New Hope in the New Year
New Hope in the New Year
2007 was the year the climate movement really moved: Step It Up helped organize more than 2000 rallies around the country, Powershift brought 6000 young people together in Washington DC to talk about our climate, 1Sky was born, and our politicians listened.
Just a few weeks ago at the UN negotiations In Bali, we worked with the international community to deliver more than 2.6 million petitions signed by people like you, asking our government to take a stand on climate change worldwide. Instead, the United States delegation actively blocked any agreement that had specific greenhouse gas reductions targets.
In 2008, our voices calling for change will be heard — because the stakes are just too high for them not to be. Sister Claire Anterea explains what is at stake in her community on the island nation of Kiribati, in the south Pacific, in this video testimony. Jim Hansen, our nation’s top climate scientist and a 1Sky supporter, recently said that the arctic ice caps are melting, Greenland’s ice sheet sliding into the North Atlantic, sea levels rising and the oceans acidifying all at faster rates than scientists had predicted. Our planetary ecosystem has been nudged off-kilter, and we must reduce our carbon dioxide emissions to 350 parts per million to avoid climate catastrophe — a limit we’ve already surpassed.
But there has never been a time more hopeful. In all corners of the country, 1Sky supporters are taking action to ensure that our politicians are standing with the public on the climate issue. Over the holidays, Floridians took action, hosting a rally in downtown St. Petersburg that garnered media and public attention, and even Santa Claus and 1Sky supporters along with numerous polar bears made sure to stop by campaign rallies in New Hampshire to express their concerns about the melting arctic.
One way you can take action this coming month is by joining Focus the Nation, the largest teach-in in US history. Focus kicks it off with a webcast on January 30th, and will hold educational forums on climate change at more than 1100 institutions around the country on January 31st. Check out their website to get involved:
Let’s take action and make 2008 the most hopeful year yet!
