World People’s Conference on Climate Change
and the Rights of Mother Earth
April 22nd, Cochabamba, Bolivia
PEOPLES AGREEMENT
Today, our Mother Earth is wounded and the future of humanity is in danger.
Climate Newsfeed
The Bottom Line
- Carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations in the atmosphere now stand at 385 parts per million (ppm), 67% above the average of the past 800,000 years, and 29% above the maximum of the same period.
- The rate of increase of CO2 is 2.2 ppm/year and getting faster.
- When atmospheric CO2 was above 450 ppm in the earth's history, the planet was completely ice-free, and sea level was 75 meters higher than today.
- The safe upper limit of atmospheric CO2 that we should aim to stay below is probably between 300-350 ppm. We have already overshot it and the longer we stay above that the more likely we will have set in motion long-term climate changes that will proceed beyond human control through powerful geophysical positive feedback mechanisms.
- Sudden warmings of a few degrees in the past have triggered mass extinctions. Current species extinction rate is estimated at 100 to 1000 times the average extinction rates in the evolutionary time scale of planet Earth. A mass extinction is underway and we have to reverse course quickly enough to prevent the worst.
Stop the Tar Sands Campaign Update -- More than 150 Arrested at the White House
Tue, 08/23/2011 - 03:39 — eli_beckermanA link between climate change and Joplin tornadoes? Never!
Fri, 06/10/2011 - 11:26 — eli_beckermanAn op-ed by Bill McKibben, author and founder of 350.org, narrated and illustrated by Stephen Thomson of Plomomedia.com
Tim DeChristopher: Keep your eyes on the prize
Thu, 04/21/2011 - 03:26 — eli_beckermanThanks to Vanessa Rule for this great video of Tim DeChristopher performing at the Chesapeake Bay Climate Action Network art benefit this weekend:
No War, No Warming!
Tue, 02/08/2011 - 17:46 — eli_beckermanFriday, February 11, 2011, 7-9pm
Barry Sanders and MCHC Board Member Maggie Zhou speak on the damage militarism wreaks on people and the planet.
Barry Sanders, author of The Green Zone: The Environmental Costs of Militarism, examines the environmental impact of US military practices and declares military activity, from fuel emissions to radioactive waste to defoliation campaigns, as the single greatest contributor to the worldwide environmental crisis.
Dr. Maggie Zhou, Biologist, member of Massachusetts Coalition of Healthy Communities and Climate SOS, will discuss the climate justice perspective, international climate conferences in Cancun/Copenhagen/Cochabamba, and the race to militarism vs. peace.
Suggested donation, $5.
Millions Of Barrels Of Oil Safely Reach Port In Major Environmental Catastrophe
Sat, 08/14/2010 - 13:46 — eli_beckermanSometimes it takes a little humor to reveal the devastating truth.
Disaster strikes as massive quantities of oil reach their intended destination.
PORT FOURCHON, LA—In what may be the greatest environmental disaster in the nation's history, the supertanker TI Oceania docked without incident at the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port Monday and successfully unloaded 3.1 million barrels of dangerous crude oil into the United States.
According to witnesses, the catastrophe began shortly after the tanker, which sailed unimpeded across the Gulf of Mexico, stopped safely at the harbor and made contact with oil company workers on the shore. Soon after, vast amounts of the black, toxic petroleum in the ship's hold were unloaded at an alarming rate into special storage containers on the mainland.
From there, experts confirmed, the oil will likely spread across the entire country's infrastructure and commit unforetold damage to its lakes, streams, and air.
Polluters, and Darth Vader, welcome the Kerry-Lieberman "American Power Act"
Mon, 05/17/2010 - 20:40 — eli_beckermanHere are some devastating criticisms of Senator Kerry's and Senator Lieberman's polluter-friendly American Power Act, along with a ringing endorsement from Darth Vader:
The bill would decimate the Clean Air Act as it applies to global warming, and it would undercut states’ ability to seek innovative solutions. The bill would also hand billions in giveaways to corporate polluters, including the oil, coal, nuclear and agribusiness industries, while creating a risky new subprime carbon market for Wall Street traders. All this is in exchange for pollution reduction goals far weaker than what scientists say are needed and myriad loopholes. No wonder so many corporate polluters are reportedly poised to welcome this bill’s introduction.
Peoples Agreement from World People’s Conference on Climate Change
Wed, 05/05/2010 - 20:20 — eli_beckermanSenator Kerry betrays our future
Fri, 04/23/2010 - 03:32 — eli_beckermanAs Earth Day draws to a close, I am posting new details about the polluter-friendly bill that Massachusetts Senator John Kerry is preparing to unveil along with Senators Joe Lieberman and Lindsey Graham. This bill is a sheer betrayal of everything Earth Day should be about.
Thankfully, we have other examples. Check out this post at It's Getting Hot In Here. This video of the culmination of The Leadership Campaign's Earth Day action sets the example for how we need to demand policy that is commensurate with the challenge at hand, and accept nothing less. If they won't do it, we need to replace them with people who will. Our future depends on it.
Here in Massachusetts, it is clear that we need to stand up to Senator Kerry along these same lines. This is simply not tolerable.
Kerry: Three Big Oil Companies Likely to Back Climate Bill
--By Kate Sheppard Thu Apr. 22, 2010 4:43 PM PDT
40 years of Earth Day. Where are we now?
Tue, 04/20/2010 - 18:35 — eli_beckermanAfter 40 years of organized rallies and events raising awareness and promoting environmental advocacy, I think it is fair to ask the question "to what end?" Where are we now compared to the first passionate rallies shook the nation? As Senator John Kerry prepares to unveil a new bi-partisan direction for US energy legislation, and the United States jockeys to control international climate negotiations, where exactly are we headed?
In this great interview of ecologist David Orr, he speaks about some of the lost thunder from those inspired days:
Cochabamba comes to the World
Tue, 04/20/2010 - 17:21 — eli_beckermanJoin the Peoples Conference on Climate Change live on the Internet
http://envivo.cmpcc.org.bo/?lang=en
Launch: 20 April 2010
World People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth
[Note: We are having a live event at Encuentro 5 in Boston to communicate directly with conference participants and other live events in New York and elsewhere. Visit encuentro5.org for more details.]
“America is in a hole and it's getting deeper every day. We import 70% of our oil at a cost of $700 billion a year - four times the annual cost of the Iraq war. I've been an oil man all my life, but this is one emergency we can't drill our way out of. But if we create a new renewable energy network, we can break our addiction to foreign oil.”
- T. Boone Pickens, Texas oil and gas billionaire
SGF Mission Statement
The Secure Green Future (SGF) project educates, activates and empowers Massachusetts residents to effectively address the converging threats of climate change, resource depletion, and economic meltdown. We work to guide communities toward an essential economic transformation that will make possible a sustainable and just post-carbon future. SGF seeks to break the shackles of what is “politically feasible” and inspire change that addresses the magnitude and urgency of the dangers we are facing. We are committed to the principle of democratic empowerment as the most appropriate means for securing the just and sustainable future that we all deserve, and that is within our reach.
Landslide victories for the Secure Green Future ballot initiative!
Thanks to an incredible grassroots effort, the Secure Green Future ballot question has won in EVERY SINGLE DISTRICT it appeared, and by a total landslide margin! At least 153,252 voters said YES to a Secure Green Future on November 4th, netting the ballot question an astounding 81.44% of the vote!!!
Thanks to all of you who helped get these questions on the ballot and helped to spread the word to voters. Your efforts have paid off big time, and we now have clear evidence that the people of Massachusetts are READY for decisive action to fight climate change and energy uncertainty by transitioning to a secure, green economy NOW.
