It’s Getting Hot In Here

Hey All,

As many of you know I used to work as the National Campaign Coordinator for the Environmental Justice and Climate Change Initiative. I am still on their Youth Committee and am an active supporter of all the work that they are doing. As such, I am receiving blog posts from them to post on itsgettinghotinhere.org. EJCC works with communities and students of color on issues of Environmental Justice and Environmental Racism. This voice is very important.

Below is the first post from Ellen Choy, EJCC’s Program Associate, that she wrote on December 7th, 2007. Sorry for the late posting but I am just receiving the posts now. More updates to follow.

Ellen Choy, EJCC Rep:

Flying from Atlanta, Georgia, Flagstaff, Arizona and Oakland, California – thousands of miles and 3 plane meals later – we, the representatives of EJCC, official delagates to the UNFCCC, have officially begun our time and work here in Bali! As soon as we touched down at Bali’s international air terminal in in Denpasar we were slapped in the face with Indonesia’s 85-degree, 90% humidity wet season climate – a rude awakening to the physical acclimation we would be enduring in the next ten days. Nevertheless, coming from plunging winter temperatures back at home, I think we are all smiling at the anticipation of living a short, tropical December. In our car ride to the hotel we experienced left-sided steering and more motorcycles than we could imagine filling the streets, which provided us the other element to our welcoming into Bali. Quickly reminding us of the reason we had come to Indonesia, UNFCCC paraphernalia is decorating all major streets and passageways within a 20-minute radius of the conference. From large bright orange UNFCCC banners hanging from every other tree to gigantic billboards displaying messages on climate change (my favorite: a “Climate Change…Protect the Vulnerable” billboard sponsored by the Indonesian government), it is clear that this conference has caused the world, for two-weeks, to turn its attention to this small, but beautiful island. And yes, EJCC is here, ready and excited to jump in head-first.

Arriving during the interim weekend of the two-week conference, luckily we will have a few days to experience both the culture and the climate shock, as well as get our bearings on what’s been going on before we throw ourselves into the conference trenches. We know we have a lot of work ahead of us, and a lot of both personal and collective expectations to fill. We will be four of only a handful of people of color coming from the US. We will also be one of very few US-based climate justice organizations. In a very North American, white-dominated pool of participants, it is clear that EJCC will be a vital voice in any discussions and debates we enter. We will be going in with our sound knowledge base of climate change issues, domestic and international, as well as our fearless agendas to openly report back on what we observe through our climate justice lenses and to be a strong presence as climate justice advocates. The magnitude of this conference is being reflected in the massive media coverage it is receiving globally, so we are not shy about the work that is ahead of us. If anything, this is to be a learning experience, as climate justice is the issue of our generation and this conference is the manifestation of some of the most important international decisions that will be made in our lifetime. While most back in the States are pulling out the scarves and firewood, we’re layering ourselves with mosquito repellent and sweat-drenched shirts – what seems a small sacrifice for the profound effect our presence here at the UNFCCC can potentially have.