Dispatches from the Youth Climate Movement
This afternoon in l’Aquila, I just had the displeasure of sitting in the front row of the press conference for US President ‘Oh-Bummer’, Australian Prime Minister ‘Krudd’ and Climate-Sceptic Italian PM Berlusconi.
Coverage of the conference is, predictibly, fairly positive:
This is the latest action alert from Avaaz.org. 
Join the call for a strong climate treaty!
There are only months left to build a strong global climate treaty — but some G8 countries are putting its future in doubt.
The G8, meeting in Rome this week, is weighing a pledge to limit global warming below 2 degrees centigrade, the level at which scientists say a deadly climate chain reaction becomes dangerously likely. Canada, Japan, and Russia are trying to veto the 2-degree limit — and an immediate global outcry is needed to rescue it. Add your name to the petition, and Avaaz will deliver it with stunts and meetings in Rome this Wednesday and Thursday!
We call on our leaders to go to Copenhagen and sign a global climate deal that is:
AMBITIOUS: enough to leave a planet safe for us all.
FAIR: for the poorest countries that did not cause climate change but are suffering most from it.
BINDING: with real targets that can be legally monitored and enforced.
Start now. Harper, Medvedev, Aso, and other leaders gathered in Italy–agree a 2-degree target!
Sign the petition here, and stay tuned for updates of youth climate action throughout the week.
I´m currently sitting in a hot and humid Internet cafe in the city of Iquitos, located in the middle of the Peruvian Amazon. I´m here partly to investigate the many fossil fuel-related environmental and human rights issues in this part of the world. But what´s struck me again and again, while here, is how closely the future of the Peru´s Amazon is tied to another battle raging in my own home: the Pacific Northwest, USA. In this post, I want to try to convey some of the urgency of confronting fossil fuel development in Oregon and Washington for the people and ecosystems of Peru.
Over the last few months, Peru has become a front line in the fight against the globally expanding fossil fuel empire. Peru is also a shining example of how corporate globalization and ¨free trade¨ contributes inevitably to the strengthening of that empire. As regular readers of this blog will already know, last month saw the massacre of an unknown number of indigenous activists protesting oil, gas, and timber development, and the seizure of indigenous lands in the Amazon. Most of the killing occurred in the Bagua area of Peru, and the Peruvian government has attempted to cover up the actual number of activists killed (the highest number I heard in the US was about 80 deaths, but the actual number seems to have been much higher). The protests were brought on in response to several decrees passed by the Peruvian government to facilitate a ¨free trade¨ agreement with the US. From the beginning, it´s been clear: the environmental and human rights abuses which triggered the protests and the massacre in Bagua came about as a direct result of this trade agreement, and pressure from the US for Peru to open up its oil and gas reserves for exploration.
But the international implications of the massacre go even deeper, and center on several communities in Oregon and Washington currently working to keep infrastructure for a new and dirty fossil fuel out of the Northwest. Here, energy companies are attempting to build at least three import terminals for natural gas extracted in distant parts of the world, and shipped to the US after a supercooling process to convert the gas to a more easily transported liquid: thus the name Liquefied Natural Gas, or LNG. The Northwest is a focal point for an industry attempt to make LNG a much more important fuel in the United States. And where would this imported gas come from? Well, it could be the Middle East, or it could be Russia. Or it could be the heart of the Peruvian Amazon.
If the energy giants get their way, importation terminals in my home region will grant LNG an open door to the US market. Suddenly, the Peruvian government will have an even greater incentive than it does now to explore for gas in the Amazon. I recently spoke with a local concerned citizen in Iquitos, whose name I will protect, who explained to me what increased oil and gas development will mean for the people of the Amazon. My Spanish is not the greatest, but in a conversation consisting of mixed English, Spanish, and hand gestures, my friend conveyed this central message: the Peruvian government and President Alan Garcia are not particularly concerned with the well being of Peru´s indigenous people, and will not hesitate to use force to obtain land for fossil fuel exploration. The Bagua massacre could be only the beginning, and importing LNG in the Northwest will only exacerbate the pressure on indigenous communities.
In Iquitos – a town that grew up around rubber extraction and where the extractive industries continue to be important – graffiti art criticizing Garcia and the exploitation of the Amazon is a common sight. This is the opposite of the old, misguided stereotype that rainforests are being destroyed because the local people don´t know how to take care of their own resources. In Peru, there can be no doubt as to the real force behind deforestation. Over half of Peru´s forest is already under concession to oil and gas developers, and the disillusioned local people I have spoken with are well aware of the health and environmental effects of fossil fuel development. To save Peru´s carbon-sequestering Amazon and the people who live there, we must reverse or substantially alter the US-Peru Free Trade Agreement. We must get US corporations out of the Amazon. And we must stop LNG from becoming an important source of fuel in the US.
Peru´s Bagua massacre may be the worst case of violence in Latin America that can be traced directly to a trade agreement with the US. The horror of the police crackdown and subsequent cover-up here is not something I can even attempt to convey. But there are some signs of hope on the horizon. The two most controversial government decrees have been, at least for the moment, suspended in response to the Bagua crisis. In Oregon, the legislative session just ended with the defeat of a bill that would have smoothed the way for LNG companies attempting to begin work on projects there. This fight that extends from the heart of the Amazon to rural areas in Oregon and Washington will be a long one, but it´s one I believe we can win.
My friend from Iquitos and I agreed that both our country´s governments have ignored the effects of fossil fuel extraction for far too long. I tried to convey that we are making some progress in the US, though my optimism was far from unqualified. ¨Your president,¨ said my friend, ¨he has an honest face.¨ I replied cautiously that I believe Obama truly wants to make change, but there are many other individuals in our government who will make it difficult for him. My eyes lingered on the No LNG button pinned to the backpack of my travelling companion from the US. She, like me, has gone to protests against LNG back home, and worked to raise awareness of the issue at our school.
I have never felt the international implications of the struggle against LNG more tangibly than now. It´s time to shut the door to new fossil fuels in the Northwest once and for all, and score a victory for a battle that extends to indigenous communities in the heart of the Peruvian Amazon.
Perplexed by the inter-related problems India faces as it develops at the cost of 2/3 rd of its population living outside the economy, two young activists from Switch ON, rode their cycles 1800 kilometers across India through the coal belt – to question India’s growth based on fossil fuel, and to seek and highlight alternatives for a sustainable and equitable development.
Why New Coal gives a new perspective to Coal in India – addressing India’s growing energy needs, problems of energy security and Climate Change Vulnerabilities – by interviewing experts across the nation, while also documenting Vinay and Hoob’s epic journey across the nation.
Guest post by Julie Erickson
All the climate buzz this week has been about the now notorious ACES bill that comes to a floor vote in the US House of Representatives today. But anyone who wants real action on climate change must remember the ultimate prize – the UN treaty to be negotiated in Copenhagen this December.
It was with international politics in mind that a group of activists showed up this morning at the German embassy ahead of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s arrival. Anticipating the Chancellor’s scheduled Friday meeting with President Obama, they put on a performance with larger-than-life cutouts of the two leaders surrounded by enthusiastic, dancing, six-foot wide green hard hats. The activists called for the two leaders to commit to keeping the international limit of warming to 1.5°C (above pre-industrial levels) and reminded them that climate
change presents an opportunity to create green jobs and new economic prosperity if we make a bold transition to clean energy.
Obama and Merkel are meeting this week and are expected to talk about what positions they will take on climate at the upcoming G8 Summit and at the UN negotiations leading up to Copenhagen. If both convey that their respective countries take climate change seriously and are ready to lead by committing to no more than 1.5° of warming, it could have a significant impact on the negotiations. While the EU has committed to keeping warming below 2°, and Obama has been an outspoken advocate for green jobs since before even taking office, neither leader has shown the leadership or made the commitments necessary for a strong global agreement.
Continue reading ‘GIANT DANCING HARD HATS WELCOME MERKEL TO THE US’
'The struggle of the Amazonians is for all Peruvians'
On June 5, 2009 I was vacationing in Cuzco, Peru awaiting the start of my 5 day hike to Machu Picchu, when I stumbled upon a protest in a small square. It was an impromptu gathering of people allied with indigenous people in the Amazon region who are resisting the privatization of the rainforest for oil and gas development. The effects of rainforest destruction and the use of oil on our climate are well documented. Instead, I’d like to look at why the rainforest is being sold to private companies and its effect on the indigenous people who have lived there for generations.
Why is the rainforest being sold off by the Peruvian government? It all comes back to the US-Peru Free Trade Agreement, which requires the government to allow oil and gas development by multi-national corporations. The protesters I met were demanding that the law granting oil and gas concessions on the indigenous people’s communally held be land permanently repealed.
The small protest is Cuzco wasn’t the only thing going in on Peru. In Lima thousands of people took to the streets demanding the law be repealed. Indigenous people have been blockading the roads that the oil company uses for the past two and half months. As a result, the Amazon region has experienced a shortage of cooking gas and food prices are on the rise. On June 5th the Peruvian President Garcia decided he had enough and moved to clear roads. The communities were armed with sticks and lances; the police with guns, helicopters, shields, and gases. Police attacked the blockaders, killing hundreds of indigenous protesters (according to witnesses, the government reports put it at only 30) and in the process about a dozen police were captured or killed.
In the following days a curfew was imposed and witnesses reported seeing the police dump bodies into the river in the middle of the night. I’m sure when you read this you’ll think, like I did, that these are the kind of things that happened in the 70s and 80s, but not today. It crazy, but it’s true, even in 2009 there are governments that, in the name of defending free trade, are throwing protesters’ bodies into the river. Violence is continuously perpetrated in the name of Free Trade, here in Peru against the indigenous in the Amazon, in Guatemala against banana workers, or in Colombia against union members. Continue reading ‘Free Trade, Violence & the Destruction of the Amazon’
Please spread far and wide… (http://www.350.org/video)
Last year my grandfather told me that you get a revolution when people are pushed to the extreme.
Photo credit: Benka Morvan
This means that climate change one of the hardest issues to act upon, because although climate change is one of the biggest threats to humanity, by the time we are pushed to an extreme it will be too late. Especially in the countries that need to take the largest steps.
Does that mean we can’t create a revolution?
No it doesn’t.
I believe that humans are not only motivated by fear and despair; but are also motivated by love. And it is love for their children, love for animals and love humanity that is driving the change today. Continue reading ‘A Revolution of Love’
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.
I am confident that the government recognizes the scientific advice of achieving 25 to 40% emission reductions globally below 1990 levels by 2020. Yet our target doesn’t seem to match up.
Continue reading “Number Crunch: Where Canada’s Emission Targets Stand” here…
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.
When I asked our lead negotiator, Mr. Michael Martin, to explain Canada’s position further, this was what he said:
Continue reading “Canada is not here to negotiate our domestic targets” here…
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