School strike for climate change action

The possibility of Man causing climate change has been recognised for over a century. Why kids should be concerned At the time of writing I am 73 years old, while I am already seeing the impact of climate change I will not live long enough to see the full disaster that I am convinced it will be; those who are children now will suffer from having to live in a world that will be greatly damaged by the selfish actions of those of my generation who are controlling the world at present. And the problem goes beyond climate change, the burning of fossil fuels is not only the main cause of climate change, it is also the main cause of ocean acidification, ocean warming and sea level rise. The air pollution from the burning of fossil fuels kills millions of people world-wide each year. I have argued on another page on this site that to oppose action to reduce greenhouse emissions is a crime against humanity; indeed against all life on Earth. I also hold that for a person in a position of power to knowingly oppose action on climate change is to take part in the greatest crime in human history. There are many in recent Australian governments, state and federal, who are guilty of this crime. I have been disappointed by the apathy of the great majority of people in regard to climate change – so it is wonderful to see those who are just old enough to recognise the implications taking what action they can. The answers to the climate change problem are available and obvious There are three main industries that are responsible for greenhouse emissions: electricity generation, transport and agriculture. Electricity generation Since the turn of the twenty-first century we have seen huge developments in renewable energy, particularly wind and solar. By the time of writing it was quite obvious that renewable energy, together with energy storage, could replace most, if not all, fossil fuel energy; however we are seeing great resistance to this essential change. Transport In transport battery or clean hydrogen powered vehicles can replace fossil fuelled vehicles, electric trains can replace diesel power trains, electricity or hydrogen can replace highly polluting bunkering oil. Agriculture The biggest cause of emissions associated with agriculture is land clearing; the world should be protecting all the remaining forest and revegetating where possible. My country, Australia, has huge potential for producing and exporting renewable energy either as electricity, hydrogen, ammonia, or in some other form. This could replace emissions-producing fossil fuels in electricity generation and transport. In contrast to what Australia could be doing is what Australia is actually doing. Australia ranks 53rd in the world in population, but sixth in the world in the CO2 produced by its electricity industry; it has 0.3% of the world's population, but produces 1.2% of the world's greenhouse gasses; it is well up among the worst greenhouse polluters on the planet. Of course I can do nothing other than support the kids in their School Strike for Climate Action to the best of my ability. My involvement   Demonstration At the time I started this page I didn't live close to any place where School Strike demonstrations had been held, but with some of my family (wife, daughter, son-in-law, two grandchildren) I was able to join in at Bunbury, Western Australia, on 2019/03/15. Climate change has been my greatest concern for at least thirty years. I've been writing on the Internet about the threat posed by climate change since 2002 (one of my earliest pages largely devoted to climate change was Failings of Australian governments). In 2012 I was the oldest person among about 70 who took part in a 328 km walk from Port Augusta to Adelaide (the state capital of South Australia) in support of a solar thermal power station to at least partly replace the coal-fired power stations at Port Augusta. In 2014 I took part in a walk of about 750 km from Melbourne to Canberra (the national capital of Australia) to deliver a petition to parliament pressing for decisive action on climate change.

Wind farms like this can go a long way to replacing fossil fuelled power stations
Hornsdale Wind Farm, South Australia Photo by my drone, 2016/01/10

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2019   Clare polling booth, Australian federal election, 2019/05/18 In the photo on the right school kids Niamh and Emma were asking for the world that they will inherit to be protected at the Australian federal election of 2019/05/18. They and many others were disappointed, the corrupt and coal-loving Liberal/National coalition was re-elected.   Clare, Mid North South Australia, September 2019 In this photo Emma is preparing for the School Strike event in Clare of 2019/09/20.