they were unable to go on," Dr Nott said.

"Grant and I would not have been able to continue if it had not been for the practical support of Dr Gabe Khouri and Tathra Surf Club member Ben Ellis in a boat and the moral support of a band of sea kayakers from Tathra.

"We were very close to the end of our tether when we completed the six km swim."

Dr Nott said they had chosen a distance of six km for the swim because "that is the thickness of the biosphere into which we pump seven billion tonnes of carbon each year".

"Parents should be campaigning with passion and a great sense of urgency for clean air.

He said they group he had established since his first action in May of getting some 3,000 people to line up on Tathra Beach to spell out the words "Clean Air for Eternity" was taking its inspiration from Germany which has a renewable energy target of 100 per cent by 2050.

"Currently 30 per cent of their energy nuclear and they are planning to replace that with wind and solar power.

"Australia should be absolutely embarrassed by that example since we have so much better resources," Dr Nott said.

Ed. Photos not part of the Bega District News article 

Three thousand people make global warming statement with human sign

ABC South-East NSW

Monday, 22 May  2006 

Reporter: Katie Smith

Three thousand people gathered at Tathra Beach to form a human sign to make a statement about global warming. (photo: Robert Hayson)
The sign dissolved and reformed to spell Imagine. (Photo: Ben Marsden)
The campaign attracted young and old.
"I think we've really been able to tap into something here," said Mathew Nott (second from left). "This community has really come together over this issue it has been really quite amazing to watch and it does make me feel extremely optimistic."

It was while on surf patrol at Tathra Beach on New Years day 2006 that Bega Valley orthopaedic surgeon, Mathew Nott, decided he had to do something about Global Warming.

"It was a quiet morning … so I took along a book to read and that book just happened to be 'The Weather Makers' by Tim Flannery. I started reading it about ten in the morning just as a westerly came through and that westerly was the hottest wind I have ever experienced. It got to 42 degrees that day on Tathra Beach - the hottest temperature ever recorded by four degrees!

"So really it was a pretty profound moment for me and ever since I've been reading everything I can on climate change. I've been looking at it from all angles and all perspectives and the more I read, the more worried I become."

Rather than just let the issue simmer he decided to do something about it. On Sunday he gathered together over three thousand people to create a human sign on Tathra Beach spelling CLEAN ENERGY FOR ETERNITY that dissolved and reformed to spell IMAGINE.

"This hasn't been a group of protestors or activists," Mathew Nott said at Tathra, "We've had all sorts of people from the general community turn up."

"I think we've really been able to tap into something here. This community has really come together over this issue it has been really quite amazing to watch and it does make me feel extremely optimistic."

"I think the Bega Valley is going to be hit very hard by climate change. This area of NSW has the greatest percentage reduction in rainfall of anywhere in Australia not only that but I think people are starting to realise that oil depletion is also going to be a major issue in the next few years. What's going to happen to a place like the Bega Valley when petrol prices go up through the roof? We're going to have to become an island. I think we need to be preparing for that sort of eventuality. We need to be decreasing our dependence on fossil fuels and looking very seriously at cleaner energy sources."

"We've got to think globally and act locally. What I want to do in terms of acting locally is to get the Bega Valley Shire to set up their own renewable energy target. If we think that a two per cent energy target for Australia is too low, let's show Australia what we can do."

"I think we need to be looking at setting up a renewable energy target for this Shire of about 30 per cent by 2020. Now that's going to take some major shifts in the way we think about energy and the way we utilise energy but I think it's entirely achievable we just need the will."

I think we've really been able to tap into something here. This community has really come together over this issue and it does make me feel extremely optimistic 

Some suggestions he has for the Shire to reach the target is by introducing hybrid vehicles into council, setting up an electric bus service, building more bike paths and preparing feasibility studies into wind farms, geothermal plants and solar energy.

And he's not going to let the issue go. His next project is to swim Lake Jindabyne with Bega Valley Physiotherapist, Grant Prowse in the middle of winter to raise awareness of global warming.

"It's going to be cold, it's going to be a real test and I'm sort of sorry that I said I'd do it now but I've committed myself and I'm going to give it my best shot."

"What I want to do is get people talking about all these issues. Let's talk about nuclear power. Let's talk about wind power. Let's talk about geothermal electricity. We need to be diversifying our interests and we really need to be discussing this very seriously and now."

Only 20 years ago the Bega Valley had a reasonable rainfall. Sometimes patchy but enough to sustain an important dairy industry.  "Four inches a month", my farmer friend told me and I believed him because it did seem to rain a lot.  It wasn't unusual to see the Bega river in full flood and the bridges at Mogareeka and Tarraganda impassable after a 'good rain'.

 
    Today that four inches a month sounds like an urban myth, but in reality  there used to be a lot more rain than there is today in the Bega Valley.  The question that we have to ask is whether this change in rainfall is part of the longstanding La Nina  or  El Nino ( child) cycles that we have always had or has there been something else that has influenced weather patterns. 

World Science is now of the opinion that Climate Change is a reality and emissions from our industrial world have contributed significantly to this change.

The media, and some politicians, are beginning to take notice of what the world science community have been saying and ,individuals are taking action at grass-roots level to raise the awareness of climate change and its consequences.

We can't stop it but we can slow it and perhaps our children and grand-children may have a better life because we have taken action now and not  when it gets to the point of being beyond redemption.

Not all is gloom and doom, as some sections of the media would have us believe, and our 'Good News' links on this website look at some exciting new developments in addressing the issues of global warming and it's causes. 

This website hopes to inform our community of the dangers of not doing anything about climate change and  what may be the consequences for our future generations. 

In our section on Climate Resources there is an interactive tool that allows you to calculate the co2 footprint that your house generates. The average co2 footprint for Australia is 14.6 tonnes of co2 per year - the second largest producer of co2 after the U.S.

We are not affiliated with any organisation, political or otherwise, but as concerned individuals we believe that the facts need to be presented clearly and without bias.