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Step It Up 2007
A new global warming report issued on April 5 by the United Nations paints a near-apocalyptic vision of Earth's future: hundreds of millions of people short of water, extreme food shortages in Africa, billions of people in Asia at risk from flooding; millions of species sentenced to extinction; rampant disease.
Despite its grim vision, the report was quickly criticized by many scientists surveyed by the Los Angeles Times, who said its findings were watered down by governments seeking to deflect calls for immediate action. Even in diluted form, the report paints a bleak picture, noting that the early signs of warming are already apparent.
The report is the second of four scheduled to be issued this year by the UN, which assembled more than 2,500 scientists worldwide to give their best predictions of the consequences of a few degrees' increase in global temperature. The 1,572-page document was endorsed by officials from more than 120 countries, including the United States. The first report, released in February, said global warming was irreversible but could be moderated by large-scale societal changes.
On Saturday, April 14, at more than 1,300 simultaneous events coast to coast, Americans of different hues and views will call for such large-scale changes by imploring Congress to enact immediate cuts in carbon emissions and pledge an 80 percent reduction by 2050.
The true expression of a viral grassroots movement, organized online through word of mouth, email outreach and the Internet community, Step it Up! is the largest day of citizen action focusing on global warming in our nation's history and the largest environmental protest of any kind since Earth Day 1970.
Conceived by writer Bill McKibben and six recent graduates of Middlebury College, the initiative has been embraced by environmental organizations, religious networks, campus groups and individuals from virtually all walks of life. The Sierra Club, the National Resources Defense Council and the National Wildlife Federation have all committed real efforts to organizing Step It Up! rallies. Student groups have been particularly enthusiastic, led by Energy Action, the PIRGs and the Campus Climate Challenge campaign, which has thrown its organizational weight and energy behind Step It Up!, as well as the evangelical student movement, which has also embraced the cause.
As McKibben writes in an open letter on the Step It Up! website, "The enormous participation in today's movement is a wake-up call to legislators from across the country. Their constituents are urgently demanding that America get on the path towards reducing carbon emissions before it is too late."
Along with lots of marches, rallies and concerts, some of the activities this Saturday will creatively highlight the dangers and losses of a rapidly warming earth. There'll be ski mountaineers in Wyoming descending the shrinking Dinwoody Glacier; hikers ascending Oregon's threatened Mt. Hood; scuba divers underwater photographing the endangered coral reefs off Key West; rock climbers hanging banners from Seneca Rocks in West Virginia; gardeners planting native trees, shrubs, grasses and flowers in the Shartel median at 33rd Street and Shartel Avenue in Oklahoma City; demonstrators painting a blue line through downtown Seattle to illustrate how far the rising seas could penetrate; activists on the levees in New Orleans' Ninth Ward and Vermonters hauling sap from a maple sugar tree that is producing much earlier than it ever has before.
Join your voice to this growing chorus of people determined to save their planet. Click here to find an April 14 event near you, help spread the word or sign up to organize an event yourself. And watch the Step it Up! YouTube video below for tips on how to make your action as successful as possible.
© 2007 The Nation
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9 Comments so far
Show AllWith the endorsement of nuke power by pelosi, obama, hillary & more, it's more obvious than ever that we need to step up the push to Solartopia, a totally green-powered planet. al gore's analysis of global warming is accurate, but the remedies are not. a complete commitment to renewables, efficiency, mass transit and zero tolerance for waste...that's what it will take. either we get to Solartopia, or we go extinct!
Harvey Wasserman, author:
SOLARTOPIA!
Our Green-Powered Earth, A.D. 2030
www.solartopia.org
U know i admit, i haven't even read the entire article. There is so much to do, but i have an opinion as follows:
Someone I know said in essence "American Democracy" was a fallacy intended to keep the power in the hands of a few. This is a possibility, and perhaps has even been a reality for awhile, but nonetheless, the idea of democracy has been created, and can take a life and defintion of its own in the imagination of the people. Once this happens, then the idea can become a reality if the people make it so. If they take it, the people, all the people in concert, truly have the power.
That is my opinion.
As a side comment my sensibilities compel me to say: There is so much that we need to do together, that I sure hope my opinion has some substance to it.
Later.
Ken
Just think if we has spent all the Iraq war money on solar cells instead . . .
You're going to persuade people to produce less CO2? Good luck. While you're at it, why not try to persuade them to have fewer children, should be about as easy if not easier. Quixotic crusades are great, I participate in them myself, but let's tilt at the right windmills, hey?
Well I think we are at the point where we have a few years left where we can decide to start changing, or be forced to change at a greater cost soon.
"A new global warming report issued on April 5 by the United Nations paints a near-apocalyptic vision of Earth's future: hundreds of millions of people short of water, extreme food shortages in Africa, billions of people in Asia at risk from flooding; millions of species sentenced to extinction; rampant disease."
Is this not true now?
(I posted this first at another article, but I think it is applicable here also....)
The question in my mind is what is it going to take for people to WAKE UP and initiate some "self-determination" focussed on a sustainable future for ALL? Are we just going to sit idly by and behave as desired by the "predator elites" even though many (maybe most) would choose an "Earth Community" over "The Empire" (see David Korten's "The Great Turning")?
Here at Common Dreams the discussion is awesome, but it is mostly "preaching to the choir". I know first-hand that talking about issues and raising awareness is important, but alas insufficient, and it is so frustrating because the "da-gong" clock is just ticking louder and louder each passing day.
Perhaps the reality of unprecented ecological danger coupled with (sadly, but I suspect inevitably) ongoing political/natural calamities will provide sufficient energy to motivate people (most people) to REAL action of consequence, so that a collective and cooperative vision of a better future can be realized. The alternative is almost too bleak to contemplate.
tick-tock, Tick-Tock, TIck-TOck, TICk-TOCk………..
manuel1891 makes a good point. The Stepitup campaign is indeed a valiant effort, but I find the goal of reducing CO2 emissions 80% by 2050 seems like a long time when people are suffering already. I still have the impression vast numbers of people have no concept of the magnitude of the problem. We don't have 40 yrs to deal with hurricanes like Katrina that devastated more than New Orleans in a single swoop. We are having a steady increase of these annually. This isn't about changing preferences and consumption habits of the next generation. This is about raising environmental awareness and changing all your choices and habits now. Otherwise, you may have no choices and many find yourself struggling to survive like the people on the Solomon Islands who were hit by a tsunami last week. Remind yourself 300,000 people died or disappeared in the 2004 tsunmai that hit southeast Asia and eastern Africa. This is a sign. We've been given aother chance. It'd be wise to take it. How will you change?
Liara Covert,
Excellent comment.
I can tell you how I have changed. Here are a few of the ways:
1. Focussing on learning and trying as best I can to teach my children.
2. Not abiding fear (it is nothing).
3. Having, working in (literally), and making use of a compost bin.
4. Even better than recycling, trying to actually re-use materials.
5. De-emphasizing the need for money, as long as basic needs are met.
Because of less concern for money, I now have more time and I hope to learn more, do better, etc.......Also, we sure will have to start deciding what we really need versus what we really want when it comes to money.
Ken