The burning issue of climate change

As a resident of Tathra surrounds, still fighting to secure my property from the fires, I am calling for help. There is no doubt climate change was a factor in why the Tathra fire was so devastating. There is a scientifically recognised escalation in the severity and frequency of catastrophic fire days. But I note that our prime minister would not acknowledge that this fire was unusual in intensity and therefore a likely result of increasingly dangerous climatic conditions caused by climate change. Denying us the opportunity to acknowledge this causal connection is akin to the NRA trying to shut down discussions about gun control after a shooting tragedy. We have the right to demand action to make us safer. Tathra has been calling for action on climate change since 2006 when Clean Energy for Eternity formed a human sign on Tathra Beach. Climate change is not a political matter – it is a devastating fact caused by our failure to rise above politics. Knowing that many others have lost all but their lives, watching the smoke and flames as I write, I call on our political and other leaders to acknowledge the danger and to take appropriate, bipartisan action now.

– Jo Dodds, Chinnock, NSW