Having watched ‘Fight for Planet A’ last night, which dealt with transport emissions and the advantages of electric vehicles, Here's a link to an interesting article about one group trying to encourage the purchase of EV’s.

​The Green Recovery--Electric cars have few downsides except price. One company is looking to change that
Royce Kurmelovs                   The Guardian             30 July, 2020

How about that drag race segment on the show last night? I knew EV’s had considerable power but WOW!
 
I am looking forward to our Zoom discussion on Friday morning.

John

I trust you are all doing what you need to keep yourself safe.  I hope you all watched the first episode of ‘Fight for Planet A’ last week and the second episode, which focused on transport emissions, at 8.30pm on Tuesday night. If you missed them you can view them on iView. 
 
I have attached five articles for your regular ‘diet’ of Climate change/sustainability articles. I have tried to include articles with some positive trends.

There have been a lot of significant groups urging the government to implement a ‘Green Recovery’ for the economy, following the pandemic.

We will have plenty to talk about at our Zoom discussion on Friday morning.

We might spend the first 40 minute session discussing ‘Fight for Planet A’, have a short coffee break and then spend the next 40 minutes discussing the articles I have sent you.
 
Click on the following link to join the Sustainability Zoom discussion at 10am on Friday 21st August:
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/73470252715?pwd=RVBUcUpGRm4zenAzL2Z1dnZLN2g0Zz09
 
If you haven’t joined a Zoom meeting before, I have previously sent an instruction sheet about Joining a Zoom Meeting for the First Time.

It would be good to see some ‘new faces’ on Friday morning.

​John 

Reading List:

Blackballed: will coal bounce back from slump or is it terminal?
Nick O'Malley The Sydney Morning Herald August 15, 2020

Business chiefs urge PM to invest sustainably for COVID-19 recovery
Mike Foley The Age August 10, 2020

Joel Fitzgibbon blasted by Mark Butler for backing gas-led Covid recovery plan
The Guardian Wed 12 Aug 2020 Katharine Murphy

Medical experts urge Scott Morrison to act on climate change as part of the COVID-19 recovery
SBS News Tuesday 11 August, 2020

​Coal power hits record low, but Taylor still can’t credit wind and solar for lower electricity prices
Michael Mazengarb RenewEconomy 14 August 2020

​I would like to inform you about some interesting, and I think important, television shows next week.

First of all on this Monday 10th August at 8.30pm on ABC 4Corners is Plastic Wars: Recycling spin in the plastics industry, a PBS Frontline production presented by Craig Reucassel.
You will remember Craig Reucassel from his ‘War on Waste’ series.
 
Craig will also be presenting a new three part series titled ‘Fight for Planet A:Our Climate Challenge’, which begins on Tuesday 11th August at 8:30pm.
           
Fight for Planet A: Our Climate Challenge

The ABC's new show to inspire our thinking and challenge our behaviour on climate change, Fight for Planet A: Our Climate Challenge premieres on August 11th at 8.30pm. Over three episodes Craig Reucassel takes on a climate challenge to reduce our carbon emissions and understand where our energy comes from, how transport and travel emissions affect our health and just what is the carbon footprint of the things we eat?

The series will showcase how individuals, families, schools and businesses can help reduce our carbon footprint by making practical day-to-day changes, especially in our homes. Far from taking the pressure off governments and industry, Craig will check in to see if they are doing all they can to make the changes we need and challenge them to do better.
 
I would encourage you to watch this series as I believe it will be very informative and could provide all of us with ideas to reduce our carbon emissions.
 
If the series motivates you to get involved in solutions to reduce our carbon emissions there is an online personalised plan which will provide you with useful tips, tools and advice, https://fightforplaneta.abc.net.au/solutionsplan.
 
This series will be the major focus of our discussions at our Sustainability Zoom meetings.
 
In relation to our Zoom meetings I thought we might have had a few more participants. Many group members contributed to our discussions when we were able to physically meet and I think many of you could also contribute to our discussions via Zoom. The few who have participated have enjoyed the discussions.

The technology may sound a little ‘scary’ but in fact it is relatively simple once you join  your first group.

While Zoom meetings are not the same as face-to-face meetings they can at least break the monotony of isolation at home.

I have attached the guide sheet for joining a Zoom meeting which should help those who are unfamiliar with Zoom and may feel a little reluctant.
 
Can I encourage you again to watch this important series and I look forward to seeing a few more people joining our Zoom meetings.
 
Stay healthy and stay safe.

Regards,
​
John

Hello to everybody,

The COVID situation in Victoria is not looking good at all and I think it could be a long time before we can meet as a group again.

No doubt we all consider ourselves lucky to  be living here, in or near Benalla, where we haven’t had any cases of the virus for many weeks, even though we have gone back to stage 3 restrictions.

I hope you are all coping with those restrictions and all wearing masks when away from home.
 
As usual I have many articles to choose from to send to you for your regular sustainability update and I try to select ones that may be of greatest interest.

Within the articles I have attached, I found the one about lawsuits over climate change risk very interesting. There are also positive aspects to the other articles.
 
Zoom session

I will conduct another Zoom discussion about these articles at 10am on Friday morning but we will do things a little differently this time.
The last couple of sessions have come to an abrupt ending when the free 40 minutes runs out.
What I plan to do this Friday is to have a 15 minute coffee break when the first 40 minutes runs out and then we go back and click on the same link again and we will get another 40 minutes.
This will allow us to discuss a number of the articles.
 
The link to the Zoom meeting.
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/73522352869?pwd=cTMxT3ZSTTZtaWNqK0xFUytYRXpXZz09
 
I look forward to seeing some of you via Zoom on Friday morning.  Hopefully a few more people may decide to try Zoom this Friday.
 
Keep safe and keep positive.

Regards,

John

5 Attachments: (downloadable PDF's):

Lawsuits over climate crisis risk
Binoy Kampmark                    Eureka Street              30 July 202

How Australia's state energy ministers are turning the tables on Angus Taylor
Simon Holmes à Court           The Guardian             Sat 11 July 202

New gas-fired power not needed as renewable energy expands, grid operator says
A roadmap for an optimal electricity market suggests gas prices will need to stay low to compete with alternatives on renewable grid
Adam Morton   Environment editor                      The Guardian                    Thu 30 Jul 2020

More coal power generation closed than opened around the world this year, research finds
Adam Morton                        The Guardian                         Mon 3 Aug 2020