No, it's definitely not easy.

Like most Nerdfighters, I am deeply concerned with the future of our planet. In fact, I'd wager that the majority of people in general are worried about the impact that our lifestyle as a whole has on the planet's health and ecosystems; unfortunately, sometimes it is not as simple as turning off your lights for an hour.

As an Aussie, I'm quite happy that Earth Hour originated here. Last year I participated and I fully plan to do the same next year, since at this stage I'm not in a financial position to be able to do much else. Some cynics say that it's nothing more than an empty gesture--this couldn't be further from the truth. I mean, sure, it's only an hour, but turning off your lights for however long--a minute, an hour, a day-- can make a difference, however small.

All this comes at a time when there's heavy debate over our government's 'controversial' carbon emissions tax. In order to explain this I'll need to give you a brief overview of the political situation here at the moment: Firstly, there are two major parties in Australian Federal politics (we also have state governments and local councils, but we'll get into that at some stage). On the left side of things, there is the Labor party. On the right, there is the rather deceptively-named Liberal party (who are the conservatives. Confusing). Then there are some smaller parties. The Greens are a little further left than the Labor party, and they are very focused on environmental issues. The Labor and Green party are in a coalition and have formed a minority government.

Generally the Liberal party appear to be against any sort of environmental policy because it might (gasp) cost some money in the short term. The Green party, without whom Labor could not govern, are on the other end of the spectrum. They do not believe that our current target of a 5% reduction in emissions by 2020 goes far enough, and wants 20%. This makes it very difficult for the Labor party to legislate anything environmental, because they need the Green party to pass the legislation, and will meet opposition from the Liberal party no matter what they do.

In order to attempt to do something, and to appease the very free-market-put-a-price-on-everything Liberal party, there was a recent attempt to introduce an Emissions Trading Scheme, which would basically put a price on carbon emissions and fiscally punish large polluters, but enabling them to basically 'trade' their emissions and creating a weird little market about it.

Unfortunately, the largest polluters are also the richest companies, and a well-funded Liberal party managed to vote the legislation down. Now, there's a proposed tax--which would work in much the same way, but it would directly TAX large polluters. The policy's main opposition comes from climate change deniers. There was an anti Carbon Tax rally a few days ago, and rather tellingly, it was attended by such parties as One Nation and the Shooting party. Yeah, Australia has as many stupid people as any other country.

The unfortunate and ugly truth is that the main opposition of 'going green' are those companies which stand to lose big time from sustainable energy, who also happen to be the richest companies--Oil and Mining companies, to be specific. It's an uphill battle, and one that really must be fought individually in countries like Australia and America. THIS is why Earth Hour is so important. We can raise individual awareness of these issues, and the more individuals who are trying to make a difference, the more difference we will make as a whole. Let the world know that you care, and it's okay for them to care too.