Environmentality 26 November 2014, Liam Farrelly, Greens candidate for Pascoe Vale

The 3 R’s - Right to an education, right to access health services, right to a safe place to live. These are the three highest priorities for Liam Farrelly who is running in the electorate of Pascoe Vale for the Greens party. This week we were fortunate enough to have a candidate for the Victorian election come in to the studio to have a chat just a few days before the election. If you missed the show, you can listen here and you’ll hear Liam talking from the heart on issues such as education, health (including mental health), transport and energy as well as the traditional content of this show, environment!

One thing that gets brought up on this show through our conversations over and over again is Australia’s mind boggling fixation on protecting the fossil fuel industry at the expense of renewable energy and investment in new, green, innovative technology. There seems to be no logical and reasonable explanation as to why this is happening which has been demonstrated by the many guests on this show who have shared their knowledge in the area of their individual expertise. From all reports, it makes sense for Australia to be moving away from our dirty, ageing and redundant coal fired power stations and to stop thinking of gas as the next coal but rather invest in clean, green technology. The social, economic and environmental benefits of moving towards environmentally sustainable energy have been put forward time and time again and more importantly have actually been proven elsewhere in the world, especially in parts of Europe. Australia should be a world leader in renewable energy generation and clean technology innovation but instead we are lagging severely and if you think we are paying for it already, just wait until we decide to play catch up and have to purchase all the innovative products, technology and services from overseas because Australia chose not to invest in their development here and now.

theconversation.com

Auroralights.org

 

Some articles that are relevant for the election this week (warning: these will probably leave you feeling depressed):

Victoria at a fork in the road on energy Climate Spectator - This weekend’s Victorian state election provides voters with a fairly stark choice about the future of energy policy in the state. Yet the campaigns of the major parties have barely touched the issues of energy and the environment.

Shameful absence of environmental policies The Age - Neither of the major political parties have offered Victorian voters a coherent set of policies about the environment. Indeed, there is a deafening silence about environmental issues and much backtracking.

Vic Labor’s lame plan to move the climate deal Climate Spectator - The Victorian Labor Party has released its climate change policy – it’s below in all its four paragraphs of detailed glory.

Victorian election: built environment takes a back seat The Fifth Estate - In a state that has seen environmental and energy efficiency measures trashed by the Coalition government and created fury within the property industry and beyond, there has been a confounding failure by the Labor Opposition to seize the initiative and deliver meaningful policies as an alternative.

So with all this information, make your vote count on Saturday 29^th November.

Next week on the show we will be speaking to Eco-shout. Check out their website and tune in next week to find out more about the organisation.

Music tracks this week:

Cold Nights by How to Dress Well

Two Weeks by FKA Twigs
Come As You Are by Nirvana (Liam's selection)
Nakamarra by Hiatus Kaiyote