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Rob Gell
Geographer, Television Weather Man
On World Environment Day 2009, I attended the Richmond Town Hall for an event presented by the City of Yarra. It was a jamboree of dedicated groups, stickers and speakers. Rob Gell was top billing. I was interested to hear what the environmentalist and geographer, who holds down a day job on television presenting the weather, had to say. I thought he might be a little softer on the palate. In my research for the Cool Earth Defenders and in keeping up with daily events, I had been digesting lumpy facts, figures and sometimes just plain stupidity. I was sadly wrong about the meal he was to dish up. Rob Gell hit his audience in the guts with a serve of reality that had us wriggling in our seats and looking for the door. His presentation was clear, concise and earth-shattering.
He took the podium and launched into the influences surrounding him in the 1970s, his university days. One of the political activist's tools of the day was a company called Red Letter which screen-printed radical and humorous posters and tea towels. Their infamous artwork highlighted issues about social justice, feminism, the environment, safe sex and political satire. One of the tea towels he remembers proclaimed, 'It will be a great day when we have all the money for education and the environment and the air force has a cake stall for a bomber.' He sees himself as lucky to have been at Melbourne University during that time. He says it was, 'a dynamic time globally. It was a period of social and moral awakening of the (Vietnam) war and its impact. It was also a time of environmental revolution.' At that time writers of renown were publishing information and opinion that instantly became part of his reading list. Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, to name just one, was printed forty-nine years ago this year.
"Man's attitude toward nature is today critically important simply because we have now acquired a fateful power to alter and destroy nature. But man is a part of nature and his war against nature is inevitably a war against himself. Now, I truly believe that we must come to terms with nature, and I think we're challenged as mankind has never been challenged before, to prove our maturity and our mastery, not of nature, but of ourselves."
Carson and other writers were to pinpoint the consequences of human actions and, in the case of Silent Spring, the lethal side effects of DDT (short for dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane - now classified as a persistent organic pollutant), which was used to kill mosquitoes and other insects. Carson and other writers explained how the human race was no longer a benign influence on the planet; we had become a parasite interfering with the health of the host.
Rob continues, 'We have to do twice as much with half as much stuff.' As I look at him I think of all my stuff. Having recently moved house and been required to pack and lift all my 'stuff', I guiltily accept that I have overloaded myself. Rob reiterates there has to be a fundamental change to our habits and the way we live.
'In Australia for example, we consume about 4000 calories a day on average. The world average is 2500 calories a day. To produce those world averages we need 2500 litres of water per person per day. We have 6.7 billion people living on the planet today, by 2020 there is estimated to be 9 billion.' I am not going to do the sums; I don't think you have to either. We are in big number territory, which is boggling and overwhelming.
In a moment of relief Rob, mentions the positive global actions of removing poly-fluoro-carbons from sale worldwide, to reduce the ozone depleting gas. 'Maybe we have protected the Antarctic and it will be the first world park,' he declares. The audience sighs with relief. The decision by the then Environment Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, to phase in compact fluorescents has made a huge difference to the release of Co2 into the atmosphere, but Rob suggests, 'buy LED (light-emitting diode) globes - they are the most efficient and pay for themselves in six months'.
Just when I am starting to think its my little bit of here and there that is going to make a difference, Rob brings out the most compelling argument for future action at a legislative level.
'Think global, act local works to a degree. The reality is we can compost, put solar panels on our roofs, (install) water tanks, bucket our shower water, but the reality is unless we see a fundamental major diversion in policy (by Government) we will not achieve what we need to achieve.'
Then in a crashing crescendo to ram home his point of urgency, he lists the Climate Crisis big-ticket items. He mentioned 'the tipping point', but I didn't want to hear it. He explained how the process has already begun of polar ice caps and permafrost melting, which will release tons of carbon and methane - twenty times more Co2 than we can manage to produce. Also, we are running out of energy, and there will be a food crisis, and biodiversity and ecological breakdowns we are witnessing with the Murray-Darling river system will become more common. All this coming our way.
Rob had sent shockwaves through the room. He has us hanging on his every word, more than receptive to his solutions. 'We can buy time to mitigate climate change,' he declares. He produces statistics that show Australian houses as the least energy efficient in the world. If we could improve the 'star rating' on homes and businesses, there is a chance of buying ourselves time. 'Buildings can save the world,' he says.
Rob finishes his talk with questions from the floor and then is off to another speaking engagement. The Mayor of Yarra talks about the Council's initiatives, but I feel a little shook up and I bet I look glazed over. Rob is a hard act to follow. The Mayor outlines well thought out plans and strategies for reducing emissions, and getting to carbon neutral - the new holy grail - but I feel it isn't going to be enough and I think the room feels that way too. Questions from the floor come flying at the Mayor and Environment Officers, and in the panic ideas about growing food in parks and gardens become the outlet for action.
Luckily another speaker comes to the podium bringing his expertise in the energy auditing of homes, and offering solutions to reduce energy use. It is Maurice Beinat from EcoMaster Inc, and he is my next Cool Earth Defender.
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