This is a cut-and-paste post from a variety of sources dealing with Millennium Development Goal 7. Environmental Sustainability, offering a number of useful links and opportunities for participation. Trouble is that time is now short. A moment of good news along the pathway, but then the realization that the pathway still continues uphill. The good news, tempered with a call for more needed action on the horizon, came from both the Union of Concerned Scientists and Care2. Last month in June:
House of Representatives took a historic vote to pass comprehensive climate legislation legislation that would put in place a nationwide plan to rein in global warming pollution and create an entirely new, cleaner approach to our nation's energy system.But we will need your help to put a strong bill over the finish line. Specifically, you can help turn up the heat on the Senate to act quickly and ensure that we enact a final bill that helps build a revitalized clean energy economy, while reducing the threat of global warming.
Learn more about the American Clean Energy and Security Act, the Climate 2030 Blueprint, key elements of comprehensive climate legislation, why the time to act is now, and how UCS is working to ensure passage of a strong climate
The vote for the American Clean Energy Security Act on the House floor came to an ultimate margin of a mere seven votes, 219-212. Let's pause for a moment to celebrate our success -- and then gear up for what is sure to be a similarly tight vote in the Senate.
Read more about today's victory at Care2's Cause Channels, and leave a comment with your reactions to this sweeping climate bill.
The path get even steeper when we move from the national stage to the international stage of the G8 talks in Italy and later the global summit in Copenhagen. I am personally disappointed that Canada is among this group.
Avaaz has let us know that the the world has just months left to agree on a binding global climate treaty, this is the leaders' last in-person negotiation before the make-or-break Copenhagen summit, but that at the upcoming G8 summit, Canada, Japan, and Russia are trying to veto the 2-degree limit.
Avaaz has put together a worldwide petition, which-- an Avaaz team in Italy will deliver it directly to world leaders and through spectacular stunts on Thursday, (tomorrow) bringing global media attention to shame the climate-wreckers and press them to back down.We urgently need at least 100,000 signatures -- click to sign:
The G8 leaders -- joined by eleven other heads of government at a parallel "Major Economies" meeting next door -- represent more than 80% of climate emissions.We know last-moment pressure can change their policies: Canada's Harper, Japan's Aso, and other leaders could face elections, they can't afford global embarrassment. Sign the petition, send it to friends, and help rescue the climate target now:
They were at 93,757 when I signed. Found at the Global News Sources of this blog more news from IRIN GLOBAL: Twelve countries on climate change hit-list.
SOURCES FROM AVAAZ:
- G8 summit key to global efforts on climate change
- Background on 2 degrees threshold: "'Too late to avoid global warming,' say scientists"
- Canada, Russia Considered Climate 'Bad Boys' Among G8 Nations
- Make-or-break summit as G8 gamble on climate and economy
- EU's Barroso seeks two degrees Celsius pact at G8
Thoreau's Legacy: American Stories about Global Warming introduces a new generation of writers and photographers with a personal connection to global warming. The 67 essays and images in this anthology are drawn from nearly 1,000 submissions about beloved places, people, plants, animals, and activities at risk from a changing climate—and the efforts that individuals are making to save what they love. A foreword by author Barbara Kingsolver serves as a powerful call to action.
The essays we selected represent a variety of perspectives, voices, and experiences. The authors follow in the long tradition of great American environmental writers, like Henry David Thoreau, who have broadened our awareness and sharpened our perspective about the world we share. And they are inspiring action to protect our planet from global warming.
