350 Updates

07/15/10, 9:24am
May Boeve
May Boeve

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Will BP Win?

We just sent this urgent (yet uplifting) update & call to action to tens of thousands of supporters all across the US...and hope you'll join us in telling our Senators that they work for us (and not BP!)

Dear friends,

Right now in Washington D.C., Senators are preparing to debate climate and energy legislation.

Thousands of lobbyists are sweeping the Hill, millions of dollars are being dumped into TV ads, and the BP's of the world (Big Polluters and Bad Politicians) are doing everything they can to weaken and corrupt the climate bill.

Watching this debate unfold reaffirms one of our core beliefs at 350.org -- solving the climate crisis will take a strong grassroots movement. Until we have a strong climate movement that can make our politicians work for us, they'll keep working for the big polluters. We need to get to work changing our country from the bottom up.

Everywhere I look, that work is beginning to happen.

Right here in the US, and in over 100 countries on Earth, thousands of communities are already getting to work on climate solutions and preparing for our major day of action on October 10th. Hundreds of universities in China, India and the US are joining the Great Power Race, a campus clean energy competition. Tens of thousands of you have told President Obama to get to work putting solar panels back on the White House.

Now, it's time to turn up the pressure on Washington.

As Congress finally begins to debate climate and energy legislation, take a minute to ask your Senators a simple question: are you working with me or are you working with the big polluters?

Click here to get a list of numbers and some talking points to help make your call.

For the next three weeks, big polluters are going to be trying to weaken this bill. They'll try and secure more handouts for nuclear and coal, strip the EPA of its authority to regulate greenhouse gases, and weaken the cap on emissions. In short: big polluters will try and get our Senators to work for them.

It's time to remind our Senators that they work for us:

www.350.org/they-work-for-you

Take a minute to call your Senators and tell them that you're working to build a movement for clean energy and climate solutions in your state. Tell them that you'll be watching them closely over the next few weeks to see who they really work for. And if you've already registered a 10/10/10 work party, invite your Senator to attend and get to work with you, literally.

Five months ago, when 350.org launched the Global Work Party, it was clear to me that this day could be a major turning point, when the world finally gets to work solving the climate crisis and building a sustainable future.

That's what's happening here in the United States, and it's happening around the world too. We're closer to something historic than anyone ever imagined we could be.

Thank you for building a movement.

Onwards,

May Boeve,

USA Coordinator, 350.org

 
07/14/10, 3:30pm
Jon Warnow
Jon Warnow

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VIDEO: Bill McKibben on Harnessing the Web for Climate Action

Bill McKibben took some time out of his schedule at the Aspen Ideas Festival to chat with the fine folks at Gen Connect.  Among other things, Bill talks about the effectiveness of the internet for real world action on global warming--check it out:

 
07/12/10, 11:59am
Africa
Phil Aroneanu
Phil Aroneanu

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Why tree planting is crucial

As 10/10/10 approaches, we are hearing more and more from organizers around the world who are planning work parties. In many parts of Africa, particularly along the edge of the Sahara Desert, climate change and deforestation are causing vast areas of formerly arable land to become desert, a scary development in an already poverty-stricken area. Just a few weeks ago, international donors gave $119m to build a "great green wall" to hold back the continuing desertification.

Sometimes, it may seem like small efforts like planting a tree are insignificant. Here's a guest post from Landry Ninteretse, who works with school groups in Uganda and Burundi, on the importance of planting trees and forests. Also, don't forget to register your 10/10 tree-planting work party -- and check out our easy how-to guide for tree planting.

While lecturing in secondary schools on climate change, we strongly encourage students not only to protect existing forests and woodlots but also to plant more trees in their school premises, homes and communities.

Once could argue:’’ Is tree planting so important?’’ Absolutely. Unfortunately, the whole value of trees and forest is till now not well understood by people, especially those relying on natural resources for their daily survival. Many people use trees to get firewood and charcoal for cooking, to obtain poles to fence their properties. Trees are also used as building materials and provide employment opportunities in carpentry and furniture.

However, the value of trees goes beyond that. There are number of ecological services we get from trees without realizing it. Forests are home to different types of animals and plants. They protect water catchment areas by acting as filters for run off hence contributing to the sustenance of ground water system. Forests are source of basic ingredient for medicines used to treat diseases. They cover land to prevent soil erosion and land slides and acts as wind breakers.

Regarding climate change, forests are very critical as they act as carbon sinks by absorbing carbon dioxide. More trees mean more carbon dioxide absorbed and more oxygen produced through photosynthesis and hence moderates the greenhouse effect responsible of global warming.

When we fully understand this importance of forest to human kind and its well being, we must act. Protect existing forests becomes a duty for everybody. Better, we realize as ordinary citizens, we can play a role in mitigating global warming. If each citizen on this planet commits to plant a least one tree per year, the amount of carbon dioxide absorbed will be considerable. Encouraging such initiative and well as the use of clean energy worldwide is definitively the solution to overcome the current climate crisis.

 
07/12/10, 11:54am
N. America
May Boeve
May Boeve

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The Food and Climate Connection

As part of our efforts building towards the Global Work Party, we've been contacting lots of farmers, eaters, and food justice advocates. One of our big allies in this effort is Anna Lappe, author of Diet for a Hot Planet. Anna is one of the judges of the Great Power Race, to help focus on the role that food plays on campus sustainability.

This morning, a brand-new online film came out from WhyHunger, called, “The Food and Climate Connection: From Heating the Planet to Healing It.”

It highlights the impact of today’s global food system on the climate and how a community-based food movement around the world is bringing to life a way of farming and eating that’s better for our bodies and the planet. Featuring interviews with farmers, community leaders, and sustainability advocates, the film highlights how the industrial food system is among the greatest contributors to global warming and how sustainable farming practices can pose a powerful solution to the crisis.

For a scan of how some of the food and agriculture politices in the United States are affecting farmers directly, check this out. And if you'd like to learn more about how 350 is working to profile food and climate change, check out our Food and Farm page.

 

 
07/09/10, 1:42pm
Bill McKibben
Bill McKibben

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Tell World Leaders to Go Solar!

Dear Friends

As you all know, we're getting to work on 10/10/10--all around the world people are preparing climate solutions projects for their communities, their mosques and churches and synagogues and temples, their schools and homes.

We thought our leaders should have a chance to get personally involved too, which is why we're today launching a special campaign aimed just at them.

Each one has a roof over their heads--in India at the Rashtrapati Bhavan; in Mexico they call it Los Pinos, and in Washington it's the White House.

Those roofs need solar panels--and we hope they'll go up on October 10, just as around the world people are taking practical action in their own communities. It's remarkably easy to send a message to your leader--just click here for instructions:


http://www.PutSolarOn.It

Those solar panels won't be enough solve climate change, obviously.  But they'll send a strong symbolic message about what the future demand--and maybe our leaders will see how easy it is to start down a greener path. If they hammer in a solar panel, perhaps they'll feel more committed to hammering out some clean energy legislation.

 

We're a little worried, of course, that our leaders will use their new solar panels to claim that they're sincere about climate change without passing the legislation and enacting the regulations that really matter--none of us wants to be used for a photo opportunity. Instead, the message we'll all be sending is: you've taken symbolic action, so now get to work on the real thing.

But the symbolism is important too. Just imagine: 30 years ago the American White House actually did have solar panels on the roof, installed by president Jimmy Carter. But they were taken down by the next administration, and they've never reappeared. That represents three wasted decades when we could have been doing something about the climate crisis--we'll never get those decades back, but we can start to catch up now.

So while you're rounding up your neighbors for your own 10/10/10 action, invite the person in charge of your nation to join you on that day. Remind them that one answer to our greatest crisis is directly above their heads. Tell them to roll up their sleeves and get to work!

Bill McKibben for the whole 350.org team

P.S. Good news already! Just as we're launching this campaign, President Mohammed Nasheed of the Maldives confirmed he'll be up on his roof on 10/10/10, installing a solar array. Who's next?

 
07/08/10, 11:22am
N. America
Kelly Blynn
Kelly Blynn

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We can't wait.

When Copenhagen ended in disappointing failure last December, one of the first things that world leaders, UN beaurocrats, and this year's COP host, Mexico, began to do was to lower expectations as far as possible for this year's meetings in Cancun in order to avoid the sense of crushing defeat that hung over Copenhagen.  Speaking to reporters in Bonn, outgoing climate chief Yvo de Boer has said, " 'A good outcome of Cancun will be an operational architecture on climate change,' he said. 'And then we can decide on a treaty.' De Boer said he expects such an international climate treaty before the end of 2012, but even that will 'not be the definitive answer to the climate change challenge.'  One might wonder, with all the hype and urgency surrounding Copenhagen as humanity's "last chance" to deal with climate change, how the rhetoric around this year's meeting has suddenly gotten so lax?

It's certainly not the case that indications of oncoming climate change have slowed - between record highs in Pakistan and India, devastating flooding in Rio de Janeiro, and extreme rainfall in Nashville, world leaders ought to be feeling the urgency more than ever.  Especially Mexico, the hosts of this year's meeting, ought to realize that their own country's interests are at stake in hammering out a deal that is ambitious and in line with the latest science, 350ppm.  Just last week, Hurricane Alex swept along Mexico's west coast and inland, causing severe damage in the states of Coahuila, Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas and stranding more than 170,000 people.  350 Mexico coordinator Marcelo, who hails from a town near Monterrey, one of the most affected cities, is heading back there this weekend to help his state's disaster response team, and to move his family to higher ground.  The images in Monterrey are not unlike Hurricane Katrina - people stranded on rooftops, no potable food and water, bridges down and streets completely impassable.  Marcelo's family reports that local store owners are gouging prices, charging the equivalent of $20 for a liter of bottled water.

And it's not even supposed to be hurricane season yet, and Monterrey is inland, not typically in the line of fire of these storms.  This storm, and all the other climate impacts appearing all around the world, ought to serve as a stern warning to Mexico's leaders, and all the world's leaders, that there is no time to wait in getting to work on an ambitious international response to climate change.  Please stay involved with keeping the pressure on our leaders this year through getting to work on 10/10/10 - and we'll keep you posted on our efforts from here in Mexico to keep the pressure up on the road to Cancun.   Because for the sake of all the people of Monterrey, Pakistan, Rio de Janeiro, and all the others feeling the impacts of climate all around the world - we can't afford to wait.

 
07/06/10, 12:31pm
Europe
Jamie Henn
Jamie Henn

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A great update on the 10:10 Campaign

The Guardian has a great piece today on the incredible success of the 10:10 campaign, our lead partner for the 10/10/10 Global Work Party.

10:10 started in the UK and has now spread all around the world as thousands of people, businesses, and governments are taking up the goal of cutting their emissions 10% in 2010. If you haven't signed up to cut your 10% yet, make sure to visit the 10:10 Global Website.

The Guardian assesses the (many) successes of the campaign thusfar and includes an update from 10:10 UK director, Eugenie Harvey. The Guardian site is also full of good tips and ideas for how you can get to work on cutting yoru emissions 10%, so make sure to get on over and check it out.

And once you've gotten your fill of inspiration, make sure to sign up an event for 10/10/10, when all across the globe communities will get to work on climate solutions and celebrate a clean energy future. Trimming our carbon fat by 10% is a great first step on the road to 350 ppm, and we're honored to be taking it with the 10:10 campaign, our hundreds of other partners around the world and -- most importantly -- all of you. 

 
07/02/10, 2:21pm
N. America
Sara Camp
Sara Camp

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Albany, CA prepares for 10/10/10

We are really excited to hear that the entire city of Albany, California (pop. 20,000), located on the east side of the San Francisco Bay, will be getting to work on 10/10/10. In conjunction with their very active Transition Town, every residence will be receiving a 10/10/10 flier, strategically located in their garbage bill, to alert them about the 350.org Global Work Party. The flier includes photos of Albany 350 actions, information about the science of 350 and a bunch of great work party ideas. Additional fliers will be posted at local venues.

To sweeten the pot, the city will provide free Bay-friendly native plants, shrubs and trees to those who wish to garden or plant street trees. Further encouragement is also being offered in the form of eco-friendly prizes for the most creative efforts with the best level of participation that reduce greenhouse gas levels.

Albany was an active participant in the first International Day of Climate Action last year but this city-wide outreach and effort is unprecedented. Perhaps your city or town can do the same? It couldn't hurt to ask!

 
07/01/10, 5:54pm
Kelly Blynn
Kelly Blynn

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Getting to zero: 10 communities leading the way!

The latest edition of Popular Science has profiled 9 of the world's communities who have made the ambitious commitment of lowering their emissions to zero, to check in on how they're doing to meet their goal that has set them as the leaders and examples.  The 9 communities have some interesting stories behind them, so be sure to click through - from Greensburg, Kansas, a community flattened by a tornado that has now committed to rebuilding entirely green, to a whole island in Denmark that is now producing more energy than it uses, to our friends in the Maldives who are both severely impacted by climate change and setting the pace for addresssing it.  These communities have some great ideas for how to really get serious in making the transition locally to clean energy and a carbon-free future - maybe they'll have some good ideas for your 10/10 event.  Check it out!

Samsø, Denmark

Number 10. OK, so to really make it 10 communities (that is our theme for the year), we can add in Middlebury College in the US state of Vermont - where many of the 350 coordinators got their start organizing on climate change.  Here's the guide we wrote as students for getting your college to slash emissions and more info about how they're doing in acheiving their goals.  OK, time to get to work!

 
07/01/10, 3:46pm
Jamie Henn
Jamie Henn

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Circle This Date (and check out the NEW 350.org!)

Dear Friends--

It's been an incredible few months of non-stop campaigning here at 350.org--and we're about to kick it into high gear.

Starting today, we're pulling out all the stops and charging towards 10/10/10, the "Global Work Party."  This one day will be a MASSIVE opportunity to celebrate climate solutions at the local level--and put the pressure on our leaders while doing so.

If you don't already know all about 10/10/10, read the NEW invitation letter below from 350.org co-founder Bill McKibben.

We've also got a brand new 350.org website to help launch 10/10/10 and make it easier for people to find and register local events--here's a sneak peak:

If you do already know all about 10/10/10, now is the perfect time to tell someone who doesn't.  Forward on Bill's letter to 10 friends (we like the number 10 this year) and help make the movement for a safe climate 10 times as big as it is right now.

You can share the new www.350.org website with a couple of clicks on Facebook or Twitter, or just tell your friends to check out the new and improved www.350.org website.

Onwards towards 10/10/10,

Jamie

P.S. Don't forget to read and share the invitation from Bill McKibben, below. 

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Bill McKibben - 350.org
Sent: Tuesday, June 29, 2010 at 3:28 PM
Subject: Circle this date.
To: Jamie Henn

Dear World,

It's been a tough year: in North America, oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico; in Asia some of the highest temperatures ever recorded; in the Arctic, the fastest melting of sea ice ever seen; in Latin America, record rainfalls washing away whole mountainsides.

So we're having a party.

Circle 10/10/10 on your calendar. That's the date. The place is wherever you live. And the point is to do something that will help deal with global warming in your city or community.

We're calling it a Global Work Party, with emphasis on both 'work' and 'party'. In Auckland, New Zealand, they're having a giant bike fix-up day, to get every bicycle in the city back on the road. In the Maldives, they're putting up solar panels on the President's office. In Kampala, Uganda, they're going to plant thousands of trees, and in Bolivia they're installing solar stoves for a massive carbon neutral picnic.

Since we've already worked hard to call, email, petition, and protest to get politicians to move, and they haven't moved fast enough, now it's time to show that we really do have the tools we need to get serious about the climate crisis.

On 10/10/10 we'll show that we the people can do this--but we need bold energy policies from our political leaders to do it on a scale that truly matters.  The goal of the day is not to solve the climate crisis one project at a time, but to send a pointed political message: if we can get to work, you can get to work too--on the legislation and the treaties that will make all our work easier in the long run.

You can sign up to host a local event at www.350.org/oct10

Or search for an event to join at www.350.org/map

And don't worry about being alone at this party: there are already 1077 groups in 109 countries around the world scheduled to do something great that day. We'll knit all these groups together with a powerful mosaic of photos, videos, and stories from around the world. You wouldn't want to miss it.

It's been a tough year--but it can be a beautiful day on the 10th Of October if we work together, and party together. And if we do it right, then we'll take a big step towards the kind of political solutions we desperately need.

Onwards!

Bill McKibben and the 350.org team

P.S. If you feel a little shy, or wonder if you can really make a party work, check out these pictures from last year's Global Day of Action. There were 5200 demonstrations in 181 countries, which means an awful lot of folks like you figured out how to get it done!