David Mitchell On His Soapbox

I'm a bit of a fan of comedian David Mitchell's Soapbox. In this one he pokes a bit of fun at, well, people like me - who are enthusiastic about solving climate change. (He's quite witty about it though).


He does recognise the "clear scientific fact of climate change" but in that ever-so-British way, thinks we should do it because we have to, rather than enjoy it.

I just can't persuade myself that climate change isn't happening. I'd like someone to convince me that it's not happening. But they haven't. Because it is.

So let's do our recycling, not use planes as much .... not because it's exciting or fun, but because we have to.

Moving Planet

Last weekend, around the world, people got moving for climate solutions. Here's a small montage of some of the events.


"Moving Planet" was an initiative of 350.org

Climate 101

This 4 minute summary of climate change was one of the bonus videos from the Climate Reality Project.



It's a good, quick summary of climate change - done in that retro style of the old school educational films (which is kind of amusing).

We're In This Together

The art continues from Jeremyville. Last week i showed one of his cartoons promoting the Reality Project. There is now a collection of 12, including this one.


I particularly like it because of the message that sometimes our politicians don't get. If you're in a sinking boat with someone, you do something about it. You don't just sit there waiting for each other to do something.

Earth Relay

The Earth Ball at the centre of the Say Yes Earth Relay.


It will make it's way through Victoria and onto Canberra in support of the Australian government finally putting a price on pollution.

Make Your Own Sign

We like to encourage politicians to do the right thing. But it's an awfully long way to Australia's capital - Canberra. Fortunately the Say Yes group have figured out a way around this.


You can add your voice of support by making your own digital sign and putting it on the digital parliament lawn. You get to choose the colour, write your own message, and even share it on your facebook profile if you want.

Brainstorming For Pollution

One side-effect of government taking action on climate change is that groups of polluters get together to undermine the process. In Australia one of these groups is the 'Trade and Industry Alliance', whose main industry seems to be pumping out questionable ads. Their dodgy-ness inspired this satire of a brainstorming session:

Let's Shed Some Layers

Artist "Jeremyville" put together this nice cartoon poster for this week's big event - The Climate Reality Project

Global Support

It's great to have support when you're doing something courageous. And so it is with Australia at the moment. As our politicians finally take the initiative to put a price on carbon, the international community is sending us a message of support.


As i write this, almost half a million people from countries around the world have signed on to say:

From across the world we applaud the Australian proposal to tackle climate change through carbon pricing and investment in solutions for the future. With this law Australia will join a slew of forward thinking governments and will spur other major emitters to take bold action. We urge you to support your government's determination to fight for our planet's future.

Science Under Siege

You may already know how much i like ABC's Catalyst program. Tonight Mark Horstman did a piece titled Science under Siege - a story about how science is ignored, the public is misinformed, and scientists receive death threats.


Climate science is not the only field in which this occurs, but it's probably the biggest at the moment. Mark Horstman looked at the anti-climate action protests - a campaign based on "a lack of understanding about how carbon emissions warm the atmosphere".

At the heart of this protest is the notion that the people here ... know better than most of the world's climate scientists.

But scarier than the dismissal of science was the hostility towards the scientists themselves. Individual death threats, and rally calls like this one from a leading protester, aimed at the scientists:

We are coming after you, we are going to prosecute you, and we are going to lock you up.

Is this the kind of society we want? As Professor Ian Chubb, Chief Scientist of Australia, asks "We're back to the Middle Ages aren't we? I mean, that's what they tried to do to Galileo."

Carbon Nation in Brisbane

I loved seeing Carbon Nation on the weekend, in its first screening here in Brisbane. And the upcoming screenings were announced...


Sunnybank Hills Library, Sat 1 October, 2.30-4.30pm

Mt Ommaney Library, Sat 8 October, 1.00-3.00pm

Bulimba Library, Sun 16 October, 12.30-2.30pm

New Farm Library, Sat 29 October, 2.30-4.30pm

Indooroopilly Library, Sat 5 November, 2.00-4.00pm

Chermside Library, Sun 13 November, 12.30-2.30pm
If you can't get to a screening, you can always get your own copy.