An Inconvenient Truth

Savings & Loans held a screening of An Inconvenient Truth last night for our Adelaide-based staff, and I was really impressed with the level of interest the film created.

I’m sure that you would’ve heard about the film, which has generated lots of talk about global warming and the possible future we face. Some of the predictions Al Gore makes in the film are quite shocking, like the prospect that huge ice sheets in Greenland or Antarctica could collapse and raise sea levels by around six metres.

In fact, some of the predictions are so shocking that scientists were called in to comment on the accuracy of the film. While there were a couple of minor mistakes, the basic science behind it wasn’t really debated: the planet is getting warmer and humans are to blame.

One of the really good things the movie has done is made people realise environmental matters can have a massive impact on our lives. As I’ve said before, awareness is a great start, but moving forward requires real action. It’s a little bit disheartening to read that even though awareness of environmental issues is increasing, harmful emissions are too.

Having a few hundred people seeing the film can make a small difference by itself: everyone who sees it can change their behaviour and become more energy efficient. The real change comes from talking to friends. Hearing about a distant figure talking about climate change is one thing, but hearing the same information from friends can sometimes have even more of an impact.

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m a little overwhelmed by the potential effects of climate change. It’s not just a matter of summers getting hotter and rains being less predictable; the delicate balance of nature could be significantly and dangerously thrown out. I urge you all to try to learn a bit more about the issue and what we can do.

Something else you might want to do to find out what kind of impact you have on the planet is to head to the Victorian EPA’s Ecological Footprint calculator.

Comments

[Joanne Carroll]

Hi Greg,

(not necessarily for publication - I'm on annual leave & wanted to respond).

I was one of the lucky staff to see the film, and was deeply affected. A friend asked me about the film on the way home & while our kids were present; One 16-year-old informed me that "the Greenhouse Effect is a load of nonsense". I gave her auntie $20 and the address of the movie theatre, in the hope that she will take her there and enlighten her.

My son was very upset over the issues we had discussed and asked me to "talk to the government about Kyoto", so I emailed both local & federal government as requested.

I discovered through the above movie link that there is a PDF list of '10 things you can do to help', and we were pleased to see that we do most of those things already. My son & I, and some colleagues from the branch helped plant S&L's 2000 trees earlier this year, with the S&L Green Team and CVA.

I'm glad to hear about yout new Smartcar, I've been investigating petrol-electric hybrids myself at the moment, and the Government green car guide link through our website has proven invaluable.

Anyway, I just wanted to say thanks for the movie. I noticed through the link that the DVD of the film is already available, so I've bought it, so that the rest of our family & friends can see it, too.

Kind regards,

Joanne Carroll
MSC Elizabeth

[Julian]

It seems to me that there is quite a tide turning for the greenhouse issue these days (media monitors had it as the hottest topic in the press and electronic media for weeks running) but I hope the debate doesnt get hijacked by the big push by industry to go nuclear. There is a lot of misinformation floating around about (by) the nuclear industry- how much of an impact it will make on global Co2 emissions (doubling capacity will merely offset less than 5% of Co2), costs (there isnt a single nuclear power plant in the western hempisphere that can compete in energy markets without massive gov. subsidies - the US alone subsidises over US$100 billion), and the inadequacy of renewables to provide baseload power (incorrect - its a matter of planning and the existing technology is more than able to manage grid supply)... And lets not forget the 10-20 years required to get a power station up and running - we dont have that much time to wait for such a small impact!

Clean coal (geo-sequestration) also hasnt been tested yet, is more expensive than most renewables and by a coal lobby's own admission is likely to affect only around 10 power stations in the next 20 years.

The Eco-foootprint test is a great way to see exactly where your own personal impacts are strongest and the best ways to make the biggest difference - sometimes quite surprising! Ive managed to get my footprint down to the equivalent of just over 2 earths - much better than the australian average of 4, but still a way off getting it down to '1'!

[Barb Jenkins]

For those who enjoyed 'An Inconvenient Truth' you might want to grab a copy of Ronald Wright's "A Short History of Progress.' for your holiday reading.

The blurb states, "(Wright) brilliantly argues that only by understanding the patterns of progress and folly that humanity has repeated everywhere from Ancient Rome to Easter Island can we learn to change our ways and, with luck and wisdom, avoid a disastrous outcome."

This book was a bestseller in Canada and is based on the Massey Lecture series. Enjoy!

[Dave Sag]

Hi Greg,

It's most refreshing to see financial institutions such as yours take a genuine interest in climate change. And fabulous to see another CEO blogging what's on his mind.

I agree it is disheartening to see our emissions continue to rise, but to counter that, what is heartening is that people are actually starting to put their money where their mouth is and are taking positive action to address climate issues. My company, Carbon Planet (http://www.carbonplanet.com), also based in Adelaide, exists to help people and businesses take up the fight against global warming. We don't plant trees per sé but we work with groups like LandCare and Forests NSW who are skilled at revegetation and forestry management and who generate properly certified carbon credits off their various projects. We buy those carbon credits in bulk and retail them to individuals. We also conduct comprehensive carbon emissions audits for firms wishing to really understand their emissions' sources and levels.

Anyway I don't want to turn this post into spam from my company, but thought your readers would be interested to know that there are local solutions, such as the offsets we offer, to this global problem and all is not lost. Too often people's dispair at the magnitude of the problem overwhelms their doing anything about it.

Cheers Dave Sag - CEO, Carbon Planet.

[Jake Wishart]

hello Savings and Loans!
My name is jake and I am a 16 year old savings and loans customer! I was just checking out the website and i noticed the "CEO Blog" on climate change. I think its great that banks like savngs and loans (who do immense damage to society) can also try to be socially responsible. It is good that there is room for ideas and discussion in a company thats primary focus is to make money.

If people are interested in the debate about profits verses social/environmental responsibility i would recommend seeing the movie or reading the book entitled "The Corporation" by Joel Bakan. its a good film, but also a good read. Its about the need for balance in terms of making money and taking care of workers and the environment.

Keep up the good work,
Jake

[Bryan Clagett]

As a former CU Exec over here in the US, I wanted to let you know how impressed I am with your credit unions progressiveness. Impressive indeed.

[Matt Jorgensen]

Recently I enquired about stopping S&L from sending me statements through the mail as I check my account more often online and did not want to waste unneccesary paper.
I was informed that by law you are required to do this.
Maybe as an institution who cares about the environment you could start the ball rolling to allowing people the choice to recieve statements electronically.

Cheers

[Greg Connor]

Hi Matt,
We’ve only recently been given the green light from the government to send out electronic statements and it’s obviously something we’re keen to get started as soon as we can.
There’s a lot that we need to include in our statements and having them available online would certainly save a lot of paper.
At the moment we’re working through the logistics of how statements could be received. We need to make sure the delivery is secure and the format of the statements acceptable.
It’s going to take some time to get the system developed so I can’t give you any timeframe, but rest assured we’re working on it.
Thanks
Greg

[Rimas Sestokas]

Howdy,

I'm glad I'm not the only one who does not want to receive paper statements. I have 2 accounts with S & L and I pretty much just open the envelope and throw the contents in the recycling bin.

S & L, do something about this soon!!!

Being a developer, an electronic delivery system like this wouldn't take too long to develop. I think the developers of your internet banking facility would like you to believe it would take a long time, but in reality, it would not.

Integrating it with the existing internet banking facility would be one way to do it, or another would be to simply email password protected documents to a nominated email address.

Feel free to drop me a line if you want to enquire about the technical nature of this sort of system...

Regards,

Rimas

[Rimas Sestokas]

How about in the mean time, while the electronic delivery system is being developed, you give people the option not to receive statements at all?

For people like me that use you internet banking facility regularly, the statements are useless anyway.

At least taking this step would cut down the amount of paper you send out immediately.

[Greg Connor]

Hi Rimas and thanks for the questions,

We are committed to having electronic statements available as soon as possible, and we are in communication with a number of organisations to help get his running. One of the issues is the number of different systems the statements would need to work with and the information that needs to be included.
We’re also legally obliged under the Corporations Act, the Uniform Consumer Credit Code, the Electronic Funds Transfer Code and the Credit Union Code of Practice to send out statements to every account holder.

There’s a lot of information on statements that we’re obliged to send that doesn’t appear on PClink, such as payment due dates and our fee structure.

Due to the technical issues surrounding electronic statements, I can’t give you a timeline on the release, but it will be as soon as possible.

Cheers
Greg