Environment & Climate Change

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Articles & Reports

Lesson One: “Only mass social movements can save us now. Because we know where the current system, left unchecked, is headed.”
Michael Specter, New Yorker: The meagre allotment of water available to each Pakistani is a third of what it was in 1950. As the country’s population rises, that amount is falling fast. Dozens of other countries face similar situations—not someday, or soon, but now. Rapid climate change, population growth, and a growing demand for meat (and, thus, for the water required to grow feed for livestock) have propelled them into a state of emergency.
Twenty African nations have banded together to build a monumental Great Green Wall of Africa - a forest of drought-resistant trees stretching across the edge of the Sahara Desert.
If fresh water were a bank account, the world's spending deficit against that account would be deeply in the red and approaching a tipping point of default. And in precisely the same way the U.S. government borrows money to cover today's expenses with no intention of ever paying it back, human society is also borrowing water to cover today's water demands with no intention or capability of ever paying it back.
ALEC, an influential right-wing lobbying group funded in part by petrochemical billionaires Charles and David Koch, has been working to undermine anti-pollution and pro-clean energy policies for years. But in 2014, the group adopted a new tactic — seeking out friendly state attorneys and encouraging them to sue the EPA.
Arctic sea ice in all seasons is declining and the rate of loss is increasing. Multiple lines of study show this is impacting weather outside of the Arctic. Increased energy (heat) in the Arctic is slowing the progress of the jet stream around globe, allowing weather systems to linger, increasing the risk of severe weather happening more often in any one place. Increased warmth also means increased moisture in the Arctic - which increases the amount of snow, which in turn causes the jet stream to concentrate winter weather in North America and Eurasia.
Prominent climate change denier Gov. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) is changing his tune on global warming, potentially signalling a shift in the politics of climate in the US. Well-known for his refusal to acknowledge the scientific consensus on the issue, Scott has flipped the script and suddenly softened his climate change denial in the run-up to election season. He even announced that he will meet with climate scientists who recently pressed him on his record. While Scott has not yet refuted his previous outright denial of human-caused climate change, polls suggest he might be right to do so soon. Nearly 80 percent of Florida voters want federal restrictions on carbon pollution and 71 percent of Florida voters say they are concerned about climate change. According the the National Climate Assessment, Florida is particularly at risk from climate impacts, including rising sea-levels that could cripple the state’s tourism and recreation industries and even flood Gov. Scott’s multi-million dollar beachfront mansion.
(Governor Jay Inslee of Washington), aided by what is expected to be millions of dollars from his billionaire friend Tom Steyer, is using the story of Washington’s oysters — scientists say a rise in carbon levels has spiked the acidity of the Pacific and is killing off shellfish — to make the case for passing the most far-reaching climate change policies in the nation.
Mr. Inslee, who is campaigning for his agenda across the state this summer with oyster farmers in tow, is trying to position himself as America’s leading governor in the climate change fight. But Mr. Inslee does not have the support of the majority of the Washington State Senate, particularly those conservative lawmakers from the rural inland, so Mr. Steyer’s advocacy group, NextGen Climate, is working with the Washington League of Conservation Voters to handpick Democratic, pro-climate policy candidates across the state.
Mr. Steyer, a retired California hedge-fund manager has pledged to spend $100 million on climate issues in elections across the country this year (2014).
Governor Inslee is the author of a book on renewable energy, Apollo’s Fire: Igniting America’s Clean Energy Economy.
Dave’s Note: Billionaire Tom Steyer spends big money on efforts to combat climate change (see article): “Tom Steyer struggles to find big-money donors.”
Denialists are dead wrong about the science. But they understand something the left still doesn’t get about the revolutionary meaning of climate change.
Denialists gained traction by making climate about economics: action will destroy capitalism, they have claimed, killing jobs and sending prices soaring. But at a time when a growing number of people agree with the protesters at Occupy Wall Street, many of whom argue that capitalism-as-usual is itself the cause of lost jobs and debt slavery, there is a unique opportunity to seize the economic terrain from the right. This would require making a persuasive case that the real solutions to the climate crisis are also our best hope of building a much more enlightened economic system—one that closes deep inequalities, strengthens and transforms the public sphere, generates plentiful, dignified work and radically reins in corporate power. It would also require a shift away from the notion that climate action is just one issue on a laundry list of worthy causes vying for progressive attention. Just as climate denialism has become a core identity issue on the right, utterly entwined with defending current systems of power and wealth, the scientific reality of climate change must, for progressives, occupy a central place in a coherent narrative about the perils of unrestrained greed and the need for real alternatives.
Are our families, businesses and nations prepared to adapt to the coming planetary climate changes, economic losses and resource shortages?
Our current infrastructure (dikes, dams, levies, water and sewage treatment plants and much of our other infrastructure,) has most often been designed to withstand the extreme climate events that occur about once every hundred years (century storms.) The coming more extreme storms caused by increasing human caused atmospheric carbon pollution will eventually create and become millennial storms --- climate events of such an extreme in severity that there has been nothing like them on the planet for thousand of years.
Wollersheim’s Blog: The Universe Blog: Evolution 2.0 Religion 2.0 Climate Crisis: “We work in the world to forward the Job One for Humanity Climate Re-stabilization Plan.”
October 23, 2012 - FRONTLINE explores the massive shift in public opinion on climate change.
Global warming is moving much more quickly than scientists thought it would. Even if the biggest current and prospective emitters - the United States, China and India - were to slam on the brakes today, the earth would continue to heat up for decades. At best, we may be able to slow things down and deal with the consequences, without social and political breakdown. Gwynne Dyer examines several radical short-and medium-term measures now being considered - all of them controversial.
Nafeez Ahmed: Global warming has been on vacation for a few years. But that's only because the excess heat - two Hiroshima bombs-worth every second - has been buried in the deep ocean. But within a few years that's set to change, producing a huge decade-long warming surge, focused on the Arctic, that could overwhelm us all.
Good overview of climate science dating back to 1824, when French physicist Joseph Fourier discovered how the atmosphere traps heat and maintains the earth’s temperature.
Quote from Johnson mentioned in article:
  • “Air pollution is no longer confined to isolated places. This generation has altered the composition of the atmosphere on a global scale through radioactive materials and a steady increase in carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels.” –Lyndon Baines Johnson. Monday, February 8, 1965.
  • Earth: Game Over?: We're in the middle of a sixth mass extinction, and this will be the first one—and possibly the last—we will witness as human beings.
The world needs to invest a trillion dollars into clean energy—every year between now and 2050.
At intersections of social and economic justice, hundreds gather in Richmond California to build strategy for a 'just transition' away from an economy that is 'crashing planet.'
Personal attacks are common among deniers. Their lies are continually debunked, leaving them with no rational challenge to overwhelming scientific evidence that the world is warming and that humans are largely responsible. Comments under my columns about global warming include endless repetition of falsehoods like “there’s been no warming for 18 years”, “it’s the sun”, and references to “communist misanthropes”, “libtard warmers”, alarmists and worse…
Cities depend on good infrastructure. Roads, pipes, sewers, libraries and buses operate so seamlessly that their importance often goes unnoticed — until they fail. It's only then that we recognize how dependent we are on them.
Like our built infrastructure, nature also is crucial to the livability of our communities. In addition to a range of other benefits, forested watersheds provide people with clean drinking water, wetlands protect us from floods and process our waste and vegetated banks protect our home properties from erosion.
All the international negotiations and agreements to date are not going to help avert the imminent catastrophe. Not even the boldest targets to reduce carbon pollution put forward by the smartest nations are going to move the dial. It’s all an illusion of movement, kind of like Alice in Wonderland’s Red Queen, running and running but not going anywhere.
It's especially worrying because the Arctic is warming faster than nearly anywhere else on Earth. Now, along with melting sea ice and thawing permafrost, we have to add to our list of 'feedback loop' concerns that warming Arctic oceans may be releasing fonts of methane. That is, the warmer the ocean gets, the more methane gets spewed out of those stores on the continental shelf, and the warmer the ocean gets, ad infinitum.
Tristram Korten, Florida Center for Investigative Reporting: Florida Department of Environmental Protection officials have been ordered not to use the term “climate change” or “global warming” in any official communications, emails, or reports, according to former DEP employees, consultants, volunteers and records obtained by the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting.
The policy goes beyond semantics and has affected reports, educational efforts and public policy in a department with about 3,200 employees and $1.4 billion budget.
“We were told not to use the terms ‘climate change,’ ‘global warming’ or ‘sustainability,’” said Christopher Byrd, an attorney with the DEP’s Office of General Counsel in Tallahassee from 2008 to 2013. “That message was communicated to me and my colleagues by our superiors in the Office of General Counsel.”
More than 50 unions representing millions of workers worldwide have added their voice to the growing chorus calling for strong climate action, as they joined an initiative aimed at mobilising support for an ambitious climate deal in Paris in 2015 (30 November to 11 December 2015). The Unions4Climate action, launched at the World Congress of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) in Berlin this week, calls for a deal that is good for the climate and that drives an industrial transformation and creates jobs. Sharan Burrow, General Secretary of the ITUC said: “Threats to jobs and livelihoods include the threat of climate change. For unions it is simple. There are no jobs on a dead planet”. According to the ITUC, strong climate action could create 48 million new jobs in 12 countries – in Germany up to 400,000 new renewable energy jobs have been created in just two years. Unions will use the Unions4Climate to push for ambitious commitments from governments, discuss plans for industrial transformation and to debate the best ways to secure workers decent, green jobs.
Adam Epstein, Quartz: Norway, the nation with the largest sovereign fund in the world, is withdrawing from its investments in fossil fuels. A number of universities, cities, and religious institutions have joined the so-called “divestment” movement, but Norway is the first nation to do so officially.
“It’s not the first time a country’s fund has sold off companies,” Jamie Henn, co-founder of the international climate-change advocacy group 350.org, told Quartz. “But it’s definitely the first time they’ve done so in the context of climate risk and environmental concerns.”
The thawing of such terrain, rife with centuries of carbon, would release incredible amounts of methane gas and affect global temperatures.
“Pound for pound, the comparative impact of [methane gas] on climate change is over 20 times greater than [carbon dioxide] over a 100-year period.”
The melting of Siberia’s permafrost is “a climate time bomb waiting to explode if released into the atmosphere”.
“The fragile and rapidly changing Arctic region is home to large reservoirs of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, (is) vulnerable to being released into the atmosphere, where it can add to global warming”.
(Liberal climate change denialism adds) up to the belief that we can avoid the most catastrophic levels of climate disruption without changing our fundamental way of life. This is myth is based on errors that are as profound and basic as the conservative denial of climate change itself.
Solar and renewables are being touted as the energy sources of the future, but will they provide enough power relative to the energy that must be invested in them? Engineer Graham Palmer argues there’s no easy solution to the fact that we’re running out of fossil fuels.
The IPCC's 'Representative Concentration Pathways' are based on fantasy technology that must draw massive volumes of CO2 out of the atmosphere late this century - an unjustified hope that conceals a very bleak future for Earth, and humanity.
It is quite clear that we have no carbon budget whatsoever. The account, far from being in surplus, is horrendously overdrawn. To claim we have a few decades of safely burning coal, oil and gas is an utter nonsense.
We reached out to a handful of scientists, policy experts, writers and activists to ask: “If you could require America to do just one thing — any one thing — to combat climate change in 2014, what would it be?”
Florida Department of Environmental Protection officials have been ordered not to use the terms "climate change" or "global warming" in any official communications, emails, or reports, according to former DEP employees, consultants, volunteers and records obtained by the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting.
"We were told not to use the terms 'climate change,' 'global warming' or 'sustainability,' " said Christopher Byrd, an attorney with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection's Office of General Counsel in Tallahassee from 2008 to 2013. "That message was communicated to me and my colleagues by our superiors."
New research links climate change to Syria's devastating civil war.
Climate denial isn't a worldwide delusion. It's a distinctly Anglophone one.
Not only is the United States clearly the worst in its climate denial, but Great Britain and Australia are second and third worst, respectively. Canada, meanwhile, is the seventh worst.
The US is home to 91 different organizations (think tanks, advocacy groups, and trade associations) that collectively comprise a "climate change counter-movement." The annual funding of these organizations, collectively, is "just over $900 million." That is a truly massive amount of English-speaking climate "skeptic" activity, and while the study was limited to the US, it is hard to imagine that anything comparable exists in non-English speaking countries.
Reports: World Faces 'Insurmountable' Water Shortage
The world risks an "insurmountable" water crisis by 2040 without an immediate and significant overhaul of energy consumption and demand, a research team reported on Wednesday. "There will be no water by 2040 if we keep doing what we're doing today," said Professor Benjamin Sovacool of Denmark's Aarhus University, who co-authored two reports on the world's rapidly decreasing sources of freshwater.
May 22, 2014: At the ITUC congress in Berlin, more than 50 unions representing millions of workers signed up for the Unions4Climate action. This call for climate justice signals the start of a global mobilisation for a climate deal in Paris in 2015.
The battle against global warming is going to continue to require an uprising on behalf of the planet. That is because the fossil fuel and extraction (along with other profiteering) industries are actually rooting on behalf of negative climate change.
A new study by researchers at NASA and the University of California, Irvine, finds a rapidly melting section of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet appears to be in an irreversible state of decline, with nothing to stop the glaciers in this area from melting into the sea.
Science tells us what must happen; capitalism tells us that it doesn’t matter. Such is the psychosis buried at the heart of a system whereby money overrides physics. The fact that continued operation calls into question, in its current form, the sustained existence of our entire biosphere, still cannot overcome the remorseless logic of capital accumulation.

Organizations & Information Outlets

(Listed alphabetically.)

350 Oregon formed in April 2013, first as 350 PDX, when a few hardy individuals responded to 350.org co-founder Bill McKibben's call for a strategy session. Since then we have grown into a vibrant and diverse community of thinkers and doers. We have taken our voices to the streets, and to our elected officials, with a resolute call: we must act soon to avoid the catastrophic effects of climate change, and Oregon can lead the way.: Dave’s Note: Dave had the chance to talk with the young woman staffing the 350 Oregon table at the Musicians Union Hall solar installation celebration event.
APEN brings together a collective voice to develop an alternative agenda for environmental, social and economic justice. Through building an organized movement, we strive to bring fundamental changes to economic and social institutions that will prioritize public good over profits and promote the right of every person to a decent, safe, affordable quality of life, and the right to participate in decisions affecting our lives.
Black Mesa Water Coalition is dedicated to preserving and protecting Mother Earth and the integrity of Indigenous Peoples' cultures, with the vision of building sustainable and healthy communities.
About: The BlueGreen Alliance is a national partnership of labor unions and environmental organizations working to expand jobs in the clean economy.: Mission: The BlueGreen Alliance unites more than 15 million union members and environmentalists in pursuit of good jobs, a clean environment and a green economy.: General Information: Launched in 2006, the BlueGreen Alliance now includes the USW, Sierra Club, CWA, NRDC, UWUA, NWF, SEIU, UCS, AFT, ATU, UAW, UFCW, SMART and UA.
(Dave’s Note: Organized Power should model ourselves after this organization! They’ve already done a lot of the think-through on organizing working people to respond to climate change.)
    • What We Do: “The Campaign against Climate Change brings people together to push for the urgent and resolute action we need to prevent the catastrophic destabilisation of global climate.”
(Dave’s Note: See the What We Do page for an historical list of the actions CaCC has been involved in.)
Dave’s Note: London-based CaCC is the organizer of several initiatives, including:
UPCOMING: People's Climate March - London: “The important World Leaders’ Climate Summit in New York happening in September will be a key moment in the fight against climate change. There is already a March organised in New York, which aims to be the biggest climate demonstration the US has ever seen. There are calls for there to be a UK People’s Climate March in solidarity with those who are marching in New York.”
One Million Climate Jobs: “We face a climate crisis and an economic crisis in Britain and across the world. We have people who need jobs and urgent work that needs to be done to shift to a low-carbon economy.”
One Million Climate Jobs - Trade Union Group: “The Campaign against Climate Change Trade Union group has led the UK campaign for a million climate jobs, linking to similar campaigns in other countries.”
Union Support Sign-Up & Financially Contribute Page: “Ask your Trade Union to affiliate to CCC and support the One Million Climate Jobs campaign.”
“An industry group (Richard Branson) looking for ways that different (industry) sectors could lower their emissions voluntarily, and save money in the process.”[1]
The Carbon Tracker initiative is the first project of Investor Watch to align capital markets with the goal of social and ecological sustainability.
“If the political will of the people is asleep at the wheel, then the political will of government is likely to be asleep at the wheel.” - Sam Daley-Harris Founder: Dave’s Note: Kirk and Dave had the chance to talk with the woman staffing the CCL table at the Musicians Union Hall solar installation celebration event.
The Climate Accountability Institute engages in research and education on anthropogenic climate change, dangerous interference with the climate system, and the contribution of fossil fuel producers' carbon production to atmospheric carbon dioxide content.
This blog explores the topic of the psychology of climate change denial - with observations and anecdotes about our weird and disturbed response to the problem. It seeks to answer a question that has puzzled me for years: why, when the evidence is so strong, and so many agree that this is our greatest problem, are we doing so little about climate change?

Why The Climate Change Guide?

The Climate Change Guide's goal is to provide you with all pertinent information about climate change.: I want to supply you with the best information about the causes and effects of climate change. Moreover, I will provide you with several ways to help solve the climate crisis.: Climate change is not a trivial issue. On the contrary, climate change will affect all of mankind and is taking millions of lives on a yearly basis.: By 2030, over 100 million people will die because of climate change if we do not take sufficient action.: We need to act together and we need to act now.: People's lives are at stake and humanity's mere ability to survive is in question.: The reality is that the planet will not be affected. In effect, the planet has a great way of regulating itself over time even though it may take hundreds of millions of years.: However, every species on this planet will be strongly affected and millions could go extinct by 2050.: Dave’s Note: The Climate Change Guide is published and curated by Laurent Cousineau, a young French-Canadian college student.
About Us: Climate Connections is a project of Global Justice Ecology Project (GJEP).
Formerly “The Yale Forum on Climate Change & the Media.”: An initiative of the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication.
Don't Even Think About It: Why Our Brains Are Wired To Ignore Climate Change: Why, despite overwhelming scientific evidence, do we still ignore climate change? And what does it need for us to become fully convinced of what we already know?
The Climate Desk is a journalistic collaboration dedicated to exploring the impact—human, environmental, economic, political—of a changing climate. The partners are The Atlantic, Center for Investigative Reporting, The Guardian, Grist, The Huffington Post, Mother Jones, Slate, and Wired.
A climate change denial website.: From SourceWatch: ClimateDepot.com is the website of Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow employee Marc Morano, a conservative global warming denier who previously served as environmental communications director for a vocal political denier of climate change, Republican Sen. James Inhofe.
From About Us: We work with corporate and government partners to develop climate finance mechanisms, business models which promote innovation, and supportive policy frameworks. We convene leaders, share hard evidence of successful low carbon growth, and pilot practical solutions which can be replicated worldwide.: Our vision is a prosperous, low carbon future for all. Our mission is to inspire and convince leaders in government, business and society to reduce carbon emissions now and accelerate the transition to a low carbon economy.: From Our Partners: We are working internationally with a coalition of companies, states, regions, cities and public figures to drive a clean revolution. See who makes up our global leadership network by clicking one of these four partner types:
International Leadership Council
Corporations
Government
Other Partners: Dave’s Note: This organization appears to be a corporate front group, and is a good example of large corporations, business interests, government institutions, institutional investors, international NGOs and others pushing their vision of a transition to a lower-carbon and climate change adaptation agenda. Left out of the mix? Ordinary working people, neighborhoods and fragile communities.[2]
The Climate Investigations Center (CIC) was established in 2014 to monitor the individuals, corporations, trade associations, political organizations and front groups who work to delay the implementation of sound energy and environmental policies that are necessary in the face of ongoing climate crisis.
Events sponsored by JwJ’s Climate Jobs / Economic Crisis Committees Include:
Musicians Hall Solar Energy Celebration!!! - (Sunday, August 17, 2014)
Workshop on Jobs and The Climate - Portland Oregon 6.20.12 (Video) - (Dave Myers attended this event.): Google Group: Climate Jobs
CJA is a collaborative of over 35 community-based and movement support organizations uniting frontline communities to forge a scalable, and socio-economically just transition away from unsustainable energy towards local living economies to address the root causes of climate change.
The Climate Mobilization is a new, all-volunteer organization. Our mission is to save civilization and the natural world from catastrophic climate disruption.: Dozens of leading environmental analysts have determined that the only way to save civilization from climate change is with a wartime-style mobilization, akin to the American home front effort during World War II. This stark appraisal lies at the heart of this project.: In that sense, The Climate Mobilization is a single-issue campaign. We demand a WWII-scale mobilization to restore a safe climate.: To this end, we offer all Americans the Pledge to Mobilize, a tool intended to help you intervene in collective denial and call forth the all-out emergency response needed to protect civilization and the natural world.
We’re striving to create a society where climate change and its human impacts are widely accepted by the public and policy makers.: Our mission is to ensure climate change and its impacts are understood, accepted and acted upon across the breadth of society in a manner that creates a truly sustainable future. We will achieve this by using our unique position as a bridge between research and practitioners to:
develop meaningful narratives and storylines about climate change that engage a wide range of different people and influence key organisations
raise the voices of those most impacted by climate change to ensure they are central in any policy discussions
collaborate with others on innovative new climate change projects that fit with our vision
Climate Solutions is a Northwest-based clean energy economy nonprofit. We have pioneered the vision and cultivated the political leadership in the Northwest for the proposition that clean energy and broadly shared economic prosperity can go hand-in-hand. For over 15 years, we have led successful initiatives to deliver climate and clean energy policies, models, and partnerships that accelerate the transition from fossil fuels to a clean energy economy.
“The sharpest climate denier debunker on YouTube.” - TreeHugger: Features a weekly “climate crock of the week.”

- Dave’s Note: This outfit might be a model worth looking at, in regards to ideas for structuring Organized Power. One of their initiatives is their “Green Justice Campaign” (see below).

In Massachusetts, the Green Justice Campaign, an offshoot of Community Labor United, an alliance of unions and advocacy groups, started with a simple plan: weatherize local homes and leverage public funds to curb carbon consumption and cut energy bills.
Our mountains, rivers and wildlife belong to all and so too must the power of justice belong to all those who desire to protect our nation's natural treasures. Working together, we will continue holding accountable those who would harm the environment and our communities, and we will continue to ensure that the earth has a good lawyer. Join our fight.
EAST MICHIGAN ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION COUNCIL (EMEAC) began as a response in the 1960's to environmental concerns in southeast Michigan. Algae blooms were choking out life in Great Lakes and inland waters. Household and industrial wastes were piling up in landfills. Air pollutants were becoming a health issue in many urban neighborhoods and highways and buildings were covering up wetlands and open areas at the urban fringe.: Several groups joined together forming EMEAC to consider what they could do to resolve these problems and to influence southeast Michigan's environmental policies. A cornerstone of EMEAC's formation was the belief that informing the public about environmental issues would lead to solutions to environmental problems. Founding members and staff established an organization that would always predicate its public information and advocacy on careful research. With the help of our members' continuing support and enthusiasm, EMEAC will continue to pursue its mission: To empower the Detroit community to protect, preserve and value the land, air and water. We build community power through environmental justice education, youth development and collaborative relationship building.
EcoEquity is a small, activist think tank that has had an outsized impact on the international climate justice debate.: It has done this primarily, but not exclusively, by way of its work on fair shares international effort sharing.
From website: We are a broad network of volunteer leaders and faith-based communities in the Pacific Northwest who are:
recovering our true vocation as people of faith and citizens of earth;
restoring our sanity in the midst of an addictive culture and economy;
reconciling a right-relationship with all of creation, including all human communities;
rediscovering courage to rise up with the most vulnerable and oppressed in the face of human systems that escalate injustice and climate change;
reclaiming our prophetic imagination for the flourishing of an earth-honoring and life-honoring faith, economy, and culture.
How we work > Partnerships: The key to lasting solutions
Labeled a corporate front group by Chris Hedges. (See footnote in Dave’s Notes for The Climate Group above.)
From About Us: National Presence, Local Focus - We partner with small grassroots organizations in communities across the U.S., as well as with national environmental groups. We understand that the best way to reduce pollution is through concentrated local efforts, coupled with national advocacy.: Focus: Coal, Oil & Gas, Factory Farms
Fossil Free is a project of 350.org.
GENERATION WAKING UP is a global campaign to ignite a generation of young people to bring forth a thriving, just, sustainable world. We strive to:
Awaken in young people a clear sense of who we are as a generation, an understanding of the urgent global challenges and opportunities we face, and a calling to take action.
Empower young people with the training, mentoring, and support needed to thrive as global citizens, leaders, and change agents in the 21st century.
Mobilize young people locally and globally across issues, geography, and all lines of difference, unleashing the collaborative power of our generation.
Publishes The Tree (see below).
The Global Climate Change Alliance (GCCA) is an initiative of the European Union (EU), launched in 2007 and coordinated by the European Commission (EC), aimed at strengthening dialogue and cooperation on climate change with developing countries most vulnerable to climate change and supporting their efforts to develop and implement adaptation and mitigation responses. It focuses on the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and the Small Island Developing States (SIDS). These countries have contributed the least to greenhouse gas emissions, but are often the most affected by climate change and have limited resources to address the related challenges.
Publishes Climate Connections.
Contraction and Convergence (C&C) | Climate Truth & Reconciliation: Dave's Note: GCI, and its founder, Aubrey Meyer, were covered in the 3rd (and final) installment of Gwynne Dyer’s Climate Wars CBC radio series.
Green 2.0 is an initiative dedicated to increasing racial diversity across mainstream environmental NGOs, foundations and government agencies. The Green 2.0 working group advocates for data transparency, accountability and increased resources to ensure that these organizations increase their diversity.
Climate change demands that we draw on the genius of all Americans, not just a few. It demands that we tap the experience of those of us who know what it’s like to weather a storm—environmental or economic—those of us who already know what it means to fight for equality.: Green For All works to make sure people of color have a place and a voice in the climate movement. That our neighborhoods are strong, resilient, and healthy. That as the clean energy economy grows, it brings jobs and opportunities to our communities.
The Gulf of Mexico is ground zero for the impacts of climate change. Rising sea-levels, more powerful hurricanes, and invasive species are all serious threats to the natural resources of the Gulf, our homes, and our communities. Coastal erosion and the myriad of problems the Gulf of Mexico is faced with are inextricably connected to climate change. The GRN has taken a stand against inaction on this issue, perhaps the most important environmental issue of our time.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) is an autonomous organisation which works to ensure reliable, affordable and clean energy for its 29 member countries and beyond.: Founded in response to the 1973/4 oil crisis, the IEA’s initial role was to help countries co-ordinate a collective response to major disruptions in oil supply through the release of emergency oil stocks to the markets.: While this continues to be a key aspect of its work, the IEA has evolved and expanded. It is at the heart of global dialogue on energy, providing authoritative statistics, analysis and recommendations.
Green jobs are central to sustainable development and respond to the global challenges of environmental protection, economic development and social inclusion. By engaging governments, workers and employers as active agents of change, the ILO promotes the greening of enterprises, workplace practices and the labour market as a whole. These efforts create decent employment opportunities, enhance resource efficiency and build low-carbon sustainable societies.
The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) is an intergovernmental organisation that supports countries in their transition to a sustainable energy future, and serves as the principal platform for international cooperation, a centre of excellence, and a repository of policy, technology, resource and financial knowledge on renewable energy. IRENA promotes the widespread adoption and sustainable use of all forms of renewable energy, including bioenergy, geothermal, hydropower, ocean, solar and wind energy in the pursuit of sustainable development, energy access, energy security and low-carbon economic growth and prosperity.
The IWW Environmental Unionist Caucus seeks to unite the labor movement and the environmental movement to take action to transition unsafe and unsustainable industry to one that meets the best labor and environmental standards.
We are Kentuckians. We believe that today we have our best chance in decades to build New Power in Kentucky. New Power means thousands of new jobs, healthy communities and opportunities for our children.
LIVE AS IF OUR FUTURE MATTERS - Empowering youth to demand action that ends the climate crisis.[3]
Launched in 2010, the Labor Network for Sustainability is playing a critical role in building the strong, broad movement that is needed to advance strategies for a transition from a world with an economy, society, and climate in crisis to one that has a sustainable future. LNS is dedicated to helping labor realize its self-interest in becoming a central player in the movement to address climate change, economic instability and political deadlock, and to build a sustainable future for the planet and its people. We break new ground, clearing the way for unions and others in the labor movement to engage in climate issues. We are also educating the environmental movement about the importance of engaging in jobs issues, and paving the way for climate campaigns to include jobs programs. We are pushing the envelope of what is possible both for labor and for the environmental movement.: Dave’s Note: It’s worth reading the entire essay on, excerpted above, on LNS’s About page. The author of the essay asks the right questions, and offers relevant insights on the struggle for mobilizing organized labor and environmentalists to work towards common, mutually compatible goals.
Our Mission The Louisiana Bucket Brigade uses grassroots action to create an informed, healthy society with a culture that holds the petrochemical industry and government accountable for the true costs of pollution.: The EPA-approved "bucket" is an easy-to-use air sampling device that people who live next to industry – fenceline neighbors – use to document pollution in their neighborhoods.: Dave’s Note: Interestingly, the a 2014 Senate report released by the Republican minority smeared LABB as a “less-well-known extreme” environmental group. This was a rhetorical ratcheting up of the more pedestrian “far-left” slur (repeated at least 72 times throughout the report) the report’s authors assigned to mainstream environmental groups, as well as mainstream non-profit media outlets like ProPublica. It’s these kinds of marginalized, vilified grassroots organizations we might want to partner up with, in terms of getting activists on the street.
  • Network for Social Justice Unionism (NSJU)
Rank and file labor leaders announced for the first time the creation of the Network for Social Justice Unionism (NSJU), a new infrastructure that unionists concerned with advancing social justice beyond the workplace hope to use to organize for a shift in the way the labor movement operates.[4]
NEF is the UK's leading think tank promoting social, economic and environmental justice. Our purpose is to bring about a Great Transition – to transform the economy so that it works for people and the planet.: Major Policy Report: A Green New Deal (July 21, 2008)
The New Economy Coalition’s “CommonBound: Moving Together Toward A New Economy” Project
Dave’s Note: The New Economy Coalition’s membership includes dozens of social and climate justice groups. Among them are 350.org, Business Alliance For Local Living Economies (BALLE), Caring Economy Campaign, Center For Economic Democracy, The Democracy Collaborative and many others. Would a consortium of these organizations provide seed funding for Organized Power?
A project of San Francisco billionaire (and friend of Washington State governor, Jay Inslee) Tom Steyer.
See news related news story posted below.
Empowering Oregonians to Win Fair & Effective Climate Policy
OREP's Vision for a sustainable, decentralized energy future:
A sustainable economy with family-wage, energy jobs throughout the state
Farmers, ranchers, tribes, and rural communities harnessing Oregon's abundant and varied renewable resources
Private and community ownership of solar panels across the built environment
Local financing of renewable energy projects keeping energy dollars recirculating in Oregon
Flourishing renewable energy industries across the state
Energy-informed voter support for renewable energy
A healthy environment, minimally impacted by energy production

Dave’s Note: Kirk had the chance to talk with an OREP representative who was tabling at the Musicians Union Hall solar panel celebration event.

We lead a game-changing, youth-driven, global climate recovery campaign, securing the legal right to a healthy atmosphere and stable climate.: Appearance on Moyers & Company’s last broadcast: Full Show: The Children’s Climate Crusade
From Website: “The Our Power Campaign will move local and state governments to create millions of climate jobs – jobs that meet people’s needs while caring for natural resources and ecosystems.”
PlanGreen works with the private sector and government agencies to help you become part of the regenerative economy.: Dave’s Note: PlanGreen Principal, Mary Vogel, attended our first After The People’s Climate March, What Next? meetup on Tuesday, September 23, 2014.
Dave’s Note: Scientists for Global Responsibility sponsored a Climate Train from Europe to the UN Climate Convention in Kyoto back in 1997.
The U.S. is counting on a long-term abundance of oil & natural gas. But what if the boom is just a bubble?

Dave’s Note: Lots of great links on their “In The Media” page.

Shift is part of the building grassroots movement to fight climate change. We believe in elevating the voices and struggles of front line extraction communities and uniting a global voice in support of stopping the degradation of the climate. We also believe part of building this movement is building climate conscious and climate change resilient communities across the globe.
SOCAN is a grassroots organization of area residents who care about climate change and have combined forces to take bold action against it.: We love Southern Oregon. It’s our home. Many of us grew up here; our roots are deep. Others came later, to enjoy a better quality of life. Climate change threatens our future here. We’re committed to save it from harm.: We’re not a political organization. We work with lawmakers as citizen-advocates. Our membership draws from a rich variety of political, philosophical, spiritual, and religious perspectives.
Southwest Workers’ Union (SWU) unites workers, communities and youth in the struggle for dignity and justice. Based in San Antonio, Texas SWU is a grassroots membership based organization working for social change from the bottom up.
In June of 2011, a scientist, an actor, a banker and a filmmaker were sitting around a table talking about their opposition to extreme energy extraction. Their conversation sparked an important realization - it wasn’t enough for them to be against something. They needed to be part of the solution. That day, Mark Jacobson, Mark Ruffalo, Marco Krapels and Josh Fox created The Solutions Project. Our Mission: Use the powerful combination of science + business + culture to accelerate the transition to 100% clean, renewable energy.: Solutions Project (The): Oregon
40 - Year Jobs Created: Number of jobs where a person is employed for 40 consecutive years:
Construction jobs: 37,000
Operation jobs: 20,300
  • Sustainable Energy and Economy Network (SEEN): Daphne Wysham founder and co-director of SEEN. She has worked on research and advocacy at the intersection of climate change, human rights, fossil fuels, international finance, carbon markets and sustainable economies since 1996. SEEN’s pathbreaking research has resulted in shifts in public policy and investment at the national and international level.: Wysham is also a fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) where she directs the Genuine Progress Project. The Genuine Progress project is utilizing a new economic indicator, now in place in the states Maryland and Vermont, the Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI), to better capture and measure the markers of a high quality of life.
  • The Tree - Content for Climate & Energy Communicators (Media Organization)
‘The Tree’ is a project dedicated to aggregating information and resources for individuals and groups engaged in public discourse on climate change and energy issues. By providing carefully factchecked text, resources and compelling visual assets in a concise, accessible way, we aim to help people in Europe, North America and Australia engage constructively in debates and communications around these issues.: The Tree’ is a service provided by the Global Call for Climate Action (GCCA), a network of more than 400 nonprofit organizations. The GCCA works to connect and facilitate the efforts of organizations from across the globe to communicate the urgency of climate change, promote the solutions before us and to mobilize support of government action at the national and international levels.
Voices for a Sustainable Future (VSF) is dedicated to bringing together non-traditional constituencies in the effort to achieve a sustainable future for the planet, and the people on it. VSF seeks to bring together science, art and economics in ways not done before. We believe that no matter how brilliant our attempts to inform, it is our ability to inspire that makes the difference, and passion through art must play a significant role in the transformation of our economy and our culture so that sustainability becomes a part of the way we live.: VSF will promote and pursue multidisciplinary activities that encourage long-term sustainability, focusing on environmental protection, economic fairness, and social justice in the United States. Such activities will include:
Building understanding between various interest groups such as working people, labor unions, environmental groups, scientists, social justice organizations and artists with the goal of promoting long-term sustainability;
Conducting research that explores avenues for achieving long-term sustainability;
Educating the public and interest groups on the importance of pursuing sustainable practices by, for instance, presenting science, economics, and the arts;
Supporting music and the arts that convey a message of long-term sustainability, and generally connecting art and music to the broad progressive movement.

References

  1. ↑ Naomi Klein: the hypocrisy behind the big business climate change battle. - Soon after reporting on the 2010 BP oil spill, Naomi Klein found she was pregnant – and miscarried. Was there a connection? She looks at the 'greenwashing' of big business and its effects.
  2. ↑ The Last Gasp of Climate Change Liberals - The Climate Group, for example, which endorses the march, includes among its members and sponsors BP, China Mobile, Dow Chemical Co., Duke Energy, HSBC, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Greenstone. The Environmental Defense Fund, which says it “work[s] with companies rather than against them” and which is calling on its members to join the march, has funding from the oil and gas industry and supports fracking as a form of alternative energy. These faux environmental organizations are designed to neutralize resistance. And their presence exposes the march’s failure to adopt a meaningful agenda or pose a genuine threat to power.
  3. ↑ Teens Sue Government for Failing to Address Climate Change for Future Generations - Many young people feel they have too much at stake to wait for our leaders to get their act together and take meaningful action on climate change. In the words of one young climate activist, Alec Loorz, we need to demand our political leaders “govern as if our future matters.” With their future at stake, many youth have taken their case to the courts in the hopes that the judiciary will require the legislature to take action.
  4. ↑ Interview with Michelle Gunderson co-founder of the Network for Social Justice Unionism
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