A message from Pete the Pissed-Off Polar Bear:
Dear Humans,
I couldn't help noticing that YET AGAIN no one asked a question about climate change in the debate.
Moderator Candy Crowley, in her infinite so-called wisdom, decided that since most people were concerned about economic questions she'd just have to ignore climate change.
Oh! Right! People aren't concerned about THE DESTRUCTION OF OUR LIFE-SUPPORT SYSTEM!
Sage choice, Cand!
Anyway, before I go all "Siegfried and Roy's rogue tiger" on Candy, let's consider another culprit, someone YOU actually have control over....
They don't ask questions about global warming because you humans aren't out on the streets protesting!
We polar bears would do it if we could, but when we tried it last year in Churchill, Manitoba, HUMANS shot us with tranquilizer darts and put us in giant nets and then helicoptered us hundreds of miles away. And that was on our home turf, can you imagine what they'd do to us in Boca Raton?!
The Pissed-Off Polar Bears, a team of dedicated polar bears AND humans, were protesting at the debate in Denver and at Hofstra. At DU there was a little group from 350.org and Energy Action Coalition, and at Hofstra the Young Evangelicals for Climate Action were there. But at each debate it was only, like, 20 people. WHERE THE HELL WAS EVERYONE ELSE?!
"Oh, let's fight something that will literally cause the destruction of civilization with, like, 20 people. That'll get a lot of press! That'll scare the crap out of the politicians!"
Where ARE you people? Come to Boca, dudes! Bring a polar bear hat. Start making some noise and turning up the pressure.
If you don't, one day you'll regret it, and if last summer's weather was any indication, that day will come a lot sooner than humans think!
Sorry to push you, but we've got a world to save!
Pete
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Showing posts with label Energy Action Coalition. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Energy Action Coalition. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Obama's Not Ready to Act on Climate Yet...How About You?
Yesterday in his press conference the President spoke at length about climate change. He said he would be engaging in a wide-ranging "conversation" over the coming months and years to see what we can "realistically" do to deal with the problem.
I'm not surprised but I am disappointed. Hey, there's been a lot of talk since the election that he would make a major push to address climate change, but he himself never said it, as he has about immigration reform and tax reform, so no one should be surprised he's not yet wagering any of his political capital on the issue.
The president went on to point out that climate change had become a "partisan" issue and that it lacks the bipartisan support necessary to pass major legislation.
Not his fault. It's the climate movement's fault. They made no noise during the political campaigns, when they could have created quite a stir after the drought and summer heat.
It's also the movement's responsibility moving forward. In April of 2011, during the Energy Action Coalition's PowerShift conference in D.C., a handful of youth leaders were invited to the White House to talk about the climate. They thought they would be speaking with some lower-level staffers, but were amazed when the conference room door opened and President Obama came in. He told them that he cared just as much about the climate as they did, but he wouldn't be able to get anything done about it unless they created a groundswell of popular support that politicians could not ignore. FDR did the same thing in the 1930's, when he told labor activists that he could only deliver on needed reforms if they created popular support. (They did and he did.)
It's foolish to think that by electing this president our work is done and we can go back to being passive. In Gene Sharp's The Politics of Nonviolent Action, he writes about a tendency in populations "to avoid responsibility, to seek to delegate it upward and to attribute greater authority to superiors in the hierarchy than is in fact merited". (This comes from what he calls a "lack of self confidence".)
In other words quit waiting for the "leaders" to lead. YOU are the leader, with every bit as much power to make change as any president or dirty energy CEO, so own up to it. We need to lead the leaders.
Gandhi said "The function of a civil resister is to provoke response. And we will continue to provoke until they respond. They are not in control. We are."
So it's on us. If our collective actions are in alignment with the severity of the crisis, then we will be able to create that groundswell.
CH
Update: Arianna Huffington has a similar post today about how the president said "Only you have the power to move us forward" at his convention speech and made similar comments on election night. She even included the exact quote FDR issued to the labor leaders: "I agree with you. I want to do it. Now make me do it." Finally, she includes this link to a Guardian UK piece about how progressives need to follow Obama's example and start pushing for change.
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I'm not surprised but I am disappointed. Hey, there's been a lot of talk since the election that he would make a major push to address climate change, but he himself never said it, as he has about immigration reform and tax reform, so no one should be surprised he's not yet wagering any of his political capital on the issue.
The president went on to point out that climate change had become a "partisan" issue and that it lacks the bipartisan support necessary to pass major legislation.
Not his fault. It's the climate movement's fault. They made no noise during the political campaigns, when they could have created quite a stir after the drought and summer heat.
It's also the movement's responsibility moving forward. In April of 2011, during the Energy Action Coalition's PowerShift conference in D.C., a handful of youth leaders were invited to the White House to talk about the climate. They thought they would be speaking with some lower-level staffers, but were amazed when the conference room door opened and President Obama came in. He told them that he cared just as much about the climate as they did, but he wouldn't be able to get anything done about it unless they created a groundswell of popular support that politicians could not ignore. FDR did the same thing in the 1930's, when he told labor activists that he could only deliver on needed reforms if they created popular support. (They did and he did.)
It's foolish to think that by electing this president our work is done and we can go back to being passive. In Gene Sharp's The Politics of Nonviolent Action, he writes about a tendency in populations "to avoid responsibility, to seek to delegate it upward and to attribute greater authority to superiors in the hierarchy than is in fact merited". (This comes from what he calls a "lack of self confidence".)
In other words quit waiting for the "leaders" to lead. YOU are the leader, with every bit as much power to make change as any president or dirty energy CEO, so own up to it. We need to lead the leaders.
Gandhi said "The function of a civil resister is to provoke response. And we will continue to provoke until they respond. They are not in control. We are."
So it's on us. If our collective actions are in alignment with the severity of the crisis, then we will be able to create that groundswell.
CH
Update: Arianna Huffington has a similar post today about how the president said "Only you have the power to move us forward" at his convention speech and made similar comments on election night. She even included the exact quote FDR issued to the labor leaders: "I agree with you. I want to do it. Now make me do it." Finally, she includes this link to a Guardian UK piece about how progressives need to follow Obama's example and start pushing for change.
Permalink
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Let's Make the Climate Movement a Mighty Beast!
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| Rachel, Pete, and Curtis protesting outside the second presidential debate at Hempstead, NY |
We were the ONLY climate protesters that were present at the Republican National Convention, the Democratic National Convention, and all three presidential debates. (Where WAS everybody? For all the movement caterwauled about climate change not being mentioned in the debates--aside from us--only Whit Jones of the Energy Action Coalition showed up at multiple events!) (Whit RULES!)
We spent the first half of this year reading up on successful nonviolent movements of the past, and are convinced that the political stranglehold of dirty energy will only be broken if the entire movement utilizes an aggressive and brilliant nonviolent strategy. ("Nonviolent strategy", by the way, does not just mean being "peaceful", and "nice", and it certainly does not mean being "passive". Nonviolence done right is provocative and fearless, and it requires intimate knowledge of the history, tactics, and principles of nonviolent struggle. We will be posting continually about the indispensable lessons of nonviolent action.)
This is an entirely "winnable" contest! The fossil fuel industry is putting every kid in the world at risk, including their own. They are basically destroying the planet for every other person, and every other business, in every nation on Earth. And even their own employees will not be able to escape the catastrophe that's coming. We intend to rally the entire business community, as well as dirty energy's own workforce, and their families, to take a stand to stop the insanity and save our life support system!
Finally, we intend to have a little fun, because, according to Otpor (the movement that overthrew a dictator in Serbia), humor is the ultimate weapon! Our cohort Pete the Pissed-Off Polar Bear will give regular blogs, podcasts, and videos for you entertainment.
So let's take it to another level--WE'VE GOT A PLANET TO SAVE!
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
You want to stop climate change? Join us.
The Pissed-Off Polar Bears are committed to ACTION. Action must be every day, not once every six months. We are prepared to help guide that.
We went to the Republican National Convention in Tampa and the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte and were disappointed to find no other climate activists in either town. (Turns out Whit Jones of the Energy Action Coalition was in Charlotte leading a push to get Duke Energy to dump ALEC, which is fantastic and we applaud him for it, but where was the rest of the movement?)
If global warming is indeed the greatest crisis to ever face humanity, what the hell are the climate organizations spending their time doing? Raising funds? Writing websites? Doing speaking engagements? Organizing one big action every six months and then occasionally standing up to the Keystone pipeline? (We don’t mean to minimize the hugeness of stopping the pipeline—stopping it for now anyway—but we do intend to push the movement to nut-up and start acting like this crisis is as urgent as it truly is!)
The American political system will play a HUGE part in solving this. The rest of the world cannot do it if the USA doesn’t lift a finger, and unfortunately one political party (talking to YOU Republicans!) is determined to make sure that doesn’t happen.
So this election is enormous. Mother Nature gave America a huge wake-up call with the dreadful heat, drought, and wildfires this summer, BUT THE CLIMATE MOVEMENT HAS NOT ACTED UPON IT. NONE of them, as far as I can tell anyway, are looking to influence the American elections.
WHY THE HELL NOT?
We still have 50 days to have an impact before these elections. The measure of our success will be dependent upon the commitment of everyone, INCLUDING the climate movement during those 50 days. We are surrounded by a HUGE OPPORTUNITY: Pre-gathered crowds at political rallies. We can and must go to those rallies with smart, funny, NONVIOLENT actions to recruit and win the sympathy of the American public. (Humor is an incredibly effective tactic, it disarms people; and people who take themselves very seriously are defenseless against it.)
We Pissed-Off Polar Bears spent the first half of this year studying Gene Sharp’s books on Nonviolent Struggle, and we’re CERTAIN that with a disciplined nonviolent strategy, we can create huge shifts in public opinion in a very short time. (By the way, “nonviolent” does not mean “passive” – which is completely LAME and it will NOT get the job done. It also doesn’t mean simply “peaceful”, because, in fact, Nonviolent Struggle is a very CONFRONTATIONAL technique that should put its opponents in a serious bind.)
At Democratic rallies we will push to recruit activists who understand that THIS IS THE MOVEMENT OF OUR TIME (Actually, of ALL TIME).
At Republican rallies we will push to win over the media, the police, the family-members – the reasonable people - bystanders mostly - who know something’s seriously amiss with the weather. Sure we’ll be confronted by bellicose deniers, but with patience and calm towards those who are attacking us, we hope to reach the others nearby.
So we’re calling on people to STEP UP AND JOIN THE FRAY! This is no less than a Call to Adventure to save all life on this planet. We’ll show you how to do it by organizing “meetups” in your town to create groups to go to the rallies and start vibrant, active campaigns in your area. We have precious little time, but our cause couldn’t be more awesome.
So f***ing JOIN US!!! Go to our website (PissedOffPolarBears.com) and see how to start a MeetUp in your town. Donate funds so we can take our actions to senate rallies nationwide!
We need your help. We need your involvement. We need it now. Contact us directly to become part of our well-planned strategy!
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