Well...it’s been a busy week with the announcement that the Cameco/Paladin joint venture has been granted the rights to explore for uranium within our water catchment, a meagre 25 km out of town! It was great to see about 70 local people gather at the Council Lawns and march up Gregory Terrace to the Chief Minister’s office on Friday afternoon. This was within 3 hours after the NT Government’s announcement – a commendable and heartwarming effort by all involved. This was followed with a rally on Sunday morning where about 300 people gathered to hear and voice their opposition to the approval with a strong commitment to take action if necessary to stop the project. However, the uranium situation in Central Australia extends well beyond the Angela Pamela deposit. There are a number of exploration projects currently underway that are only 40-50km south of here. We must remember that if uranium mining starts in any of these areas the yellowcake will be trucked into Alice Springs, unloaded and trained up to Darwin.
There are a host of risks associated with this as well!
-----
If you want to get involved in the campaign, come along to the Alice Springs Angela Pamela (ASAP) Collective meeting this Thursday, 6pm at the ALEC office. Tonight we will be talking strategy, so bring your ideas or open mind to contribute to the campaign for the self-determination of our town and a nuclear-free future.
-----
The Management Committee and I conducted a strategic planning meeting on Saturday and resolved that the key foci for ALEC in the next 12 months will be:
- Water – conservation, efficiency and protection in conjunction with the Climate Action Group, COOLmob and other relevant agencies
- Community Resilience – community gardens, workshops, forums, skill sharing, networking and community engagement and;
- Providing organisational support for the ASAP Collective
If you would like to discuss any of these projects or get involved please email me at: info@alec.org.au or call me on 08 8952 2497
---------------
ALEC has a blog
The weekly updates will be posted to this blog and hopefully in time will become an ALEC Community (cyber)Space for organising, networking and communicating ideas.
Check it out:
http://aridlandsec.blogspot.com/
On Leave...
I will be on leave between Wednesday October 15 and November 4. I will post to the blog but will not be able to send group emails. If you have events that you would like to have publicised, email me and I can post it to the blog but the ALEC Updates won’t be emailed until November 5.
Have a fun October
Jimmy
‘Our first task is to create a shadow economic, social and even technological structure that will be ready to take over as the existing system fails’ – David Ehrenfield
Showing posts with label ALEC news. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ALEC news. Show all posts
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Thursday, October 2, 2008
From the Coordinator
It's starting to heat up and a busy couple of weeks ahead for all of us.
Don't forget the Landcare AGM on Sunday morning.
The Going Green Workshop Series may be of interest to some of you.
There's been a potentially large gain on the waste dump issue, with a senate inquiry being instigated by Greens Senator Scott Ludlam (see below).
If you don't have the time to volunteer for ALEC you can make regular tax deductible donations through our new direct debit, recurring credit card system from www.egive.org.au. See DONATE on the right for more info.
Also, Ngapartji Ngapartji tickets are selling fast so don't forget to book yours and tell your mates to get in quick before they get snapped up by conference delegates! Araluen Box Office for tickets 8951 1122.
That's all for now.
Enjoy your week and be good to our Mother.
Jimmy
'All things are possible once enough human beings realise that everything is at stake' - Norman Cousins
Don't forget the Landcare AGM on Sunday morning.
The Going Green Workshop Series may be of interest to some of you.
There's been a potentially large gain on the waste dump issue, with a senate inquiry being instigated by Greens Senator Scott Ludlam (see below).
If you don't have the time to volunteer for ALEC you can make regular tax deductible donations through our new direct debit, recurring credit card system from www.egive.org.au. See DONATE on the right for more info.
Also, Ngapartji Ngapartji tickets are selling fast so don't forget to book yours and tell your mates to get in quick before they get snapped up by conference delegates! Araluen Box Office for tickets 8951 1122.
That's all for now.
Enjoy your week and be good to our Mother.
Jimmy
'All things are possible once enough human beings realise that everything is at stake' - Norman Cousins
Thursday, September 25, 2008
From the Coordinator
Well...it’s been busy times in Alice Springs for the last couple of weeks. The Desert Festival wound up on Sunday and since Monday, many of us have been cleaning up after the freakish storm that hit early that afternoon. It’s been inspiring to see people pull together as a town to put on entertaining musical and theatrical acts but more importantly how we just get on with it following powerful natural events such as the storm.
The key to living in this environment is working together as a community. Sharing
skills, resources, tools and time is key to ensuring we have a future herein the arid zone.
The looming economic crisis that has engulfed the US and spread across the globe is a strong signal that we cannot continue living beyond our means and must look closer to home for how we may weather the crisis here in Central Australia. The development of solar thermal technologies will provide the energy necessary to maintain commercial and residential electricity supply.
We need to rethink our methods of building to live comfortably in a carbon-constrained world. Could we make strawbale houses from all the buffel grass rendered with papercrete or other locally produced material? It’s just an idea but a possibility in cheaply providing energy efficient housing for those who need it.
We’re currently in the process of developing strategies around how ALEC can play a role in building community resilience in Alice Springs and beyond. In particular, how the town and its residents can be empowered to improve water management, produce food locally, reduce energy use, increase sustainable and affordable housing, adapt to climate change, reducing vehicle (fuel) use, increasing public and low-impact transport in town, rethinking waste management (reduce, reuse, recycle), green trades upskilling and whatever else comes to mind. ALEC will be advocating for and working towards practical local solutions that will improve our community’s resilience.
We’re meeting at ALEC on Monday September 29 at 1.30pm to start discussing
strategies as to how we can get this process happening.
If you want more information or to get involved in making the transition,
email me: info@alec.org.au Ph. 8952 2497
Some links:
www.transitiontowns.org
www.transitionculture.org
‘If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost, that is where it should be. Now put foundations under them.’
Henry David Thoreau
Jimmy
The key to living in this environment is working together as a community. Sharing
skills, resources, tools and time is key to ensuring we have a future herein the arid zone.
The looming economic crisis that has engulfed the US and spread across the globe is a strong signal that we cannot continue living beyond our means and must look closer to home for how we may weather the crisis here in Central Australia. The development of solar thermal technologies will provide the energy necessary to maintain commercial and residential electricity supply.
We need to rethink our methods of building to live comfortably in a carbon-constrained world. Could we make strawbale houses from all the buffel grass rendered with papercrete or other locally produced material? It’s just an idea but a possibility in cheaply providing energy efficient housing for those who need it.
We’re currently in the process of developing strategies around how ALEC can play a role in building community resilience in Alice Springs and beyond. In particular, how the town and its residents can be empowered to improve water management, produce food locally, reduce energy use, increase sustainable and affordable housing, adapt to climate change, reducing vehicle (fuel) use, increasing public and low-impact transport in town, rethinking waste management (reduce, reuse, recycle), green trades upskilling and whatever else comes to mind. ALEC will be advocating for and working towards practical local solutions that will improve our community’s resilience.
We’re meeting at ALEC on Monday September 29 at 1.30pm to start discussing
strategies as to how we can get this process happening.
If you want more information or to get involved in making the transition,
email me: info@alec.org.au Ph. 8952 2497
Some links:
www.transitiontowns.org
www.transitionculture.org
‘If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost, that is where it should be. Now put foundations under them.’
Henry David Thoreau
Jimmy
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
