It’s Getting Hot In Here

El cambio climático es una parte de la justicia social. (read in English)

Cada ser humano depende del medio ambiente. El sistema actual concentra la riqueza en las manos de una minoría empresarial y pone en peligro la salud y la seguridad de todos. Son los menos privilegiados y los más vulnerables los que sienten los primeros efectos de la crisis climática y los que más daño sufren.

Desde "Bangladesh faces climate refugee nightmare" (Reuters, 2008)

El movimiento climático no es el movimiento ecologista. Mientras el movimiento ecologista pretende proteger la rana de árbol en las amazonas y el oso polar en el ártico, el movimiento climático se preocupa por un futuro equitativo y seguro para los seres humanos.

Continue reading ‘El cambio climático es una parte de la justicia social’

Le francais suivant

A call to join the 2010 Quebec Climate Action Camp in Dunham Quebec, August 7-23 – Convergence Days 18-22

We must act swiftly to tackle the root causes of climate change and create the systemic change needed to avert climate catastrophe. So that’s what we’re doing: Taking action. Building a movement. Collectively, we can become a force to be reckoned with. Come to Dunham this August and be a part of it.

The Quebec Climate Action Camp will bring together rebels and renegades, gardeners and guardians, young and old. We will combine our hearts, hands, minds and spirits to challenge the Trailbreaker, a pipeline that snakes from the heart of the Tar Sands to the Eastern seaboard. Specifically, we will be trying to prevent the construction of a proposed pumping station – a key component of the Trailbreaker’s infrastructure – that threatens the local community of Dunham, Quebec.

But the goal of the camp is not only to confront a single destructive entity.We want to show the possibility of another world – green, sustainable, and free of fossil fuels.

The camp will take place from August 7th until the 23rd, with Convergence Days on 18th to 22nd. Run on participatory, non-hierarchical principles, the camp will be the product of the participants. The concentrated programming and organized workshops and trainings will happen during the Convergence Days, but there will also be plenty of space for autonomous workshops, discussions, collective cooking and everything in between.

The camp will feature issues of food security, migrant justice and indigenous solidarity, local agricultural initiatives and fossil fuels, green solutions, biking and climbing, queer and gendered analysis of environmental justice and lots, lots more. The camp will also include creative non-violent direct actions.

Details:

The camp will take place at the Hameau l’Oasis de Dunham located 1 hour southeast of Montreal at 1964 Scottsmore Rd, Dunham. We are asking for a daily contribution of $5 to cover location and logistical costs. Three free, delicious meals a day will be provided from our communal kitchens. There is a large area set aside for camping. Or you can rent rooms for $10 a night at the Hameau. Check out http://www.jardinsdelaterre.org/hameau.html or call 450.263.6056 for more details. Continue reading ‘Like Action? Like Camping? Like Learning How to Tackle the Climate Crisis? Then This Climate Action Camp Is For You!’

2 minutes in English. Quick explanation summary of how the G8/G20 can address climate change at the upcoming Toronto G8 & G20 summits.

2 minutes en francais. J’explique comment les dirigeants peuvent aborder le suject des changements climatiques pendant les sommets de G8 & G20 a Toronto.

(English) (Francais)

Hi there. Recently Rainforest Action Network teamed up with two of the most prolific independent rock bands on the planet, Propagandhi & Strike Anywhere, the organization Substance, with help from Indigenous Environmental Network to do a tour of the midwest US and Canada to educate, organize, and mobilize people to take action against the Tar Sands dirty oil expansion. While on tour we made a small series of two minute webisodes called the Freedom From Oil Tour Diaries. Wanted to share them here. Below are the two most recent ones – the grand finale, and an interview with Clayton Thomas Muller. Below the cut is the whole series in order! See adventures, organizing, behind the scenes rocking, me breaking my neck, band interviews and more.

Continue reading ‘Freedom From Oil: Tar Sands Resistance Tour with Propagandhi’

Wednesday 8th July, Rome, The Avaaz Action Factory in Europe today carried out it’s 6th and most adrenalin-filled action so far: a spectacular ‘Strip Mob’! I challenge you to think of anything quite like it : 15 people danced and chanted while taking their clothes off at the Spanish Steps in Rome, during a maximum security time – the G8 summit.

Why on earth…? To save the earth! We want to let Berlusconi, the Italian Prime Minister and current G8 President, know that we need climate action now, not the kind of “action” he’s been getting in the news about recently, such as the naked-photos scandal. We believe that taking off your clothes is not an adequate response to climate change! As we all know, we need strong emissions reductions! Each G8 country has the finance and the responsibility to act now on climate change, if we are to limit global warming to less than 2 degrees Celsius.

At exactly 11.02am (with synchronized watches, guerrilla style!), most people standing around the middle of the Spanish Steps (Piazza di Spagno) turned out to be part of the amazing vocal strip-tease. Not only did 15 chanting strippers suddenly start dancing, but double that amount of media also manifested in front of the stunt, all within 10 seconds. The few people who weren’t anticipating the action – several sincere tourists – quickly scattered out of the way as whistles and the refrain of Nelly’s ‘It’s Getting Hot in Here’ began – our clothes came off, to reveal our matching green underwear!

Continue reading ‘G8 Strip Mob: “It’s Getting Hot in Here…”’

Ha empezado una nueva campaña que busca llevar la voz Latina al centro del dialogo internacional sobre el cambio climatico. 350Dominicana, inspirada por y aliada a 350.org, tiene como objetivo la organizacion de una cumbre regional en America Latina y el Caribe con fines de dialogar sobre el limite de 350 partes por millon de dioxido carbono que tiene la humanidad para prevenir daños catastroficos del cambio climatico en los siguientes 20 años. Para Republica Dominicana, estos daños incluirian:

1) La perdida de gran parte del sector turistico y las zonas urbanas por la subida del nivel del mar;

2) La perdida de recursos hidricos y agricolas por las sequias, la evaporacion, y tormentas tropicales mas intensas; y

3) El incremento de las enfermedades infecciosas.

La campaña 350Dominicana busca que el Presidente Leonel Fernandez proponga a la region una Cumbre Regional Sobre el Cambio Climatico que discuta las consecuencias de no actuar suficientemente contra el cambio climatico a nivel mundial. La Cumbre buscaria formar un consenso regional con principios y estrategias politicas que presionaran al resto del mundo a comprometerse a acciones justas y que puedan prevenir efectos catastroficos del cambio climatico.

Vea el video de introduccion: http://350dominicana.org/2009/06/07/350-dominicana-%C2%A1unete-ya/

Firme la peticion: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/compromiso-regional-definido-para-cumbre-sobre-cambio-climtico-en-copenhague-suena-la-alarma-firma

Suscribete al Boletin: http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?hl=en&formkey=cmFxTUwwWUVMSS1DRjJIZEhIelZYSGc6MA..

Continue reading ’350Dominicana: Creando Una Voz Latina Contra El Cambio Climatico’

English version follows

Confieso que, aunque yo era uno de los preocupados ciudadanos de Toronto que querían que el RBC (Banco Real de Canadá) invirtiera en energía renovable y dejara de invertir en la expansión de la industria petrolera en Alberta, no era consciente de cuánto habían jugado con su imagen medioambiental.

¿Qué es lo que RBC dice que hace por el medio ambiente? Para averiguarlo, fui al sitio web medioambiental de RBC. El párrafo principal de la página principal dice que RBC ha escogido tres asuntos medioambientales como “prioridades.”

1. El cambio climático
2. La silvicultura, biodiversidad e indígenas
3. El agua

Es evidente que el banco más grande de Canadá (por sus activos) que ha invertido cincuenta mil millones de dólares para la expansión de la industria petrolera ha manipulado la palabra “prioridad”. Veamos…

Continue reading ‘Las Mentiras de Un Banco Justo’

Second time’s a charm. Deuxième fois, ça suffit.

Yesterday, Canada’s parliament voted in support of the second reading of Bill C-311 (French and English full text here, summary here and below) the country’s first national commitment to greenhouse gas reductions. As a ratifying member of the Kyoto Protocol, the government has now committed, through this bill, to reduce emissions by 25% below 1990 levels by 2020, and by 80% below 1990 levels by 2050.

The Bill now needs to be passed in its third reading and then approved by the Senate. Once this happens, Canada will be committed to meeting scientifically required levels of greenhouse gas emission reductions.

This is an excellent move forwards, and the complete passing of the Bill would be a big step forwards for Canada, a country that has been known to show up at the UN climate negotiations in recent years to speak misleadingly of its commitments relative to current emissions, when the world talks in terms of the internationally-accepted baseline of 1990. Continue reading ‘MPs Vote YES to Bill C-311, Canada’s Climate Change Accountability Act’

Photo credit: Shadia Fayne Wood

Parecía una película. Me senté en una sala con unas cuarenta personas mientras muchas más seguían llegando. La sesión trataba sobre formas de Acción Directa No-Violenta (ADNV). Aprendimos lo que deberíamos hacer si la policía se nos acerca o si están a punto de arrestarnos, cómo deberíamos hablarle a la policía, lo que es ilegal o no en Washington y cuáles son nuestros derechos. Aprendimos de todo.

It seemed like a movie. I sat in a room with about 40 other people, and more and more came in during the session. The session was on Non-Violent Direct Action. We learned what we should do if the police get close to us or if they are about to arrest us. How we should talk to the police. What was illegal or not in Washinton, D.C., and what are our rights. We learned it all. Continue reading ‘El Último Día en Washinton-¡Ayuda! / The Last Day in Washington-Help!’

La delegacion de Democracia USA para PowerShift 09 ha pasado los ultimos 3 dias aprendiendo sobre el medio ambiente y organizando para protejerlo en Washington D.C. Ha sido una experiencia maravillosa e inriquezedora para todos los que estuvimos aqui, desde el mas joven hasta el mas “experimentado.” Y es que vinimos a aprender del medio ambiente y de los trabajos verdes y nos vamos con toda esa informacion pero tambien con el corazon pesado. Pesado porque sentimos todos un gran sentimiento de orgullo, responsabilidad y tristeza mezclada con esperanza.

Estos jovenes demostraron con su participacion y con su comportamiento que estan dispuesto a hacer lo que sea necesario para hechar pa’ lante y ayudar a sus comunidades. Escuche a gritos que quieren y nesecitan tener oportunidades como estas donde son expuestos a ver situaciones y probabilidades que en su diario vivir parecen inexistentes y remotas. Continue reading ‘Pa’ lante!’