Join the Copenhagen Rapid Response Team

Want to have an impact on the Copenhagen climate negotiations (but still study for finals?)  Join the Copenhagen Rapid Response Team!

Dec. 7-19, the Energy Action Coalition, its partners, and youth delegates in Copenhagen will be coordinating rapid response team of hundreds of people so that on a moments notice we can generate thousands of phone calls, get our message out to the media, and effectively mobilize together.

The goal of this rapid response team is no small task: to affect the U.S. negotiation position. But if enough of us engage in a timely way together, we can do just that by:

– Using the media to paint a picture of Copenhagen and our expectations for the negotiations and the Obama Administration
– Demonstrating grassroots support for bold action

To find out more and to sign up, visit: http://www.powershift09.org/rapidresponse

Also, if you’re looking for the latest youth generated media around the negotiations, check out the following blogs:

http://www.sustainus.org/

http://www.willstegerfoundation.org/

http://itsgettinghotinhere.org/

http://adoptanegotiator.org/

http://copenhagenperspective.wordpress.com/

And OneWorld.net is broadcasting live! Check out their site and web portal here: http://us.oneworld.net/

Adaptation Aid: Dealing with Climate Change in the Developing World

It’s no secret that people in the Global South are those most vulnerable to global warming. They face more day-to-day exposure to its impacts, and their governments generally lack the economic and technological capacity to deal with dramatic changes in climate patterns. Rising sea levels are just the tip of the melting iceberg.

Climate change is causing more frequent and prolonged droughts, more severe storms, and the rapid spread of tropical diseases, threatening the homes, farms, and livelihoods of the world’s poorest citizens. Oxfam has estimated that somewhere around 375 million people will be affected by humanitarian disasters related to climate change by 2015—a 50% rise over past years—and the UN Development Program has projected that adaptation efforts to deal with this crisis will require investments of $86 billion per year. Without pairing adaptation strategies with mitigation efforts, we cannot hope to improve global living standards, combat poverty and disease, or halt conflicts over resources.

As a lifelong environmentalist, I’m overjoyed to see Congress taking historic (albeit small) steps to grow green industry and lower greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. As a global citizen and social justice advocate, however, I’m disappointed to see so little attention devoted to dealing with climate change where it’s causing hardship already: the developing world.

The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (ACES) bill squeaked through the House late last month and will move to the Senate sometime in the coming months. The current bill establishes an International Climate Change Adaptation Program within the US Agency for International Development and offers up an initial 1% of emission allowances to international adaptation initiatives, rising to 4% by 2027. While these allowances will help developing countries prepare for and address the consequences of global warming—some of the first federal dollars dedicated to this cause—this is not a fair pledge from the world’s largest contributor to global warming. The developing world needs more.