Tomorrow is not an option

My Op-Ed below, which previews the Copenhagen climate talks, first ran in the Baltimore Sun and on Grist. As many of you know, I will be attending the climate talks next month from December 13-18 on behalf of CCAN and Earthbeat Radio. I will personally be there to record the voices of passionate, inspiring leaders and to add my own voice to the global chorus demanding faster, better results from our world leaders. Starting December 13th, check out the daily video and audio feeds I’ll be posting to this blog.

Climate change reset needed
Let the EPA crack down on carbon emissions, and switch from ‘cap and trade’ to ‘cap and rebate’

By Mike Tidwell
Baltimore Sun
November 27, 2009

Tomorrow is not an option.

Those ought to be the words coming from the White House right now on global warming. Never again can we tolerate a year like 2009, when attempts to cap carbon pollution go nowhere. Already this month, President Barack Obama has confirmed two painful truths. First: Congress will not complete work on a global warming bill in 2009. And second, the corollary blow: There will be no international climate deal in Denmark next month, dashing years of international hopes.

So Mr. Obama should move quickly from explaining failure to achieving real success. He should travel to the Copenhagen climate conference in December and guarantee drastic action from the U.S. in 2010, even if it means blowing everything up in Congress and starting over. If a “cap and trade” bill won’t fly in the Senate in 2010, then let the Environmental Protection Agency explore maximum-strength carbon regulations while, legislatively, we switch back to Mr. Obama’s original presidential campaign plan: “cap and rebate.”

Apologists, of course, are rushing to defend the president, explaining away the now-official climate failures of 2009. There was never enough time, they say, to fix in a few months all the global warming harm George W. Bush created in eight long years.

Maybe so. But we can’t blame Mr. Bush forever. What’s the plan for 2010? The only strategy the Democrats seem to have is borrowed from 2009: Get the Senate to finally pass the cap and trade bill. That would be the 1,400-page bill narrowly approved by the House in June and loaded with subsidies for “clean coal” and likely big profits for Wall Street traders. It’s been stagnating in the Senate for most of the autumn.

Centrist Democrat Jim Webb of Virginia – a vitally important vote – all but condemned the cap and trade bill last week in a news conference. What if the bill simply never passes? What will Mr. Obama take to the international treaty talks in Germany in June 2010 or in Mexico next December? Continue reading

Copenhagen and Climate: Going all-in

I have a column out today in the UMD newspaper The Diamondback about the upcoming Copenhagen negotiations, along with a call for the US to do more. It’s difficult to write about Copenhagen in only 550 words given the complexities, along with the reality that the readers don’t know a lot about the issue. A few of the takeaway points I wanted to hit on were

1. The planet is warming.

2. China is not an excuse for inaction.

3. We need to do more than we’re doing, and show leadership. Continue reading

Climate Ride: CCAN director bikes from Baltimore to DC

One hundred and forty brave climate activists left New York City’s Central Park on Saturday September 26th with the idea of wheeling down to Congress with a message: Fix the climate now! By the time I caught up with the group on Tuesday night just north of Baltimore, the cyclists had already ridden through rain, hail, headwinds and punishing crosswinds. “I was literally riding at a severe angle, my bike tilted toward the ground,” said one participant from Northern Virginia, describing his trek across Pennsylvania.

Welcome to the 2nd annual Brita Climate Ride, 300 miles of leg-testing, spirit-challenging work (and fun) to beat global warming. Hearing the stories of bad weather, I realized this was the perfect metaphor for the climate movement as a whole. It has NOT been a smooth and sunny ride trying to get strong climate legislation passed by the U.S. Congress this year. We have experienced lots of rain and hail and crosswinds in the House of Representatives. And now more storms are likely in the Senate as we push toward the international Copenhagen conference in December.

But we have to keep on riding until we reach our destination: Clean energy now. No new coal plants. Green jobs for a green economy! Continue reading

Obama to Denmark for Olympics Pitch

Cross-posted from: here

I came across an article that President Obama is going to Denmark. For crucial international negotiations in Copenhagen this December about the next global climate treaty? Not quite.

“President Barack Obama will travel to Denmark this week to support Chicago’s bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics.”

“Obama would be the first U.S. president to take on such a direct role in lobbying for an Olympics event.”

Well, lets hope he returns this December as the first U.S. president to take on a direct role in lobbying for the most important global treaty in the history of mankind. If he doesn’t, I sense the activists will really have a field day with this one.

The Chamber of Commerce has no friends

This has been one exciting week for the climate.

Leaders came together in New York for a United Nations Climate Change Summit, climate activists geared up for the G-20 talks in Pittsburgh, and the whole world geared up for the big talks in Copenhagen.

CCAN’s Ted Glick, Andy Revkin at the New York Times and Anna Pinto, an indigenous rights activist from India, all appeared on Democracy Now! yesterday to talk about the all-important talks in Copenhagen.

“We’ve had a fossil fuel party for a century,” said Revkin during the interview. Watch it here>>

Earlier this week, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown committed to going to Copenhagen himself if it means securing a successful outcome. That phone call was part of thousands being placed across the globe as part of Avaaz.org’s “Global Wake-Up Call.” If their inspiring video is any indication (and I think it is), the coordinated “flash mob” actions went really well.

President Obama gave a heartening, although too tame, speech to the United Nations.

Our generation’s response to this challenge will be judged by history, for if we fail to meet it — boldly, swiftly, and together — we risk consigning future generations to an irreversible catastrophe.

At the same meeting, the President of Malidives gave an incredibly powerful, moving speech.

If things go business-as-usual, we will not live, we will die. Our country will not exist. We cannot come out from Copenhagen as failures. We cannot make Copenhagen a pact for suicide. We have to succeed and we have to make a deal in Copenhagen.

And to top it off, PNM Resources just abandoned its seat on the board of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, citing a fundamental disagreement over its approach to global warming.

According to NRDC’s Pete Altman:

The statement comes within hours of news of electric utility PG&E’s complete withdrawal from the US Chamber and a public statement from Nike expressing its disgust over the Chamber’s views on climate.

PG&E, Nike and PNM cited frustration with the Chamber’s call to put climate science on trial, which Chamber vice-President Bill Kovacs compared to the Scopes Monkey Trial. Kovacs later apologized for the remark. Earlier this spring, Johnson and Johnson made public its frustration with the Chamber’s position on climate.

Outlook for the Chamber of Commerce: not so good.

Outlook for the climate: Long way to go, but progress is being made.

Speaking of progress, don’t miss Lester Brown’s encouraging Op-Ed in the Washington Post’s Outlook section over the weekend.

Copenhagen: Turning Point or More of the Same Old Same Old?

This coming week, in New York City and Pittsburgh, there will be important United Nations and G20 meetings that could advance the process of coming up with a new international treaty to address the climate crisis. This coming week will also see the opening salvo of “civil society” groups in the streets taking action to press their demands for not just any treaty but one that is strong and fair, one that reflects the deepening of the crisis.

From December 7-18, in Copenhagen, Denmark, 190 or so nations will come together in for the annual U.N. Climate Conference, but this one is particularly important. One reason is that it will be the first one in eight years where the U.S. delegation will be led by people who believe that climate change is real, serious and that action is needed to address it. But much more significant is that this is the U.N. conference that was planned, two years ago at a UN climate conference in Bali, Indonesia, as the place and the time that the world had to come up with a much stronger international climate treaty than the Kyoto Protocol.

The Kyoto Protocol became operative on February 16, 2005, and as of sometime in 2012 it will no longer be in effect. The countries which signed it and agreed to reduce their emissions by an average of 5% below 1990 levels have until then to do so. At that point, if there is no international treaty that has been negotiated, ratified by enough countries and gone into effect, there will be nothing that replaces the expired Kyoto treaty.

Since it is expected that it will take at least two years for enough countries to ratify a treaty, the Copenhagen conference has been seen as critical so that there’s no gap in between Kyoto and a new treaty. However, as we’re less than three months out from Copenhagen, with 15 actual negotiating days between now and the end of Copenhagen (including five days in Barcelona, Spain Nov. 2-6), and with a significant number of major issues unresolved and points of conflict, especially between the countries of the Global South (developing countries) and the Global North (developed), it is not looking hopeful for any kind of treaty, much less a good one, to be adopted and signed at Copenhagen. Continue reading

We ARE SCREWED!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 21, 2009

“WE’RE SCREWED”: MEDIA HEIST BLANKETS CITY WITH “SPECIAL EDITION” NEW YORK POSTTabloid Tells Truth About Climate Change and How It Will Affect City, World

Early this morning, nearly a million New Yorkers were stunned by the appearance of a “special edition” New York Post blaring headlines that their city could face deadly heat waves, extreme flooding, and other lethal effects of global warming within the next few decades. The most alarming thing about it: the news came from an official City report.

Distributed by over 2000 volunteers throughout New York City, the paper has been created by The Yes Men and a coalition of activists as a wake-up call to action on climate change. It appears one day before a UN summit where Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon will push 100 world leaders to make serious commitments to reduce carbon emissions in the lead-up to the Copenhagen climate conference in December. Ban has said that the world has “less than 10 years to halt (the) global rise in greenhouse gas emissions if we are to avoid catastrophic consequences for people and the planet,” adding that Copenhagen is a “once-in-a-generation opportunity.”

Although the 32-page New York Post is a fake, everything in it is 100% true, with all facts carefully checked by a team of editors and climate change experts.

“This could be, and should be, a real New York Post,” said Andy Bichlbaum of the Yes Men. “Climate change is the biggest threat civilization has ever faced, and it should be in the headlines of every paper, every day until we solve the problem.”

The fake Post’s cover story (“We’re Screwed”) reports the frightening conclusions of a blue-ribbon panel of scientists commissioned by the mayor’s office to determine the potential effects of climate change on the City. That report was released in February of this year, but received very little press at the time. Other lead articles describe the Pentagon’s alarmed response to global warming (“Clear & Present Disaster”), the U.S. government’s sadly minuscule response to the crisis (“Congress Cops Out on Climate”), China’s alternative energy program (“China’s Green Leap Forward Overtakes U.S.”), and how if the US doesn’t quickly pass a strong climate bill, the crucial Copenhagen climate talks this December could be a “Flopenhagen.”

The paper includes original investigative reporting as well. One article (“Carbon counter counts New Yorkers as fools”) reveals that Deutsche Bank – which erected a seven-story “carbon counter” in central Manhattan – not only invests heavily in coal-mining companies worldwide, but has recently entered the business of coal trading itself.

The paper has the world’s gloomiest weather page, covering the next 70 years rather than just 7 days. The “Around the World” section describes the disproportionate effects of climate change on poorer parts of the world, including extreme droughts, floods, famines, water shortages, mass migrations and conflicts. Developing countries will bear the brunt of climate change effects even though they have done very little to cause the problem.

But the paper isn’t all doom and gloom. An article called “New York Fights Back” notes that the carbon emissions of Big Apple residents are only one third the national average, and that the city is building 1800 miles of bike paths, planting one million trees, and replacing its fleet of police cars with hybrids. There’s also a page of black-humor cartoons (in one, Charlie Brown finds Snoopy drowned), a gossip section that takes no prisoners, and a number of truly cheerful ads – for sex (“Awesome. No carbon emissions.”), tote bags, bicycles, and tap water (“Literally comes right out of your faucet!”).

Another ad promotes civil disobedience, encouraging readers to visit http://BeyondTalk.net and pledge to risk arrest in a planned global action November 30, just before the conference in Copenhagen.

“We need strong action on climate change,” said David Solnit of Mobilization for Climate Justice West, one of the partners in BeyondTalk.net. “But history shows that leaders act only when people take to the streets to demand it. That’s what needs to happen now.”

This paper is one of 2500 initiatives taking place in more than 130 countries as a response to the “Global Wake-up Call” on climate change. For more information,visit http://www.tcktcktck.org/wakeup

Contact: The Yes Men , 347-254-7054, 646-220-4137 Fake New York Post: http://www.nypost-se.com/ PDF of the paper: http://nypost-se.com/todays-paper Video News Release: http://www.nypost-se.com/video City report on climate change: http://www.nyc.gov/html/om/pdf/2009/NPCC_CRI.pdf Wake-up call: http://www.tcktcktck.org/wakeup

Climate Carrots for China and India

Amidst high theatrics, the Senate wrapped up its climate policy hearings last week, shifting the issue to the back-burner until after the August recess. Meanwhile the climate action spotlight followed US Secretary of Energy Stephen Chu and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton overseas as they brought the Obama climate lobby to China and India respectively. carrot

By now, the story of China and India is a familiar one: both countries are quickly growing into carbon spewing behemoths. Both claim climate action could hurt their economies. Neither is enthusiastic about committing to legally binding emissions cuts. Either could emerge as a spoiler in climate treaty talks in Copenhagen this December.

To its credit the Obama administration has been making some efforts to change all that recently. Hence we’ve seen the high level Chu and Clinton missions and Obama’s joint resolution with other G8 leaders on endeavoring to limit global temperature rise to 2 degrees Celsius, and cut emissions 80% by 2050. Trying to set a good example, the US is finally starting to talk the talk on global climate action.

But so far all this has really amounted to is a lot of talk, with no legally binding action to back it up, and promises are clearly not the kind of climate carrots that China and India will respond to. Despite diplomatic overtures by the US, neither country has signed onto the emissions reductions goals set at the G8 summit, and neither Clinton or Chu ended their climate missions with very much to show except more Chinese and Indian refusals to talk about legally binding emissions targets.

Even the Waxman-Markey bill didn’t do much to impress either country. In fact, their only real reaction to the passage of the bill was outrage at the last minute amendment imposing “carbon tariffs” on goods imported from countries without climate laws in place.

The upshot here is essentially what we in the climate movement have been saying about US leadership and the international picture all along. If we want the Chinas and Indias of the world to come on board, we have to lead by example and pass a strong climate bill that codifies our commitment to seriously addressing our own contribution to the crisis.

And this is not just a matter of inspiration. Many of the provisions that climate advocates have been calling for to make the bill effective domestically, are also exactly the kind of carrots that may enhance the international impact of the bill and produce results if dangled before countries like China and India. A bill which strictly limits allowance giveaways to polluters, for example, will produce more revenue for domestic investments in energy efficiency, green jobs and consumer protection programs, as well as international investments in the types of clean energy technology transfer programs China and India have been calling for.

All the more reason for the Senate to deliver on a strong bill this fall, and for President Obama to invest just as much high profile lobbying time on swing Senators at home as swing States abroad. For if the best approach to climate leadership abroad is through climate leadership at home, then Obama’s best international lobby strategy must rest on a strong Senate lobby strategy.

Japan may get new Leadership

Cross-Posted from: here

There’s an article in the Washington Post today about how Japan’s Prime Minister is dissolving parliament and calling elections on August 30. There’s a real possibility that Japan’s current Liberal Democratic Party will lose to the Japanese Democratic Party. Why is this relevant? Well, one of the biggest dissapointments in international negotiations so far has been Japan’s unfortunate emissions target of 8% below 1990 levels and only 2% lower than their Kyoto target.

This begs the question, would a new party in control of Japan lead to a stronger stance on emissions targets, and help move talks forward? The answer appears to be…yes! On paper anyways. You never know what happens once a party actually gets into power. However, compared to what Japan’s current leadership is committing to, I can’t imagine the replacement government could be much worse. Now I realize that the US, China, and India are much bigger hindrances to a strong treaty in Copenhagen. However, Japan is the world’s second largest economy, and a developed country. A bold move by Japan could help ease the deadlock, and commit much needed funds to international adaptation and clean energy efforts. China and Japan also have some ill will to each other, so Japan stepping up on their obligations could be meaningful. I’m posting a couple excerpts on the positions of the Japanese Democratic Party below. I’m also no expert on Japanese politics, so if anyone knows more than me, please chime in.

“Japan’s main opposition party will adopt bolder greenhouse gas cuts than the government by using the global emissions market and increasing green jobs if it wins an upcoming election, the party’s head of green policy said on Wednesday.”

“The country’s 2020 target to cut emissions by 15 percent below 2005 levels Aso announced in June provoked widespread criticism for being too weak and barely tougher than Japan’s current Kyoto target, which it has struggled to meet.”

“Tetsuro Fukuyama, also the Democrats’ deputy policy chief, said the party’s 2020 target to cut emissions by 25 percent below 1990 levels would impose regulations to curb emissions and incentives for energy conservation, increased use of renewable energy and development of green technology.”

“The minus 15 percent target versus 2005 is equivalent to a cut of only 8 percent below 1990 levels.

“It just doesn’t go far enough,” Fukuyama said. “How can they dare to persuade China and India with that number?”