Is there any doubt left? The website where I found this cool image has more of these great visuals demonstrating the vast scientific consensus around climate action. As Van Jones said at the 2009 Campus Progress National Conference, if you went to 10 doctors because of a pierced lung and one of them (a Psychologist) told you you were fine while the other 9 said you desperately needed surgery, what would you do?
Unfortunately, scientific certainty isn’t the only contentious issue we are facing in the climate debate. Naysayers and fossil fuel enthusiasts consistently blurt out noise about how taking action on the climate crisis would bring about an economic disaster. Needless to say, those lies have no basis. To a certain extent, much of what is required in climate action (especially in the short term) is to level the playing field between energy efficiency and renewable energy and fossil fuels.
I typically hate these cheesy, often-pretentious, holier-than-thou lists of things people should commit to doing if only they were smart/benevolent/disciplined/healthy enough. I promise that this one is different.
When 2009 begun, it seemed to many of us that all cards were stacked in our favor. We had a President and a congress that fully understood the problem of the climate crisis and had plans to do something about it right away. But after one year of running against the wind and getting all of our progressive hopes and dreams shattered by ConservaDems and suicide-pact-signing Republicans, we need to send a message to Congress that young people don’t just turn out to vote for a charismatic president, but we turn out for the issues that define the survival of our species.
So here are my top 5 Green/Sustainability/Climate Resolutions for 2010 that have the highest effort-to-outcome ratio:
Register to vote! (If you are a fellon and/or not a citizen skip to step #2)
Register everyone you know and everyone in your community to vote.
Have everyone you register send a letter to all the candidates running in your district saying “I’m voting for environmental justice/renewable energy/an end to the climate crisis” .
Campaign for your most climate friendly* candidates and let them know that’s why you picked them.
Vote and take 5 friends who wouldn’t have gone otherwise to the polls with you!
As Brad Johnson from the Wonk Room says, it took 30 years for the radical right to make their issues something few moderates would ever dare oppose (i.e. eliminating the right to choose, allowing just about anyone to carry weapons, etc). Electoral engagement isn’t a one-time fling that was cool last year cause we elected a charismatic dude, it’s a long-term effort to make our issues something that most candidates can’t get elected without supporting.
Commit to doing these 5 things in 2010 and you will help build a system that takes the urgency of the climate crisis seriously, but if you choose to ignore these resolutions and go for this list instead you’ll just be an environmentally friendly person living in a VERY warm world (do both and you are a trooper!).
* Climate friendly doesn’t necessarily mean that their platform is equal to ours, it means that they understand the issue and are committed to doing something about it. We can’t expect everyone to be on our same page, especially given the current atmosphere of confusion and distrust brewed by fossil fuel operatives and our gullible media. Even though it seems like an unfair burden, it’s up to us to educate people around us about the urgency of the climate crisis with out passion and hard work. If there are no candidates that come close to being climate friendly, find someone you support in your community (including yourself) and encourage them to run for office. It might be crazy, but you can influence the dialogue on the local level, build up local support, and maybe even get elected!
Today is the last official day of the negotiations and I, along with the rest of Civil Society, am still unable to enter the Bella Center where hundreds of world leaders are gathering to determine the survival of millions of people.
As of Tuesday the United Nations started restricting access to non-governmental and non-press groups, severely limiting the transparency and inclusivity of the talks. This last-minute (though long rumored) announcement caught NGO groups off guard, forcing us to scramble and try to continue our work from cold attics, coffee shops, and improvised spaces with a spotty internet connection. Since few of us have been able to get in the Bella Center, large action to demonstrate support for the Island States, Africa and other constituencies deeply affected by the climate crisis has largely been hindered. Even Friends of the Earth, Avaaz.org, and other allies of ours have been blocked from entering the center despite having the special passes that were supposed to grant access:
But our persistance and commitment hasn’t wavered. A group of 40 international organizers spent Monday night planning an action to take a last stance inside the negotiating space. We pooled the few entry permits we were assigned and sent in 30 international youth on Tuesday. These 30 climate activists sat in the middle of the main hall and started reading the names of 11 million people from around the world that signed a petition asking for a fair, ambitious, and binding (FAB) deal. They set up a livecam and liveblog to show their allies all around the world the undemocratic processes of the United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change.
The young activists said they wouldn’t move until the negotiators would agree to a fair and binding deal, but where blackmailed by the United Nations Secretariat and forced to leave. The threat was that all 300 passes for Civil Society to attend would be rescinded if the protestors had chosen to get arrested. That is 300 passes out of thousands of people that came here to document and push the negotiations. Fearing backlash from other NGOs and not wanting to be scapegoated for the United Nation’s lack of transparency and undemocratic practices, the protestors left peacefully while encouraging their peers all over the world to organize solidarity actions wherever they are. We’ve already heard of a couple, and more are coming in every day.
At this time the negotiations aren’t going in the direction they need to be to guarantee the survival of human civilization. Despite the urgent threat, too many countries still seem incapable of accepting the dire situation we are facing. It is time for people in all countries to stand up. The energy action coalition just sent out an ask to the PowerShift list to organize sit-ins like the one that happened a couple of days ago at the Bella Center in their own senators’ offices. Only by scaling up our public pressure will we be able to push our governments to take survival more seriously!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/matmcdermott/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
One of the most exciting aspects of the international negotiations is the level of solidarity between international youth and other under-represented groups. A couple of days ago I reported on the solidarity action with the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), a negotiating block of nations whose existence is currently and increasingly threatened by sea level rise. For these nations and for young people it’s all about survival. None of the delaying arguments and economic excuses brought up by developed and developing nations make sense to us when survival is at stake.
Another amazing display of solidarity came with the issue of tar sands. Tar sands are the most destructive industrial project on earth and consist of massive deforestation, excavation, and toxic refining in order to extract oil from the oil-drenched soil. All of these steps take place in indigenous lands and are a key factor in Canada’s continued obstructionism to the climate treaty. Check out this video of an exciting action organized in collaboration between the Canadian Youth Climate Coalition, the Indigenous Environmental Network, and some american youth:
Canada’s Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, hails from the tar sands province of Alberta and has a long history of association with the oil industry. Tar sands are to Canada what Appalachia is to the United States. Both are regions where local rights are trampled for the sake of the short term profits of fossil corporations and where local politics have a history of intimidation to dissenters, misinformation of the public, and extreme corruption.
But this isn’t only our northern neighbor’s problem. Canada has repeatedly used U.S. inaction and demand for oil as an excuse for their continued development of this destructive project that is visible from space. Without stronger action on climate and voiced opposition to the tar sands from the United States, Canada will continue to have a handy excuse for their continued poisoning and exploitation of indigenous communities.
Check out Tar Sands Blow for more information. A call to your senators saying that you oppose our use of tar sands oil would also be appreciated by all of those communities directly impacted by our continued addiction to fossil fuels.
New video on actions in Copenhagen in support of the island states and the least developed countries. These courageous negotiators are standing up to the weak commitments proposed by the ‘global north’ that are far from what required by the science.
Under current commitments, warming of more than 2 degrees celsius is certain. Such warming would drawn small island states and seriously weaken the already small agricultural output of in sub-Saharan Africa.
The WonkRoom posted the video of the Tuvalu negotiator’s plea for developed nations to reduce their emissions fast enough to guarantee the survival of his people. I highly recommend it!
I saw two videos this morning from yesterday, the Youth and Future Generation day, that exemplify the challenges that we face as young people in trying to shape the negotiations. These videos convey the frustrations, hopes, anger, and compassion that young people from the developing world are facing as they see their negotiators and their nations’ mainstream media delay and misinform. If you do one thing today to stay on track with what’s happening in Copenhagen today, watch these videos.
The first one is a follow-up to the action that U.S. youth organized to disrupt climate denier and AIDS-detention-camp advocate Chris Monkton (he likes to be called Lord, but I don’t care). You can see a video of that action here.
The second video is from the Canadian Youth Delegation. Canada is one of the contries with the worst emissions reduction targets, commitments to financing sustainable development, and overall attitude. Check out this courageous young person giving an emotional appeal to her country’s lead negotiator:
Young people from across the world are united in demanding that their respective nations set aside their ego and agree to a fair, ambitious, and binding climate treaty. Unfortunately many nations are still under the tight grip of Big Oil and King Coal and are unwilling to take a stance for their people and against the destructive ways of the past. It is inspiring to know that the Millennial generation is united in this, but saddening to think that by the time we take over it might be too late to save millions of lives of people in the developing world.
Missed a day on my daily blogs due to the sheer amount of things that have been happening here. Some of the highlights:
- Kyle Gracey, Campus Progress network member and Chair of the SustainUS steering committee, facilitated a youth briefing featuring the the Chairs of the negotiation working groups (Kyoto Protocol and Long Term Cooperative Action Working Groups) – two of the most important people at the summit.
- Youth made up over 80% of the audience at an off the record briefing with the U.S. negotiators featuring U.S. Climate Envoy John Pershing and E.P.A. Administrator Lisa Jackson. Out of 9 questions asked, about 6 were from youth. Obviously cannot comment on the content of the questions, but it was amazing to see such a presence from U.S. youth.
- On Wednesday morning we heard word that Lisa Jackson requested a meeting with 10 international youth. U.S. youth helped brief them about Administrator Jackson’s role as a champion within the administration.
- As soon as the Canadian youth event ended, word got around that the small island state of Tuvalu took a courageous stand during the negotiations to force the process towards crafting a binding and enforceable agreement. This caused an impromptu uprising of over 200 young people and others from civil society (the Copenhagen term for non-governmental folks). Check out a great post about it on ItsGettingHotInHere.
- Enforcement has become one of the hot issues discussed here and various Fossil friendly countries rejected Tuvalu’s attempts to address the issue head on. Among them is Saudi Arabia that spent the day yesterday trying to convince the rest of the least developed countries that the science behing the climate crisis isn’t sound(confused about the fake debate waged by neocons to discredit scientists? Check out this great illustration!)
- As the day wound down, word spread about a side event happening outside of the center organized by ‘Americans for Prosperity’ featuring climate denier Chris Monkton (who is well known for publicly advocating that all HIV-positive people be “corralled in a giant quarantine facility for life”). U.S. Youth quickly organized and send a bunch of undercover young people with banners to disrupt the fossil fuel funded astroturfers. Their action was an absolute success, check out their posts here and here. Check out this amazing video from the action.
- While much of the U.S. Youth delegation was off disrupting the work of oil company propagandists, the ones that stayed behind called over 100 people and sent out over 200 e-mails to rapid responders in the U.S. urging them to call President Obama. The U.S. negotiators have been trying to remove wording about 350 parts per million from the negotiating texts and we need to make sure that the White House knows that young people cannot have a stable and prosperous future if the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere stays above 350 parts per million.
- Finally, the Fossil of the Day awards took an interesting twist yesterday. Instead of declaring a 1st place fossil winner, the island state of Tuvalu won the first ever Ray of the Day award in the 10 year history of the Fossil of the Day tradition while Canada, Croatia and Russia were awarded with the coal-laden cup. Today Poland and Germany entered the ranking due to their obstruction within the European Union delegation and New Zealand was awarded the third place for proposing ridiculous targets. Another Ray of the Day was awarded to France for standing up to the fossils.
That’s it for now, need to run to another off-the record briefing! If you are interested in more policy heavy updates check out the Wonkroom, ClimateProgress, and CAN international’s videos.
The first day went fast and was extremely busy. While official national delegations were busy talking about decision making processes and approving agendas, young people were working on organizing fun and effective actions. Check out my video highlighting a couple of actions I attended!
I was also on a PodCast with Deputy Field Director of the Energy Action Coalition Whit Jones. Check it out here:
(sorry for my bad performance in this first video, I’m still getting used to being in front of a camera!)
I got to Copenhagen on December 4th and will be hanging out here at the United Nations international climate negotiation until the 20th. In this time, delegates from all nations in the world and many world leaders will swing by to either try to move the process forward or put roadblocks to climate action.
Official delegates aren’t the only ones here. Over 1,000 young people and tens of thousands of other NGO, business and industry representatives are here to try to get their voices heard amidst the chaotic negotiation process.
This first week, negotiators from different countries will begin drafting an outline of the proposal that should emerge. As the end of the conference draws nearer and the agreed upon aspects of the proposal are finalized, Environmental Ministers (i.e. secretaries) from each country will join their negotiators for the tougher part of the talks. Finally, on the last day where only few details need to be finalized Prime Ministers and Presidents will join in on the fight, ending the negotiations in a high-level high-stakes battle over words. The whole process happens over consensus and thus every nation must agree in order to come up with a viable proposal or treaty.
Unfortunately due to the delays brought about by the Bush Administration in the past eight years we are no-where close to finalizing a treaty, but hopes are high for a meaningful structure to be finalized over the next year and some strong commitments decided upon by some of the biggest polluters.
In my time here, I will be working with partner organizations in planning media saavvy actions, document them on this blog, and help U.S. young people take action through the Energy Action Coalition’s Rapid Response Network. If you wish to help us spread the word in your community about the U.S.’s behavior during the negotiations, sign up here to join my team of Rapid Responders.
If you have thoughts and ideas about what I should be covering while here, please leave me a note in the comments!
“A Clean Energy Economy Forum hosted by the White House would have been unthinkable four years ago, so it was remarkable to watch the administration itself address youth on climate change yesterday. Young people have historically been absent from the political process, so I am honored to be alive during such an important time. It was amazing to watch Washington higher-ups yielding not to our wishes, but to our “demands”. I am currently working in Florida with students and youth leaders to pass a renewable energy investment fund at the University of Florida. We are excited to build off the momentum created by this historic forum, and we are thrilled to be part of the movement for sustainability on our campuses, in our communities, and in the world.”
Chris Cano, Outreach Coordinator for Gators for a Sustainable Campus at the University of Florida, hosted a live screening of the forum from his campus.
Yesterday the White House opened its doors to over 150 young people eager to share their views about the climate crisis and concerns about the administration’s lack of public advocacy on the matter. Never before has the executive branch in our government expressed so much willingness to listen to and work with young people, especially on the monumental issue of ending the climate crisis.
This forum was the culmination of years of hard work by youth climate activists nationwide. Morgan Goodwin, a fellow of the Avaaz Action Factory in Washington D.C. and a seasoned climate activist himself, wrote a fantastic post that is well worth a read to get the picture of how incredibly successful the youth climate movement has been at building and exercising power, and how it finally culminated with the White House forum. Excitement about this meeting was profound, leading to restless sleep in some of the participants who capitalized on their restlessness by writing a hard hitting letter to President Obama urging immediate and bold action. (more…)
Funding our Future is a campaign to pass a progressive federal budget for 2010 and ensure that our nation.s key economic choices invest in our education, spark reform of our health care system, and address climate change through cap and trade and clean energy investments. Click here for more info.
Is there any doubt left? The website where I found this cool image has more of these great visuals demonstrating the vast scientific consensus around climate action. As Van Jones said at the 2009 Campus Progress National Conference, if you went to 10 doctors because of a pierced lung and one of them (a Psychologist) told you you were fine while the other 9 said you desperately needed surgery, what would you do?
I typically hate these cheesy, often-pretentious, holier-than-thou lists of things people should commit to doing if only they were smart/benevolent/disciplined/healthy enough. I promise that this one is different.
Missed a day on my daily blogs due to the sheer amount of things that have been happening here. Some of the highlights:
- As the day wound down, word spread about a side event happening outside of the center organized by ‘Americans for Prosperity’ featuring climate denier Chris Monkton (who is well known for publicly advocating that all HIV-positive people be “corralled in a giant quarantine facility for life”). U.S. Youth quickly organized and send a bunch of undercover young people with banners to disrupt the fossil fuel funded astroturfers. Their action was an absolute success, check out their posts here and here. 
