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Prologue to Copenhagen: Fasts, Lock Downs, Sit-Ins, Die-Ins for Climate Justice Across the Nation
As a prologue to the COP 15 in Copenhagen, protesters took to the streets across the country in a national day of climate justice action. From die-ins, to fasts, to streets protests, to locked down acts of civil disobedience, citizens groups called for a halt to new coal-fired plant construction, the abolishment of mountaintop removal mining, derided watered-down cap 'n trade legislation, and appealed to governmental leaders to transition to clean energy sources.
(www.risingtidenorthamerica.org) On the 10th anniversary of the Seattle globalization protests, today's actions also took place on the heels of a new study
by the Physicians for Social Responsibility that coal "contributes to
four of the top five causes of mortality in the U.S. and is responsible
for increasing the incidence of major diseases already affecting large
portions of the U.S. population."
"The findings of this report are clear: while the U.S. relies heavily on coal for its energy needs, the consequences of that reliance for our health are grave," said Alan H. Lockwood, MD FAAN, a principal author of the report and a professor of neurology at the University at Buffalo.
"These stark conclusions leave no room for doubt or delay," says Kristen Welker-Hood, SCD MSN RN, PSR's director of environment and health programs. "The time has come for our nation to establish a health-driven energy policy that replaces our dependence on coal with clean, safe alternatives. Business as usual is extracting a deadly price on our health. Coal is no longer an option."
Outside of Greenville, South Carolina, four protesters were arrested for locking down a truck convoy delivering nearly 2 million pounds of equipment to the new Duke Energy Cliffside coal-fired power plant in North Carolina. According to most estimates, the conventional, pulverized coal technology at the Duke plant will needlessly pump over 6 million tons of carbon dioxide annually. Citizens groups from around the region have held numerous protests against the Cliffside plant this past year, pointing out seven key reasons why it is not only dangerous but unnecessary. A study this spring by emeritus Duke University economist John Blackburn concluded:
Electricity rates for most North Carolina customers will increase dramatically if new coal-fired and nuclear power plants are successfully completed by Duke Energy and Progress Energy. Our analysis of recent filings by both companies shows that even with a growing population, North Carolina can eliminate the need to risk $35-40 billion on new plants. This can be accomplished through modest increases in energy efficiency, cogeneration and renewable power sources, and if necessary, by using a large oversupply of electricity in the Southeast. This approach will generate thousands of jobs statewide and allow retirement of over one-quarter of the existing coal generation capacity -- the equivalent of 7 to 9 sizeable plants. Doing so would help the state become a leader in the critical task of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. To that end, several conditions already in place remove the need for Duke Energy's Cliffside coal-fired unit now under construction.
In Charleston, West Virginia, 81-year-old activist Roland Micklem entered the state's capitol and began an open-ended fast against mountaintop removal coal mining. A native of Hopewell, Virginia, Micklem led a senior citizen's march against mountaintop removal earlier this year, and has been arrested twice in acts of civil disobedience. In launching today's fast, Micklem released a letter about his intentions and his long-time role as an orinthologist--the population of the Cerulean Warbler, in fact, has been greatly affected by this type of reckless mining. According to Micklem:
For a former naturalist whose interest in and concern for the natural world has spanned over half a century, the loss of so many once common and beloved species has been traumatic and depressing, depressing to an extent that has resulted in a loss of enthusiasm for a field of study that had stoked my fires in bygone years.In the year 2009, I am, and have been for several years, an environmental activist.
I have exchanged my academic interest in the world of nature for a commitment to see that some of it is left for succeeding generations to study and enjoy. My sorrow over the changes that self aggrandizing humanity has wrought have resulted in my decision to fast, and I will do so, as indicated in my statement, in a very public place before those with the power to bring about needed reform.
But I'm not without hope. I'm inspired and energized by the young people here at Climate Ground Zero, who at great personal risk are carrying on a campaign to stop mountaintop removal by nonviolent direct action. Despite the awesome challenge of climate change and other threats to the global ecology, there's a new awakening among people and a renewed commitment to save Mother Earth from the excesses of our own species.
In Chicago, hundreds of activists took to the streets in front of the Chicago Climate Exchange, protesting "cap and trade, carbon offsets and other 'false solutions' to climate change." The broad coalition of protesters also targeted JP Morgan Chase, one of the leading funders of mountain top removal coal mining and Midwest Generation, the owner of Chicago's two coal-fired power plants.
"The solution to climate change isn't carbon trading; it is a just, rapid transition away from the industries that are poisoning our communities and the planet. We can begin by shutting down the Crawford and Fisk coal plants right here in Chicago," said Dorian Breuer of the Pilsen Environmental Rights and Reform Organization (PERRO).
"From Chicago to Copenhagen, powerful companies are cashing in on the climate crisis, taking advantage of public concern over climate change in order to make a buck. Carbon trading institutions like the Chicago Climate Exchange are privatizing the air we breathe and handing over rights to the atmosphere to the biggest polluters," stated Angie Viands, of Rainforest Action Network (RAN) Chicago. "Carbon Trading is a fraudulent market that intensifies social injustice, does not reduce emissions in a meaningful way, and acts as a dangerous distraction from the real climate solutions we urgently need."
For more information on a "die-in" at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, and numerous other Global Day of Action direct actions, see the Mobilization for Climate Justice.
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Show AllThere is a pattern in all this.
http://coto2.wordpress.com/2009/11/29/seeing-the-pattern-before-copenhagen-scientists-threatened-in-four-essential-areas-of-study/
Because the world is waking up to the damage industrialization has done to nature and is connected to it and wishes to help, and because the solutions people offer (solar, wind, water, conservation, etc.) would leave industry without dependent customers, but with free people helping the earth recover, industry must take control of all energy sources by creating massive fear of the end of civilization in order to try to get people to support an international treaty that supposedly will solve things, but in fact locks people into dependence on and funding of international corporate control.
Progress Energy Florida is building a Nuke plant right on top of the Florida Aquifer. Its a suicide (fools) mission and the people of Florida will be required to pay for it through increased rates. This is a terrorist act if I ever saw one.
Florida's nickname is The Sunshine State. There's more Solar Energy here than we could ever use. We could be exporting it all over the world. The energy storage technology exists, but not the common sense to make it happen...
Energy should not be exported long distance. Energy should not be centrally produced.
Energy should be locally produced and consumed.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. What the hell good does that do in reference to the lack of solar energy production!
Globalization, Climate Change, Environmental Destruction, Developing Nation Exploitation, Wall Street Collapse, Fascism, Unlimited War- Are all Related.
Globalization, Climate Change, Environmental Destruction, Developing Nation Exploitation, Wall Street Collapse, Fascism, Unlimited War. Listening to the news, it is all too easy to think of these things in isolation. Well meaning leaders such as Al Gore speak convincingly about the dangers of climate change and available solutions. Obama waxes eloquently and at times passionately about health care inequities, climate change and the need for financial regulatory reform. Sadly, his most significant mark may be to inflame the War of Terror in Afghanistan and Pakistan. It is as if each one of these crises exists in isolation and require a separate set of solutions.
But the truth is otherwise. The problems are systemic and so are the solutions.
For many years developing nations in Africa and Latin America have been exploited by the rich nations of the world. They have been chained to debt, while having their lands raped, their environment destroyed, their governments corrupted, their leaders assassinated and their men, woman and children left destitute or to die from disease or civil war. It is true that countries such as India and China have turned the tables- bringing their own people out of poverty by controlling globalization. Yet at the same time they have become increasingly like the developed world- crushing internal dissent and supporting reprehensible regimes that serve their commercial interests. In Latin America, leaders from countries like Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador are trying to address the needs of the poor and indigenous communities, in part by gaining greater control over the multinationals that extract and export their oil and mineral wealth.
In this country, we used to think we were exempt- we could plunder Latin America and Africa, and our coffers would remain well stocked and our people prosperous. Yet quite the reverse is true. The distribution of wealth in both the United States and the developing world has grown more unequal- in favor of a very small elite class. This elite class provides nothing of value except the development of new speculative financial instruments and loans intended to control, restrict and crush the countries that are trapped by their "largess."
Wall Street, the WTO, IMF, the World Bank and others- together they seek to control and manipulate- effectively dictating the terms of existence to a populace that has no clue about the role they play. It is as if we have become marionettes, controlled by hidden forces that are malignant and of which we have no awareness.
The financial collapse triggered by Wall Street is no fluke. It is not merely due to greed, a housing bubble or credit derivative instruments. Wall Street is now consumed by nothing but profit and the accumulation of phantom (as opposed to real) wealth. It was able to dictate the terms of its rescue to a weak US government. What the US government in fact did was to rescue corporations that care nothing about the American people, care nothing about the air we breathe and the water we drink, the land we live on- companies who seek to do nothing more than amass wealth in a growing sea of poverty and inequality.
It is this system that is causing a collapse of the environment, a breakdown of the world's food and water supply, a rising tide of inequality in developing and rich nations alike and perpetual war.
Even in war, the transnational corporations prosper. However corrupt and underhanded their dealings- money is funneled into ever more costly, dangerous weapons systems. In turn the elites of the client countries wage war against their own people or other countries- typically poorer and weak. Men, woman and children die on both sides- but the elites prosper.
Ultimately corrupt power structures like the ones I described collapse. The problem is we don't have that much time left. Unless globalization is curtailed- restrained by global democracy- the challenges we face will grow exponentially. The economic bubble will become a tsunami and life on this planet unsustainable. It won't matter- the best solutions to our problems, the best technology- none of it will make a difference if we do not wrest control from the corporations and governments that control us and have their own agenda of exploitation, death and destruction. Economic globalization without global democracy is a recipe for disaster.
Beware of wolves disguised as sheep!
This following article makes a very important statement, it's a very important warning that many climate change activists will disagree with whether they like it or not; that is, many or most will not be willing to seriously consider what Professor Chossudovsky says in this piece because many or most climate change activists refuse to consider warnings bearing anything that resembles anti-climate change activism views. That's not the position Professor Chossudovsky really taking, but many activists will read the piece by him in this manner.
Keep an objectively critical, open mind. It's always essential to do so. Wolves pretending to be do-gooders, or disguised as sheep or shepherds of sheep, lurk around every corner; they're "all over the place".
"Global Warming: "Fixing the Climate Data around the Policy""
by Michel Chossudovsky, Nov 30 2009
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=16339
I'd excerpt from the article, but it's copyrighted CRG, which I usually just refer to as GR for short, due to GR matching with the domain name of the website. We can only fully quote articles at GR copyrighted in this manner and it's too long to fully quote it in a post at CD.
The University of East Anglia mails where unfortunate because they can be easily misconstrued by the public and misrepresented by lobbyists for the oil and gas industry. 1998 was an outlier year due to the El Nino effect. 8/10 of the warmest years in whole temperature record (since 1850) have occurred since 2001. The overall science of climate change is solid- which is why 90%+ of climate scientists accept it.
Sadly, climate change is indeed quite real. It is folly to ignore the record level of species extinction, the melting of glaciers around the world, the record levels of drought, growing extremities of weather, the acidification of the ocean, etc. and actually believe that climate change is a failed hypothesis. It is unfortunately a pressing reality.
To believe that the levels of pollution, deforestation and habitat/species destruction are unrelated and have no effect on the climate and balance of life- is dangerous. Dangerous because if this thinking is wrong- and the likelihood of it being wrong is extremely high- the health and well being of every form of life on the planet is severely compromised or destroyed.
How much coal is burned in blogs commenting on these useless theatrical protests that have zero effect on population growth?
Just asking.
Reducing population growth is important. However, in the way you discuss it, it almost seems to be a call to inaction on environmental destruction.
As nations develop their population tends to follow the pattern of smaller size families and an overall plateauing of the growth curve. In countries with high infant mortality, high mortality rates, birth rates tend to be much higher. Is this so hard to understand?
It is the highest form of hypocrisy for the developed world- that produces 75% of the worlds pollution- with the United States the world per capita leader by far, to talk about population control. What about pollution control? A control over wanton consumption? In fact, a consumption level so high it would take more than five Earths to meet its need for material comforts.
However, I agree that population growth is an important consideration when trying to build a more sustainable Earth.
Melting Antarctic ice to feed major sea rise
"Melting Antarctic ice is likely to contribute to a sea level rise of about 1.4m by 2100, a major review of climate change says." (BBC)
All that meltwater mixing with the salty seas will generate a lot of heat to make things even more interesting.