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Dr Jim Green's No Nuke News June 2007

June 9, 2007
Hello No Nukes News subscribers,
No Nukes News is produced by Friends of the Earth and is sent to over 950 subscribers. To un/subscribe, send an email with NNN-Subscribe or NNN-Unsubscribe in the subject line to <jim.green@foe.org.au>.
In this exciting edition of No Nukes News:
 
 
1. UPCOMING EVENTS
* Indigenous Speaking Tour
* Cycle Against the Nuclear Cycle
* Adelaide - Brisbane - Canberra - Melbourne - Perth - Sydney
 
 
2. PLEASE ACT NOW
* Support the Peace Convergence - peaceful protests and many other activities in opposition to military training exercises taking place in Queensland.
* Support the Pine Gap 4 - currently on trial for their peaceful protest against the spy/military base at Pine Gap
* Support the Kokatha Mula in their struggle against mining companies near Ceduna in SA
* Have your say at SA Democrats' candidates (and former human shield in Iraq) Ruth Russell's webpage:
*  Support ICAN - the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons
* emergency appeal to help Terri  Keko'olani, community organiser with DMZ Hawai'i Aloha 'Aina, to travel to Australia to help with protests against the Talisman Saber war games
* FoE cyberaction: ALP uranium decision: it's a long way from a bad policy to a dirty mine
* Online Petition to Demand Trident Cancellation
* Support the US student hunger strike against nuclear weapons
 
 
3. IF YOU ONLY READ ONE THING ...
* Dr. Mark Diesendorf debunks myths about baseload electricity
NUCLEAR NEWS ITEMS are posted on the web at: <www.geocities.com/jimgreen3/nnn9.html> in these categories:
* New information sources
* Auntie Veronica
* Uncle Kevin
* Australia as the world's nuclear dump
* ASEN launches report on universities & nukes
* Nuclear dump proposed for NT - ALP policy
* Nuclear dump proposed for NT - Muckaty
* Launch of ICAN - International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons
* Clean energy
* Transport greenhouse solutions
* Energy efficiency - building standards
* Missile defence - Coalition - ALP
* Nuclear power and climate change - joint statement by Austria, Iceland, Ireland and Norway
* Lucas Heights reactor
* Hugh Morgan pushing reactors + dump
* Institute of Public Affairs and australia's nuclear debate
* Nuclear debates - Australia -various
* Government limits scrutiny of nuclear projects
* Nuclear power for Australia
* UK body snatchers
* Nuclear waste - Sweden
* Nuclear power/weapons in the Middle East
* Nuclear accidents in Japan
* Nuclear power - economics
* Nuclear power - USA - economics / subsidies
* Missile defence - Australia / China / USA
* Veterans of British bomb tests
* Nuclear weapons - usa and china
* Uranium
* Environmental racism
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UPCOMING EVENTS
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UPCOMING EVENTS - INDIGENOUS SPEAKING TOUR
(For Indigenous Speaking Tour events in Adelaide, Melbourne, Canberra, Sydney, see city listings below.)
"From the heart, for the heartland"
Traditional owners speak out: NO radioactive waste dump in the NT!
This month, Indigenous traditional owners and community members from areas proposed for the federal radioactive waste dump are undertaking a national speaking tour.  Timed to coincide with the announcement of the Federal Government’s preferred dump site, the tour is an opportunity for national audiences to hear how the dump proposal is impacting the targeted communities in the Northern Territory. Speakers will share their stories and experiences and raise concerns related to contamination of the country that sustains their communities, livelihoods and traditional culture.
Speakers confirmed for the tour include:
Mt Everard traditional owners Audrey McCormack and Benedict Stevens
Harts Range community members Priscilla Williams and Mitch
Muckaty traditional owner Dianne Stokes
Kalumpurlpa community member Steve Atkinson
Top End Aboriginal Conservation Alliance (TEACA) coordinator and Larrakia Nations’ representative Donna Jackson
Katherine No Dump Action Group founder Vina Hornsby
As well as meetings with local, state and federal politicians, social justice and environment groups, public meetings are being held in each city, incorporating speakers, an exhibition of artworks from affected communities, photos of the proposed dump sites and a short film.
The speaking tour aims to confront and dispel the myth used to justify nuclear activities in Australia; that remote areas are uninhabited and lifeless places. Federal Science Minister Julie Bishop suggested that all of the proposed waste dump sites are "some distance from any form of civilisation" when in fact, there are communities living and running successful enterprises three, five and eighteen kilometres away from the three areas currently being assessed.
This is a unique opportunity for people hear first hand, the impact of the Federal radioactive waste dump proposal on remote and indigenous communities. With Australia poised to expand involvement in the global nuclear industry, the public forums will encourage discussion of domestic radioactive waste management issues, social and environment concerns regarding the NT dump proposal and ways people interstate can engage with and support the NT community campaign.
For more information contact the speaking tour coordinator:
Natalie Wasley, 0429 900 774, natwasley@alec.org.au
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UPCOMING EVENTS - CYCLE AGAINST THE NUCLEAR CYCLE
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Northern leg:
Start: Rockhampton Mon, 25 Jun
Finish: Canberra Sun, 02 Sept
Southern leg
Start: Canberra Mon, 03 Sept
Finish: Port Augusta Fri, 02 Nov
How you can help (see web for details)
- join the ride
- donate
- buy a t-shirt
- Tell people about CANC and our website.
- Put up a poster or hand out some flyers for us, You can download PDFs of our poster and a couple of different versions of the flyer from Print resources page
- If you are interested in being involved please let us know rough dates you might be riding with us.
- if you're part of a local environment group or have connections with a school in an area CANC rides through and would like to help us organise an event in your area, check the itinerary for good dates email us some details.
- If you, your organisation or someone would like to help with sponsorship, both financial and in-kind (food, bike parts, spare cooking equipment etc) email us some details.
Beck Pearse ?uro;?0405 105 101 ?uro;?beck@canc.org.au
Evan Wills?uro;? 0414 604 641 ?uro;?evan@canc.org.au
Georgina Pike?uro;? 0431 303 084 ?uro;?georgina@canc.org.au
Moz?uro;? 0406 853 430 ?uro;?moz@canc.org.au
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UPCOMING EVENTS - ADELAIDE
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Friends of the Earth Adelaide
FoE Adelaide Clean Futures Collective meetings - every Tuesday night
at 5.30pm at the Conservation Centre, 120 Wakefield St, Adelaide. All
welcome.
0403 886951, 8227 1399
The meeting on the fourth Tuesday of every month is dedicated to
welcoming new members and holding a workshop/skillshare.
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Wednesday 13 June
"From the heart, for the heartland"
Northern Territory Traditional Owners speak out
Wednesday 13 June 2007
6.00pm for a 6.30pm start;
Lecture Theatre HH4-08, Level 4 Hans Heysen Building, UniSA City
West, off Hindley Street, Adelaide
Presented by the Arid Lands Environment Centre and Friends of the Earth
Adelaide and supported by the Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre at UniSA.
Timed to coincide with the announcement of the Federal Government's
preferred radioactive waste dump site, indigenous leaders and
community members from the Northern Territory will be undertaking a
national speaking tour. The tour will discuss the dump proposal's
impacts on targeted communities in the Northern Territory. Speakers
will share their stories and raise their concerns regarding
contamination of the country that sustains their communities,
livelihoods and traditional culture.
Speakers include:
- Mt Everard traditional owners Audrey McCormack and Benedict Stevens
- Harts Range community members Priscilla Williams and Mitch
- Muckaty traditional owner Dianne Stokes
- Larrakia Nations' representative Donna Jackson.
This is a unique opportunity to hear, first hand, the impact of the
Federal radioactive waste dump proposal on remote and indigenous
communities. With Australia poised to expand involvement in the
global nuclear industry, this public forum confronts the human
impacts of domestic radioactive waste management issues and the
serious social, environmental and justice concerns regarding the
Northern Territory dump proposal and offers just and equitable ways
forward.
The evening will comprise speakers, an exhibition of artworks from
affected communities, photos of the proposed dump sites and a short
film.
For more information, contact Joel Catchlove at
joel.catchlove@foe.org.au, or on 0403 886 951.
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CALLING ALL ARTISTS!!
Friends of the Earth Adelaide are seeking your donated artwork for an ART AUCTION to raise funds to support Indigenous traditional owners from the Northern Territory in their campaign against the Federal government’s attempts to impose a nuclear waste dump on their traditional lands.
All works are accepted (including sculpture, weaving, glassblowing, jewelry, framed and unframed paintings, new and old works etc), and specially produced works are particularly welcome.
Works are needed before 20th July 2007.
To register your interest and find out more, contact Sophie at
sophie.green@foe.org.au or 0422 487 219.
Expose your work to new audiences!
Support Friends of the Earth!
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Saturday 4 August - FoE Adelaide Art Auction!
North Adelaide Institute (community centre), 176 Tynte St, North
Adelaide.
Viewing 4-7pm, Auction at 7pm!
Food and drink available.
The art auction is to raise funds to support Indigenous traditional
owners from the Northern Territory in their campaign against the
Federal Government's attempts to impose a nuclear waste dump on their
traditional lands. Please contribute your work (specially produced
works are particularly welcome!), spread the word, and come along on
the night!
www.foe.org.au
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JUNE
Saturday 16, 7pm, Students of Sustainability Benefit Gig, The Duke, 81 Currie St, $10, featuring John Woods, Modulus, Business As Usual, Les Tazos, Bennie Raw
A night of reggae, folk, roots, trip-hop, electronica, tribal-tech, dub and dancehall
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JUNE
Sunday 17, 12noon - 4.00pm, Community Garden Gathering, Kurruru Pingyarendi Garden, Gilles Plains Community Campus, 489b North East Road, Hillcrest, bring food, seeds and seedlings to share, tours, networking, trading table.
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JUNE
Sunday 17, 3pm, 'A Crude Awakening: the oil crash', NOWAR film fundraiser, Palace Cinemas, $10/$15, 0414 773 918 to book.
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JUNE
Thursday 21, 7.00pm, 'Blowin' in the Wind' free screening, Conservation Centre, phone Richard 0421 188 873
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The Conservation Council of SA has instigated a new Roxby mine
expansion working group. Friends of the Earth Adelaide is a key
participant in this group, and additional interested groups or
individuals are invited to participate. Details are available from
the Conservation Council <www.ccsa.asn.au>
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Big congrats to the three winners of the 2007 Conservation Council of
SA Jill Hudson Award for Environmental Protection:
- Arabunna elder Uncle Kevin Buzzacott for his commitment to protect
his traditional country from the impacts of the Olympic Dam copper-
uranium mine.
- Sophie Green and Joel Catchlove for their work with FoE Adelaide
for energising the campaign in Adelaide against the expansion of the
nuclear industry.
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Saturday 23 June - Clean Futures Collective Strategy Day!
We're holding an all-day strategy session to cook up a solid long- term strategy for our nukes/energy campaign. Please feel free to come along and be part of it! It will be held at a beautiful property at Basket Range, and people are welcome to camp both on the night before and the night of the strategy day. Contact joel.catchlove@foe.org.au if interested.
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JUNE
Saturday 23, 11.00am, Talisman Sabre Protest, Parliament House, North Tce, phone Richard 0421 188 873 for details
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JUNE
Tuesday 26, FoE New Members Night, starring Joel Catchlove on 'Food Sovereignty: a new global movement'; 5.30pm for new members intro to FoE, 6.00pm quick meeting, 6.30pm presentation, bring food to share
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Thursday 28 June - New food campaign brainstorming night!
6pm, Conservation Centre, 120 Wakefield St, Adelaide.
This is the first meeting of FoE Adelaide's first dedicated food campaign!
The campaign will encompass global and local issues related to agriculture and trade policy, as well as having a strong emphasis on local, practical food production and community building. Contact joel.catchlove@foe.org.au for more info.
Friends of the Earth Adelaide is growing a new community food
campaign, and we want you to be part of it!
The campaign seeks to draw together community members passionate about contemporary food issues. We intend to campaign both on national and global issues of agriculture and trade policy (for example, food sovereignty, the impact of Free Trade Agreements or corporate control of food production and retailing) as well as having a strong emphasis on local, practical food production and community building. What the details of all this might be, however, are up to you!
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JULY
Friday 6 - Sunday 8, Friends of the Earth Australia Mid-year Meeting, near Melbourne
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JULY
Monday 9 - Sunday 15, Students of Sustainability, Perth
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Sunday 15 July - Saturday 22 July - next Nepabunna community work trip.
This Friends of the Earth initiated trip sees a group going up to Nepabunna indigenous township (Adnyamathanha land) in the Gammon Ranges twice yearly, and doing volunteer work in the bush tucker garden, maintenance, childcare, and other projects. The July trip may be already full, but email sophie.green@foe.org.au to register interest in future trips! (will be one in either October or December).
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AUGUST
Saturday 4, FoE Art Auction, North Adelaide Town Hall, viewing 4-7pm, auction 7pm onwards
Monday 6, Hiroshima Day
Thursday 9, Nagasaki Day; International Day of the World's Indigenous People
* FoE Adelaide to host 'Inhabited' exhibition *
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SEPTEMBER
Friday 7 - Sunday 9, APEC Summit, Sydney
Wednesday 27, Maralinga Day
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OCTOBER
Wednesday 17 - Sunday 21, Nightcap Forest Festival, Northern NSW, music, film, workshops, forums, contact nimenvirocentre@bigpond.com.au for more information
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MEMBERSHIP
As an independent environmental and social justice advocacy
organisation, Friends of the Earth Adelaide depends on the support of
its members and volunteers to keep it going. If you are not already a
member, please consider joining us. Your membership directly funds
our campaigns and helps maintain our independence from government and
corporate funding. The membership fee is as little as $30 concession
a year. A membership form is attached to this email.
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UPCOMING EVENTS - BRISBANE
------------------->
BOOK LAUNCH & SYMPOSIUM, DR MARK DIESENDORF: "GREENHOUSE SOLUTIONS WITH SUSTAINABLE ENERGY
This book discusses technologies the various technologies that have been put forward as solutions to the greenhouse crisis, including efficient energy use, renewable energy, coal with the capture and burial of CO2, gas and transport systems; and their implementation strategies.
Brisbane 2 July
5.30-7.30 pm at Brisbane Room, Brisbane Town Hall
Chair: Emeritus Professor Ian Lowe
Organiser: Friends of the Earth, Brisbane.
www.sustainabilitycentre.com.au/news.html
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Peace Convergence events - details at  www.peaceconvergence.com
JUNE 12 CREW A YACHT TO THE PEACE CONVERGENCE
Jamie is looking for 2 crew members to accompany him in his yacht, and 'Rashide' top the PC.  It will take about a week to get up to Yeppoon and we will be leaving on the 12th of June.  Following the action on the 19th - 22nd. I will probably continue up the Whitsundays for a bit and then come back down. Jamie 0402622279
JUNE 16: PEACE GIG - CONCERT FOR PEACE
June 16 Saturday  - 7pm, South Leagues Club, West End.
TWO STAGES: Acts inlcude: Ghostwriters (feat. Midnight Oil's Rob Hirst and Martin Rotsey), Bomba (Reggae), Grassroots Street Orchestra, The Kidney Thieves, Dead Riot, Skins (feating members of Blue King Brown), Barleyshakes, Jason Castle + speakers
This fun event  will kick off the week of action against War Games (June 18-
24) at Shoalwater Bay.   Peace Convergence participants from Melbourne and  Shoalwater will be at the gig and then make their way up Shoalwater (north of Rockhampton) for a week of peaceful resistance to the Talisman Sabre US-AUS war games.  Fundraiser for the Peace Convergence action and legal fund!
JUNE 18-24: PEACE CONVERGENCE: STOP THE TALISMAN SABRE WAR GAMES
June 18 (Mon) -24 (Sunday) - with major convergence on weekend of June 22-24 Shoalwater Bay Region (just north of Rockhampton) The Peace Convergence is a week of non violent resistance to war and war games time d to coincide with the largest ever military exercises to take place in Australia - U.S. - Aust Joint war games, Operation Talisman Sabre 07.
Around 30, 000 troops will practice live firing, bombing and land and sea manouvers in the Great Barrier Reef marine park, and adjacent RAMSAR listed Shoalwater Bay area using nuclear powered vessels and potentially carrying nuclear weapons and adjacent RAMSAR listed Shoalwater Bay area. FoE has played a major role in responding to military exercises in the region and in coordinating Peace Convergence activities;  Join us for action at Shoalwater - or find out how you can take action at home!  see our website for more info or visit: www.peaceconvergence.com
PEACE BUS:  Leaving Brisbane - twice during the week of action!   more info
see: www.peaceconvergence.com or call FoE!
GIVE US YOUR OLD SHOES!!
We are still collecting 655 pairs of shoes, each  pair representing a thousand deaths since the Iraq war began. The shoes  will be made into an installation to build awareness on the ongoing  war and Talisman Sabre 07 US-Australia joint war games taking  place in Qld May to July this year. You can drop them off at the FoE Office -  294  Montague  Rd,  West  End, Brisbane. Call Kim for more  info on 0413 397 839
Peace Convergence Tshirts
To order a PC t-shirt ($15 + $5 postage) send a cheque/money order payable to Brisbane Anti-Bases Coalition, PO Box 5829, West End Qld 4101. Available in women's (sizes 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 & 18 - white only) and unisex designs (m, l, xl & xxl - white, bone & snow marle: nb these are biggish sizes). "Peace Convergence Stop the Talisman Sabre Wargames".  Please indicate size and postal address!!
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Brisbane Street Theatre/Parade to oppose Talisman Sabre 07 War Games
"Dancing to the beat of a different drum" to begin the Peace Convergence. A visual procession aimed at seizing the media initiative from the Australian and US military before the war games start <www.peaceconvergence.com>
Date:  Saturday 16th June
Time:  10.30am briefing for 11.30am start. Sharp!
Place:  Meet at St Mary's Church, Merivale St West End, Brisbane.
Contact:  David Bradbury 02 6684 0015  or Annette Brownlie 0431 597 256
**Come dressed in your Sunday best and bring a pair of shoes or two!!
Brisbanites and people coming from further a field for the Peace Convergence are invited to be involved in what we hope will be a huge stylised street march through West End, Brisbane on the morning of 16th June.
David Bradbury writes "This is how I ideally imagine the Saturday morning  street theatre – all designed to appeal visually to the media so they will cover it and have it on their 6pm tv nightly news that night and in the Sunday morning tabloid papers.
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FOE Brisbane ANTI-NUKE COLLECTIVE MEETINGS
Generally meets every 1st and 3rd Tuesday 6pm FoE  House -  294 Montague
Road West End - please call to confirm Robin 0411 118 737
"Groundswell" newsletter or Friends of the Earth Brisbane - Autumn, 2007.
Is uranium mining in the smart state's future?, Peace Convergence 2007,
Citizens Guide to Climate Justice, Pirates of Compassion: saving whales in
the Southern Whale Sanctuary, FoEB events...and much more
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QUEENSLAND NUCLEAR FREE ALLIANCE MEETINGS fortnightly Thursdays For meeting
details contact Robin 0411 118 737
STALLS:
Caboolture Region Env. Council space Brisbane World Environment Day - June 9 - Queens Park, City
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QNFA member groups are in need of volunteers:
1. GRAPHIC DESIGNER - Food Irradiation Watch are in need of a graphic designer to help put together the second edition of the highly successful "Irradiation Free Food Guide". See their website for more info about the guide. http://www.foodirradiationinfo.org Email FIW at foodirradiationwatch@yahoo.com.au
2. Friends of the Earth: HELP WANTED!!!  Get active - Get involved!!!!
Volunteers needed in the following exciting areas:
FEAST FOR THE SENSES - Catering and events staff:  FoE?s signature ethical feast and music night will be happening in Sept/Oct this year.  We need your musical talent, culinary skills, or just your enthusiasm to lend a hand to this important and delicious awareness/fund - raising event!
FoE FINANCE OFFICER - Do you have a few hours to spare each month and financial skills just waiting for worthy organization?  If so, we need your help with bookkeeping - bill paying and day to day administration of our very tight budget!!!!
OFFICE STAFF - Like meeting and talking to people?  Got  some time to spare on a regular basis?  Want to support your favorite grassroots organization
 in a behind the scenes kind of way?   We need you to join our team of office
Volunteers - to answer phones, great visitors and do general tasks that help
FoE keep on keeping on!
VOLUNTEER COORDINATOR - Good with people, well organised - like to delegate?
If you have some regularly available time, a good sense of humour, a lot of patience, organisational skills and enjoy working with volunteers,  we need you to help coordinate general and campaign specific FoE volunteers.
TAX APPEAL TELEPHONE CALLERS - Yup! It?s that time of the year - Tax Time - once again, time for FoE?s annual Tax Time Appeal/Donation drive.  As a volunteer-based community organisation that accepts no funding from  government, FoE  needs all the ethical financial help we can get!    If you  have some time to spare before the next financial year and don?t mind talking to nice people you never met before on the phone about money- join us in phoning FoE friends and networks to help us raise well-needed funds to support our campaigns and community action.  PS - if you don?t have time to help out with phoning - we would gladly accept your support in the form of other administrative support during the Tax Appeal or a donation!!!!
For more information about volunteer positions, meetings and events contact:
Friends of the Earth Office:  (07) 3846 5793 Robin?s Mobile:  0411 118 737
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Ecological and Social Justice - forum and discussion
Date: June 21 (Thu) 2007
Time: 6:30 for 7pm
Place: Brisbane Workers Community Centre
  2 Latrobe Tce Paddington
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Sustainability and Food - forum and discussion
Date:, July 19 (Thu) 2007
Time: 6:30 for 7pm
Place: Brisbane Workers Community Centre
2 Latrobe Tce Paddington
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UPCOMING EVENTS - CANBERRA
------------------->
BOOK LAUNCH SYMPOSIUM, DR MARK DIESENDORF: "GREENHOUSE SOLUTIONS WITH SUSTAINABLE ENERGY
This book discusses technologies the various technologies that have been put forward as solutions to the greenhouse crisis, including efficient energy use, renewable energy, coal with the capture and burial of CO2, gas and transport systems; and their implementation strategies..
Canberra 27 June, 5.30-7.30 pm
Building 3T (Fellows Lane Cottage,
immediately to the north of Law Faculty)
Organiser: Nature & Society Forum
Speakers: Dr Mark Diesendorf and Dr Hugh Saddler
www.sustainabilitycentre.com.au/news.html
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?uro;?"Visions of Peace,"
Parliament House, on Wednesday, ?uro;?13 June from 12:00 to 2:00 pm, with some Bega folks who are bringing Jane ?uro;?Goodall Peace Doves.
Organised by the Talisman Sabre '07 PEACE ?uro;?CONVERGENCE group here in Canberra: We meet TUESDAYS at 11:00 am at ?uro;?Hudson's Cafe in the Botanical Gardens. Contact Benjo <kean666@hotmail.com>
?uro;??uro;?NO MORE WAR 'GAMES' | MILITARY EXERCISES COST THE EARTH | USE OUR ?uro;?RESOURCES FOR HEALTH, EDUCATION and WELFARE, NOT WAR
Contact Sue Andrew 6494 9544 or <begapeace@hotmail.com>.
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Indigenous Speaking Tour
From the Heart, For the Heartland
National Speaking Tour
Traditional Owners Speak Out:  NO Radioactive Waste Dump in the NT
Speakers~art~photos~films
Canberra Public Meeting
June 21, 6pm
Legislative Assembly, London Circuit, Civic
Contact: Inge Arnold 0418 345 686
Speakers include:
* Mt Everard traditional owners Audrey McCormack and Benedict Stevens
* Harts Range community members Priscilla Williams and Mitch
* Muckaty traditional owner Dianne Stokes
* Kalumpurlpa community member Steve Atkinson
* Top End Aboriginal Conservation Alliance (TEACA) coordinator Donna Jackson
* Katherine No Dump Action Group members Vina Hornsby and Petrina Ariston
Proudly supported by: The Poola Foundation (Tom Kantor Fund), Northern Territory Government, Australian Conservation Foundation, Friends of the Earth, The Wilderness Society, Medical Association for the Prevention of War, Australian Student Environment Network, Arid Lands Environment Centre, The Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre, Nuclear Free Australia.
For more information or to make a donation to please contact tour coordinator Natalie Wasley;  0429 900 774 , natwasley@alec.org.au
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UPCOMING EVENTS - MELBOURNE
 ------------------->
Say No To Ziggy's Nuclear Illusion
Tuesday June 12 @ 6pm
Prince Phillip Theatre
Architecture Building
The University of Melbourne, Parkville
Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation Chairman Ziggy Switovski will speak on climate change and the role of nuclear energy at a special public forum put on by the University of Melbourne and the Australian Institute of Physics. This is no genuine debate about energy climate change, or nuclear safety. The only speaker invited is pro-nuclear Ziggy.
Admission is free. But you have to book. Bookings: Email: <community-relations@unimelb.edu.au with "Switkowski" in the subject heading. or phone (03) 8344 1019.
Please be early to hand out anti-nuclear flyers and blow rasberrys at Ziggy.
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When: Wednesday 13 June, 6.30pm
Where: Lentils is Anything, Abbotsford Convent, 1 St Heliers St,
Abbotsford
What: A delicious vegetarian banquet, accompanied by the dulcet tones of
acoustic guitar. After dinner a there will be a talk on climate justice
by a leading expert in the field. There will also be an art auction of
work kindly donated by assorted local artists.
Cost: $40 waged, $20 unwaged
Why: This fundraiser is to raise money to get students from around Victoria sustainably to Perth for the annual Students of Sustainability Conference (SoS). SoS is a conference of communities, students, academics, and environment and Indigenous groups from around Australia, featuring inspiring speakers, practical workshops, community nights, bands, films, field trips, actions, reflection, dialogue, celebration. SoS is the reason many young environmentalists go onto become life-long social change makers, it inspires people to become active, opens them up to new ideas and equips them with skills to make change. SoS is essential to the continuation of a vibrant student environment movement. Please show your support for this amazing conference by attending Sustenance for Students of Sustainability!
Places are limited please RSVP by Monday 11 June to Nicky at
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Indigenous Speaking Tour
From the Heart, For the Heartland
National Speaking Tour
Traditional Owners Speak Out:  NO Radioactive Waste Dump in the NT
Speakers~art~photos~films
Melbourne Public Meeting
June 18, 6pm
Trades Hall, New Council Chambers
Contact: Michaela Stubbs 0429 136 935
Speakers include:
* Mt Everard traditional owners Audrey McCormack and Benedict Stevens
* Harts Range community members Priscilla Williams and Mitch
* Muckaty traditional owner Dianne Stokes
* Kalumpurlpa community member Steve Atkinson
* Top End Aboriginal Conservation Alliance (TEACA) coordinator Donna Jackson
* Katherine No Dump Action Group members Vina Hornsby and Petrina Ariston
Proudly supported by: The Poola Foundation (Tom Kantor Fund), Northern Territory Government, Australian Conservation Foundation, Friends of the Earth, The Wilderness Society, Medical Association for the Prevention of War, Australian Student Environment Network, Arid Lands Environment Centre, The Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre, Nuclear Free Australia.
For more information or to make a donation to please contact tour coordinator Natalie Wasley;  0429 900 774 , natwasley@alec.org.au
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Non-violent National Peace Convergence – Shoalwater, Bay, Qld. 18-24 June 2007 <www.peaceconvergence.com>
Join the Melbourne Peace Train Contingent to National Peace Convergence.  Call Kristy: 0421 323 839.
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Hiroshima Day
Sunday, August 5
12.30pm @ State Library
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Hello Friends,
My name's Jana, I volunteer with an organisation named OzGREEN who facilitate transformative learning and leadership programs for sustainability by enabling people to harness their inner wisdom, creativity and intelligence to build pathways to an ecologically and socially sustainable future.
Here are 2 upcoming programs in Melbourne you (or someone you know) may be interested in. Both programs are wonderful value-adds and will enhance what you're already doing in the world, while helping you step closer to YOUR visions for the future.
Upcoming Melbourne programs:
Leading with the Heart (adults of all ages) – Healesville – 22-24 June
Youth LEAD (15-25) – Healesville – 30 June–2 July
Empowering people to make their unique contribution to the planet; these programs begin with a 3-day residential workshop that enables you to focus on what you're concerned about, vision how you'd like things to be, determine some ways to get there and develop a plan of action that aligns with who you are and what's important to you.
It's also a chance to reflect on what you're already doing, recharge, be inspired and meet like-minded people. Not to mention all the fabulous vegetarian food and barrells of fun! After the workshop, there's ongoing support as well as the space to connect and network with other YouthLEADers, HeartLeaders, other Oz GREEN programs and to train as a facilitator or mentor if you wish.
Please distribute this opportunity through all of your networks and have a look at the attachments for all the information. Feel free to contact myself or Wendy (program co-ordinator) if you'd like to know more.
Cheers!
Jana Michaels
Trainee Facilitator
(m) 0425 729 623
Wendy Hopkins
Sustainability Educator and Victorian programs coordinator
Oz GREEN
Melbourne office
P 03 9341 8104
M 0409 670 395
F 03 9341 8199
Level 2, 60 Leicester St, Carlton VIC 3053
(with Environment Victoria)
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UPCOMING EVENTS - PERTH
------------------->
BOOK LAUNCH & SYMPOSIUM
DR MARK DIESENDORF: "GREENHOUSE SOLUTIONS WITH SUSTAINABLE ENERGY (UNSW Press, 2007)
This book discusses technologies the various technologies that have been put forward as solutions to the greenhouse crisis, including efficient energy use, renewable energy, coal with the capture and burial of CO2, gas and transport systems; and their implementation strategies.
Perth held 8 May 4.30–6.30 pm at Alinta, Level 6, 12–14 The Esplanade.
Organiser: WA Solar Energy Society.
Speaker: Dr Mark Diesendorf
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UPCOMING EVENTS - SYDNEY
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Film and Public Meeting
Stop Talisman Sabre 07
Stop War Games
§    Film
"Hard Rain" latest film by David Bradbury.
Speeches,
Raffles and other fundraising activities for the campaign to Stop TS07 called ‘The Peace Convergence’.
At: Freethought Bookshop
58 Regent St,
Chippendale
Time: 7 pm
Date: Sunday, June 10th
Organised by the Australian Anti-Bases Campaign Coalition, PO Box A899, Sydney South, NSW 1235. website: www.anti-bases.org, or ?uro;?mobile: 0418 290 663
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Wednesday 13 June
"From the heart, for the heartland"
Northern Territory Traditional Owners speak out
Sydney Public Meeting
June 25, 6pm
Redfern Community Centre
29-53 Hugo Street, Redfern
Contact:  Adam Wolfenden 0401 045 536
Timed to coincide with the announcement of the Federal Government's
preferred radioactive waste dump site, indigenous leaders and
community members from the Northern Territory will be undertaking a
national speaking tour. The tour will discuss the dump proposal's
impacts on targeted communities in the Northern Territory. Speakers
will share their stories and raise their concerns regarding
contamination of the country that sustains their communities,
livelihoods and traditional culture.
Speakers include:
- Mt Everard traditional owners Audrey McCormack and Benedict Stevens
- Harts Range community members Priscilla Williams and Mitch
- Muckaty traditional owner Dianne Stokes
- Larrakia Nations' representative Donna Jackson.
This is a unique opportunity to hear, first hand, the impact of the
Federal radioactive waste dump proposal on remote and indigenous
communities. With Australia poised to expand involvement in the
global nuclear industry, this public forum confronts the human
impacts of domestic radioactive waste management issues and the
serious social, environmental and justice concerns regarding the
Northern Territory dump proposal and offers just and equitable ways
forward.
The evening will comprise speakers, an exhibition of artworks from
affected communities, photos of the proposed dump sites and a short
film.
For more information, contact Joel Catchlove at
joel.catchlove@foe.org.au, or on 0403 886 951.
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PLEASE ACT NOW
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Talisman Sabre 2007
US and Australian war training
Talisman Sabre is the name of the largest ever military training exercises, scheduled for May/June 2007 and planned to involve over 30,000 US military personnel.
The 'Peace Convergence' is the answer to this, a network of peace activists, committed to challenging the war in nonviolent and creative ways. We will be travelling up to Shoalwater Bay during the excercises to demonstrate Australian oposition to the use of our soil for US training exercises.
If you'd like to get involved, check the website:
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Support the Pine Gap 4
At dawn on December 9, 2005 a 'Citizen's Inspection' of Pine Gap took place causing Pine Gap to shut down for five hours. The reason? A group of four Christian pacifists had entered the base, seeking to expose the terrorist acts perpetrated from inside the base (while two others supported the action without entering the base).
To support their work including their legal battle, check this website: <www.pinegap6.org> and <www.pinegapontrial.blogspot.com>
They have created a Yahoo group for supporters, to send out up-dates and information on how you can support the four and become involved in the trial and the campaign to Expose Pine Gap. Its easy to join the group: just send an e-mail to:
with subscribe in the subject line.
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Support the Kokatha Mula in their struggle against mining companies
* Fill out the form letter on the Kokatha Mula website <kokathamula.auspics.org> or write your own and send it to SA pollies (notably Premier Mike Rann, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs Jay Wheatherill and Environment Minister Gail Gago).
* Organise an information and/or fundraiser event.
* Order a copy of the slide show and/or documentary.
* Help research the companies and proposals involved.
* Purchase Kokatha Mula products or campaign merchandise (email for details).
* Come on one of the twice annual rockhole cleaning trips.
* Donate phone credit, fuel vouchers, satellite phone, food supplies, camping gear or office materials.  
Donate money to:
Bank Sa/St Georges Bank
Acc Name: Kokatha Mula Nation far west division Aboriginal Cooporation
Acc #: 105100032491240
More Info and contact:
Post: FAR WEST DIVISION ABORIGINAL CORPORATION
PO BOX 484, CEDUNA SA 5690
Ph: 0428 872375.
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Have your say at SA Democrats' candidates (and former human shield in Iraq) Ruth Russell's webpage:
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Support ICAN
"We are told by some governments that a Nuclear Weapons Convention is premature and unlikely - don't believe it - we were told the same thing about a Mine Ban Treaty." 
                                                      
Jody Williams, Nobel Laureate,  International Campaign to Ban Landmines
Dear Colleagues,
ICAN is a new campaign for a Nuclear Weapons Convention, launched by the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War and growing daily.  Organisations and individuals are getting involved because nuclear weapons are not like other weapons - there is no other weapon that can kill hundreds of millions of people in a few hours and bring about the end of human civilisation.
Watch our 6 minute ICAN film - feel free to copy and distribute:   http://www.icanw.org/launch-video  
Sign the ICAN petition - it will be presented annually to the nuclear terror states at the UN:    http://www.icanw.org/petition
Get informed about nuclear dangers and solutions:  http://www.icanw.org
Get involved, there are 10 things you can do today:  http://www.icanw.org/take-action
Download Securing our Survival (SOS):  The Case for a Nuclear Weapons Convention: http://www.icanw.org/publications
The 27,000 nuclear weapons in the hands of 9 States are illegal, immoral and genocidal; they can destroy our cities, health, water catchments and our food chain, and they routinely deplete enormous funds and attention from achieving human security. Nuclear weapons have no legitimate purpose. To possess them and thereby threaten their use is utterly immoral. They are the ultimate weapons of terror.  Its time to outlaw them and get rid of them once and for all. 
WE CAN achieve a nuclear weapon free world
YOU CAN get informed, get involved and get your government moving
THEY CAN negotiate a Nuclear Weapons Convention
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EMERGENCY APPEAL
Dear Friends,
In June, Australia will host the largest military exercises ever undertaken in  peacetime in this country. Talisman Saber will see 12,400 Australian and 13,700 US troops converging on various locations around Australia for their biennial ‘war games’.
The exercises will include live firing and bombing, underwater detonations, the latest laser guided missiles and ‘smart’ bombs, ship to shore bombing runs, bombing from US bases in Guam, land-based artillery firings, nuclear  powered submarines using high-level sonar frequency and nuclear weapons capable vessels and planes. There are no contingency plans for nuclear accidents.
The heart of the exercise will take place in Shoalwater Bay, north of Yeppoon. This breathtakingly beautiful area is part of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. It’s beautiful one day – and bombed the next.
Concerned, dismayed and outraged citizens from around the country are planning a Peace Convergence at Yeppoon from 18 to 24 June to protest against these military exercises.
In 2005, the Australian Government entered an agreement which provided the US long-term access to and joint use of Shoalwater Bay Training Area. This agreement ties Australia to the rapid military build up taking place in the north-west Pacific, particularly in Guam. Shoalwater Bay is one of the US Pentagon's largest and most important training areas and bombing ranges in the Asia-Pacific region. There has been no disclosure of the terms of these agreements or what weaponry will be used in military exercises.
HAWAI'I
The Talisman Saber military exercises will be monitored from Hawaii which is the base for the US Pacific Command.
Terri  Keko'olani, community organiser with DMZ Hawai'i Aloha 'Aina, has agreed to come to Australia to join the protests against the war games and to tell us more about the campaigns of her people against the US military and for their land and sovereignty.
The funding body we had expected to make a major contribution to the cost of this project has unfortunately rejected our submission at the last minute. We must therefore try to raise $3,500 in the next 3 weeks.
Can you please help us fund Terri's visit by making an urgent donation and/or passing this appeal on to other individuals and organisations.
PLEASE SEND YOUR CHEQUES URGENTLY TO:
AABCC Hawaii Fund
PO Box A 899, Sydney South NSW 1235
For further information, please contact Denis Doherty on 0418 290 663 or Hannah Middleton on 0418 668 098
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ALP uranium decision: it's a long way from a bad policy to a dirty mine
The ALP over turned its no new uranium mines policy at its national conference at the end of April. Here is a list of things you can do about this decision.
1/ contact Anthony Albanese and Peter Garrett and congratulate them on leading the anti uranium debate at national ALP conference.
Anthony Albanese:
Phone: (02) 6277 4031, Fax: (02) 6277 8445
Peter Garrett:
Tel: (02) 6277 2037, Fax: (02) 6277 8402
2/ contact Steve Bracks and congratulate him on retaining Victoria as a nuclear free state. Ask him why he voted for new uranium mines at national conference. You might have an opinion on whether these two actions are consistent.
Ph (03) 9651 5000, Fax: (03) 9651 5054
3/ Contact Bill Shorten and express your unhappiness at how he tried to convince delegates to national conference that to oppose further uranium mining meant undermining Kevin Rudd as leader. Remind him that most ALP members do not support uranium mining.
Contact Bill via the AWU National Office located in Melbourne on 03 8327 0888 or email bill.shorten@awu.net.au
4/ Contact Martin Ferguson and let him know that his undermining of Labor’s policy will cost the Party votes and credibility.
Canberra office:
Tel: (02) 6277 4899, Fax: (02) 6277 8403
Electorate Office (Location/Postal Address):
159 High Street, Preston Vic 3072
Tel: (03) 9416 8690, Fax: (03) 9416 7810
4/ contact ALP leaders Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard and remind them that you do not support any further involvement in the nuclear cycle.
You may want to remind them of the waste problems of mining uranium and the proliferation risks associated with selling our uranium overseas – and the fact that Labors’ sensible and popular opposition to plans for nuclear power in Australia has been undermined by their failure to get serious about uranium – the mineral that makes nuclear power possible.
Kevin Rudd:
ph (02) 6277 4022, Fax (02) 6277 8495,
Julia Gillard:
Tel: (02) 6277 4349, Fax: (02) 6277 8457
5/ Contact Queensland premier Peter Beattie. Express your concern at him supporting an expansion of mining in Australia at national conference but congratulate him on his 2006 election promise that Queensland will remain free of uranium mining.
Remind him that the majority of Queensland voters and most unions would not want to see uranium mines opened in that state.
Phone: 07 3224 4500,
Facsimile: 07 3221 3631
PO Box 15185
City East
Queensland 4002
6/ contact Alan Carpenter, the premier of WA. Congratulate him on standing strong on the issue of uranium mining. Perhaps mention that his opposition to any uranium mines in WA is warmly supported by yourself and many in the community.
Phone number: (08) 9222 9888 - Premier's Office
Fax: (08) 9322 1213
7/ contact Peter Batchelor, Victorian Minister for Energy and Resources and encourage him to re-write and re-table his anti nuclear bill (the Nuclear Plebiscite Bill). Encourage him to work with the Greens to ensure this bill is passed as a matter of urgency.
Ph: (03) 9658 4660
Fax: (03) 9658 4631
8/ Stop the NT waste dump
All Australian uranium becomes radioactive waste. Contact Kim Carr, the shadow science minister, and let him know that you support Labor’s plan to drop the federal government’s move to impose a radioactive waste dump on the NT.
Non imposition, respect for Indigenous rights and community consent should be pillars of the ALPs approach to radioactive waste management.
Tel: (02) 6277 3730
Fax: (02) 6277 5911
9/ support anti nuclear groups: the fight just got that bit harder and that bit more urgent and we need your help:
FoE Australia: www.foe.org.au
Environment Centre of the Northern Territory: www.ecnt.org.au
No Waste Alliance: www.no-waste.org
10 sign up for 'no nukes news' – a monthly e-newsletter: email: jim.green@foe.org.au with NNN-subscribe in the subject line.
11/ stay tuned for our federal election campaign: www.foe.org.au
Remember – it is a long way from a bad policy to a dirty mine – and those wanting to see more uranium mining face a long and hard contest. Australia and Australians deserve better than to be the world’s uranium quarry and the worlds nuclear waste dump.
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IPPNW News Alert
Online Petition to Demand Trident Cancellation
The UK Parliament will be voting on whether to renew the UK's Trident  nuclear missile program on March 14, 2007 -- less than two weeks away.  If Trident is renewed, this ensures that the UK will have nuclear  weapons far into the future. As members of an international community  committed to the abolition of nuclear weapons, we must make our  collective voices heard on this issue.
US medical student Tova Fuller, in consultation with IPPNW's UK  affiliate, Medact, has created an online petition demanding the  cancellation of the Trident replacement. You can read and sign the  petition at <www.ipetitions.com/petition/Trident_Petition>
Please  forward this web address to all of your contacts. The petition deadline  is March 7, to allow enough time to disseminate the text and signatures  to key Members of Parliament before the debate.
More information about Trident and the blockade at the UK submarine  base at Faslane can be found at the IPPNW student website -- 
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Support the US student hunger strike against nuclear weapons
Check these websites:
www.ucnuclearfree.org
Chelsea Collonge
May 7, 2007
Dear friend,
On Wednesday, May 9th, thirty students and alumni at three UC campuses went on a hunger strike to demand that the University of California stop designing, engineering and manufacturing nuclear bombs.
For over six decades, the UC (University of California) has been the US government's primary nuclear warhead contractor, having managed the Los Alamos (NM) and Livermore (CA) nuclear weapons compounds since their inceptions. Every nuclear warhead in the US arsenal was designed by a UC employee. These include the B61-11 "bunker busters" currently deployed in the Persian Gulf, with which the US government is threatening Iran. Now, the UC is even building a new hydrogen bomb: officially, the first new US nuclear weapon since the end of the Cold War and setting up one of its labs to actually manufacture nuclear warhead components.
As hunger strikers, our basic position is this: At this critical time in our world, with the survival of our planetary ecosystem hanging in the balance, it is imperative for the UC Regents to stop providing a fig leaf of academic respectability to the creation of the world's most toxic and deadly weapons, and instead use their position of political leverage to spur the US toward genuine nuclear disarmament, democratization, and demilitarization.
The hunger strike action represents the culmination of over five years of organizing and struggle by UC student nuclear abolitionists, anti-war activists, and anti-imperialists. We have petitioned, written letters, marched, rallied, spoken out at UC Regents meetings, and even physically disrupted some of those same meetings to demand that the UC get out of bed with bombs. Now, we are escalating our tactics. We seek, above all, for our actions to be commensurate with the truly formidable challenges confronting our generation and the earth.
We'd like to highlight five ways that you can support us, in order of those we consider most important:
*1. Join us for a short-term (one-day, for example) solidarity fast.* Fasting is a remarkable way to cleanse your body, and doing so for a short amount of time entails virtually no physical risk.
*2. Attend our "No Nukes In Our Name!" rally at the UC Regents meeting on Thursday, May 17th at 10 a.m. at UC San Francisco's Mission Bay building.* Due to the level of local, statewide, and national attention we expect to gain through this action, we anticipate being able to bring a great deal of pressure to bear on the Regents. A large mobilization at this action is crucially important! For driving directions, visit www.ucnuclearfree.org or contact youth@napf.org.
*3. Call the UC Regents - ask that they vote on our resolution for nuclear weapons lab severance on May 17th. *It is crucial for as many supporters as possible issue this demand, whether they be California tax-payers, UC students, or concerned citizens of the world! A full list of Regents contact info is enclosed.
*4. Write a letter to the UC Regents - ask that they vote on our resolution for nuclear weapons lab severance on May 17th.** *Again, a full list of contacts is attached.* *An online form letter will be available at www.ucnuclearfree.org beginning on Wednesday, May 9th. We will notify you as soon as it is posted.
*5. Write a letter of solidarity to the hunger strikers.* Enclosed is a list of hunger striker contacts. Your letters will go a long way toward boosting our morale as the hunger strike wears on. We will read many of them at the rallies and public events we hold to garner support throughout the action.
We wouldn't be writing to you if we didn't consider your support vitally important to the success of this initiative. We expect that the hunger strike will receive national attention and mark a significant step forward in the struggle for nuclear abolition. It may very well achieve its aim. If it is to do so, it needs to have broad-based support both at UC campuses and far beyond!
There has never been a more critical time for the UC Regents to take a principled stand against the US' nuclear weapons programs. They are in a very powerful position to do so: They can withdraw their management of the Los Alamos and Livermore labs, which are the keystone institutions in the US nuclear weapons complex. They could cast the UC's enormous political and intellectual weight on the side of international law and morality, and seize this opportunity to work toward nuclear disarmament. To do otherwise is to continue to provide a much-needed veneer of academic legitimacy to the creation and maintenance of weapons that poison communities and endanger the entire world.
We recognize that the world we live in is fundamentally unjust, that it is full of a spate of interconnected problems, and that all of these problems merit being addressed on their own terms and in their own ways. We realize our hunger strike will do little to address most of those problems. But we do believe we have part of the answer to making the world a much better place. We hope that, by performing this hunger strike, we can initiate new connections and relationships that will help us continue to work in solidarity with people engaged in multiple other fronts of political struggle.
Together, we can make the UC nuclear-free! Thank you so much for your time
and attention! We look forward to connecting with you!
Yours in the struggle for a world free of war, nuclear weapons, and empire,
Chelsea Collonge
on behalf of
The UC "No More Nukes In Our Name!" Hunger Strikers
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IF YOU ONLY READ ONE THING
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See also:
* Dr Mark Diesendorf, "The base-load electricity fallacy", briefing paper #16 at www.energyscience.org.au
* Dr Mark Diesendorf, Greenhouse Solutions with Sustainable Energy, UNSW Press, 2007
Sustainable energy has powerful future
Mark Diesendorf
The Age
April 13, 2007
OPPONENTS of renewable energy from the coal and nuclear industries, and their political supporters, are disseminating the fallacy that renewable energy cannot provide base-load power to substitute for coal-fired electricity.
If this becomes widely accepted, renewable energy will remain a niche market rather than achieve its potential of being part of mainstream energy supply technologies.
Electricity grids are designed to handle variability in demand and supply and have different types of power stations — base-load, intermediate-load, peak-load and reserve.
A base-load station is, in theory, available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and operates most of the time at full power. In mainland Australia, base-load power stations are mostly coal-fired while a few are gas-fired. Coal-fired stations are by far the most polluting of all power stations, in terms of greenhouse gas emissions and local air pollution. Overseas, some base-load power stations are nuclear-powered.
An electricity supply system cannot be built out of base-load power stations alone. These stations take all day to start up and, in general, their output cannot be changed quickly enough to handle peaks and other variations in demand. They also break down from time to time.
A faster, cheaper, more flexible power station is used to complement base-load, handle the peaks and handle quickly unpredictable fluctuations in supply and demand.
These peak-load stations are designed to be run for short periods each day. They can be started rapidly from cold and their output can be changed rapidly. Some peak-load stations are gas turbines (like jet engines) fuelled by natural gas. Hydro-electricity with dams is also used to provide peak-load power.
Some renewable electricity sources have identical variability to coal-fired power stations and so they are base-load. They can be integrated into the electricity supply system without any additional back-up. Examples include:
* Bio-energy, based on the combustion of crops and crop residues, or their gasification followed by combustion of the gas.
* Hot rock geothermal power, which is being developed in South Australia and Queensland.
* Solar thermal electricity, with overnight heat storage in water or rocks, or a thermochemical store.
* Large-scale, distributed wind power, with a small amount of occasional back-up from a peak-load plant.
Moreover, energy efficiency and conservation measures can reliably reduce demand for base-load and peak-load electricity.
The inclusion of large-scale wind power in the list may be a surprise to some people, because wind power is often described as an "intermittent" source, that is, one that switches on and off frequently. While a single wind turbine is certainly intermittent, a system of several geographically separated wind farms is not. Total wind power output of the system generally varies smoothly and rarely falls to zero. Nevertheless, it may require some back-up, for example, from gas turbines.
When wind power supplies up to 20 per cent of electricity generation, the additional costs of reserve plant are relatively small. For widely dispersed wind farms, the back-up capacity only has to be one-fifth to one-third of the wind capacity. Since it has low capital cost and is operated infrequently, it plays the role of reliability insurance with a low premium.
Of course, if a national electricity grid is connected by transmission line to another country (for example, as western Denmark is connected to Norway), it does not need to install any back-up for wind, because it buys supplementary power from its neighbours when required.
By 2040, renewable energy could supply more than half Australia's electricity, reducing greenhouse emissions from electricity generation by nearly 80 per cent. In the longer term, when solar electricity is less expensive, there is no technical reason to stop renewable energy from supplying 100 per cent of grid electricity. The system could be just as reliable as the dirty, fossil-fuelled system that it replaces.
The barriers to a sustainable energy future are neither technological nor economic, but the immense political power of the big greenhouse gas polluting industries — coal, aluminium, iron and steel, cement, motor vehicles and part of the oil industry.
Dr Mark Diesendorf is the director of Sustainability Centre, senior lecturer in environmental studies at the University of NSW, and a member of the EnergyScience Coalition.
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NEW INFORMATION SOURCES
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New FoE website, nukes section: <www.foe.org.au/campaigns/anti-nuclear>
- lots on links between nuclear power and weapons
- paper on Impacts of Nuclear Power & Uranium Mining on Water Resources
- nuclear waste, reprocessing etc
- critique of James Lovelock, Patrick Moore and other self-described pro-nuclear environmentalists.
- references to the bestest litrature on Clean Energy: Renewables + Energy Efficiency
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From Chain Reaction #100, July 2007
Two must-read climate change books
Mark Diesendorf
Greenhouse Solutions with Sustainable Energy
May 2007
UNSW Press: Sydney
RRP $49.95
Clive Hamilton
Scorcher: The Dirty Politics of Climate Change
2007
Black Inc. Agenda, Melbourne
RRP: $29.95
Clive Hamilton and Mark Diesendorf have written important - and complementary - books on climate change politics and solutions for Australia.
Hamilton, executive director of the Australia Institute, focusses on the corrupt politics of climate change while Diesendorf, who teaches in the Institute of Environmental Studies at the University of New South Wales, concentrates on sustainable energy solutions.
Hamilton's Scorcher details the corruption that passes for climate change policy-making in Australia. It's a blow-by-blow account of the manoeuvrings of the self-described 'greenhouse mafia' of corporate fossil-fuel interests, and their secretive dealings with the self-described anti-elitist Howard government.
Outside of the corporate cabal and the inner echelons of the Howard government, Hamilton probably knows more than anyone about climate change politics in Australia and that depth of knowledge makes Scorcher a compelling read.
Hamilton also explains the "studied ignorance" of most of the corporate media in Australia and their complicity in the climate change fiasco.
Diesendorf offers critical analyses of nuclear power and 'clean' coal, and advocates an energy scenario based on renewables, gas and energy conservation and efficiency. He also address transportation - a significant contributor to greenhouse emissions.

You won't find another book with as much solid information on clean energy options for Australia as Greenhouse Solutions with Sustainable Energy.

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