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The community votes for solar, that’s why I’m walking.
At the start of July, I left my home in Adelaide and role as AYCC SA state co-coordinator to stay in Port Augusta. I am helping a newly formed group of locals campaigning for the future of their town and indirectly young people by calling on the state and federal government to replace Port Augusta’s coal stations with concentrated solar thermal. Having helped support the group from afar, I was keen to be out on the ground and do what I could to support their struggle for clean air and clean jobs for their community.
Port Augusta is one of the most important places in Australia for the climate movement right now. We have the opportunity to get Australia’s first solar thermal plant built – a technology essential to repowering our society – and connect directly with the Port Augusta community’s call for securing their community with jobs in an industry that doesn’t create so much air pollution and doesn’t fill the water tanks of people there with coal dust.
At the first meeting of the group a few months ago, we hatched the idea of holding a community vote where we would take to the community whether they wanted to see solar thermal or gas replace coal.
Over the last week we went to footy matches, hung outside local supermarkets, engaged local businesses to have voting boxes in their shops, spoke to school students with the help of the AYCC SA schools team, and collected over 4000 votes – almost a third of the Port Augusta community – it was a pretty awesome feeling.
As the votes closed I am proud to say that unequivocally Port Augusta has voted in support of solar – 4053 to 43. An incredible show of support and a testament to their hard work and dedication in ensuring their voice gets heard as the future of Port Augusta is decided.
Sadly we know that this vote is going to be just the beginning – I am under no illusion that this will be enough to get the solar plant built. The vote has turned Port Augusta into a story which was broadcasted onto television screens across South Australia and has built us a huge base of support in Port Augusta who have indicated their readiness to do more. In September we will do just that.
Local Port Augustans will raise their voices once again on the 16th of September and rally there to launch the Walk for Solar which will see people from across the country walk from Port Augusta and converge on Adelaide in a huge display of the strength of our movement.
This walk is your opportunity to stand alongside the people of Port Augusta and call on our leaders to replace smoke with mirrors in Port Augusta and make this necessary transition a reality.
Written by AYCC SA volunteer, Dan Spencer
The AYCC is building a generation-wide movement to solve the climate crisis
www.aycc.org.au
2012-07-31 14:01:08
Source: http://aycc.org.au/2012/07/31/the-community-votes-for-solar-thats-why-im-walking/
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