January, 17 2012, 07:29am EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Jeff Smith: +1 (917) 204-8092
Patrick Bruner: +1 (347) 471-9922
Liesbeth Rapp: +1 (501) 772-0272
Sam Jewler: +1 (202) 210-9362
America Occupies the Capital
#Occupy Brings Democracy to DC January 17 at 9 a.m. Capitol Hill
WASHINGTON
On January 17 Americans from across the nation and the world will assemble in the shadows of a broken system to participate in real democracy.
At 9 am on the opening day of Congress, Occupy Congress will convene for a day of action against a corrupt political institution. Actions include a multi-occupational General Assembly, teach-ins, an OCCUParty, a pink slip for every congressional "representative" and a march on all three branches of a puppet government that sold our rights and our futures to the 1%.
This is an illegitimate system. Around half of the nation's population doesn't participate in electoral politics. More than 6 million Americans who want to vote are disenfranchised, including the entire populace of the District of Columbia. There is consensus that we are on the wrong track and that our "leaders" do not have our interests at heart.
All "elected" officials bought their way into gerrymandered seats with Wall Street money. These bankers' henchmen have shown themselves both unwilling and unable to take on the tremendous, systemic issues in our country, our place in this world.
In the face of this endemic corruption, the Occupy movement is about organizing locally to discuss and change these problems from the ground up. We came to show the 1%'s Congress what democracy looks like.
Our nation, and our world, is in crisis and our "elected" officials have failed us. They refused to hold their bankrollers--Wall Street--responsible for the financial crimes that bankrupted our nation and destroyed the global economy. This last legislative cycle was the least productive in recorded U.S. history; 90% of the country disapproves of these "elected" officials.
We refuse to accept the grim future that Wall Street's cronies have designed. We refuse to be the 1%'s captive citizenry. We stand together to show that the 99% are creating a better world.
The 99% will no longer be complacent. Our many voices will be amplified on the steps of Capitol Hill. We shall have a nation by, for, and powered by the people once again. We are building it.
Occupy Wall Street is a people-powered movement that began on September 17, 2011 in Liberty Square in Manhattan's Financial District, and has spread to more than 100 cities in the United States and actions in over 1,500 cities globally. For more visit https://occupywallst.org
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Data from the first 11 months of 2024 reaffirmed that the globe is set to pass a grim mile stone this year, according to the European Union's earth observation program.
The E.U.'s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said in a report Monday that November 2024 was 1.62°C above the preindustrial level, making it the 16th month in a 17-month stretch during which global-average surface air temperature breached 1.5°C. November 2024 was the second-warmest November, after November of last year, according to C3S.
"At this point, it is effectively certain that 2024 is going to be the warmest year on record and more than 1.5°C above the pre-industrial level," according to a Monday statement from C3S. With data for November in hand, the service estimates that global temperature is set to be 1.59°C above the pre-industrial level for 2024, up from 1.48°C last year.
C3S announced last month that 2024 was "virtually certain" to be the hottest year on record after October 2024 hit 1.65°C higher than preindustrial levels.
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Under the 2015 Paris agreement, signatory countries pledged to reduce their global greenhouse gas emissions with the aim of keeping global temperature rise this century to 1.5ºC, well below 2°C above preindustrial levels. According to the United Nations, going above 1.5ºC on an annual or monthly basis doesn't constitute failure to reach the agreement's goal, which refers to temperature rise over decades—however, "breaches of 1.5°C for a month or a year are early signs of getting perilously close to exceeding the long-term limit, and serve as clarion calls for increasing ambition and accelerating action in this critical decade."
Additionally, a recent paper in the journal Naturewarned of irreversible impacts from overshooting the 1.5ºC target, even temporarily.
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