Interview: GV Home Energy Expo will enable people to live a cheaper, happier, more efficient and sustainable life

David Spratt, the Research Director for Breakthrough National Centre for Climate Restoration, has damned the recent Federal budget for not mentioning climate even once - "Turning a blind eye to climate risk threatens derailment".The Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Four Corners program. "The BHP Files", alerted viewers to the big miners' deceptions about carbon emissions."Revealed: huge climate cost of harmful emissions from US immigration flights";"For 44 years, Australia has subsidised diesel use. Is it time to stop?";"How lethal humidity threatens to displace millions in our region";"Capitalism trumps climate: Why BHP’s green ambitions turned to empty promises".

Greater City of Shepparton's Climate Resilience Officer, Jack Bowmaker, has encouraged city residents to attend the first-ever "GV Home Energy Expo" on Sunday, June 14.Mr Bowmsaker, or "Jack" to most, points to an array of reasons why people should visit the expo, among them, they can learn how to set up and equip their homes, making them cheaper and more comfortable places to live.The expo is free, and those attending will have the chance to win a portable induction hotplate when they register on the City of Greater Shepparton Facebook page.

Book author and associate professor, Fernando Racimo, discusses academia's complicity in the polycrisis, and its potential for transformation towards serving social and ecological well-being.His book, "Science in Resistance", provides a first-person account of the Scientist Rebellion, a global movement of scientists and scholars rising in collective resistance for climate and social justice. Racimo combines his own experiences in activism with interviews with dozens of scientist-activists around the world, as well as insights from research on activism and direct action.Racimo, an Associate Professor of Ecology and Evolution at the "University of Copenhagen", explores the challenges academics face when taking a stand against systems of oppression. He focuses particularly on how academic institutions are complicit in exploitative and extractive logics, and how they could be transformed from the bottom up to become institutions that foster social and ecological well-being.The webinar was organised by the School of Regulation and Global Governance from the Australian National University.

Natalie Kyriacou was one of several speakers at the May 9 event at the Melbourne Town Hall, "Recovering Democracy Together" where she asked the question "How will history judge us?""Trump Has Created a Climate Opportunity";"The Iran War Is Crippling One of the World’s Wealthiest Nations";"White Supremacy Is the Point of the Trump Presidency";"Dookie calls for the ‘ugly’ truth";"Rainfall good sign for cropping farmers";"Farmland flooding authorised in NSW";"Goorambat appoints lobby group over battery concerns";"Extreme weather, floods and fires threaten to compound Victoria’s road woes".

What appeared, at the time, to be a dearth of news about the quickly unfolding climate crisis prompted me to have a crack at producing a podcast - "Climate Conversations".That was in 2018, and only you, as the listener, can make a judgment good or bad, useful or otherwise.I was fascinated when I discovered that the latest episode of the Reuters Institute podcast, "The Future of Journalism", was to discuss news podcasts.

Apparently unaware of the real cost of coal, both financially and environmentally, coalition leader, Angus Taylor, has hitched his party's fortunes to coal - "Coal comfort: Taylor kicks off Climate War 3.0 in shift from nuclear";"Trump’s Push to Keep Coal Plants Open Is Costing Hundreds of Millions";"How this regional town became a caravan community";"Victoria approves the biggest wind farm in the southern hemisphere";"Our fragile world is being hammered by one crisis after another. It’s about to get worse";"The Climate Optimist".

From The Washington Post - "Why the odds keep rising for the strongest El Niño in a century":"As David Attenborough turns 100, four experts explore his legacy, from science to storytelling";"Climate campaigners attack Shell over ‘windfall’ profits from Iran war";"‘Only the Beginning’: Santa Marta Summit Heralded as New Dawn in Fight to End Fossil Fuel Era";"Australia is one of the world’s biggest gas exporters. Labor will now force companies to save some";“My Green World".

Renewable energy, according to Christriana Figueres will give Australians and Australia everything the climate deniers argue is essential, including energy sovereignty - "This ‘energy crisis’ is fixable. We already have the answers";"Scott was already working late on fuel supply when a call stopped him cold";"Rudd calls to harness ‘physical terror’ of fuel shortages to push renewables";"‘Wars, Uncertainty, and Geopolitical Upheaval’ Led to 2025 Global Military Spending Surge";"Can This Military-Industrial Beast Ever Be Tamed?";"ABC Shepparton "Breakfast" discusses Renewable Energy Zones";"A New Idea to Save the Climate? Dam the Bering Strait.";"Amazon invests in Mooroopna";"Mokoan solar project opened".

Geelong's Mik Aidt (pictured) describes himself on Substack as a "Climate crusader with a creative soul – part journalist, part campaigner, part podcast poet and musician."He writes and speaks about mobilising more people in service to life on Earth. His Substack is "In service to life on Earth".Many would know Mik Aidt through his popular radio show, "The Sustainable Hour" on community radio.This "climate crusader" is truly eager to have people meet face-to-face, and to see that happen, he first established a Climate Cafe in Geelong.Those attending felt the name was somewhat limiting, and so decided the group should change its name to the "Connections Cafe".Although climate is still on the agenda, the new name has allowed the group to explore fresh and exciting topics.

The American-based "Covering Climate Now" recently staged a "press briefing" at which the speakers and hosts explored "America’s Extreme Drought and Its Climate Connection".One of those at the event was Dr Peter Gleick, a leading scientist, innovator, and communicator on water and climate issues. "Who’d have thought a fossil-fuel shill like Trump would be the one to spark a green revolution?";"A prime-time hit job on renewables falls apart under basic facts";"‘Made in China’ EVs are taking over the streets, but just how safe is your data?";"11 Electric Cars Worth a Look With Gas Prices High";"ANZAC Day".