Citizens Climate Campaign - Campaign Diary

Campaign Diary

Citizens Climate Campaign

Keep Calm
and
Carry On*

email: climatez@climatecampaign.info
website: www.climatecampaign.info

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(* The motto of the British Government
in the dark days of World War 2)

On Saturday 13 June we attended the National Climate Emergency Rally in Sydney, with about two thousand other people.

In a city of over 4 million, the turnout was deeply disappointing.

Our political leaders had clearly expected more, as there were mounted and foot police in large numbers.

On the same day, the editorial in the Sydney Morning Herald was headed The World is Feeling Climate Change Fatigue.

On Wednesday 17 June, an article headed Coal-fired Power Gets Boost reported that the NSW Budget is allocating $205 million for the expansion of the state's second largest coal-fired power station, and that NSW carbon emissions are predicted to rise over the next year by about 1.5 million tones.

We went into a pretty bad space, really questioning our original belief that we could influence our political representatives. It is painfully clear now that the only people our governments are listening to are the Greenhouse Mafia. We were actually ready to give up.

Then we remembered the book we had come across five years ago when we first started this letter writing campaign.

It was called Doing Democracy by Bill Moyer, and it described the 8 stages that movements for social change go through on their road to success. [see the table below.]

All the great social change movements can be seen to have moved through these stages – the abolition of slavery, women's franchise, the U.S civil rights movement - to name a few. All took many years to ultimately achieve their goals, establishing rights and values we now take for granted.

We found this information very comforting in those early days, five years ago, when there was so little public awareness of climate change, and no political acceptance.

It gave us a sense of perspective about what
we were part of, what we were doing.
We were then in Stage 2.

We think we're now in Stage 5, on the brink of Stage 6 - what do you think?

At this point, that perspective has given us the resolve to keep on doing our bit, giving our fellow Australian citizens the information you need to know about our political leaders' response to the great threat of climate change.

It is through this wider community awareness, and the natural responses of drought, bushfires, sea level rises and food shortages, that we will move on to Stage 6 and beyond.

We need to understand this stuff, to be able to keep on going in the face of seeming failure after so much effort. Because we need to keep on going.

Climate change isn't going to go away, and its effects are going to be devastating for millions if not billions of people, not to mention the natural systems that sustain us.

The sooner we as the voting public can out-influence
the vested interests of the Greenhouse Mafia,
the less devastation there is likely to be.

Eight Stages of the Process of Social Movement Success
(from Doing Democracy by Bill Moyer)

Normal Times. A critical problem exists that violates widely held values, but the powerholders support the problem. The public is unaware of the problem and supports the powerholders. The problem/policies are not a public issue.
In this instance, our problem is global warming; the widely-held value is our belief that our governments will act in the best interests of all Australians to deal effectively with this problem. The powerholders (governments and vested corporate interests) support policies which are not only contributing to the problem, but are making it worse.

Failure of Official Policies. Some members of the public become aware that government policies violate their widely held values. Some local opposition groups form. They start to do research, become better informed.

Ripening Conditions. Recognition of the problem grows. More active local groups form. 20% to 30% of public opposes the powerholder policies.

Take Off. A trigger event leads to dramatic non-violent actions/campaigns.
In Australia "An Inconvenient Truth" and the Stern Report were significant triggers. The problem is on the public agenda. Nonviolent actions are repeated around the country (Walk Against Warming, "Clean Energy for Eternity" human signs). 40% of the public opposes current policies.

Perception of Failure. The public see their goals unachieved as powerholder policies remain unchanged. Despair, hopelessness, burnout. Movement seems at stalemate.

Majority Public Opinion. Majority oppose powerholder policies. The problem and policies are shown to affect all sectors of society. Mainstream citizens and institutions become involved. The problem is on the political agenda. Powerholders promote the public's fear of alternatives (eg loss of jobs in coal industry). Re-trigger events happen, re-enacting Stage 4 (these are now most likely to be natural disasters, drought, bushfires, coastal inundation, food shortages).

Success. Large majority of the public oppose current policies and no longer fear alternatives. Powerholders change policies but try to make minimal reforms, while movement demands real change (eg renewable energies to replace coal, energy efficiency, an end to coal exports).

Continuing the Struggle. Community leaders extend successes and oppose attempts at backlash, while promoting a paradigm shift in public perception.

Regards from the Citizens Climate Campaign Committee