According to The Center for Public Integrity, more than 770 companies and interest groups hired an estimated 2,340 lobbyists to influence federal climate policy in 2008. That means every day, 2,340 briefcase-holding and business card-carrying bodies walk through the halls of Congress with the sole aim of either strengthening or weakening the policies that will help spark a clean energy revolution and combat the climate crisis. From Chevron to Chevrolet, from Alcoa to Xerox, everybody is funding somebody to argue their case. This Washington insider game is what’s determining the climate policies that make it out of Congress.
When you think of it though, why should these inside-the-beltway lobbyists have all the clout? Our future as individual human beings is at stake along with the future of major corporations and utility districts! How can the everyday citizen get on the same playing field as these lobbyists? These questions encouraged us, two college students who are part of the youth climate movement, to set out writing a guide to climate policy that would help every American understand the policy details and political context around the climate debate in Congress. The result is “The Citizen’s Guide to Climate Policy,” a short booklet that will prepare you to become a lobbyist for change. The only way we’re going to get the strong climate policy we need is if a group of impassioned citizens engage their elected officials , and are so well versed on the implications of specific policies that we can battle on the same ground as the industry lobbyists who are walking the halls of Congress. Continue reading ‘Introducing “The Citizen’s Guide to Climate Policy”’
Yesterday, I was fortunate enough to witness a massive street protest against corrupt government policies in the city of Iquitos, Peru. Hundreds of people moved in a wave that held up traffic as they marched down the streets. It appeared to be a general protest against corrupt government practices in Peru, and the policies of President Alan Garcia in particular. There were marchers focused on workers´ rights, education reform, and the pillaging of the Amazon. A large contingent of indigenous activists called out the Peruvian government on last month´s massacre of indigenous people in the city of Bagua. Toward the back of the parade, another group waved flags supporting Ollanta Humala – one of the major left-wing candidates for president running in Peru´s 2011 elections. 

Canada has committed to emission reductions at home of 2.7% below 1990 levels by the year 2020. (Or 20% below 2006 levels by 2020 as the government phrases it). ember that we committed years ago to 6% below 1990 level target by the year 2012 via the Kyoto Protocol.
In a meeting Wednesday night with Canada’s lead climate negotiator, Mr. Michael Martin said this to me as he explained the position of the Canadian government. Background information: Negotiating domestic and international targets is precisely why these United Nations conferences exist.
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