Solutions to Climate Change Quilt warms President to cool the planet

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This is a guest post from Ulla Nilsen, a climate activist from Oakland, CA, and creator of the Solutions to Climate Change Quilt [2]. You can see an image of the quilt at the end of the post. -- Luis

I am bringing the Solutions to Climate Change Quilt [2] quilt to Washington DC for the national day of climate change action on Nov. 18th [3], and I'm going to present it to President-elect Obama to urge him to make climate change a priority in the first 100 days. You can add your voice to this call to protect our planet's future by signing the back of the quilt.

I started the quilt in June of this year, around the time I found out I was pregnant with my second child. I had recently started learning more about global warming, and realized I needed to do something, for my own sanity, and to help my kids chances of growing up on a beautiful, livable Earth.

I decided to focus on solutions to climate change, and wrote to friends and family and asked them to make squares. I also started bringing my box of craft supplies and a banner to parks and farmer's markets. It was a lot of fun to talk to people about the project, and to make art with kids. Over a hundred people have contributed to the quilt.

The quilt measures 8 x 14 ft and has 350 pieces, to represent the 350 parts per million of carbon dioxide (CO2) that NASA climatologist James Hansen has said is the maximum safe level of CO2 in our atmosphere.

While I am hopeful that with President Obama's election and the new Democratic majority in Congress climate change will finally be taken seriously, we must continue to speak out. As he himself proclaimed in his victory speech, this is not the change we seek, but the chance to make that change.

We have the chance to convince our representatives to commit to a safe level of CO2 in the atmosphere, and to invest in green jobs and clean energy. We have the chance to be heard over the voices of the fossil fuel industries. We have the chance to achieve a safe future for ourselves and our children.

The solutions to climate change exist. We just need to put them into practice. Add your name to the back of the quilt, and join in sending a message to President-elect Obama. In order to undertake the massive investment required to transition to a green economy, he needs to know we care.