What Did You Do Once You Knew

Does anyone have any ideas how we can raise a lot of awareness for The Climate Mobilization’s indiegogo campaign?

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/launch-the-climate-mobilization

In response to Jackie’s comment, if you want to crowdfund something else to fight global warming, check this out.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/topherwhite/rainforest-connection-phones-turned-to-forest-guar?ref=dave_direct

Only a few hours left.

Don’t mean to double dip in the comments here, but crowdfunding’s a great way you can help preserve a habitable planet and we want healthy ocean’s for the kids.

http://www.theoceancleanup.com/

Nice one! Keep on truckin

I know that we can and I know that you have. I was suggesting that the people who care enough to read this blog should start getting creative. I myself have been brainstorming ways to give them momentum to reach their goal before the 25th. Can anyone think of anything else we (or any one of us) could do?

Maybe multiple or repeat tweets? Or writing to a newspaper for the better writers among us. Anyone?

Glad to be of service. Here’s another hugely important, this time internationally backed crowdfunding project to save the ocean as well. It seems to be in desperate need of money. (I know, I know, you’re sensing a theme in my posts).

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/stand-with-palau?sa=0&sp=0

P.S. I think it’s great policy to respond to everyone’s posts like this. It really keeps the reader involved in the blog.

I concur with the P.S, Tim.

Regarding Ocean plastic.

In Cheasapeake Bay they have this. Which seems to have a lot of scientists raving about it.
http://healthyharborbaltimore.org/whats-happening-now/water-wheel

This seems to be happening In the Netherlands.

http://www.fastcoexist.com/3032231/this-project-traps-plastic-junk-before-it-reaches-the-ocean-and-turns-it-into-floating-parks#3

There’s also this.

http://www.mswmag.com/editorial/2010/11/netting-system-captures-debris-from-stormwater-runoff

This seems to be only theoretical now, but still.

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/james-dyson-outlines-recyclone-concept-barge-that-would-vacuum-rivers-clean-9262200.html

Also, it would do a lot of good to urge people to support this legislation.

http://5gyres.org/posts/2014/06/19/breaking_news_federal_legislation_to_ban_plastic_microbeads_in_cosmetics_introduced/

If and when I find any other links I think you should see. I’ll post them.

Regarding your comment.

Don’t have any links of my own (not even twitter). I mostly post and write.

Thanks JackieI didn’t know about the microbeads law they want to pass. FANTASTIC! Those things are horrible.

Boomer Warrior, I just discovered that there reaction to The Ocean Cleanup is mixed. Some scientists appear really not to like it but a lot of people have suggested that this is just resentment of the creator’s young age. Not being a (that kind of) of scientist, I can’t say who’s right. It seems to check out to me, but again, not a marine biologist or oceanographer. Two of the criticisms I’ve heard is that it would attract marine life and birds who would then ingest more plastic than they would have, therefore disrupting the ecosystem even more. Another, slightly less logical sounding criticism, is that people will put less energy into prevention if they know The Ocean Cleanup is out there. I don’t know how much I buy this.

I think a lot of people, rather than saying “I think there are problems in this project, he should make this part stronger” are saying “This has flaws therefore we should renounce it”. Academic jealousy lives on. Only right now it has more tangible effects than usual. Be that as it may, it might be worth looking into the part about animals flocking to it and ingesting more plastic.

In my purely subjective, personal opinion. I think the the scientists who support him seem a little less tinged with bitterness.

Bottom line; some of these criticisms seem a little fishy. (sorry, couldn’t resist).

Very interesting analysis Tim. Here’s a very important article that explains to the person on the street how the ocean’s health affects them.

http://www.oceanconservancy.org/the-ocean-matters/

Did I break a kind of protocol that one of my posts was deleted? If so, please tell me so that I don’t do it in future. I was just responding to Tim’s link about plastic in the oceans with related links.

Oops. ooops. ooooops. I’m so sorry. Someone else looking at the page told me it was deleted. Sorry, it’s right there. Really sorry.

Anyone want to tweet this? We need to scream it from the rooftops.

http://www.climatecodered.org/2012/12/scientists-call-for-war-on-climate.html

It’s the truth and most green advocates are too afraid to say it for fear of being ostracized. But that makes things worse. This isn’t a political reality, it’s a physical one. The entire movement needs to find a way to speak as one and this is what they need to say.

On a related note, I wish people would stop saying two degrees, two degrees in unequivocally too much, and calling it ‘safe’ is incredibly irresponsible when we all know who was behind ‘two degrees’ in the first place.

Someone NOT guilty of this is The Citizen’s Climate Lobby. Who appear to follow the lead of James Hansen.

Boomer Warrior, I’ve found your polar opposite in terms of attitude toward climate change.

Ezra Klein (http://www.vox.com/2014/6/5/5779040/7-reasons-America-fail-global-warming) recently wrote one of the most damaging and defeatism things I’ve ever read about climate change (coming from the left).

Let us commence

First of all, some of his facts were smudged; second of all, he makes the ncredibly stupid and uneducated assumption that this will only directly affect people who are either in the global south or are subsistence farmers. Apart from the fact that this is mind-bogglingly scientifically inaccurate, it also fails to take into account that if things are bad in one place in the world, this will really really REALLY affect everywhere else. I think one of the reasons this bothers me is that he feels no fear. I think one of the reasons behind this is that he is just the right age to be old enough to mistakenly believe climate change won’t affect him (he even says that he thinks “our grandchildren our fucked”, which of course made me think of the contrast between what he rights and what’s on this site) and just young enough not to have children fight for.

But possibly even worse, every response (http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/06/06/3445803/7-reasons-climate-change/) (http://www.vox.com/2014/6/6/5786318/it-doesnt-make-sense-to-say-weve-failed-at-global-warming) that I’ve seen, seems to think that three degrees, while bad, would still be O.K. This is insanely dangerous, because what it hides from the reader is that the numbers are already inflated. And that runaway global warming which could lead to an increase in degrees into the double digits (eventually) is the most likely outcome of anything much higher than now. He should be ashamed of himself, even if only for unforgivably shoddy research.

Let’s hope this column spurs some of the people who think like we do, the people who know we all have everything to lose, to action. We need a war against climate change. We need to let EVERYONE know we need a war against climate change that half measures are not an option.

Regarding The Ocean Cleanup and denier-like arguments. I couldn’t agree more. I just felt it was important to mention it, just in case. If I hear anything else, I’ll definitely let you know.

I don’t mean to harp on this point but regarding The Climate Mobilization: A good strategy might be to email prominent environmentalists as a supporter of The Climate Mobilization and them to tweet about it. Bill McKibbon, although I don’t always agree with him, has a massive Twitter following and has been known to tweet about crowdfunding projects. And if he says no, some other environmentalist could be approached.

Tim. I LOVE your comments about Ezra Klein. Lead, follow, or would you please shut up and stop causing damage. Honestly, this sort of thing is, in some ways, just as bad as the deniers.

Something else that addresess the Ezra Klein thing.

http://grist.org/climate-energy/3-reasons-you-shouldnt-lose-hope-on-climate-change/

Look at this. No one talks about stuff like this.

http://grist.org/climate-energy/feeling-defeated-these-solutions-fight-climate-change-and-empower-people/

I sit in front of my computer, having read several of your recent articles. This is a website who’s focus, who’s stated focus, is future generations. You fear for your grandchildren. Anyone who knows about this, fears for their children and their grandchildren. I am young, very young.

And I’m afraid.

As am a member of the first, although not the last, generation who’s future will be decided in the coming months and years one is inclined to depression, rage and frustration and, above all, powerlessness. We are being fought for and that’s comforting, but our enemies are so powerful, and so much damage has already been done. And that’s not only terrifying. It’s enervating.

Our personhood is being denied. Our right to a liveable world is being denied. There are people fighting, people marching and proposing laws and, yes, blogging about this. People do care. But not most of the people making the decisions

Most people my age are not as stupid as most people seem to think we are. We know the only times we are ever thought about by those in power is how can our existence be turned to their profit. Don’t they realize that in the long run even their children and their children and their children aren’t safe? That even if they can hoard resources for longer than the rest of us, eventually they’ll die or suffer too? I hope they realize that one day even the people they love will curse them.

What is a person to do? What is a person to feel? How can one react? When we hear that even with the immediate change of course that’s so necessary and so ignored, we have forty years baked in already, and mass disintegration of ice sheets. How can one feel anything but when some of the smartest people in the world are calling you victims of other people’s choices.

How are we supposed to react?

What are we supposed to feel?

What are we supposed to do?

Keep up the good work.

Personally speaking, my view is that Climate Change has been accelerated by inappropriate use of resources. Beginning in the Industrial Revolution and carrying on unchecked until today, we are all guilty of wanting a material existence that can only be made by using raw materials, fossil fuels and human labour. We want “cheap stuff” and it might have only cost us a bit of our “incomes,” but the price to nature is much higher.

We must all start to re-think how we do things. Do we really need a big car? or even a car at all? Do we need two TV’s, several computers, iphones, gadgets and such? Do we need to heat/cool our houses to the nth degree? Do we need to buy every bit of our food in plastic packaging? Do we expect to live in a throw-away society because our stuff is too expensive to fix? If your answer is yes, then I don’t know how we change things.

It is not simply a matter of switching to “green” technologies. They must also be affordable, easy to produce, and most importantly, they must not use up energy/resources or produce nasty by-products in the process. We are not there yet but hopefully, manufacturers are thinking about it.

So, humanity must wake up to sacrifice – to switching off when possible. Every drip from a tap, every light on in an empty room, every silly device designed to make our world less manual work must be turned off when we are not using them!

Our commitment to making the world “greener,” and more-sustainable must begin at home…create less demand for the resources and the constant development will slow down. Until we all commit to reducing our consumption, we cannot expect governmental or world policy to change.

Colette, I find it incredibly damaging to blame humanity. Most of humanity is sacrificing more than they can afford. The people are not at fault, the government and the businesses are. the people don’t want a throw away society, businesses purposefully make things that break easily cheap and things that are well made expensive so that one buys more. I assure you EVERYONE wants something well made, they’re just stuck with garbage. Very few people over consume out of choice, in fact, very few people over consume period.

And yes, some people do need a car. Not everyone lives in the city, some people need to commute. We need electric cars but more importantly we need better infrascructure (in North America at least).

We need to demand structural change. And telling people their behavior sucks is demotivating, most people do not own a large car or a large house and most people don’t want junk when they are given the option.

If we want policy to change we need to create political will. The government doesn’t care if you use less heat in the winter. Our outrage should be focused on factory farming and fossil fuel companies. This is why our enemies find it so easy to vilify us. Don’t tell people they suck. Tell them they’re being, if you’ll excuse my French, screwed.

Note: When I said infrastructure what I meant was public transportation.

Well Jackie, I am not sure that you are seeing the world as a whole. There is a lot of humanity that doesn’t give a fig about anything but themselves.

I have watched people toss non-decomposable litter into nature’s clean spaces (rivers, fields, woods, etc) expecting somehow to have someone else clean it up, or not caring what happens to it, or what it poisons. They are uncaring about the rest of humanity, the earth or anything but their own immediate wants.

We must all set examples – (go and pick up their litter in front of them – I did this once and the layabouts laughed at me, but it got their attention!). To expect our governments to fix these attitudes results in enormous expense to taxpayers – cities pay a fortune for cleanup after litterbugs.

This is just an example… people are irresponsible in all walks of life. They say one thing and do another.

We can all do something without creating hardship for ourselves and set examples for manufacturers of goods. We can use less of everything.

For instance….. use less toothpaste on your brush – it is bad for fish and water courses anyway, and people generally use far too much to clean their teeth. If people cut use by half – imagine how that will affect how much needs to be manufactured? We could also refute the claims of toothpaste commercials that their seven plaque fighting ingredients are just a ploy to make us buy more expensive and wasteful toothpaste, and just not buy the new products! They are simple choices and while their impact might be tiny from one person, it is enormous when extrapolated through the entire population of North America.

We all have a role to play it is unconscionable to blame another party of people… whether government or business – they are responding only to the demands of everyone. And, remember, some of the greatest inventions (electric lighting) come at a price for the environment. The development of cleaner technologies that are affordable will take much time and some very bright inventions. The key is education and balance in everything. We are all learning and once we know what is right and wrong, it is up to every individual to make the right choice!

That’s what governments are for, that’s what Taxes are for. I would go so far as to say that environmentalism is a movement that challenges the central tenets of libertarianism. The purpose of taxes are to maintain society, you need to have society in order to maintain it.

I ABSOLUTELY, ONE HUNDRED PERCENT blame businesses and the government for this. They are not responding to what the public wants, they are shaping what the public knows and then CLAIMING they are responding to what the public wants. I recently read a poll that said two thirds of the United States wants the government to take action on global warming. How about that demand? How else do you think so many people on this continent got to be climate deniers? If you read Naomi Oreskes you will find that there has been an enormous suppression of evidence of global warming for decades. Legislators have been aware of this for decades. Are you saying that you and I are as responsible as the oil companies? The people who deserve to be tried for crimes against humanity. Have you ever heard of ad-gag laws? Factory farmers lobbied (i.e. paid) for laws that make it illegal to take photos of the conditions on their premises.

It’s unconscionable to blame one class of people more than another? THAT’S unconscionable. IThese people should be tried for crimes against humanity. I hope that when you talk to people about the grave danger humanity faces you don’t say things like that because if someone tried to tell me that I get up and walk away.

We need to be the change we wish to see in the world. We need to cause and demand enormous structural change and we need it now. We need a Manhattan Project. A fantastic organization which supports such an endeavor is the The Climate Mobilization. There is an excellent article about them on this site. They have a social media and psychological strategy to spread a pledge to transform our culture into one ready to fight climate change. Check it out.

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/launch-the-climate-mobilization

http://www.theclimatemobilization.org/

I realize the conversation has moved on from this but I wanted to mention another link about plastic in the oceans (even if they seem to be one of the people who don’t like The Ocean Cleanup project).

http://5gyres.org/

Shudder.

http://truth-out.org/news/item/25509-nasa-scientist-warns-of-three-to-four-meter-sea-level-rise-by-2200

Indeed, a frightening prospect – 3 to 4 meter sea level rise.

I tried to get elected so I could help stop the corporate takeover of our governments.