Take Action (events)

"My heart was beating so much, I thought my chest was going to crack open. I was absolutely thrilled." Mother of two, Elizabeth Bastian, explains how it felt to be one 85 Australians selected to join Al Gore’s Climate Project. "Having two kids makes you think about the future much more than when you're living for the present," she said. The Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF), working in partnership with Al, sent out an invitational email, asking Aussies with access to a laptop and a data projectors, would they like to deliver 10 global warming presentations to their local communities over the next year. Recently the successful applicants spent three days being personally trained by Al Gore, for their own version of An Inconvenient Truth. Joining Elizabeth will be a eclectic mix of presenters such as Bruce Beatson, a retired dairy farmer; Anna Keenan, a student from Brisbane, who postponed her 21st birthday party to attend the training; Felix Riebl, lead singer with Melbourne band The Cat Empire; and FM radio hosts Merrick Watts and Tim Ross. Al’s slide show is being localised with additional Australian information on climate science, impacts and solutions. Similar projects are planned for the US and UK. As Anna Keenan said, “I think that climate change is going to be the most important issue over the next 50 years. It’s really important for young people to get involved.” The ::ACF, via The Age and ABC Online.