Pete Reacts to the Climate Organizations' Presidents' Day Protests: Can't You Find a Better Target Than Obama's White House?

Perhaps you’ve heard the news that the climate organizations this weekend are protesting outside the White House. 

To me, this is like whales protesting the Sea Shepherds!  I mean, the president has come out swinging in his second inaugural address and State of the Union in favor of sweeping climate action. 

Now, some will say they’re doing it for maximum visibility.  No!  They announced this in November, and probably were planning it way longer.  They just have an inability to change their plans.

A young environmentalist once told me it took six months to plan an action.  Bullshit!  Bill McKibben could get thousands of people to do something next weekend if he asked. 

And it’s not like, having asked all these people to come to DC, they have no other targets.  Why not go after the people who have been the biggest obstacles to doing something about the climate?  Go to those Koch brothers’ funded think tanks that are spreading all the disinformation!  You’re not gonna get on TV but, news flash, you’re not gonna get on TV at the White House either!  But at least you’ll be going after the real culprits.  

But if you really want to get on TV, start protesting the major networks, who still aren’t reporting on these huge things.  I mean, yesterday it came out that only a fifth of the sea ice remains from 1980 levels!  This is a gigantic story, with much more long term importance than anything, but the media isn’t reporting it.  So protest the networks, hammer away at the networks!  Maybe they’ll cover you, maybe they won’t, but, start targeting who’s really keeping climate awareness from happening!

The thing about these climate organizations that keeps them from being a movement is they still use “organization think”.  Organizations think it takes six months to plan an action.  Well it doesn’t!

And you’ve gotta be able to react to a changing political landscape.  Last summer all the extreme weather provided a great opportunity for the organizations of the "movement" to really make political hay in the coming elections, but they didn’t do a damn thing! 

Now you’ve got the president standing up to do something about this, and these organizations are still protesting him like nothing has happened over the last month.  Like he was Romney or something!  And if you look forward at what seems to be on the agenda for these organizations this year, it appears to be just more of the same!  They made all these plans of what to do this coming summer before Obama presented them with this golden opportunity.  So do they react to this golden opportunity?  No!  They’ve already made plans! 

What the hell?!

There’s a thing called rapid response and unless these organizations tap into the concept we’re not going to be able to give the president the citizen action that he needs.

Anyway, climate organizations: Throw away your game plans and react to the new reality.  It might just save the planet.

- Pete the Pissed-Off Polar Bear


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Obama Intends to do Something About Climate Change! Climate Organizations Should Table What They're Doing and SEIZE THE MOMENT!

I’m all excited today, I don’t know if you saw President Obama’s inauguration speech, but, here’s  what he said about climate change. 

"We, the people, still believe that our obligations as Americans are not just to ourselves, but to all posterity. We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations. Some may still deny the overwhelming judgment of science, but none can avoid the devastating impact of raging fires, and crippling drought, and more powerful storms. The path towards sustainable energy sources will be long and sometimes difficult. But America cannot resist this transition; we must lead it. We cannot cede to other nations the technology that will power new jobs and new industries – we must claim its promise. That is how we will maintain our economic vitality and our national treasure – our forests and waterways; our croplands and snowcapped peaks. That is how we will preserve our planet, commanded to our care by God. That’s what will lend meaning to the creed our fathers once declared."

Wow!  That’s great.  So now we gotta make it easy for him to get all that done!  And it won’t be easy.  Republicans are gonna fight him all the way, but, the Republicans all come from states that are all gonna be effected by climate change, THIS YEAR!  So we should be able to get a lot of people to say “Ya know what, even though I’m a Republican, I agree that we gotta do something about this.”  Because that’s how we’re gonna get it DONE!  So, memo to the climate movement, whatever you were working on, set it aside!  We gotta do reality.  We got an opportunity here.  Let’s help the president get this done.  HE won’t be able to do it, unless WE create a groundswell.  So, hello, we’ll do it.  We’ll create a groundswell!



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