The editorial in the DomPost of 1 May – St Joseph the Worker’s feast – gives me hope for the future. Indeed ‘we need to stick to our guns.’

Our ETS is little enough, but will be reviewed, for the fainthearted, in the light of Australia’s, Japan’s and the U.S.’s commitments next year. We need to stand by our decisions, to include all our greenhouse gas emitters, to do our wee bit for God’s creation. Everything that we have, everything in our world, has been given to us, to share and enjoy, but also to hand on to future inhabitants of Planet Earth, whether our descendants or people unknown to us.

We have a finite world, how can we continue ‘extracting resources’ – exhausting resources would be a more accurate description. We need to change our habits, no longer can we blithely drive everywhere, fly off on foreign holidays, eat meat every day, import luxuries as of right. What we are using up is stolen from our brothers and sisters, and it is the poor of the world who suffer because of our excess. How much do we really need?

We have been given intelligence, and there are many exciting and challenging developments in technology, to replace oil as the main source of energy. The Gulf oil rig disaster should make us question the wisdom of deep water drilling. The effects will be catastrophic for many species, including fisher communities all along that coast, for many years.

There are tragic choices to be made: governments do what the electorate wants. Where will we stand – clutching our possessions, our way of life? Or choosing the common good of others?  ‘Love one another, just as I have loved you’ (John 13:34).

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