On Friday, September 27, I’ll be closing my law office. All of us working there will be taking part in the General Strike for Climate Action, which culminates a week of climate action not just in Vancouver, but around the world. Even the UN Secretary General is holding a climate summit on Monday, September 23 calling for urgent action.
At 1 p.m. on the 27th, we’ll be rallying at Vancouver City Hall at 12th and Cambie and then marching downtown with what I hope will be thousands of other people. Never in the history of humankind has an issue been as important to us all as the extreme climate changes we’re witnessing.
Just over a year ago my hero, Greta Thunberg, began what has become a worldwide movement on climate action.
It all started with her own sit-in protests outside parliament in Sweden, then grew into the Fridays for Future global movement where students walk out of classrooms early on Fridays to push for real action on climate change. After crossing the Atlantic on a carbon-neutral, solar-powered boat, she addressed the US Congress and Senate in her usual direct way, telling them, “I know you are trying but just not hard enough. Sorry.”
Time magazine named Greta one of the next generation of leaders. It’s hard to believe she is still only 16 years old! But if we’re to be saved from catastrophe it will be young people who are the motivating force.
A new poll conducted by the Washington Post and Kaiser Family Foundation found that the majority of American teens are afraid of climate change. One teen in seven has taken part in a school walk-out and lots have taken other climate action. It’s time adults step up to the plate!
I’m using words like “extreme” and “urgent” today. This is no accident. We’ve just suffered the hottest July on record. We’re facing an extreme emergency, and the clock is ticking. We need to act now as individuals to get carbon out of our lifestyles. We need to act now at the largest social scale, from government to corporate policies. We need to act now at every level in between. The last time carbon levels were this high, there were trees growing at the South Pole.
I admire The Guardian. It’s publishing the daily carbon count from NOAA’s observatory on Mauna Loa (the world standard for carbon in our atmosphere) along with its weather report every day. I wish Canadian media would do the same.
In honour of that, you’ll notice a new feature on my blog today. I’m coordinating with Mike McGee on Vancouver Island, who set up CO2.Earth four years ago, to tell you the daily carbon count each time I post. I’ll compare it to the carbon count for the same date a year ago. Greta and I both hope we’ll soon see a lower carbon count each day than the same time a year ago.
Daily CO2 [Courtesy of CO2.Earth]
Yesterday’s total (Sep. 23, 2019): 408.85 ppm
One year ago (Sep. 23, 2018): 405.45 ppm
Mike and another volunteer run CO2.Earth because they’re so concerned about the climate crisis. They use solar-powered servers in California to power CO2.Earth, which consolidates all kinds of great science-based info — besides the Mauna Loa carbon count — to help us stabilize the climate. And they run it in 50+ languages! I urge you to check out this excellent site.
In the meantime, if you can’t join us on strike, think about donating to Climate Convergence, the group organising the strike. For more info about climate action in your community, connect with @sustainabiliteens.
Hope to see you Friday!
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