CCWA or Cons Council is an environmental charity which has been running for around 50 years. They act as a peak body for over 100 different environmental groups over WA as well having thier own campaigns. The big one being to stop shale gas fracking which has only recently started to emerge in WA after being present in the eastern states for a few years.
The process of fracking which was once described as "a green fossil fuel which could be the solution to climate change" is unfortunately neither of those. The high level of methane leakage which occurs during extraction is often overlooked and acts as a potent green house gas. The chemicals used contaminate local water sources and the environment, causing serve health impacts. Even without the environmental or health problems the impact fracking has on local communities is terrible. Usually farming and rural communities are disrupted by the huge scale industrial activities, sometimes less than 1km from their homes.
With special permission from governments, fracking companies have no need to monitor their environmental impacts and have no need to prove these processes are safe for the environment. They also can by pass trespass laws and use land not owned by them without consent. To me this is madness and proof that if you have enough money you can get away with anything.
The job itself was ok, like any job it had its good and bad days, I enjoyed promoting a message to protect the environment and hearing the views of the general public. The best days were spent talking to open minded people (mostly at universities) who already had an interest in the environment and were happy to stop, chat and sign up to ccwa. Other days it seemed impossible to get people to stop. With most people passing by with a disgruntled grunt or a 'not today', if you did manage to get someone to stop the next task was to persuade them that handing over thier card details and donating $30 a month was a good thing to do today. Often pretty tricky and depending on the area I could go unsuccessful all day! A twenty minute round in circle conversation with a Christian or group of turned out to be a common feature of the day too.
On some of the longer days I tried to calculate whether my wages were costing the charity more money than I was collecting but by the time I left I had got a fair few sign ups, one off donations and spread the word about the need to protect the environment to many people, so was happy with my efforts.
Since leaving Perth and heading into outback Australia the anti-fracking fight was much more prevalent and real. Farms, homes and trucks wore the "lock the gate" placard. Used to warn off potential frackers. To the communities here the effects would be felt far more than in the cities. Although it felt good to know there was some connection between the too.
Thanks Duey, Tony and the rest of CCWA crew!
www.ccwa.org.au
No comments:
Post a Comment