It’s Getting Hot In Here

As the estimated death toll in Burma rises to 100,000, it’s hard not to reflect on the incredible injustice of the situation. Cyclone Nargis, considered a once-in-500-year storm, struck the Irrawaddy Delta this past Saturday, pushing a wall of water through a largely deforested mangrove swamp and inundating some of the most densely populated parts of the low-lying country.

Initially, experts estimated the death toll to be in the tens of thousands, but revised the number as it became clear that despite international aid efforts, families were starving and that many had perished in the surging waters. In addition, recent reports show the ruling military Junta, which a few months ago brutally cracked down on peaceful opposition demonstrations led by Buddhist monks, seized recent UN and international aid shipments intended for those affected by the storm and subsequent floods. In response, the UN has temporarily suspended direct aid to Burma, citing corruption and theft of donated food and supplies. Continue reading ‘Climate Justice = A Human Right’

Remember that number global warming deniers throw around — those 500 scientists that have supposedly signed onto a letter denying the existence of anthropogenic climate change? 500. It’s a number you hear on the nightly news near the end of many stories on climate change, and it’s also a number invented by the Heartland Institute, one of Washington’s most conservative thinktanks.

As it turns out, that the number is a fabrication. Our friends over at DeSmogBlog sent questionnaires to each signer, and received back some interesting quotes. Here’s a sampling of the responses they got:

I am very shocked to see my name in the list of “500 Scientists with Documented Doubts of Man-Made Global Warming Scares”. Because none of my research publications has ever indicated that the global warming is not as a consequence of anthropogenic greenhouse gases, I view that the inclusion of my name in such list without my permission or consensus has damaged my professional reputation as an atmospheric scientist.”

Dr. Ming Cai, Associate Professor, Department of Meteorology, Florida State University.

They have taken our ice core research in Wyoming and twisted it to meet their own agenda. This is not science.”

Dr. Paul F. Schuster, Hydrologist, US Geological Survey Continue reading ‘Global Warming Deniers…Denied.’

How many acronyms does it take to trick politicians and the media into thinking coal is really a clean energy choice? Well, let’s just go through them, shall we?

ABEC stands for Americans for Balanced Energy Choices, a coal industry campaign that has spent more than $40 million to promote “clean coal” technologies on the campaign trail. Their members include your friendly neighborhood coal companies like Peabody Coal, Arch Coal, Duke Energy as well as rail companies like Burlington Northern Santa Fe. ABEC ran an “astroturf” campaign in New Hampshire, Nevada, South Carolina, Ohio and Pennsylvania extolling the virtues of coal to presidential campaign staff, volunteers, supporters, and even the candidates themselves. ABEC has sponsored nearly every televised presidential debate and is now…gone forever, partly due to the work of grassroots climate campaigners, big enviros and a group called ABECC. Continue reading ‘The Alphabet Game’

I have a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore. Well, I had a feeling last Friday, when the Democratic Governor of the Sunflower state, Kathleen Sebelius, vetoed a bill that would have paved the way for two dirty coal plants to be built. Kansas, a typically conservative state with two Republican Senators, isn’t a place where you’d expect to hear anti-coal victories, but when Sibelius vetoed the bill, she sided with coal opponents, which include most national and local environmental, public health and citizens’ groups. Noting the plethora of issues related to mining, transporting and burning coal, she said the following at a press conference in the state capitol, Topeka:

“This decision not only preserves Kansans’ health and upholds our moral obligation to be good stewards of this beautiful land, but will also enhance our prospects for strong and sustainable economic growth throughout our state. Instead of building two new coal plants, which would produce 11 million new tons of carbon dioxide each year, I support pursuing other, more promising energy and economic development alternatives.” Continue reading ‘Did Somebody Mention Coal?’

Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.

Businessweek isn’t exactly the paragon of reporting on environmental issues, but it sure blew the climate whistle a few days ago in this piece. The story, as many do, begins with two households: the US Climate Action Partnership (USCAP), a brainchild of NRDC, Environmental Defense, along with GE, Alcoa, BP, and Duke Energy, pushing for a federal cap-and-trade bill; and the Center for Energy and Economic Development (CEED), an industry group that promotes coal and opposes climate legislation.

USCAP members have signed onto statements and actively advocated for climate policies that are on par with the latest IPCC reports: 60-80% carbon cuts by 2050, and fairly strong interim targets, a virtually unprecedented change of regulatory heart by CEO’s of America’s largest industrial corporations. And, being heads of industry, they’ve received a warm welcome on Capitol Hill.

CEED actively opposes any legislation regulating or capping greenhouse gases and believes, as CEO of GM Frank Lutz eloquently said on the record a few weeks ago, that climate change is “a total crock of shit.” GM is a member of both CEED and USCAP. In addition, CEED helped birth the rather euphemistic Americans for Balanced Energy Choices (ABEC), which launched a $35 million astroturf campaign to convince the public–and the presidential candidates–that “clean coal” should be America’s energy source. Check out this video of ABEC and climate activists sparring on the campaign trail.
Continue reading ‘Corporations Doublespeak on Climate’

On the eve of the South Carolina democratic primary, some battles are being fought on stage, and others in the parking lot.

This primary season, leading up to arguably the most important presidential election in recent history, has been a circus. Even outside the candidate events, voters waiting in line to cheer Huckabee or Obama might see confederate-flag-jacket donning Ron Paul supporters espouse southern pride, orange-shirted volunteers collect petitions about Darfur and PETA organizers dressed up as pigs holding puzzling signs that say “Stop Global Warming, Tax Meat.” And while all the presidential campaigns try to capture the media’s attention by printing more and bigger signs, and turning out louder supporters, they can’t quite keep the menagerie at bay.

In a way, this is all good for democracy – it shows that volunteers and organizations are pressuring candidates on specific issues, many of which the candidates have not sufficiently addressed on the stump or in debates. Politicians have a knack for beating around the bush. But, when a corporate-funded group joins the cast, as the euphemistic Americans for Balanced Energy Choices (ABEC) has, the parking lot battles really begin. Continue reading ‘Let the Games Begin’

As I clicked through the news this morning, I came across this picture — it was smuggled out of Pakistan, despite the threat of repression by a megalomaniacal leader backed by an army of thugs. The students holding up signs are from the Lahore University of Management Sciences. It made me think about the kinds of freedoms we are afforded here in the US that just don’t exist in so many places in the world. In Pakistan, students like these aren’t allowed to demonstrate in their communities or lobby their leaders (who are they going to convince when the president has effectively dissolved the government?) Those holding signs in the photo can’t even show their faces — they have to hide behind their messages.

Coming back from the 6000-student strong Powershift this weekend, and looking through photos and videos from Step It Up events around the country, I had the distinct feeling that we’re winning this fight. It sometimes seems like we’re invincible in the youth movement — nothing can stop us. And we are, in this country. We’re pushing for a wholesale revolution in how we consume energy and how our economy is structured–and our leaders are starting to say what we’re saying. Underneath all the politics and the science, it’s mostly a change in how we think and how we communicate what we’re thinking.

What struck me about this picture is that while we were partying on the west lawn of the Capitol last Monday, chanting “80 by 50″ with the highest ranking woman in government, these students were hiding behind even the simplest of messages. They were asking for the basic right to communicate, to have a voice.
Continue reading ‘Our Voices and Theirs’

[Editor's Note: One million people have now had to flee from the California wildfires, exacerbated by drought and high winds. This fire tops off a year, where a half-million acres were burned in Greece and 63 people killed, and the tundra has started burning. A new term has been coined for these events: 'Megafires'. Our sympathies go out to all the victims of these climactic disasters and we hope to prevent as many future disasters as possible.]

The fires in southern California have now been blazing for more than a week, forcing more than half a million people to be evacuated between Santa Barbara and the Mexican border. The fires, fueled by thick underbrush, thundering winds and months of dry weather in the region, have devoured more than 800 structures and burned close to 300,000 acres. Residents from the San Diego area huddled in Qualcomm Stadium as the fires creeped closer and closer to their houses, an image reminiscent of the Superdome after hurricane Katrina uprooted hundreds of thousands of people.

Though there have only been a handful of injuries and one death, the hot winds show no sign of letting up. President Bush has declared the fires a national emergency, and directed FEMA to take part in firefighting and recovery efforts.

Our hearts go out to all the people in the region whose lives are being turned upside down by the fires, and especially to the many climate heroes and community organizers in the area. We stand with you.

Suffice it to say that like hurricane Katrina and the wildfires of 2003 that raged across much of the same Southern California scrubland, these fires are just examples of the scale of natural disasters we will continue to see with more frequency. Continue reading ‘Megafires in California Force Evacuation of 1 Million’

Here’s a first-hand account from Kelly Blynn, Step It Up coordinator and a member of the NoWarNoWarming legal team.

“This is what we are doing,” as Lennox Yearwood of the Hip Hop Caucus put it so simply yesterday afternoon as he addresssed the gathering of seasoned and brand new activists at a Presbyterian Church in D.C. The church was the site of the preparations and trainings for the No War No Warming action today. As Yearwood spoke, artists in the back of the sanctuary finished stenciling signs, and put the finishing touches on banners, paper maiche globes, and several polar bear costumes. Today marks a historic day in the progressive movement, when two important dots are connected — the war and global warming — through a dozen or so creative direct actions on Capitol Hill.
Continue reading ‘Connecting the Dots’

What do former presidential candidate Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have in common?

a. They both roomed with Tommy Lee Jones in college (how dreamy).
b. They invented the internet.
c. They received the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize.
d. All of the above.

This morning, the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize to Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (check out the NY Times article here). Arguing that “Extensive climate changes may alter and threaten the living conditions of much of mankind,” the Committee recognized the simple truth that climate change has begun to affect us all, and if not mitigated, will continue to wreak havoc on communities in the future. Gore will donate the profits from his share of the prize (a cool 3/4 million) to a group he helped found, the Alliance for Climate Protection.

Doom and gloom aside, Gore and the IPCC have spent the last two decades trying to spread the word about climate change in government and on the streets. After the 2000 presidential election debacle in Florida, Gore shifted his efforts to climate work, and you know the story from there. IPCC provided the fodder and he made the information accessible to the masses through An Inconvenient Truth, convincing people by the hundreds of thousands that with climate change, the future of humankind is at stake. Our generation will have to make the first move, and soon.

We’re the inheritors of a fossil-fuel soaked molotov cocktail of an economy, lobbed over the wall of natural limits. We know it and our job is to make those in power see the urgency of the situation. In receiving this award, Gore and the IPCC (whether we like it or not), two of our best allies in high places, have again lent support to our movement.

Lets take this energy and move forward as quickly and effectively as we know how.