THE Farmers Markets are not just a great place to get fresh local produce, they are also a spot where environmentally-minded people can meet, greet and chat.
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Some of you may be familiar with Bathurst Community Climate Action Network member Isobel Higgins, our oldest member at well over 90, who is often out and about on market day getting people to sign petitions or take home a piece of photocopied reading.
We’re at it again today, with letters to both the Premier and the Leader of the Opposition urging them to step up support for renewables and to phase out the use of coal. If lower income people are choosing to freeze through winter to try to avoid high power bills, this is not the fault of renewable energy; it is the fault of government policy.
The letters are part of a campaign to “Get on to Gladys” and “Let Luke Know” that is being taken up by climate action and environmental groups across the state. A bipartisan commitment to the health and wellbeing of future generations is what we are trying for here.
“I believe that anything less than a firm declaration of no new coal and no new expansions of coal mines, and a timeline for replacing these sources, is not a real commitment to a clean and successful future for NSW,” the letter concludes.
If you agree, come on over to the BCCAN stall at the Farmers Market and sign on, or go to our website to download and send off your own letters.
If you do feel so inclined, you are part of a growing majority of Australians concerned about climate change. The Lowy Institute’s annual poll on Australian attitudes has just found that 84 per cent of respondents (up from 81 per cent last year) favoured renewables over coal-fired power even if such measures were to cost more.
Meanwhile, 59 per cent of Australians (up from 54 per cent last year) believe that climate change is a “serious and pressing” issue.
Council talk
NEXT Friday night (June 30), Bathurst Regional Council’s sustainability strategy officer Deborah Taylor will be giving a presentation to the general public on the council’s current renewable energy initiatives.
It will be held at Rahamim, 34 Busby Street, at 6 for 6.30pm. All welcome, gold coin donation at the door.