Lieberman-Warner Talks in Bali: A Rude Awakening!

The posts are rolling in from EJCC and I’m posting as fast as I can! Again, I’m sorry for the back log but below is a compelling read

Ellen Choy Reporting from Bali:

12-10-07:
Our first day at the conference was a little overwhelming, despite the two hours it took standing in Blainese heat and humidity to finally get ourselves registered and walking through the doors of the Bali International Convention Centre. The level of activity was more than expected, but we clumsily got our bearings and headed into the side events and caucus meetings our first-day agenda channeled us to.

Most of what my post-registration day consisted of was attending a special Lieberman-Warner side event, presenting the bill and a panel of speakers who were directly involved in the bill’s crafting. Tony and I attended, entering a small room filled to the brim with observers and note-takers, amongst which we soon learned were scattered multiple US congressional staff representatives as well as other high-profile delegates, many from the European Union. The spotlight was shared by Chelsea Maxwell and David McIntosh, chief climate aides to Senator Lieberman and Senator Warner, respectively. As this was the very first experience participating in the conference for both Tony and I, this event provided a rude awakening to the struggle we, as climate justice advocates, will be facing in the coming week. As the only debate open to NGO participation on the leading climate legislation in the US, there was a complete lack of conversations around equity or justice. It was critical to engage ourselves in the discussion, but clear that the politics and special interests in the room fostered an environment where a CJ voice seemed unwelcome.

Ninety percent of the talks that happened in the room were flooded with highly technical jargon around deforestation and offsets (a central issue at this year’s COP/MOP), and how Lieberman-Warner is acting (or rather not) to incorporate international offsets into its cap and trade scheme. There was a complete lack of address of community impacts in those conversations – not surprisingly reminiscent of the bill itself. Even a direct question, that we slipped in on what is happening to better address vulnerable communities to Ms. Maxwell was responded with a quick shoulder brush and a “come talk to me in DC.” Slightly discouraged, but provoked and fired up for the rest of the week, our first experiences at the conference provided us a lesson for our work here: while the conference center is flooded with signs, banners, brochures and t-shirts promoting climate justice messages, actually injecting those concerns in discussions and debates occurring will demand of us to yell loudly and continue to push to represent a voice that is so often muffled by the dominating interests here at the UNFCCC.

About Shadia

Shadia began at age seven as an advocate for justice and the environment, in an eight year campaign to pass state legislation that, without it, was responsible for cancer clusters and deaths that existed in her community. In response to her efforts she has received the Yoshiyama Award from the Hitachi Foundation, and the Brower Youth Award from the Earth Island Institute. At age fifteen, She attended the World Summit on Sustainable Development, joining the youth energy caucus' efforts to create the Official Global Youth Energy Policy Statement. Months later, Shadia attended the Second National People of Color Summit and there she helped create the Environmental Justice Youth Platform. She is a member of the Environmental Justice Climate Coalition Youth Committee and is on the Kids Against Pollution National Board of Trustees. Shadia graduated from West Canada Valley High School in 2005, where she then took two years off before entering a career in higher education to work as a leader in the Global Youth Climate Movement. She finished working for the EJCC as the youngest Campus Climate Challenge Coordinator in the Energy Action Coalition, in October 2007. She is currently attending American University of Beirut, studying Arabic and Communications.

It’s Getting Hot In Here