Those who gather Beneath
the Wisteria in Shepparton’s Maude Street Mall may seem alone, but they are
not.
Others, equally concerned about the disruption by humans to
the world’s climate, meet regularly to talk about their response to a dynamic
that appears to have escaped the attention of the decision makers.
That, however, is correct for the “responsible men” are
certainly aware of the conversation and their response is one of a few things –
one, they don’t believe humans are having any impact on our climate and any
changes we are seeing are simply natural and cyclic; two, they have some
sympathy with the idea of human-induced climate change, but are so enmeshed in
the existing socio-economic system that they are unable to perceive any way
ahead; or/and the computations associated with climate change are so complex and
the outcomes so distant, that the whole idea is intellectually pushed aside and
so forgotten about.
Some, despite any of that, are actively discussing the
complications of climate change and campaigning for change and among them is the
Lighter Footprints, a Melbourne based
group that declares in its vision that: “Lighter
Footprints is a local Climate Action Group which aims to be a leader in
stimulating action to ensure a safe climate future, influencing a paradigm
shift in the attitudes and opinions of the community and all levels of
government”.
Describing itself the group
says: “We are a small but growing group of concerned residents from Boroondara
and Whitehorse who came together in 2006 to see what we could do about climate
change.”
Another small group is Yarra Climate Action Now, which is made up of people who want to see much stronger action on climate change
which is an independent community group based in the inner Melbourne suburbs of
the City of Yarra.
Describing itself in a “nutshell”
the group said: “Yarra Climate Action Now (YCAN) is a young, growing, dynamic
and award-winning community group made up of people concerned about climate
change.
"We’ve gotten together because we realized
that this is the best way to make a difference in our local communities and
also get real action from our governments.
"We are ordinary people who are busy
with families, friends and work, but we put energy into YCAN because we know
how important it is to push for collective responses to climate change,” the group says.
