Coal Seam Gas

A big environmental movement has been growing over the past 12 months or so in my local area with local residents very concerned about Coal Seam Gas Mining and the limited power to stop gas companies from entering onto people's land and drilling for gas. On the weekend I participated in a rally and presentation to the local Mayor of declarations from the residents on each of the streets in our village stating that the residents are refusing to allow gas companies to mine on their properties.

It is very interesting to see this movement grow both in real space and on the internet. Facebook pages are being used to communicate with and coordinate concerned citizens, youtube/vimeo are being used to disseminate audio and video footage, concerts are being organised to support the cause, CDs are being released, movies are being made and there is even a musical being written and performed by local artists (Coal Seam Gas the Musical).

Here are a couple of clips that highlight the issue - the first is from the Dunoon Celebrations on the weekend when an adaptation of Woody Guthrie's This Land is Your Land was sung (I have a white coat and pink scarf on and am standing on the left). The second clip is a song from a local artist called Luke Vassella (he has a few songs on this topic now) - I am going to play this song and a few of his others on air next week on my radio show (I have already played a whole hour of song on Coal Seam Gas on my radio show earlier in the year). The third (Vimeo) clip is a trailer for a new film about the music that was performed at a rally in Lismore - the film, due to be released soon, is called Rock The Gate (Lock the Gate is the name of the campaign currently underway in the Northern Rivers).

It is both fascinating and wonderful to see the power of protest, art and the internet combined together - enjoy: