Living the Solution - An interview with Gary Warden

What would trigger a manager to resign from his lucrative position at one of the world’s largest natural resource companies (BHP), trade in his large four wheel drive for a hybrid vehicle and start raising people’s awareness on climate change? His children. As Gary Warden thought about the future his 4 year old twin boys would face if Australia didn’t take action on climate change, he realised things needed to dramatically change. I caught up with Gary recently to find out more about his commitment to ‘ward off climate change’ and what each of us could do to make a difference.

Q. When did you first become concerned about climate change?

I first learnt about climate change more than 20 years ago as part of my geology studies at the University of Western Australia. I recall that back then the science behind the theory of climate change was well established, however there was little in the way of direct evidence that climate change was actually happening. The topic of climate change was of academic interest, however I don’t recall being terribly alarmed by it.

Once I started on my career in the mining industry, I forgot about climate change for a long time. In his movie, An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore quotes Upton Sinclair as saying “It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding.” I was in a position where I worked for one of the largest greenhouse polluters on the planet. So I didn’t go out of my way to educate myself about climate change.

It wasn’t until early 2006 that I became aware of the more recent scientific findings relating to climate change. The increasing concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, the melting of polar ice and glaciers, the positive feedback loops from the reduced albedo effect due to ice loss and from the melting of permafrost, the increasing intensity of cyclones. All of these really shocked me and spurred me into action to combat climate at a personal, community and political level since then.

Q. What are you doing about climate change?

At a personal level, my wife and I sold our large four wheel drive car and replaced it with a Toyota Prius hybrid car. This reduced the carbon dioxide emissions from our transportation by 70%. We sold our house in Shenton Park and moved to the Perth Hills where we have been working on reducing our footprint in a number of ways, including growing our own fruit and vegetables, replacing incandescent light bulbs with compact flourescent light bulbs, spurning reverse cycle air conditioning in favour of fans and signing up for 100% green power with Synergy.

At a community level I was privileged to participate in a training program delivered by Al Gore during September 2007. The aim of this program, known as The Climate Project, was to train volunteers from across Australia in how to deliver Mr Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth slide show. I have made a commitment to The Climate Project to deliver the slide show at least ten times over the course of the next twelve months, however I have a personal goal to deliver the slide show at least 100 times in this period.

At a political level, I ran as the Climate Change Coalition’s Senate Candidate for Western Australia in recent federal election.
The Climate Change Coalition exists to create coalitions between and within the major parties:
• Between the tiers of government.
• Between policy and industry.
• Between science and investment.
• Between citizens, communities and those who claim to be our leaders.

I see my role in politics as using my background in big business to bring our big corporations to the negotiating table to ensure that they are doing their fair share to combat climate change. I understand the language of big business and understand how they can best embrace the opportunities and challenges that are presented by climate change.

Q. What do you imagine Australia will be like in 20 years if we continue on in a business as usual fashion?

I simply do not believe that we will continue on with business as usual for another 20 years. Barely a week goes by now when we don’t receive some new scientific report showing the effects of climate change to be worse than was first thought. I think that if we don’t cut greenhouse gas emissions drastically soon then we will see ever more alarming effects of climate change such that even those few sceptics who currently remain will be won over within the course of the next few years.

Scientists agree that a 1 to 2 degree rise in temperatures is now locked in, regardless of whether or not we reduce our emissions. The CSIRO has predicted that such a temperature rise would result in the extinction of all Acacia species from southwestern Western Australia, and would have a significant impact on 66% of Dryandra species in this region.

The CSIRO also predicts sea levels to rise by up to 0.88m by the end of the century. This will have significant impacts on low-lying coastal areas such as Mandurah and Busselton.

While a 1 to 2 degree rise in temperatures is already locked in, much bigger increases in temperature will occur unless we drastically reduce our emissions. Such reductions are critical and urgent if we are to avoid the most catastrophic consequences of climate change.

Q. What does Australia need to be doing to combat climate change?

We need to do the following things.

Q. What can the average person do about climate change?

Many things can be done that will have little cost when considered over a year. For example, when you are replacing an incandescent light bulb, replace it with a compact flourescent light bulb. This will cost more initially but will pay itself off within about 6 months, and thereafter each light bulb will save you on average $12 per year. More importantly you will reduce your carbon dioxide emissions by more than 30Kg per year per light bulb changed.

Turn the lights off when you leave the room - no matter how short a time you are leaving. Turn the computer and television off when you are not using them. Switch appliances off at the powerpoint rather than leaving them on standby - 10% of your electricity bill goes towards keeping your equipment on standby.

Sign up for 100% accredited green power. This will cost $180 per year for an average electricity consumer, however the above efficiency measures will pay for this so that you won’t be out of pocket.

Look for opportunities to walk to the shops or to walk to work. Where walking isn’t an option, consider public transport options. Start small - use public transport just once per week. You will soon find that your lower stress levels from not fighting rush hour congestion will see you using public transport more and more.

When you buy your groceries, make sure you buys goods that are manufactured within Australia. Even better, try to buy products that are local to your area. Many good fruit and vegetable shops now label exactly where their produce comes from - town of origin, not just country of origin as is the case in major supermarkets. Even better still, try growing your own fruit and vegetables. You can’t beat the flavour of tomatoes freshly picked from your garden.

When it is time to buy a new car, make fuel economy one of the most important considerations. How big a car do you really need? Perhaps you could just hire a four wheel drive when you go camping or fishing. Consider diesel or hybrid options in your preferred car.

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