Prefer to watch a video than read text? Click here to watch a video made in 2015
On New Year’s Day 2006, orthopaedic surgeon Dr Matthew Nott was on surf lifesaving patrol on Tathra Beach. It was the hottest day on record for Tathra and Dr Nott was reading ‘The WeatherMakers” by Tim Flannery. Catalyst covered the story of what happened next. You can watch it here
On 21st May 2006, Matthew Nott invited the community to join him in making a human sign on Tathra Beach – 3000 people wrote the words “Clean Energy for Eternity” along the sand, then the human sign dissolved and reformed as “Imagine”. A revolution was born.
On 11th June, in the middle of a snowstorm, Matthew Nott and several hardy friends (including Julia Mayo-Ramsay from Eurobodalla) swam 6km across Lake Jindabyne to raise awareness of the need for action on climate change.
On 21st August, 400 residents of the Bega Valley Shire met in the RSL Club to hear speakers on climate change. Chaired by Mayor Tony Allen, this meeting unanimously endorsed a resolution setting targets of 50% reduction in energy and 50% adoption of renewable energy by 2020. The Clean Energy Working Group set up will report back to the Bega community in February 2007.
On 8th October, a human sign in Canberra brought a strong message from rural Australia to the nation’s capital. This meeting forged strong links between concerned community members from across south-east NSW and the ACT.
On 13th November, Julia Mayo-Ramsay and others hosted a Clean Energy for Eternity meeting in the Moruya RSL. Despite rain and hail, 550 people turned out to unanimously support the adoption of 50/50 by 2020 targets for Eurobodalla.
After six months work, the Clean Energy Action Plan – Towards 50/50 by 2020 in the Bega Valley Shire has been released to the community.
Produced by the seven member Clean Energy Working Group, it makes urgent recommendations for actions needed to turn our 50/50 by 2020 targets into reality, highlighting some exciting possibilities for Bega Valley Shire.
Initial feedback has been extremely positive, with other communities and shires keen to use the report as a model for their own action plans. Helpful criticism has also been gratefully received, highlighting areas for further work and ways of communicating better.
Action-Plan (PDF 1MB)
Action Plan (Updated July 08) (PDF .6MB)
Action Plan Summary (PDF .5MB)
VEA have made a 30 minute educational video on the early history of CEFE. You can watch a sampler here