Climate Change is by far the most important crisis facing the planet right now – nothing else comes close. Below is an article by Bill McKibben of 350.org based on a story he wrote for Rolling Stone magazine that is a call to action. Because I am active in the climate change movement the below content was emailed to me and I want to share it with our community at East Shore.
Bill McKibben is a multiple award winning environmental journalist who is a leader in the climate change movement
- Jerol Kennedy
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Friends,
Earlier this spring the chaplain at Harvard joined students sitting-in outside the Harvard president’s office to demand climate action. He took the bullhorn for a minute, and thanked the organizers for “giving me the chance to be the person who I purport to be—a person who gives a damn.”
 |
| Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org |
We’re all going to get that chance Sept. 20 and 21, when the biggest demonstration in the history of the climate movement takes place in New York City. We need you there, you and everyone you can think of to bring. Here’s the somewhat more formal invitation that I wrote out, for the current issue of Rolling Stone. Please share it—it’s the most important call we’ll send you this year. And if you're ready to say you'll be there, RSVP on Facebook here.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has summoned the world’s leaders to the city in late September to consult about climate change. Because we think those leaders have done a lousy job, and because we’re tired of fancy words and ready for real action, we’re going to go to New York too, in our thousands and tens of thousands.
Marching doesn’t solve anything by itself. But movements can shift political power—in fact, little else ever does.
We need to show just how big and unified our movement has grown, from the environmental justice advocates fighting fossil fuel pollution in our communities to the students demanding divestment on our campuses, from the scientists who have seen their warnings so far ignored to the clergy now showing real moral leadership.
If you’re wondering how to react to the devastating news that the Antarctic is melting out of control: New York. If you’re scared like I am by the pictures of the fire and drought across the West: New York. If you’re feeling like it’s time to change the trajectory of this planet: we’ll see you in New York.
Sept. 20/21. Tell everyone.
To me this is scary actually - a political movement to simply (simplistically) fix climate problems is about as bad as electing a President to give us hope and change. (hardly a glimmer of understanding of the details in the deal on either account) As far as I have been able to tell, the only ideas this movement has is to give our government and its (not OUR) bureaucracies more money and authority to do whatever they please, for whichever of their friends they choose to please. We should learn from history that this is not a good idea - but one of the main things we can learn from history is that people almost never learn anything we should from history. ....That's why the heretics and nonconformists of all sorts have such tough jobs in this world, but sometimes still carry on the best we can anyway. Is anyone thinking of what will happen if all the dirty coal burning plants are shut down before there are real alternative ways to make electricity? I mean ENOUGH electricity. and we should realize that for most Americans, particularly lower class Americans, not enough electricity will mean NO electricity, as they (or WE) won’t be able to afford the shrinking supply. and even if we would reach the environmental goals in this country, how much good will it do if so many other fellow earth passengers keep polluting at their same amount or even more, as they keep trying to raise their living standards and their populations? Still I agree that polluting our environment less is an excellent goal - as long as the worst collection of unintended consequences ever, can be avoided. What real positive, constructive goals is this movement marching for? That’s what I want to know before I’ll consider joining it.
ReplyDelete