activism
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Climate and political tipping points
There’s a famous quote attributed to Mahatma Gandhi: “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.” However, according to Wikipedia, it may be that this concept was first expressed by a U.S. labor leader, Nicholas Klein of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers, in 1914. According to a report […]
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Green celebs bring sexy back to Senate politics
The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is taking a page out of David Roberts’ book by railing on the U.S. Senate to pass the clean energy jobs bill in this celebri-full video. It formally launches a new video advocacy campaign called This is Our Moment, which is banking on the pure pop-sexiness of stars like […]
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Upping the ante on climate
Just about one year ago today, Barack Obama was inaugurated as President. Hopes were high among progressive-minded people, including climate activists. Finally, we had a President who got it on the need for action to address the deepening climate crisis. But here we are a year later and things look very different. The United States, […]
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Christmas and Copenhagen
The huge—and hugely disappointing, as far as the official results—Copenhagen world climate conference has just concluded. Since the worldwide celebrations of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth are coming up later this week, I thought I would study the words of Jesus in the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John to see if any of what he said there was of relevance to what just happened in Copenhagen.
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The moral equivalent of slavery
Abolitionists were considered outrageous in their day … and yet.Library of CongressThe problem with relying on World War II as the historical parallel for an energetic, last-minute drive by the U.S. to save the world from climate cataclysm, is that it depends on domestic climate impacts equivalent to Pearl Harbor to kick the whole thing […]
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Three good things that might come from Copenhagen
Copenhagen was a disaster for anyone who anticipated actual progress toward a functional global solution. What was true on Thursday (‘Empty’ climate deal worse then no deal, says White House) went out the window Friday, and an event that was to crown ten years of international effort produced utterly useless language, unenthusiastically scrabbled together in […]
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Dark winter days at the JP Green House
Family and crew show their climate commitment at the JP Green House.As I write this, the Northeast is methodically being blanketed with a thick blessing of snow, shutting everything down, as if the earth knows we need comfort and beauty after this horrible week. The crisis of our planet manifested at Copenhagen. We held a […]
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Pelosi and pals tell world: ‘Blame the Senate’
COPENHAGEN—Seven Democratic leaders from the U.S. House of Representatives made an appearance in the Bella Center on Thursday, spreading the message that treaty negotiations have the support of the House along with President Obama. Photo evidence: Congress cares! Speaker Nancy Pelosi (center, in red … duh) brought along six fellow Democrats to make sure everyone […]
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Canada—or practical jokers?—announces bold new climate position
UPDATE: The Yes Men come clean. Read this, and watch the video: Original post from Dec. 14: If only it were true. This has all the makings of a Yes Men project, which is too bad, because it would be wonderful news if it were true: Canada Announces New Agenda For Climate and World Development […]