Blog

Every week, MESCA members will be writing our own Blog posts regarding climate anxiety, responses to political decisions and world events, general experiences with activism, managing school life among many things, and recounts of our events. If there are any subjects you would like us to write about, please feel free to email us or Facebook message us through the "Contact Us" page.

William Potter, 18 y/o, "Watch on"

You told me I was growing up in a democracy. You told me that if I made my voice heard, I could change the decisions of those in power.

Yet, I watched as 50 years of scientific knowledge from tens of thousands of independent sources was ignored and opposed by our politicians in the IPCC report.

And I watched as the opinions of the public were bought by millions of dollars in clever advertising from fossil fuel corporations.

And I watched the parties we elected get given millions in donations from these same fossil fuel companies.

And I watched people with close ties to fossil fuel companies be elected into government, even through to our environment minister. And I watched many of our elected leaders retire to the fossil fuel industry.

And I watched as 400,000 Australians protested for climate action on September 20th and were told to "go back to school" - "you're just children".

And I watched over 5000 companies strike for climate action, to be called bullies.

And I watched as tens of thousands of signatures entered parliament demanding climate action, and were ignored.

And I watched as I was called a terrorist and a bully and an inner-city lunatic for advocating for science.

You say this is a democracy where the people have power, but this is an illusion. How could students, who cannot vote, possibly compete with the millions of dollars from fossil fuel companies?

How can research scientists, many publicly funded, possibly communicate their research to the same level as the fossil fuel funded media?

How can the public, disengaged from politics and science, ever be able to choose facts over populist three-word slogans?

And today, I watch our liberty be suspended in this coronavirus pandemic. We can no longer protest, parliament is suspended, courts are closed.

And this loss of liberty comes as the government appoints a fossil fuel CEO as the head of the coronavirus commission - a commission that has unlimited power and no accountability.

And I will watch as they use this deadly virus to praise coal mining as the answer to unemployment,

and I will watch the disengaged public listen to it,

and I will watch the experts say it won't work,

and I will watch billion dollar airline and mining companies like Adani bailed out by the government,

and the bail out will be unnecessarily expensive,

and they will still be privatised,

and unemployment will not be fixed,

and there will still be a recession,

and I will watch the impacts of Climate Change get worse,

And even then you will pretend I had a voice.

Has Australia really suspended its liberty in this pandemic? Or did we lose our democracy a long time ago, and nobody was switched-on enough to notice?

YOUTH ON STRIKE featuring MESCA's William Potter

William Potter, 18 y/o, "Call to Action"

Overpopulation isn't the cause of climate change, which is something I so often hear.

That is an excuse for the wealthiest 10% to shift blame onto everyone else (like China and India which is a common one) and isn't supported by the data.

The real cause is our lifestyle. 10% of people contribute nearly 50% of emissions. We belong to that tenth, and hence it's important we personally:

1. Divest our money from fossil fuels

2. Campaign for climate action from governments and business leaders

3. Buy less, drive less, eat less meat

We need to do more for climate action because it's more our fault. This is why it should be countries like Australia that start moving away from fossil fuels. This is why the aspect of global equity and the development goals are so ingrained in the UN Paris Agreement.

This is why I get so frustrated when our government thinks it can use creative accounting to reach our targets, while our emissions steadily rise.

Thanks to Oxfam and Amnesty for their great resources on climate change and its global impacts.

Kelsea Thurgood, 18y/o, Bushfire Experiences

“I got in my car yesterday with the cats and just started screaming and crying. I honestly thought we would lose everything. I ran down to the pump shed so we could fight spot fires in the paddocks and mum just started screaming and I honestly thought ‘this is how we die’. There was this deafening sound of choppers overhead, about four circling the property, sounding like gunfire. At that moment we had to leave. We had to leave the animals.”

“I'm just hoping and praying for the animals, I'll never forgive myself if we don't get them back.”

“I'm so angry with Scott Morrison for just letting all of this happen, without providing further assistance in a national emergency. His contempt for people facing and fighting the fires is frustrating and frightening, especially when so many of them are my friends and family. Our RFS is overworked, understaffed, and under-resourced to the point where they are struggling to keep up with the fires. Some RFS members have been doing three back-to-back shifts and said the fire moved so fast through Berambing they couldn’t keep up. This needs to be fixed by state and Federal governments, there are months left of Summer yet.”

“We have lost two national parks and now it's spreading onto the one that backs my property. As I drove out onto the road I looked back and saw a wallaby on our front lawn and I couldn't even stop or go back to help it. There was a 70-foot wall of fire across the road that just decimated the Bushland. Our place was still green. We had grass and cool-climate gardens that just went up in smoke. I can only imagine what it did to the Bushland and rainforests behind and around our place. This sort of thing has been happening every day since October, and has been ignored for the most part by our politicians.”

“This fire is unprecedented, and we have to acknowledge the role that a changing climate is having here. The forest is drier, days are hotter, fire conditions are increasingly worse, the fire seasons are increasingly long (starting on the first day of Spring this year) and our RFS is not getting the resources it needs to keep up with that. Listen to the experts! People’s lives, homes and livelihoods are literally at risk.”

Chloe Tyrrell, 16 y/o, Springwood Rally Speech

We gather here together with one common goal. We stand here in defiance not only from our right to be educated, but our denied right to a safe, healthy, and prosperous future. We stand here today because we want to make a difference. We stand here today as one unified front.

Countless times we have been let down by our government, general ignorance from the wider community as well as our leaders, and pessimistic views towards the Climate Emergency. Unlike these setbacks, everyone here today are shining beacons of hope amongst the proportion of coal smeared darkness. On behalf of MESCA, I would like to thank each and everyone of you for joining us in our rally today. Through marching with us you have shown the ignorant that we are not a minority, and that our views stand as a very strong testament to our generation’s determination and optimism.

This thanks is extended to those of you with us today of whom are not students. To all of our supporters, thank you for believing in our capabilities; thank you for believing in our future.

Our future. That’s what we’re here today to preserve. A time period currently so lightly tossed around in the hands of people who it won’t impact directly.

We’ve heard (or we’ll be hearing) statistics today about what we’re going to face. We know the devastations that will potentially occur to our environment and that currently are. Perhaps even more appawling, our leaders are aware of these things - yet no sustainable action is being performed. And that’s why we’re here. We have to keep pushing, keep advocating for not only our wellbeing but our environments, and keep up the fight. Whether it’s attending rally’s like today’s, or being apart of MESCA and leading the way for change, the fight has only just begun. And although this fight may be long and challenging one, it sure will be one worth fighting.

Because if one claimed unified front can lead a country and leave a profound impact on its environment and people, then so bloody well can we.

Thank you

XR Choir Performances from Springwood and Blackheath Rallies, and Echo Point Die In:

Climate Change Q&A w/MP Mark Butler

On the 10th of March, Helen, James and I attended a Climate Change Q&A with Mark Butler. Meeting with the Shadow Minister for Climate Change both before and after the Q&A as well as asking questions during, the night was overall very productive. Although we continually see a passion for Climate Action exerted by Macquarie Federal Member Susan Templeman and Blue Mountains State Member Trish Doyle, it was inspiring to see an MP of such high authority show great empathy and promise towards the questions he was addressing. The questions we asked were related to Labor's coal exports and mining stance, Australia's International influence with fossil fuel use, and . Although long winded, Butler was able to mostly answer our questions and also addressed some of our concerns through other people's questions. In the future, MESCA is looking to hopefully organise/host events such as this, as it is an effective way to engage the community with politicians and understand policies. We would like to thank MP Susan Templeman for hosting this event, and look forward to asking the hard hitting questions at future forums.

Chloe Tyrrell, 16 y/o.