Instead, Coal Action Murihiku will be focusing on organising a networking event in Southland early in 2022, and developing further ideas at that.

Many thanks to everyone who put time and effort into Summerfest 2022 – watch out for more news on CANA local and regional events in 2022!

The post CANA Summerfest Postponed appeared first on Coal Action Network Aotearoa.

Changing hearts and minds takes a long time but continuing the conversations with different audiences can bring surprises.

I live in Mossburn township in Northern Southland, and I went to the new monthly Mossburn Sunday Market recently to gather signatures for the petition against the proposed Te Kuha coal mine near Westport.

Because I was not sure what kind of reception I might receive, I softened my approach by taking organic vegetables and organic plums from my garden to sell for a good cause. The two tables sat alongside each other with the produce being the reason for people to stop and engage in conversations – usually initiated by me, even though I am quite well known in the area.

I took the large signs I usually have attached to my front fence such as ‘Fonterra Quit Coal’, the Forest & Bird sign ‘Our Oceans need a bold climate target’ as well as a genuine ‘Lock the Gate’ sign from Australia. I live on the main highway to Te Anau and Milford Sound so lots of people see my signs, know about why they are there and what I stand for.

The signs are always conversation starters as they were at the Market Day. In fact I had some very interesting and even surprising conversations.

Two local sheep and deer farmers, one retired and the other a young man, were fully in support of Fonterra! That intrigued me as I had thought, mistakenly obviously, that they would have been quite upset by the huge irrigators on their neighbour’s property, the removal of trees, the smell of cow manure, the big tankers on the roads, our rivers being polluted by the nitrates and run- off. Not so from these two. After some strong discussion we agreed to differ.

I tried for signatures to stop the Te Kuha proposal on the Buller Plateau. I had to tell the story of that issue to everyone. It resulted in some of them confessing they still use coal…. but some of them realise it is not good practice! There seemed to be no realisation about resulting health issues, let alone its impact on climate change.

Some wouldn’t sign as ‘the Coast has been doing coal for a long time and they need to keep doing it’! Several said they couldn’t sign because their relatives live on the Coast.

It seems that very basic education still needs to be done!

The best thing was a lovely young guy with a partner and three boys who told me they have moved to Lumsden from the rat race in Queenstown. They have bought a house as opposed to having to pay exorbitant rent and he continues with his IT business from Lumsden! His partner is into permaculture so they are loving the possibilities of extending their knowledge across the community.

He tried to help me explain to farmers about what Fonterra is doing to rivers and the effect of fossil fuels, but he realised it was all in vain with the farmers having closed minds about the capacity of the environment and very open minds to making money at any cost, or so it seemed.

My learning from this is that I need to be at this kind of activity in my local community to have these conversations so I hear what people whom I don’t meet often are thinking. I can plant seeds, have discussions, start them thinking and maybe even ‘Change some hearts and minds’. I might even find some allies / like-minded people so I realise I am not alone.

Also, there are people who will listen and sign up once the situation is explained to them. I did get 15 to sign – mainly from the stall holders – so that was a mini success.  What seems to make the difference is the personal touch,  and taking time to get alongside people.

I realise I need to go back to the next Sunday Market and keep interacting. Being an activist takes many forms – and to get active on coal takes many different actions, no matter how small, and happens in many places!

The post Changing Hearts And Minds At Mossburn Sunday Market appeared first on Coal Action Network Aotearoa.

Last year Environment Southland revealed that both Invercargill and Gore had exceeded air pollution standards multiple times due to the on going use of lignite and coal for domestic heating and has amongst the poorest air quality in New Zealand: http://www.es.govt.nz/your-council/news/2013/tough-choices-ahead-on-how-homes-are-heated/

Venture Southland has researched a range of energy options available in Southland and has recognised wood as one of the better long-term solutions for our future energy needs, both economically and environmentally: http://www.scribd.com/doc/98146950/Venture-Southland-Wood-Energy-Demand-Assessment-EIS-Energy-Final-Report-WEB

The Dunedin City Council has come to a similar conclusion and conversion to wood pellet heating systems is being actively promoted: http://www.bioenergy.org.nz/wood_fuels.asp

A number of Southland Schools and our swimming pool have replaced coal boilers for ones using wood pellets. Although initial costs were greater than reinstalling a coal system, running costs become cheaper over time and the level of ash produced and maintenance required is much less using wood. Schools felt the health of their children was also an important consideration because the negative effects of using coal are well known. Economically and morally wood fired boilers were the best choice.

Ascot Park Hotel in Invercarill is nationally recognised for being one of the best examples of a business using sustainable practices and having a minimal environmental footprint and it has won multiple awards for doing so. The hotel’s environmental efforts have actually attracted business and have proven to be a commercial success story as well: http://www.ascotparkhotel.co.nz/sustainability

You can imagine my surprise when I read the article in the Southland Times (January 13) that they are replacing the old lignite boilers with new lignite boilers and board member Angela Newell is quoted as being disappointed that a greener option had not been explored.

I struggle to understand how the management of our Licensing Trust can be so short sighted in their decision to use lignite again and have effectively sabotaged Ascot Park’s progress in becoming one of the most environmentally friendly hotels in New Zealand.

You can comment on the Southland Times article or write a Letter to the Editor of the Southland Times on this issue. 

The post Ascot Park Hotel In Invercargill Ruins Its Sustainability Story By Choosing Lignite appeared first on Coal Action Network Aotearoa.

The last month or so has seen a number of revelations on several of our coal fronts.  From Solid Energy walking away from the briquetting plant in Southland to ongoing developments for Bathurst Resources’ efforts to start mining the beautiful Denniston plateau, it’s been hard to keep up with it all.  Yet still, none of them are digging up any more coal. Let’s try and keep it that way.

What’s in this update?

1.     Lignite briquetting plant

2.     Denniston update

3.     Bathurst, new neighbour in a small town

4.     Bill McKibben tour and divestment

5.     Auckland Coal Action’s fight against Fonterra’s coalmine

6.     Coming up:  Generation Zero’s “What’s the Holdup” Tour

7.     Film about “Bidder 70” coming to NZ

8.      International – and climate science catchup

9.     Other news and resources

1.  Lignite briquetting plant

The trials of the Solid Energy/GTL briquetting plant continue at Mataura, with Solid Energy announcing late last month that it will walk away from the plant.  The media covered little of this announcement, but you can find out a lot more about what’s been going on there from our press release on the day.

Given our network includes locals living near to the plant, we have been able to get a lot more information about what’s been going on there – a lot more than what the media’s been covering.  And none of it’s good.

We also managed to get, through the Official Information Act, a document showing us what we suspected: the GTL plant in North Dakota had a massive explosion and is now being dismantled.  So this technology remains experimental.  Why should beautiful Southland farmland be dug up so that GTL can continue to try out its dirty technology to sell it on to Indonesia?

Solid Energy sponsorship under scrutiny:  You may also have missed this article about the millions Solid Energy spent on sponsorship.  We call it buying out criticism and it’s something that most coal and oil companies do to stop local protest about their activities.

2.  Denniston update

The ins and outs of Forest & Bird’s legal wrangles with Bathurst have been very complicated. But now Debs Martin has set it all out in an update.  Tim wrote a blog about it, but you might want to go directly to Debs’ update.  Suffice to say, the process continues – there are still Forest & Bird appeals in the pipeline and the company continues to struggle financially.

3.  Bathurst, new neighbour in a small town

Meanwhile, down in Southland, Rosemary Penwarden went to see Bathurst’s mine at Nightcaps. This is her account of what she found.

“Open cast mining explicitly turns the soil, it’s a bit like farming, the difference is once mining’s finished you put it back.” – Hamish Bohannan, CEO of Bathurst Resources

Bathurst Resources CEO Hamish Bohannan has never actually worked in the mining industry. He’s been around minerals extraction in Australia.  But Bathurst, his so-called “New Zealand” company that wants to destroy the Denniston Plateau, is actually his first ever coal company. Trust us, he says to Coasters. We know what we’re doing. For example, see how well we are going in Southland.

Last week CANA members went to Nightcaps to see Bathurst’s Southland operation for ourselves. The first thing we noticed, apart from the acrid coal smell that sits in the back of your throat, was that the little historic art deco butcher’s shop on Nightcaps’ main road has disappeared, so mine trucks can turn more easily. At a glance, a few more houses have had a coat of paint this past year. The art deco hotel has been repainted, and is still for sale. The Four Square store is doing a roaring trade, as apparently is the local contractor, Transport Services Ltd, though trucks were all lined up and shiny with nowhere to go at this time of year. Bathurst gives the local school free coal.

Down at the mine, things are not going quite to plan. Last year the hillside above the main pit fell in, sending about four million tonnes of overburden onto the coal. Bathurst paid the farmer about $14 million (one neighbour thought it was $40 million plus payouts) for the $1.1 million property.

The land is on a fault line, so is prone to slipping. That also makes the seams variable in size and the coal variable in quality. As local miners know, the best coal is already long gone. One miner said he prefers lignite to Takitimu coal. (When Mataura briquettes were mentioned, we only got chuckles.)

That has not stopped Bathurst opening a new pit, Coaldale, along the western side of the town, doubling the size of their operation. This is also prone to slipping. When we were there the same sticky mud that foiled 19th century miners was still foiling Bathurst and their contractors, Stevensons. Operations stopped completely the previous week because of snow, and wet weather was slowing work while we were there. “Smoko” appeared to last the whole hour and a half of our visit. What looked like a small waterfall was described as “just runoff” into the pit.

A new and very expensive coal sorter is supposedly arriving soon from Germany to replace the current dangerous (but still in action) old one. Where does Bathurst get the money to pay for this? It didn’t look like they were making much while we were there.

The next phase of Bathurst’s expansion plans would be “hilltop removal” of currently forested land even further to the west, near the town’s beautifully preserved and meticulously kept cemetery. A walk around this cemetery is a peek into a history, common to all mining towns, of tragedies, young men’s lives lost to coal.

4.  Bill McKibben tour: Divestment discussions begin – and campaign takes off internationally

In the wake of Bill McKibben’s tour of the country last month, many people are beginning to discuss divestment campaigns. It’s what Bill was encouraging, and we at CANA are also getting to grips with it.  Standby for updates to come soon.

Meanwhile, Jenny Campbell of Coal Action Murihiku and member of the Dunedin Climate Justice Group, has this news:

Divestment begins in Anglican Church. Good news!

People from Auckland’s St Paul’s Cathedral Climate Change Action group have organised a motion to be presented at their Diocesan Synod (decision making body) in September about encouraging those involved in investing funds on behalf of the church, to be required to divest from companies involved in extraction and/ or production of fossil fuels within 2 years, and not to invest in any new fossil fuel initiatives as part of their commitment through their present ethical investments policies. Their accompanying notes help explain the imperative for this action.

They have plans to spin it around all the other New Zealand Dioceses to get them to action this policy as well. They intend to get the Bishops involved and think there will be a keen interest in doing this because of Anglican’s commitment to ‘Care of Creation’ as one of the guiding principles of the Anglicans internationally. We have a special responsibility here in Aotearoa/ NZ because  ours is a 3 tikanga church involving not only Maori and Pakeha but also Pasifika peoples who are already seeing the effects of climate change on their people, other living things, their way of life and their economy.

It is hoped to appeal to other peoples of faith in our country to join us with this decision and ensure divestments in the places we have influence.

Rangimarie, kia kaha

Jenny.

But there are also very good signs coming out of the US, where President Obama made his first big climate change speech.  Along with talking about needing to stop emissions from coal, both at home and with international US investment banks,  Obama specifically called on people to “divest” from fossil fuels to bring about social change.

The campaign is beginning to take hold.  The massive United Church of Christ has adopted a resolution to divest from fossil fuels.  Dutch bank Rabobank has announced it will not invest in shale gas (will this policy be repeated by Rabobank in NZ?), and a huge Financial group in Norway, Storebrand, has pulled its investments out of 19 companies associated with Canada’s filthy tarsands.

5.  Auckland Coal Action support fight against Mangatawhiri coal mine

The main focus of ACA’s work this year is opposing the new coal mine planned for Mangatawhiri near Auckland. The mine will be owned by Fonterra and is intended to supply its factories for drying milk powder.

Last month we stood along state highway 2, near the proposed mine site in protest as a long line of cars filed back to Auckland after the holiday weekend.

Locals weren’t keen to get out with us in front of their friends and neighbours, but were happy for us to be there. And, make no mistake, they are strong in their opposition to the mine. Last month they held the inaugural meeting of the Coal Free Mangatawhiri group with around 20 founding members.

This week we are busy painting anti-coal signs to go up on Mangatawhiri properties, as requested by some of the locals. For next month we will be organising to get as big a contingent as possible to attend the consent hearings for the mine.

To get in touch with us, or, if you would like to help, please email aucklandcoalaction@gmail.com

Our next meeting will be on Saturday 4 August, 1-4 pm at the Quaker House 113 Mt Eden Rd, Auckland. New members welcome.

6. Coming up:  Generation Zero’s “What’s the Holdup” Tour

Coming to a town near you, from next week,  is Generation Zero’s “What’s the holdup tour”.  It’ll be a great opportunity to talk transport solutions, obstacles to climate action and showcase Aotearoa’s opportunities to move beyond fossil fuels.   They’ll have high level experts – and young Kiwis who are working on solutions.

This very positive-sounding tour will be at 13 different towns up and down the country, with the first in Dunedin on Monday 15^th.

Find out more here. Or their facebook page.

7.    Bidder 70 film coming to NZ

Tim de Christopher, a young US climate activist, was recently released from two years in federal prison for bidding at a US oil and gas auction as an act of civil disobedience. Bidder 70, a documentary just released in the United States, tells the story.

Of the film, Tim says: “At this point of unimaginable threats on the horizon, this is what hope looks like.”  He says that his actions of civil disobedience are appropriate to the scale of the crisis we face.

Of the environmental movement, Tim says:

“The way the environmental movement has been, it’s like a football game. And our team is getting slaughtered. The refs have been paid off and the other side is playing with dirty tricks. And so, it’s no longer acceptable for us to stay in the stands. It’s time to rush the field. It’s time to stop the game.”

Climate groups around Aotearoa, including CANA and with the support of Greenpeace NZ, have banded together to bring Bidder 70 to New Zealand, beginning with a first screening in Wellington later this month. We hope to have a local Coal Action presence at each screening, and we want as many people as possible to see this film.

Watch the trailer  And Watch Tim on the David Letterman show 

Share these! Keen to help? Email Rosemary rose.p@ihug.co.nz for details.

8.  International – and climate science catchup

Arctic melt picks up

This year’s Arctic melt is starting to take a nosedive.  While it isn’t yet at the same low levels at this time last year, it’s worth keeping an eye on.  This page gives you daily updates.  Also worth noting that the Arctic tundra is suffering unprecedented fires from a heatwave up there.

Climate consensus

In case you missed it, this new study was released, showing that more than 97% of scientists agree that global warming’s man made, caused by the burning of fossil fuels.   On the back of the study they launched the Consensus Project – do check it out, as it has great graphics you can use in your own work and send to friends.

400ppm milestone reached

Since our last newsletter, the atmosphere reached a scary milestone – of 400ppm of C02 in the atmosphere.  This is not something we were aiming for, unfortunately, indeed even 350ppm is considered not very safe, especially for our Pacific Island neighbours.  This is the highest it’s been since humans walked the planet. Since the Pleistocene, 3-5million years ago.  Of course the NZ media pretty much ignored it.  Scientist Jim Salinger wrote a great piece in the NZ Herald, who then went and “balanced” it with a piece by climate denier Chris de Freitas two days later that was riddled with basic scientific errors. The sooner our media stops treating climate denial as having equal standing with our climate scientists, the better.

NZ and global warming

The wild weather we’ve been having is not going to be an unusual event in the future, warns Victoria University’s Dave Frame.  Indeed, this is the same message delivered by James Renwick after the Wellington storm. While that storm couldn’t be put down to climate change, Dr Renwick noted to Radio New Zealand that actually every storm we get now “has a little bit of climate change in the background” as our warming world loads extra moisture into the atmosphere.

Australia lignite fight:  There’s another fight going on around lignite vs farmland – in Australia’s state of Victoria, where the Government wants to dig up all the lignite (brown coal) under some of the state’s most fertile farmland. This great feature covers it all.

Also, on Australia, Kristin Gillies and Jenny Campbell were lucky enough to spend three days with a bunch of coal activists from across the country.  Read their account of the meeting.

9. news and resources 

RMA “reforms”

We’re all very worried about the impact of the proposed RMA reforms.  The Greens have got an open letter to Amy Adams calling on her to save the RMA.  If you want to support the campaign and sign this, go here.

Coal for Steel

You may have missed Jeanette Fitzsimon’s great editorial in the Nelson Mail about the alternatives to coal for making steel.

Coromandel Watchdog closes down drillrig for 30 hours

While this isn’t about coal, it’s about inspiration – congratulations to our brave colleagues in the Coromandel who shut down a Newmont Gold drilling rig on conservation land for 30 hours last weekend.  See the story on TVNZ. And the full story and photos from the team over at their website.

The post Newsletter July 2013 appeared first on Coal Action Network Aotearoa.

Coal Action Network activist at Mataura briquetting plant

According to information in an OIA about health and safety issues at the Mataura plant – recently received by CANA – the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment also has expressed concerns about the safety of the technology.

In handwritten notes an MBIE staffer noted the closure of GTL’s North Dakota plant:

“At plant in USA was an overpressure event – was when plant stopped. Dust spontaneously combusted.”

Another staffer had also written a report of their visit to the plant:

“I said I had a concern expressed to MBIE that plant has potential to explode.”

CANA has heard that two managers have already walked away from the plant citing safety concerns.

“Solid Energy has no money to pay for the at least $1.6 million required to get the lignite plant in Southland going and is right to walk away,” said Rosemary Penwarden from Coal Action Network Aotearoa. “But GTLE should also walk away.

“We don’t need our precious Southland farmland dug up to prop up experimental and unsafe technology that uses dirty lignite coal and contributes to climate change. Moreover, GTL wants to use this Southland plant so it can set up a similar plant in Indonesia. Why should we be the guinea pigs?”

Release from earlier today: 

It’s now been three days since Solid Energy said it was about to make a statement about the future of its failing lignite briquetting plant in Southland (1). Yet there has been no announcement.

This delay confirms reports Coal Action Network has been getting from on the ground at Mataura: that the plant is having all sorts of difficulties and that Solid Energy and partner GTL Energy Australia are in dispute over its future.

“There are still many hurdles to overcome before this plant produces briquettes for sale,” said Rosemary Penwarden of Coal Action Network. “While Solid Energy might be about to walk away, its partner GTL Energy’s future depends on this project going ahead.”

There appears to be a dispute between GTL Energy, which owns the still-untested technology, and Solid Energy, over who will pay out another $1.6m required for, amongst other things, a drying shed needed to dry the briquettes: somewhat of an oversight that they didn’t foresee their briquettes not standing up to Southland’s weather.

Other problems include:

• Ongoing issues with the briquettes, that first spontaneously combusted, and now are having problems drying out in the cold Southland weather. The drying shed is the latest proposal to solve these difficulties. But the product still appears to be unstable.
• Conveyor issues
• Lighting, noise and traffic issues
• The plant has breached its air quality consent with coal dust
•  It now needs a new consent to increase its water intake from the current consent of 58,000 litres a day to a massive 400,000 litres of water a day.
• The company claims the production process has passed a “five-day test” but locals, who’ve been watching closely, all dispute this. Maximum plant running time has been three days – at most.
• The facility has been dormant for six weeks.

The plant has so far cost $28m.

“Both Solid Energy and GTL must walk away from this untried and clearly failing technology. GTL are desperate to keep this going, but they are dreaming; the world’s awash with cheap coal that nobody wants. Lignite is a dead loss,” said Ms Penwarden.

She also noted that GTLE had been suffering from financial problems and there are rumours that its North Dakota briquetting plant had closed and would be sold.

“The reality on the ground in Mataura bears no resemblance to GTL Energy’s glowing reports on their website. Is GTLE deliberately misleading investors?”

“The world doesn’t need the climate emissions from this coal. Return the land to what it’s good for: fertile, productive farmland. And Southland doesn’t need any more failed projects from dodgy coal companies promising the earth and producing nothing but problems for the locals.”

Recent reports of Solid Energy announcement and discussions:

18 June, Stuff: Cloud hangs over lignite plant
18 June, Radio NZ: Solid Energy to make announcement about lignite plant
19 June, Southland Times: Decision on plant’s future delayed

The post Solid Energy appears locked in combat over who should pay for lignite plant appeared first on Coal Action Network Aotearoa.

But it hasn’t gone entirely. Other companies are sniffing around Southland’s lignite report, and as a recent Southland Times report indicates, Solid Energy and their technology partner GTL Energy are continuing their efforts to get the small lignite briquetting plant off the ground.

In addition, sharemarket deadbeats Bathurst Resources, whom you’ll be hearing plenty more about this year – best known for their plans to despoil the beautiful and biodiverse Denniston Plateau in the pursuit of coal – are also seeking to expand their operations in Southland.

Every month, Coal Action Murihiku puts out a superb newsletter, edited by Jane Young who is also one of our CoalSwarm editors. You can read all the CAM newsletter on the Regions section of our website.

CAM’s April newsletter tackles both Bathurst and the briquetting plant. It’s a great read, and you can download the newsletter here.

The post Coal Action Murihiku Takes On Briquettes and Bathurst In Its April Newsletter appeared first on Coal Action Network Aotearoa.

So it seems appropriate to highlight a couple of reports of the Festival from Southland sources:

Dave Kennedy of CAM reports on the Friday and Sunday of the Festival in his report on the Festival, Shaping Southland’s Future Without Lignite.

Coal Action Murihiku’s February newsletter is entirely given over to reports, thoughts and photos on the Festival. As Bell Murphy says in her Festival report:

The fact that this year’s event was primarily organised by Coal Action Murihiku (CAM) was really exciting. It’s a tribute to the staunch, creative, loving and ingenious folk in Southland.

You can find all the CAM newsletters on the CANA website.

The Summerfest packdown crew still had time to remember the purpose of the Festival!

The post Summerfest 2013: The View From Southland appeared first on Coal Action Network Aotearoa.

Rob McCreath from Friends of Felton at the Coal Action Summerfest gathering on Saturday.

The idea of digging up fertile farmland for lignite coal was “100% stupidity,” an Australian farmer told a Southland meeting today.

Rob McCreath was addressing the “Keep the Coal in the Hole” summer festival in Gore. The Queenslander told the 150-strong gathering how his community group, Friends of Felton, stopped a large coalmine and petrochemical plant from going ahead on prime agricultural farmland on the Darling Downs.

He has been in Dunedin and Southland for the last few days and was struck by the beauty of the farmland in the area.

“It’s hard to imagine a more productive farming area as I’ve seen in Southland. In Australia we are peppered with New Zealand’s 100% Pure adverts. It’s disgraceful that you have a government-owned company and they’re allowing it to dig up this beautiful farmland. That’s 100% stupidity,” said McCreath.

Five years ago, coal company Ambre Energy was set on digging a 2000ha opencast mine that would produce 8 million tonnes of coal a year from the Felton Valley and building a petrochemical (coal to liquids) plant there.

Friends of Felton occupied the state premier’s office, marched to parliament, erected giant billboards along roadsides, and established a local food festival as part of their successful five-year battle against the coal miners.

Just last week Ambre Energy admitted it would no longer be pursuing its mining plans in the Felton valley.

This year’s Keep the Coal in the Hole festival was organised by the Southland Coal Action Murihiku group, and had a more local focus, with many people from the local area coming to the three-day gathering.

“We face the very same threat here with the Southland lignite proposals still in Solid Energy’s sights,” said Tim Jones of Coal Action Network Aotearoa. “We can learn from our Aussie neighbours how to work together to safeguard our food producing farmland.”

The meeting also heard the latest on climate change from science writer Gareth Renowden, who told the members of the audience that anybody under 36 years old had not experienced a year below global average temperatures. The real impacts of climate change were yet to come.

“We’re hitting the climate bell with a very big hammer and it hasn’t really begun to ring yet.”

He warned that, in a climate-changed future, coal could be deemed a liability in the future, rather than the “asset” it is seen as today.

This year’s festival has been celebrating the success of the coal action movement over the last year, where a number of new groups have sprung up around the country, with a big boost in membership.

The post Southland lignite proposals “100% stupidity” Aussie farmer tells meeting appeared first on Coal Action Network Aotearoa.

As an incentive, check out this downloadable version of the programme for the Festival’s Community Day on Sunday 20 January:

summerfest_sunday_programme

The post Summer Festival Registration Deadline Extended appeared first on Coal Action Network Aotearoa.

Find out all about the Festival here: http://nocoalsummerfest.org.nz/

Register here (see the yellow Registration button near the bottom of the page): http://nocoalsummerfest.org.nz/information

Find out what we did at the last festival – and the tremendous progress that’s resulted from decisions made and steps taken at the Festival – in this summary which looks at what happened at the Festival and what the situation is one year on: Summerfest_2012_notes_and_progress

Check out the amazing poster for this year’s Summer Festival …

… and take a look at this group photo from the 2012 Festival:

The post Summerfest 2013 – And What We’ve Achieved Since Summerfest 2012 appeared first on Coal Action Network Aotearoa.