Ian Lowe
Ian Lowe, President on Australian Conservation Foundation on Climate Camp At
a Brisbane Public Forum "Our Climate At A Crossroads", May 17, 2008.
"I don't think there's any doubt in ecological terms we're booked on the Titanic and we're sailing for the climate change iceberg, that are being broken off more rapidly from the polar ice caps as more of them receed.
"The economist's approach is to say: there's no point travelling steerage if you're booked on the Titanic, you might as well go to the bar and order the vintage champage, because your cheque is never going to reach the bank.
"The apathetic's approach is to say: the crew must know what they are doing so we might as well just enjoy ourselves.
"But the activist's approach is to say that we don't have to hit the iceberg. We don't have to condemn the world to unacceptable climate change. If the crew on the Bridge won't change course, we should organise a mutiny. What I think the Climate Camp is about is organising a mutiny. If the people we elect and place so generously to make decisions on our behalf won't make responsible decisions on climate change, we will in the great tradition, honed to an artform by Mahatma Gandhi; we will indulge in civil disobedience and we will force people making the decisions to take a more responsible approach."
You can download an MP3 of Ian's great half hour speech here: http://climateradio.podomatic.com/enclosure/2008-05-29T02_57_03-07_00.mp3
Beyond belief!
Recently articles from people like Tim Flannery emerged stating that if we don’t start adding sulphur to jet fuel within 5 years to help reduce the effects of global warming then it may be too late. And yet the public and the Governments continue to live their unabated, energy intensive, fossil fuelled lifestyles. We are living in the middle of an atrocity that future generations will look back on as a crime worthy of the death penalty, a crime so severe it makes Adolf Hitler's past seem like merely a small incident! I have to wake up each morning and pinch myself to make sure it’s not a bad dream; that everybody seems to know the situation and nobody seems to be doing anything substantial. The last remaining fossil fuels need to be used in creating the infrastructure for renewable technology. When will the fossil fuelled party end and the work begins? Technology wont save us this time! A Sustainable life style costs money! $60,000 PLUS! If you can’t prioritize this cost you should consider suicide! it’s that simple! Enough of the light terms we have to start facing reality if we care about the next generation who are already alive and facing a very different future!