Not many people can attract a decent sized crowd to give what is essentially a maths lesson.
Bill McKibben, a journalist turned global leader of climate change campaigns, is an exception.
His message is blunt: to avoid dangerous climate change, the Earth’s temperature must not rise by more than two degrees.
To have any chance of achieving this goal – the planet has already warmed 0.8 degrees since the industrial revolution, no more than about 560 gigatons of carbon dioxide can be pumped into the atmosphere before mid-century.
But buried in Australia’s soils are coal reserves that, if dug up, sold and burned as fossil fuel companies plan, represent more than 150 gigatons of C02.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
