Current Green Blog

Copenhagen has been referred to as the most important diplomatic gathering in the world’s history. In preparation for the climate talks in December, Current Green is going to bring you a slew of interviews from a a range of perspectives and locations from around the world. Today we caught up with Jim Hogan, co-founder of www.desmogblog.com, and author of Climate cover up: The crusade to deny global warming.

Other video interviews in 360 Degrees of Copenhagen series:

Social Networks for Copenhagen: Hello Facebook and Twitter

Copenhagen in plain English

The Battle strategy of the environmental movement music video

360 Degrees of Copenhagen: A video update from Adopot a Negotiator: summary of Bangkok climate and talks and preparing for Barcelona

This guest post comes via Daniel J Kessler, Media officer at Green Peace.

On November 17th, two Greenpeace activists from Germany and Italy and two members of the press from India and Italy, all of whom were traveling on valid business and journalist visas, were picked up and detained by Indonesian police. They were on their way to meet the villagers of Teluk Meranti, who have been supporting Greenpeace in its efforts to highlight rainforest and peatland destruction in the Kampar Peninsula–ground zero for climate change. The police also took into custody an activist from Belgium who had been working at our Climate Defenders Camp there.

Despite the validity of their travel documents and the absence of any wrongdoing, two of the activists and both journalists are now being deported by immigration authorities on questionable and seemingly contrived grounds, even though no formal deportation permits have been issued. Just a few days before, immigration authorities deported eleven other international Greenpeace activists who participated in a non-violent direct action on November 12th, in a concession where APRIL, one of Indonesia’s largest pulp and paper companies, is clearing rainforest and draining peatland on the Peninsula.

We set up the Climate Defenders Camp to bring attention to role of deforestation as a major driver of greenhouse gas emissions in advance of December’s Copenhagen climate negotiations. If we are stop climate change, we must end global deforestation by 2020 and bring it to zero in priority areas like Indonesia by 2015. A drive through the Kampar Peninsula reveals acre after acre of forest conversion from healthy rainforest to palm oil plantations. There is no sign of animal life or biodiversity — just row after row of palm. The destruction of the peatlands helps to make Indonesia the world’s 3rd largest emitter go greenhouse gases, just after the US and China.

In the interest of the environment and human rights, Greenpeace is calling upon world leaders and concerned citizens to contact Indonesia’s President Yudhoyono to ask him to stop these repressive actions by the Indonesian Police and Immigration authorities. The tactics currently being used by the authorities are likely to adversely impact upon the Indonesian government’s international reputation as well as the country’s reputation as a vibrant democracy.

It is not Greenpeace activists or journalists who should be the focus of the authorities, but the companies who are responsible for this forest destruction. We are working to make President Yudhoyono’s recent commitment to reduce Indonesia’s greenhouse gas emissions a reality and the journalists are telling that story.

You can take action at www.greenpeace.org

Related links:

Activist 911: Activists drop Tar Sands banner over Niagara Falls

Activist 911: Death zone in Ecuador

It’s a crisis in story telling. Most main stream media sources are not effectively communicating the importance or relevance of the Copenhagen Climate Talks. It might also be a crisis in marketing: since the general terms being used to describe the most important climate talks in history (to date) are being referred to as Copenhagen (makes me think of beer and vacation) and cop15 (makes me think of… well…nothing).

But do not fear!! The internet video is here!!!

I have two favorites at the moment that I want to share. I think this one (just released by Do The Green Thing) does a great job of giving explainer about what is going to happen at Copenhagen climate talks:

Then there is this video. Frankly, it didn’t do much for me, but it touches on one the most important issues that is under communicated: By the time Copenhagen rolls around, the negotiators will already have their marching orders. If you want to enjoy any idea of hope of influencing the potential outcome of the talks…NOW IS THE TIME.

And then there is this video produced by tcktcktck. It’s got star power and drama and makes me think back to Live Aid when I was a sweet young teen and believed anything was possible…that we actually can change the momentum of the way things are headed and save the problems of the planet. I enjoy living in that moment: I hope you do too and enjoy this video.

I don’t know about you: but the situation of Copenhagen blows my mind on a daily basis. The fact that it is very possibly one of the most significant decision making processes of this time re climate change policy, and the majority of people I know do not know it’s significance, or the impact of the decisions making process. It’s not their fault. It’s a failure of media makers.

So what are we doing? For starters we are working on a series called 360 Degrees of Copenhagen, to show the various perspectives in order to gain a better understanding of the relevance of the climate talks.

But for now,  I am posing the question to you: can you explain Copenhagen in plain English? Do you have a blog post, a quick phrase that you use to tell your friends and family the relevance of the Copenhagen climate talks? And why people should care? Leave a comment, and we’ll compile share.

I like to tell my friends if they were going to pick one particular moment in history to engage their political leaders on climate change: THIS is that moment.

Meanwhile~tcktcktck is rocking the world via their dedication to communicating the urgency of the moment:

The final round of climate talks in Barcelona began today, and the activism has begun.

The TckTckTck campaign woke up negotiators in Barcelona with alarms clocks this morning, while Greenpeace climbers dropped yet another banner, this time from Barcelona’s famous cathedral, Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia, calling on world leaders to
step up their political action on climate change.

From Greenpeace:

The 26 activists are currently in the process of hanging a 600 sq m banner saying “World
leaders: make the climate call.”

Barcelona is host this week to the final round of climate talks before
December’s Copenhagen UN climate summit – this week the stage must be
set for the world to agree a fair, ambitious and binding climate deal.

“A good deal for the climate is still possible. All that is missing is
political will, not least from the US, which under President Obama has
fallen far behind the rest of the world, and is threatening to undermine
a planet-saving agreement in Copenhagen,” said Damon Moglen of
Greenpeace US.

“Negotiators at these talks can only get so far without strong direction
from their heads of state. This is the week for global leaders to make
the climate call.”

A recent Greenpeace analysis of the pending US climate legislation (1)
shows that the bills have been compromised by loopholes and handouts to
the fossil fuel industry and undermine President Obama’s pledge to lead
the world in a solution to the climate crisis.

“Frankly, it’s an embarrassment that President Obama has allowed oil and
coal companies to set the terms of the US response to climate change. If
America is to kick its addiction to fossil fuels and join the
international community in averting a climate catastrophe, President
Obama must put forward commitments in line with climate science and not
bow to political expediency.”
There is now decisive movement from the developing world.  Brazil,
China, India Indonesia, Mexico, South Africa, South Korea are preparing
to announce strong quantifiable plans involving serious cuts in emissions.

“The time for finger-pointing is over,” said Ailun Yang of Greenpeace
China. “It is clear that right now developing countries are making a
much greater effort to solve this problem – while industrialised
countries seem to be spending more time in downplaying the possibilities
of a good deal than they are in trying to get one.”

“The lives of hundreds of millions are on the line, along with the fate
of countless species, if the climate crisis is not solved now.  Knowing
who is to blame will be of little consolation to future generations.”

This week in review. So much happened!

Well for starters, the largest climate event in history happened. Plenty of discussion ensued. It felt like it unified people around the planet around a common goal, and created plenty of healthy discussion about the state of the environment and activism.

Given that 350 was designed to make sure that the Cop 15 negotiators knew that their countries were behind them as they prepare for negotiating an ambitious global agreement..now I’ll stop here: it there was language in there that didn’t make sense, you are not alone. Much of Copenhagen, the process, and the issues at stake are minimally understood, hence we bring you 360 degrees of Copenhagen. AKA as Copenhagen in plain English. This week, Joshua Weise, affectionately referred to as a climate stalker (by Karl Burkart of Green dig.net), gives us a brief update of what happened at the recent Bangkok climate talks, and whats to come in Barcelona this coming week (the last round of talks before Copenhagen).

Twitter was a flurry this week (oh~ that’s not news) but there were plenty of hashtags to watch if you wanted to watch bloggers report out from the Senate hearings. @BeThatChange took on the twittermission to bring @Barackobama 2 copenhagen  via the #hope2cope hashtags. You can also follow #cop15 for all things Copenhagen on twitter.

A very fun call out was placed on our site by award winning photographer Ian Shive: he has said that he will review anyone’s photos and provide feedback about how to make them into work that you can use to preserve the land you love so much. Deadline in November 3rd.

Two reports of interest came out this week: American’s are getting better at conserving water and apparently bloggers are haters…or at least, hate on the climate science according to Pew’s latest report.

David de Rothschild and his co-skipper Jo Royale came by our office to talk about the adventure they are planning to take across the Pacific on their boat made of plastic. I don’t think I’ve ever laughed that hard while talking about depressing facts about the state of the ocean (David nick named me Debbie Downer between a long string of off colored pirate jokes and explanations of how men are getting limp fin sydrome after eating shark) and yes of course, we discussed the state of plastics, garbage, the ocean, vertical gardening on the ship, and how to undress a rabit. Stay tuned for the interview. (Oh! And they answered everyone’s questions, so thanks for asking!)

Lots of discussion about how to present the message of climate change to the people. So step right up and pick your viral messaging! Sexy images of young supermodels undressing:

or heart wrenching music and small children getting beat up by policemen (anyone else wonder if the children in this video will be permanently damaged?) A nickel goes to the first person who guess which video has 240K views and which one has 5K views.

Janforgore wrote a beautiful guest blog post on biodynamics. And life would not be complete if we didn’t leave you with a few puns inspired by the news that cow farms are converting manure into electricity (and bless every single one of you who wrote in comments that included puns and jokes. You made my Friday!)

Next week~ Hawaii! (Someone had to take one for the team). I’m very honored to be asked to lead a pannel at the Re:Think Hawaii conference on sustainability and report back on the sustainability efforts of Hawaii. More on that….soon. Have a great weekend, and take care.

On December 7, 2009, the Danish Ministry of Climate and Energy will gather delegates from all over the world to meet in Copenhagen for the United Nations Climate Change Conference, (aka COP15). The goal of the event is to result in an “ambitious global agreement” that will include every country of the world.  The event is complex, at times confusing, so we figured the least we could do is provide a 360 degree perspective of the conference via  leading up to the event.

Joshua Wiese, program director of Adopt a Negotiator, webcams in from England to provide updates on the climate talks that have taken place in preparation for Copenhagen. As acting director of The Adopt a Negotiator project, Joshua coordinates a group of 12 dynamic young people from around the world as they track their climate negotiator throughout the process leading up to this December’s COP15. Here is what they’ve been up to.

The latest update from Bangkok – what’s new?

An update on some of the good news out of Bangkok, and, of course, some of the bad, as we get closer and closer to Copenhagen:

Lastly, Joshua talks to us about what YOU can do to pressure our world leaders to act on climate change in Copenhagen:

Joshua and his envoy are off to Barcelona for the next round of climate talks,  there are  five sessions left before the World’s leaders meet in Copenhagen for climate negotiations. To track Joshua, and his envy, you can follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and of course at Adopt a Negotiator webbsite.

Related Posts:

360 Degrees of Copenhagen: Guest Post Joshua Wiese

Bangkok Climate Talks: The No B.S. Youth Report

On December 7, 2009, the Danish Ministry of Climate and Energy will gather delegates from all over the world to meet in Copenhagen for the United Nations Climate Change Conference, (aka COP15). The goal of Danish government is that the “COP15 conference will result in an ambitious global agreement” that include every country of the world. This will be the global green event of the year and is controversial taboot.

Current Green will be keeping you up to date on all the latest developments and will provide a 360 degree point of view of the conference via guest bloggers over the course of the next few months. Today our guest blogger is Josh Nelson is a blogger, activist and new media consultant living and working in the Washington, D.C. area.  His website, EnviroKnow.com, exposes the source documents behind environmental news headlines.

Senator Inhofe to Lead Anti-Science Delegation to International Climate Talks

Several members of the United States Senate have a serious credibility problem when it comes to climate change. Chief among them is Senator James Inhofe, whose career highlight was saying on the Senate floor that global warming is the “greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people.”

Mr. Inhofe’s most recent assault on the debate over domestic climate legislation was his insistence on repeating a misleading analysis of the costs of climate legislation, despite all evidence to the contrary. Incredibly, when I asked Senator Inhofe’s staff to respond to the fact that his statements on climate legislation were clearly factually inaccurate, they responded with the single-most convoluted statement I’ve ever seen.  This is what we’re up against folks, and it is neither logical, credible nor reality-based.  I would engage in a point-counterpoint back and forth with Mr. Inhofe’s staff — as I recently did with Senator Murkowski’s staff on the same issue — but it would clearly be fruitless. Rather than respond to Mr. Dempsey’s largely irrelevant arguments, I’ll simply refer you to this FactCheck.org refutation of the crux of his argument.  Flail away, Mr. Dempsey, but reality is on our side.

Now, obstructing domestic legislation is one thing, but taking the anti-science freakshow on the road is something else entirely. Sadly, this is apparently what Senator Inhofe intends to do.

Mr. Inhofe — who is widely considered the least credible member of the United States Senate — recently announced a plan to take his anti-science antics to dizzying new heights. Senator Inhofe intends to lead a truth squad of climate change deniers to the international climate change negotiations in Copenhagen this December with the specific intention of embarrassing the United States and undermining President Obama.

Predictably, Senator Inhofe broke the news to the arch-conservative National Review:

“Now, I want to make sure that those attending the Copenhagen conference know what is really happening in the United States Senate. Some people, like Senator Barbara Boxer, will tell the conference, with Waxman-Markey having passed in the House, that they can anticipate that some kind of bill will pass EPW.” Such statements, Inhofe says, deserve a bold response. “Look,” he says, “there is no bill that is bad enough to not pass out of our committee. There may be enough votes to get a bill out of EPW, but there is far from enough support in the Senate. The Democrats don’t have the votes. There are too many newly-elected Democrats in the Senate who don’t want to go home and tell voters that they just voted for the largest tax increase in American history.”

This is not the first time Senator Inhofe has embarrassed the United States at an international climate discussion. As The American Prospect reported years ago, Inhofe pulled a similar stunt in Milan in 2003 and was met with mockery:

Inhofe’s Milan appearance triggered considerable controversy, as well as some fun at the senator’s expense. The National Environmental Trust (NET) whipped up posters showing Inhofe’s picture and his famous quotation, displaying them for the delegates present. “The reaction in the halls was — well, they just believed it was lampoonable,” notes one Democratic Senate staffer.

Although Senator Inhofe’s frequent delusional outbursts are ripe for mockery, the subject matter is deadly serious.

Mr Inhofe’s embarrassing and irresponsible behavior on the international level raises important questions. Eric Kleefeld at TPM DC phrases it well:

It’s nice to see how seriously foreign policy is taken these days — when a member of the political minority will send his own delegation to an international conference, in order to undermine the government and tell other countries that they can’t work with the United States.

I can’t help but recall Speaker Pelosi’s March 2007 trip to Syria and the chorus of insults from media outlets and conservative politicians that accompanied it. I’m sure all of those who took Speaker Pelosi to task for undermining President Bush on the international stage will be setting their sites on Senator Inhofe in the days to come.

Related Content:

The Green Road to Copenhagen

360 Degrees of Copenhagen: Adopt a Negotiator

Video post cards from Hawaii (VIDEO)

On December 7, 2009, the Danish Ministry of Climate and Energy will gather delegates from all over the world to meet in Copenhagen for the United Nations Climate Change Conference, (aka COP15). The goal of Danish government is that the “COP15 conference will result in an ambitious global agreement” that include every country of the world. This will be the global green event of the year and is controversial taboot. Current Green will be keeping you up to date on all the latest developments and will provide a 360 degree point of view of the conference via guest bloggers over the course of the next few months. This week our guest blogger (unbeknown to him) is Stephen Thomson, a Current Green community member who used the format of video rant to express his opinions about what’s on the line at Copenhagen.

Related Links (aka more sound offs my Stephen)

The Robin’s Nest: A New Set of Circumstances (video)

What Would Jesus Call It? “Govt Plan” or “Public Option” (video)

The Road to Copenhagen: Are We On Track? (video)