Dirt Radio

The #StopAdani campaign is ramping up. This week we chack out what Front Line Action on Coal have been up to in Northern Queensland and what local Friends of the Earth collectives are doing more locally and in the climate justice fight.(Image: Darcy Poulton up a monopole in Northern Queensland to #StopAdani. Photo: Front Line Action on Coal)

Environmental sociologist from the University of Newcastle, Vanessa Bowden talks about what she found when she went to the Hunter Valley to interview business leaders about their attitudes to coal and climate change. She explains that Tony Abbott’s doubts about the veracity of climate science and his dismissal of those concerned about climate change, still have considerable support, but there may be some changes in the wind.And, campaign co-ordinator for Quit Coal, Zianna Fuad provides an overview of IMARC, The International Mining and Resources Conference, happening in Melbourne, and explains the strategic importance of a big Stop Adani Rally planned for the conference on Nov 1st.

FoE campaigners Pat Simons from Yes2Renewables, and Chloe Aldenhoven from Lock the Gate Victoria discuss developments in energy policy in the state. With the Federal government dithering, what sort of leadership are we seeing at the state level?

A wrap up of FoE's Walk This Way fundraiser and the subsequent campaign to Say NO to the Westgate Tunnel and a quick look at Matthew Guy's gas plan. We also interview Ed Hill - Friends of the Earth's Victorian Forests Campaigner about the upcoming Northcote by-election.

The campaign against the Adani coal mine proposed for Queensland in the Galilee basin has been described as the biggest environmental battle in Australia since the Franklin Dam blockade. On Saturday October 7th the protest is being taken national. All over Australia the #StopAdani campaign is holding a day of special events and rallies.Blair Palese who heads up 350.org in Aust expains the national day of action and what's happening around the country. And Indian environmental advocate Ruchira Talukdar talks about Adani's environmental abuse in India, and some of the emerging connections between anti-coal activism in India and Australia.

How do you create a sustainable city? Maybe start with a tiny house or two, or even whole suburb full. Heather Shearer, researcher in the Cities Research Institute at Griffith Univesity has been investigating.The Sustainable Cities campaign is relatively recent FoE initiative and Rachel Lynskey is the campaign's key co-ordinator. This week, she talks about her recent work around opposition to Transurban's $5.5 billion mega-toll road proposal - the so called 'Westgate tunnel'- and the kick-start Sustainable Cities campaign fundraiser, Walk This Way.

Friends of the Earth Asia Pacific, FoE APac, the regional network for Friends of the Earth International includes, as well as Australia, 12 other countries. This year the annual general meeting was held in Papua New Guinea, and Chloe Aldenhoven, coal and gas campaigner at FoE Melbourne was the Australian delegate. This week on Dirt Radio we hear about some of the key environmental issues from around the region from a FoE perspective, and about Chloe's impressions of the meeting.

Phil Evans is joined by Leigh and Lara from Friends of the Earth's Act On Climate collective to talk about how the effects of climate change are already being felt by rural Victorians. The Bureau of Metereology has declared 2017 the hottest winter on record and Friends of the Earth are pushing for Victoria's first climate budget in 2018. Keep up to date with the Act on Climate campaign at actonclimate.org.au

The finance section of the Age newspaper reports: “Whitehaven Coal digs big net profit after tax of 405 million dollars". Dirt Radio provided extensive coverage of the pushback against the Whitehaven coal mine in northern NSW a few of years back - Maules Creek, the Leard forest blockade, the Frontline Action on Coal campaign. Tim Buckley from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis provides some context, and offers his prognosis for the future of coal.Kim Borg is a research officer at BehaviourWorks Australia, part of the Sustainable Development Institute at Monash University. She takes up the 'revisit' theme and looks at Al Gore's new climate documentary 'An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power', asking whether such big issue films are really effective in changing audience behavior.

Phil Evans reads Friends of the Earth's statement on same sex marriage before chatting with Pablo Brait from Market Forces about CommBank's decision to not fund the Adani Carmichael Mega Coal Mine and the recent climate policy from the scandal plagued bank. Find out how you can take action at marketforces.org.au