Dear Julia
I am writing to you because you are the leader of the nation
of which I am a citizen. Though the matter about which I write is essentially a
global issue, the inability at this point for the international community to overcome
the barriers that divide us into separate nations, compels me to pursue this
matter at the highest level of governance within my own nation. I do believe that
it is possible for Australia to stand up and take the lead that is required in
the face of this issue.
Julia, as you are close to my age, I am quite sure that in the
1970s you attended high school and were compulsorily required to study science
as a core subject. I can clearly recall that the “greenhouse effect”, caused by
the increasing concentration of certain gases in the atmosphere, was well and
truly accepted and documented in our science text books at that time. I also
recall doing an experiment which entailed growing bacteria in a petri dish that
contained a nutrient rich medium. Several days later, the teacher warned us not
to open the petri dish because the bacteria population, which had consumed all the
available nutrients, had died in its own toxic waste. This warning proved to be too much of a
temptation for at least one of us in the class and one or more petri dishes
were opened. The stench exuded from
those petri dishes was overwhelming and nauseating. As I sit here today, I can,
more than ever, appreciate the inclusion of those lessons in the curriculum and
yet I sadly ponder why, we the students of that era, did not apply our
understanding of nature to the real world when we left school.
We are bound by the same limits and laws of nature as those
bacteria in the petri dish. The abundant supply of nutrients that has allowed
an exponential growth of the human population has only been possible by the
large scale burning of fossil fuels. The toxic waste of this consumption may be
primarily an odourless gas, but everything associated with this exponential
growth truly does stink. The multifaceted crises, that we continue to accelerate
towards, are just as well accepted and documented as those two science lessons
that we were taught in school nearly 40 years ago. Unlike bacteria though, we have a highly
evolved brain that possesses both consciousness of the consequences of unrestrained
growth and a moral conscience that is screaming at us to do something about it.
If we choose to ignore the reality of our situation, and continue with mindless
consumption and growth, we must accept that we have consciously chosen the same
fate as the bacteria in the petri dish. I do not believe that any informed and
sane person would make that choice.
Julia I believe that you do genuinely care about the future
of this planet. With that in mind, I would like to invite you attend “The
Automatic Earth Tour” on Sunday March 17th at the Big Pineapple on
the Sunshine Coast. My partner, Linda, and I would also like to extend the invitation
to have you and your partner stay as guests at our home on the Sunshine Coast
on that weekend. I understand that you might not be able accept this invitation
so I have included a link below that advertises the dates and locations of this
event as it moves around Australia. The main speaker is Nicole Foss and the
picture she paints, with eloquence and raw honesty, is alarming. But it is also
a call, for every one of us, to seriously consider how we are going to best
survive in a post carbon world. Nicole claims that our governments are not
going to save us from collapse and that we must prepare lifeboats at individual
and local community level. I would like to think that the Australian Government
and society at large can work together to prove her wrong.
Recently your unprecedented early announcement of a date for
the next federal election was lauded by many as an example of great leadership.
Leadership of this nature is required on all fronts to tackle the real issues
that confront humanity at this point in history. Business as usual is
irrefutably leading us to a future that we do not want to see written in the
history text books of our great grandchildren. The island nation upon which you
and I walk is uniquely positioned, in many ways, to be a model of sustainable
and just human habitation. You may or may not be the Prime Minister after the
next election, but regardless, I implore you to heed the lessons we teach in
our schools and to make the most of your position to lead us forward in a direction
that nature necessitates.
Yours sincerely,
Sean Crawley