E-News: Rallying around the call for 350 (parts per million CO2)

Dear Ms. Barlow, Council of Canadians, inquiries@canadians.org
Dear Mr. Suzuki, David Suzuki Foundation, subscribers@davidsuzuki.org
Care2, actionalerts@care2.com
 
I'm sorry, But SO WHAT ???
I read your email below AGAIN ... but our politicians
 
ARE NOT LISTENING
THEY DON'T GIVE A DAMN

5200 demonstrations in 181 COUNTRIES
Biggest global demonstration, in the history of Earth,
AND CANADA doesn't have a proposal to put on the table in Copenhagen,
AND OBAMA won't GO, unless he gets what he wants FIRST,
and ALL he's asking for, IS MORE DISCUSSIONS !!!
 
WHAT DO WE HAVE TO DO,
WHAT is it going to take???
 
damned politicians ... 'Nothing is not enough.'
 
"Care2 is honored to welcome 1Sky's Gillian Caldwell as an occasional blogger - and our eyes and ears in Copenhagen." 
"And, depressingly, all predictions point to a big, fat non-event. The pundits, and even the lead negotiators, tell us that we can't expect that 'FAB' (fair, ambitious and binding) treaty we've all been working for to extend the work of the Kyoto agreement."
  
If this is what 'COP15' becomes, a 'Non Event', then we have to formulate a citizen's campaigne that the politicians will smell, all the way to Ottawa and Washington.
 
Evidently, they aren't listening at best; at worst, don't give a damn about people or the environment. Is it because they have another agenda of their own, probably at the wish and direction of 'Big Business'?

Obama thinks "it is unlikely the Senate will have acted on climate legislation before Copenhagen."
 
If he really wanted a good outcome, why would he 'announce' that he 'expects' to fail, before the event. I wish I had known of that 'tactic' when I was a kid playing football - announce to the other team, that you 'expect' to lose before you even get to the game - I guess, the next evolution, would be to send a 'Proxy' to 'officially' be declared the loser. That way, the 'team' could just relax and stay at home, and watch themselves in a 'non-event' on TV, lose the game they didn't attend.
 
God, people, you really 'don't get it'. I suppose you've been watching TOO much 'Reality TV'.
GOOD ATTITUDE, GOOD TACTIC ... REALLY ENCOURAGING and FULL of effort and GOOD LEADERSHIP.
 
Is this why apparently, Harper 'refused' to have his people put together a proposal, to put 'on the table' for discussion in Copenhagen - because Obama had already revealed his true colours to Harper on their last visit, about 'climate change'?
 
Are WE (Canada) going, even empty-handed?
 
Is it the same old story, WE don't do anything our 'boss' - oh sorry - our 'Good Neighbour to the South' doesn't want? Obama said that he has to ensure that "over the next three weeks, pressure is continually applied on our teams and everybody else's teams to actually create a framework that people can sign off on."
REALLY?? - EXCEPT for OUR Prime Minister I guess?

He said he will attend "if I am confident that all the countries involved are bargaining in good faith and we are on the brink of a meaningful agreement and my presence in Copenhagen will make a difference in tipping us over the edge, then certainly that's something that I would do."
 
Now it looks like Obama is going to 'pout' and not even attend, if he doesn't get what he wants BEFORE he even goes. Wasn't he earlier in the year, posturing about how important COP15 is ? So, now he'll go, if he can be a star?
 
Worse, it looks like he's a taking the position of a 'die-hard consultant' or 'committee member', to extend discussions (and a job) as long as possible. He doesn't even really WANT an 'agreement', just "Instead, the participants at Copenhagen should focus on creating "a set of principles, building blocks, that allow for ongoing and continuing progress on the issue." So, is he really just Bush all over again? Bush wouldn't even sign Kyoto, now I wonder if Obama would sign anything either?
 
Ms. Barlow, Mr. Suzuki,
 
You have been at this a LONG time. You have a 'track record' and must know a LOT of people. Can we setup some mechanism, to get everyone's efforts coordinated?

"1Sky combines the force of more than 500 allied organizations, 2,300 volunteer Climate Precinct Captains (volunteer organizers) spanning every state nationwide, and a team of 52, including organizers in 31 states, working to mobilize grassroots support for strong federal climate and energy legislation."

Obviously, there are hundreds of environmental groups, all trying to get a few thousand signatures on petitions. Do we really need to have this media generated '15 minutes of fame' egocentric mentality?
 
Do hundreds of groups with thousands of signatures not equal enough for 1 force to make our voice heard, and get some change for action? Is there a way, to encourage everyone to work together, instead of ineffectively fractured off to their own ends?
 
Do we really need to leave ALL this public WILL, to a few politicians to posture with?
Please everyone set the ego's aside, try harder, can we be more like the British Prime Minister?

"British Prime Minister Gordon Brown confirmed this week that he will attend Copenhagen. He is the first world leader to confirm his attendance. He announced in September he would attend, and issued a challenge for other world leaders to attend. In Newsweek he wrote, "Securing an agreement in Copenhagen will require world leaders to bridge our remaining differences and seize these opportunities."

 

Rallying around the call for 350

On October 24, people in 181 countries came together for more than 5,200 events in the most widespread day of environmental action in the planet's history. People united globally to call on world leaders for a strong and effective climate change agreement coming out of negotiations in Copenhagen this December.
Across the country and around the world people rallied around the number 350 coined by the 350.org campaign to reflect the 350 parts per million that leading scientists say is the safe upper limit for carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Events on October 24 ranged from underwater demonstrations in the Maldives to a "circle of hope" at the White House in Washington. In Canada, 350 people in Whitehorse joined hands to form a circle around the Yukon Legislature. In Vancouver, the Cambie Bridge was closed to cars as 350 people took part in a salsa dance for the planet. In Calgary, the "Nightmare Before Copenhagen" costume parade traveled along the Bow River.
The Council of Canadians joined millions of others taking action on October 24. Council chapters held events in communities across the country, which you can see by clicking here.
In Saint John, New Brunswick, we joined local residents and organizations to host 'Climate (of) Change: Rally for people and the planet' as part of our Annual General Meeting which took place there that weekend. Check out our photo gallery here and read our press release here.

PHOTO: Climate (of) Change: Rally for people and the planet in Saint John New Brunswick.
 

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Should Obama Attend Copenhagen?

EDITOR'S NOTE:  Care2 is honored to welcome 1Sky's Gillian Caldwell  as an occasional blogger - and our eyes and ears in Copenhagen.

I'm headed to Copenhagen, Denmark for two weeks in December -- just little ol' me on behalf of the 1Sky campaign, surrounded by thousands of government delegates and NGO reps from about 180 countries worldwide gathering for COP-15, the UN sponsored negotiations on a global climate treaty.

And, depressingly, all predictions point to a big, fat non-event. The pundits, and even the lead negotiators, tell us that we can't expect that 'FAB' (fair, ambitious and binding) treaty we've all been working for to extend the work of the Kyoto agreement. There are just too many disagreements and unresolved issues, they say, between 'developed' and 'developing' countries over issues ranging from targets for reducing global warming pollution to investments in clean energy technology and the adaptation funds needed to transition away from a quickly warming world.

And so, we squabble as the world burns.

As an advocate, I'm attending Copenhagen to communicate with our base nationwide here in the U.S. about the need for global leadership from the United States, which has actively obstructed climate deals for too long. I'm the Campaign Director for 1Sky, which is a campaign for strong federal action in the U.S. to tackle global climate change and invest in building the clean energy economy of the future. As one of the largest national campaigns in the country, 1Sky combines the force of more than 500 allied organizations, 2,300 volunteer Climate Precinct Captains (volunteer organizers) spanning every state nationwide, and a team of 52, including organizers in 31 states, working to mobilize grassroots support for strong federal climate and energy legislation.

And as an advocate, it's my job to push for more. Nothing is not enough. And too little won't do, either. We can't negotiate with the scientific imperative that is confronting us -- we have destabilized our planetary infrastructure and we must turn back the tides.

So what would be a game changer for this global impasse, by everyone's estimation? Even bolder and more decisive action from President Obama and the United States -- the leading per capita emitter of global warming pollution in the world!

So 1Sky is running a national campaign now to collect 25,000 signatures on a petition calling on President Obama to lead in the U.S. and abroad on climate change.

Please join us in calling on President Obama to lead, for us and for the world! In December, we'll visit the White House and we'll deliver the petition along with 350 pieces of art work created by 350 communities nationwide to symbolize the climate tipping point of 350 parts per million (ppm) concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Join us!

Gillian Caldwell is the Campaign Director for 1Sky, a new national campaign to build a diverse nationwide movement and convince our federal government to take bold action to tackle the climate crisis and harness the enormous economic opportunity of the renewable energy economy by 2010.  Most recently, Gillian served as Executive Director of WITNESS, which uses the power of video to open the eyes of the world to human rights abuses. Gillian led WITNESS' rapid expansion during her decade of leadership and helped produce numerous documentary videos for use in advocacy campaigns around the world.