Parent power pushed the environmental message

Lithgow Mercury
Thursday 10/5/2007 Page: 8

More than 45 mothers, fathers and children from the Blue Mountains/Lithgow area gathered in the Springwood Civic Square last week to raise awareness about global warming. The group gathered to publicly sign and deliver a letter to Federal Member for Macquarie, Kerry Bartlett.

The letter called on Mr Bartlett to commit to personally contacting the Prime Minister, John Howard, and asking him to:

• Help Australia move away from coal, the primary cause of climate change, to clean affordable renewable energy such as wind and solar by supporting a 30 per cent cut in greenhouse pollution by 2020; and
• Join with the rest of the international community in dealing with climate change, and, as a first step, ratify the Kyoto Agreement.

"In 2006 when a bunch of mothers started talking and realised how seriously climate change will affect our future, we decided we need to do all we can to help," concerned mother Stephanie Chrismas said. "We were like any mothers group, but as well as talking about nappies and how to get our kids to sleep through the night, we were concerned about what kind of world they will be living in.

"We were all doing all we could as individuals, but just changing our light globes isn't enough to solve this problem. "We need our government to take immediate and decisive action. so our kids can have some sort of a future," she said.

Climate change-global warming is caused by rising carbon dioxide levels from burning fossil fuels, according to scientists. If no action is taken, Australia can expect rising sea levels, more frequent and extreme droughts with food shortages, the devastation of the Great Barrier Reef, and more extreme weather events. In the Blue Mountains, climate change could result in more frequent and intense bushfires, hotter temperatures, severe water shortages and serious impacts to the Blue Mountains World Heritage Area.

The group is calling on other parents to contact local politicians, and express their concerns. "We know people are really worried about this issue, particularly parents, and the news is so bad that we have no time to waste. "The good news is that we already have the clean technology we need to fix this problem," another Hartley mother, Sharnie Wu, said. "The next election will be crucial in formulating our national response to the threat of climate change. "If we act now we can still make a difference".

You can contact local concerned parents, find out more about local community green activities and download a letter to Mr Bartlett from www.stoplaughing.com.au.