A Call to Action

December 6, 2008 - Celebrating a New Day for the Earth

Friday, November 14, 2008

To Friends of the Climate Crisis Coalition,

On Saturday, December 6, 2008, concerned citizens around the world will be participating in the fourth annual Global Day of Climate Action. This important day will be midway through the annual UN climate conference, taking place this year in Poznan, Poland. The Climate Crisis Coalition's international ally, The Global Climate Campaign, is synchronizing demonstrations around the world in as many places as possible - to call on world leaders to take urgent action on climate change. As in previous years, CCC is calling on friends and allies to partake in any way they can.

This year, actions in the U.S. are particularly pertinent because the U.N. conference is going to set the parameters for the all-important post-Kyoto treaty to be signed in December, 2009 in Copenhagen. And with the hoped-for dawning of a new era in Washington, this will represent a last chance for the U.S. to clearly reverse its obstructionist role and set the tone so that a significant, strong and binding treaty can be negotiated. The perils our planet faces demand no less.

CCC will again provide an online network where people can find out about events taking place across the country and groups and individuals can register new events. We only have three weeks to put this together, but with our all-consuming elections behind us, and growing number of citizens eager to keep the President-elect Obama and the new Congress focused on the climate crisis, CCC is convinced that it is not too late for significant actions to take place across the U.S. on or around December 6th. Many are all ready in the works.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: Rallies, teach-ins, forums, vigils, movie showings and other gatherings of all types are encouraged. CCC will publicize and report on these actions through postings at the Climate Action: 12/6/08 site.

The Issues

CCC is urging participants to concentrate on four demands.

Binding and enforceable climate legislation in the U.S within the first 100 days of the new Congress that will begin to sharply curtail greenhouse-gas emissions. The U.S. must also exert leadership toward reaching a similarly effective post-Kyoto treaty.

Reduced levels of atmospheric CO2. Our allies at 350.org, inspired by climate scientist James Hansen and author Bill McKibben, are making a compelling case for a drastic reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, not just to level off atmospheric concentrations that are already far to high, but to reduce them to a level where the earth and life as we know it has a fighting chance. Top climate scientists have come up with the number of 350 parts per million: that must be our goal and our rallying cry.

100% carbon-free electricity within 10 years. Al Gore has issued a five-part plan to repower America with a commitment to producing 100 percent of our electricity from carbon-free sources within 10 years. This is a goal that must be embraced by all.

Pricing carbon pollution will create powerful incentives for our economy to rely upon energy efficiency and renewable energy sources, both of which will reduce emissions, create green jobs and promote economic and social equity. This involves gradually-increasing carbon taxes on the use of coal, oil and gas, with revenues used to reduce other taxes or distributed directly to individuals on an equal basis. Any of this revenue directed toward developing green energy must be for truly renewable sources - excluding nuclear power and 'clean' coal.

CCC and its allies are planning a major petitioning campaign to Congress and the Obama Administration requesting that equitable carbon pricing be an essential component of a new comprehensive climate bill that needs to be enacted in the first 100 days of the 111th Congress. The website where groups and individuals can support this effort, sign the petition, and send letters to Washington will be launched on November 20th!

We now have remarkable opportunities at a unique juncture in our history. Any help that you can offer would be most appreciated. Please let us know by return email if you can assist with the December 6th Global Day of Action or with our Carbon Pricing Initiative. And, please click here to make a contribution which would now be especially appreciated.

Together, with allies around the world, we can make December 6th, 2008 an event that helps move us toward a New Day for the Earth.

Tom Stokes, CCC Coordinator
tstokes@kyotoandbeyond.org

Ezra Small, Project Organizer
esmall@kyotoandbeyond.org