In fact, an organisation set up by journalists, for journalists, has found that more than 80 per cent of people want to see immediate climate action.
And just last week at the ‘Nurturing Nature with Costa’ event in Tatura, that concern had a local emphasis.
The Shepparton-based group pushing for independent political candidates asked those attending to place a ping-pong ball in one of several buckets branded with concerns for the area, and the climate change bucket was clearly the target of most.
Emphasising that simmering, and largely unrecognised, community feeling, climate change was again one of the topics of conversation at a recent significant Shepparton social event.
Nearly 30 people gathered to learn more about the Labor candidate for the seat of Shepparton in the upcoming state election, Cayla Fin.
Ms Fin, who works at Shepparton’s GOTAFE and lives at Dookie, wants to ensure Victoria continues its push towards renewable energy and the reduction of carbon emissions, including an end to the use of gas.
So, having been engaged with the climate conversation for about 20 years and sensing the issue had barely drawn a breath in the Goulburn Valley, it seemed only fair to give it the chance to suck some oxygen deep into its lungs.
Shepparton, along with many western communities, is caught up in “consumptogenic” behaviour — a somewhat esoteric and academic word that is about political, economic and social systems, policies or behaviours that drive excessive consumption and hyper-consumerism at the expense of human health and the environment.
That was confirmed for me recently when an 18-year-old Shepparton woman told me that she and her friends were so caught up in the frivolities and distractions of youth that they had no time, or reason, to even think about climate change.
Determined to plant climate change in the minds of some, I’ve decided to ask the same 10 questions of 500 people in 50 weeks.
That self-appointed task has begun, and already what I had expected has emerged, with people arguing they know so little about climate change, either its impact or causes, that they are ill-equipped to answer my questions.
I’m not searching for informed answers; if they have them, that’s wonderful, but I want ‘their’ answers, and maybe, just maybe, my questions will trigger their curiosity about climate change.
The adage argues that if you don’t know where you are going, any road will take you there, but I do know where I’m going; however, I hope that my questions of 500 people in 50 weeks will ignite a community-wide conversation about the implications and complications of climate change and how we, as a broader community, should respond.
Anyone eager to join this journey should email me at r.mclean7@icloud.com or call on 0400 502 19.
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