Articles by David Roberts

G8 climate fast

A group of activists is parked outside the White House, in the midst of a three-day fast meant to urge President Bush to join the rest of the G8 countries in committing to efforts to battle global warming. You can read more about the fast, and find out how to get involved, here.

We asked Billy Parish, coordinator of Energy Action, and Monica Brown, organizer for the Road to Detroit, to send us word of how it's going. Their dispatch is below.

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While President Bush is in Scotland stalling yet another international agreement on global warming, dozens of us from all over the country have gathered directly across from the White House to partake in a three-day fast to stop the madness. Our crowd of youth, environmental, and religious leaders is stranded on a small solar-powered platform along with any and all baggage, chairs, and banners, lest we provoke the fury of metro police, the SWAT team, or national park enthusiasts.

While doing backbends to comply with D.C. demonstration regulations -- keeping tents away from the "drip-line" of nearby saplings and chopping off the ".orgs" from all our signs -- we also happen to be giving up food in an effort to prevent the starvation and death of millions: the inevitable result of droughts and floods caused by global warming.

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More on London and the G8

Aargh. For the first time in five godforsaken years, issues of large-scale humanitarianism were topping the headlines, instead of war, anger, and intolerance. A genuine effort was underway to coordinate the world's largest and most powerful governments around two vital issues of our time: lifting Africa out of poverty and addressing global warming.

And now this. More violence, which will beget, as it always does, violence, anger, and territorialism in response.

We were struggling to find the higher angels of our nature, and now we're back to the reptile brain.

So goddamn frustrating.

As is becoming standard, Wikipedia is the place to keep up with developing news and links around the London tragedy. For coverage of how the Gleneagles participants are struggling to stay focused on the tasks at hand, check out Sciencegate, which has already become indispensable.

And for a reminder of how vital the G8 agenda remains, check out the SciDevNet feature on the connection between global warming and African misery.