I am a supporter of Climate Independent candidates and of Climate 200.
I am now blogging once a week and using mainly guest bloggers. Recent blogs can be read on Gippsland News and Views or the last 5 are below left.
For the last few years I have been tweeting 5 times daily on matters concerning global warming and renewable energy with an occasional tweet on history.
The Events Page is open for community use for events on climate change and renewable energy anywhere in Gippsland. Posters in jpeg format are best.
For Readers interested in Gippsland history all my recent work is available free as pdfs 0n my publications page. This mainly comprises a large number of essays on Gippsland Aboriginal history, as well as 5 essays on the Melbourne Land Boom, a few essays on Ballarat goldminers and some family history.
A new page Ngarak Press is under construction listing all publications and with the intention of eventually making all the books/booklets available electronically either as ebooks or free downloadable pdfs.
My Original slightly amended Statement (2012). I last stood for office in 2016.
I have been aware of the global warming problem for many years and have been a supporter of alternative energy for even longer.
Since 1982 my owner built house was powered first by wind, then by wind and solar, and finally by solar alone. In the late 1990s I wrote several opinion pieces on the threat of global warming in a net column entitled “Mountain Echoes”. From the commencement of the Iraq war I was preoccupied with producing a monthly anti-war newsletter called the “Irregular Gippsland Peace News” which ran for more than 50 issues.
The record breaking Arctic summer ice minimum in 2007 directed my attention back to global warming – the greatest challenge mankind has faced. The warming is occurring at a faster rate than predicted – along the lines of business as usual with the planet facing worst case scenarios. We appear to be in a climate emergency that few in the population, and even far fewer politicians, recognise. There is a huge gap between the science and the politics that is reinforced by the negative tactics of the fossil fuel lobby. The popular media seem at best uninterested, and at worst, hostile.
I decided to contest every available parliamentary election at all levels of government as an independent on a “climate emergency” platform. So far I have contested local government elections in 2008 and 2012, and the Federal election in 2013. I also contested the 2010 and 2014 State Elections. The former in the seat of Morwell where I offered a policy of developing geothermal energy under the coal. In 2014 I contested East Gippsland where plenty of publicity did not translate into votes. I hope that this website makes a contribution towards changing public and political opinion on the issue of climate change for the benefit of current and future generations.
Peter Gardner