Guest speaker Sam with a certificate of appreciation presented by Member Bill.
Last Thursday at the Commonwealth Club, Sam Engele, Coordinator General for Climate Action with the ACT Government, provided an informative and positive report on the Government’s programme to reduce greenhouse gases and move to a non-carbon energy economy en route to 2050.
He first talked about the transition programmes which are underway, and the progress that has been made over the past 2 decades. He identified big challenges to steer consumers away from natural gas, convert transport and cars to electrical power and the construction of more climate friendly buildings including residential houses. Concerns about the new suburbs and existing residential redevelopments providing inadequate tree coverage and “softer” landscaping were still a big problem, given the competing demands of development versus conservation. There appears to be no answer to this dilemma at present.
Sam then turned to the progress being made by government to change consumer attitudes to renewables and the effect of policies. Consumer loans seem to be very popular, while the innovative contracting arrangements designed by the ACT lawyers to develop windfarms and secure the provision of electricity into the future appears to be working well. Indeed, they are being copied by other states and the Commonwealth, so we must be doing something right! They have achieved milestones ahead of projections, so the outlook is positive.
Many thanks Sam for an excellent presentation.
Bill Andrews
Our Club features in “Rotary Down Under”
Following are scans of two pages from the most recent Rotary Down Under magazine, reporting on our Club’s Peace Pole project. It’s well worth reading, particularly the speech given by the Principal of North Cottesloe Primary School, Jen Allsop, which starts in the final column of the first page.
Michael Rabey
