It’s Getting Hot In Here

Crossposted from the Understory

RAN released a new report today, “Financing Global Warming: Canadian Banks and Fossil Fuels“, which calculates for the first time the carbon footprint from financing of fossil fuels by 7 leading Canadian banks - RBC, TD, Scotiabank, BMO, CIBC, Desjardins and Vancity. Along with the report, we also launched a new website, climatefriendlybanking.org.

The report results are striking. The half a million tonnes of CO2 operational emissions - the greenhouse gas emissions from running their buildings, employee travel and the like - are completely dwarfed by the 625 million tonnes CO2 of financed emissions resulting from their $155 billion in financing of fossil fuels, which are the principal driver of climate change. A lot of this money is flowing into expansion of the tar sands, one of the largest and dirtiest fossil fuel projects on the planet.

But what does this mean for the typical Canadian bank customer. Every dollar we deposit with banks, they can leverage into $10-15 in new loans and financing. Are banks using your money to finance fossil fuels and global warming? We created a special checking account carbon calculator where customers of any of the seven banks we studied can enter the average amount of their deposit accounts (or the amount they wished they had!) and measure its carbon footprint in kilos of CO2 per year. It turns out where you bank can have a big impact on the climate. Switching $10,000 in deposit accounts from the biggest carbon Bigfoot bank, Scotiabank, to the low-carbon climate friendly leader, Vancity (Canada’s largest credit union), would reduce your annual carbon footprint by 1.4 tonnes of CO2, a very meaningful reduction.

Learn more at www.climatefriendlybanking.org

Some of the magic of action camp kicks in when the group reaches a level of cohesion like it did today…suddenly the potential of the group is palpable as so many of the folks have connected and shared skills and stories. Trust and relationships are forming, it is quite powerful.

Today the techies rule, as a variety of higher level communications devices for scouting and actions come out to play as the ran gives way to sunshine in the afternoon. Blockades are also on the menu this day, from the old school sit ins to tripods and lockboxes to add to the power of such actions.

Many of us are still basking in all the good news that seemed to roll in yesterday on some of our campaigns and on other issues that were important to us…. the victory at Grassy Narrows see www.ran.org, the positive election outcome on many of our issues and local key races, and word that the Canadian Parliament had voted to allow US conscientious objectors to seek safe haven within Canada. Although not necessarily the issues of this camp, these victories nurture us as we gobble up the little bits of news we get off the net and on our blackberries while out here at camp.

Tomorrow we have a role play simulation of an action, a great learning experience for all. The camp participants have broken into three groups and are meeting feverishly, but we have no information on their plans as they are practicing a security culture and the trainers know nothing about their plans!!! All will be revealed tomorrow.

Campaign briefings and many side discussions have folks contemplating the possible action collaborations that could take place in the coming months. To be sure the value of this coming together will resonate for months to come!

As I think about returning home to Southeastern Utah, I wonder how well our communities will do in resisting the onslaught of oil and gas projects springing up every day, let alone tarsands and oil shale projects threatening Utah and Western Colorado. They are calling in the future energy basket of the nation….I know now that I have allies in that struggle, and that the groups who came together here will play a part in shaping a different future for that part of the country.

As the camp begins preparing to apply new skills during Friday’s all-camp “simulation”, day three reactions are coming in via the Climate Ground Zero blog.

From the new-school: 21 year old Sam from Portland:

I came to this camp not really knowing what to expect and I’m really impressed with the atmosphere. The trainers are understanding and accommodating. Seeds of Peace have been offering amazing food. The young people here from all around the U.S. and Canada are passionate, educated, eager, and driven.

From the Old-School: 46 year old Ageless JR from Montana

I have learned over the years that actions demand top notch preparation, mental toughness, a high degree of flexibility & creativity, overcoming whatever challenges are thrown your way, and always maintaining a positive attitude under adverse conditions. The Boy Scouts motto could certainly be the lesson of today “always be prepared.”

Tonight, we’re talking Canadian tar sands and coal. On Friday, the showdown!

I’m sitting in front of the Greenpeace communications van, the pride and joy of Richard “Sky King” Dillman. Despite our relatively remote location, can transmit live audio, video or text just about anywhere in the world using a combination of radio, satellite, or cellular networks.

I’m joining Richard and colleague Mike Johnson for “tactical communications” workshops all week. The session covers everything from basic equipment and techniques to advanced “field problems” where we’ll use what we’ve learned to role-play non-violent direct action and mass mobilization scenarios.

In front of me is a scaffolding the size of a three story building. Ingrid Gordon and her team of climb trainers built the structure yesterday, outfitting it with ropes and guy wires to simulate an action canvass (Coal-fired power plant? Oil Refinery? State Capitol?). The workshop starts with an extensive safety training then moves to basic knots, equipment and techniques. Like the other workshops, they’ll end the week by conducting a simulated action scenario developed by participants at the camp.

This afternoon, Celia Alario hosts a media skills workshop featuring message development, release writing and on-camera interviews. After dinner, it’s an open schedule–time for hikes, skill-shares and after sunset, a healthy dose of stories around campfire.

(My first post to IGHIH. Hello world!)

I’m in Montana at the bottom of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. People are pouring into the “Climate Change Ground Zero Action Camp.” For the next week, we’ll be talking about how to answer the $200 Billion dollar question of how to beat the climate challenge. The coal and oil industry and most of our country’s elected officials want to invest in oil pipelines, oil refineries and coal fired power plants. We think that looks a lot like what got us into this mess in the first place so we’re honing strategies to take back our future.

Why Montana? Two reasons. First, Montana is at the center of the oil and coal bonanza lurking just on the horizon of North America. We’re camped just outside of Helena, where the Governor is pushing plans to expand four oil refineries in the state mostly in order process cheap, dirty crude oil from the Canadian Tar Sands–part of a massive nationwide push to tap into one of the biggest and most destructive industrial projects on the planet. Montana also sits on top of more coal than just about anywhere on the planet. If the Governor and his industry backers get their way, most of that coal will pulverized, burned and pumped into the atmosphere–pollution and global warming be damned.

The second reason we’re in Montana is JR Roof. JR’s spent most of his life training activists in creative campaign strategies and non-violent direct action tactics with Greenpeace. Most of the people you’ve seen hanging banners from bridges and buildings over the last 20 years probably learned some of what they know from him (or someone he that trained with him). For the last two years, he’s been based in Montana and Alberta, organizing ranchers and farmers to oppose punching a power transmisison line through some of the continent’s most pristine wilderness just North of here. He’s pulled together some of the most experienced rabble-rousers on the continent pass on non-violent direct action skills to the climate movement and “make sure that this new generation of activists has an opportunity to learn from our mistakes.”

So here we are, from Montana, Alberta, Ontario, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, California, New York and Washington, DC, passing on skills getting ready to take action for the climate. We’ll be blogging, posting interviews and photos all week.