FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 4th, 2009
Contact: Alex Posorske, 1Sky: (301) 270-4550 x230; alex@1sky.org
Ted Glick, CCAN: 973-460-1458, ted@chesapeakeclimate.org

Washington, D.C. – Concerned families and climate activists gathered in front of the White House today to display art work from all over the country representing the urgency of the climate crisis and to demand that President Obama fight for ambitious and binding international action on climate change when he attends the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark on Dec. 9.

The Copenhagen conference is expected to run from December 7 to December 19.  1Sky and other groups dedicated to fighting climate change are calling for bold international action to address climate change; and warning that failure to generate an effective, working agreement soon could have disastrous consequences for the planet.

“The planet cannot wait,” said Gillian Caldwell, Campaign Director for 1Sky, one of two groups organizing the event.  “We need to see serious progress in Copenhagen and from the United States Senate over the next few months.  The economic benefits of acting are very clear and the result of no action is also, unfortunately, very clear.”

After the rally the attendees moved over to the Ellipse and laid out the art work to form the number “350.”  The number signifies 350 parts per million – the safe upper limit of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, according to leading scientists.    

“While the politics may be complicated, science has given us a simple target: 350 parts-per-million of carbon dioxide in the sky,” said Ted Glick, Policy Director at the Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN), the other main organizer of the event. “The ultimate goal at Copenhagen and beyond is to reach that level of "atmospheric safety" for ourselves and future generations. We’re here to make sure President Obama knows that there is overwhelming support across the nation for bold science-based action.”

Today’s action was one of over 30 1Sky events nationwide this week and was a culmination of a month-long campaign to push President Obama to zealously fight for ambitious international action during the Copenhagen conference.  Over the last month, 1Sky volunteers throughout the country have organized over 200 “art gatherings” where activists got together and created large murals representing the urgency of the climate crisis.  Many of those murals were displayed in front of the White House today.

Specifically 1Sky and CCAN are calling on the Obama administration to:

-          Push for stronger action on short term targets for greenhouse gas emission cuts beyond the 17 % currently offered by the United States.

-          Make a financial commitment to invest in technologies and strategies to aid the transition as a good faith acknowledgement of the U.S role as a primary emitter of carbon.

-          Use the Copenhagen conference to pressure the U.S. Senate to build the political will to pass a strong bill in the Senate this spring.

Today’s action was co-sponsored by 350.org, Avaaz Action Factory, Campus Progress, CarbonfreeDC, CARE USA, Carrots and Sticks Project, Greater Washington Interfaith Power and Light, Green America, Green DMV, Organic Consumers Association, Planet Restoration, Roosevelt Institution, Simplicity Matters Earth Institute, Solar Nation, and SustainUS.

Photos from today’s event and a listing of other events that took place nationwide during this push are available by emailing Alex Posorske at alex@1sky.org.  For further quotes from co-sponsors of today’s action go to http://www.1sky.org/allyquotes-art.

The Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN) is the first grassroots, nonprofit organization dedicated exclusively to fighting global warming in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. Its mission is to educate and mobilize citizens of this region in a way that fosters a rapid societal switch to clean energy and energy-efficient products, thus joining similar efforts worldwide to halt the dangerous trend of global warming.

1Sky is a collaborative national campaign for strong federal action to tackle global climate change and invest in building the clean energy economy of the future. As one of the largest national campaigns in the country, 1Sky combines the force of 620 allied organizations, 201,959 committed climate advocates, 4,238 volunteer Climate Precinct Captains covering more than 394 congressional districts in 50 states, and a team of 24 including 9 organizers in 50 states working to mobilize constituent support.

For more information on 1Sky contact Adi Nochur at (301) 270-4550 x224 or Adi@1sky.org