A little more 350

Go Big Green:

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Rushkoff

Thanks to ecological economist and outdated-world-view-destroyer Pete Sims for the heads up on Douglas Rushkoff. I haven't dug into his stuff too much yet, but a quick view of his session on the always hilarious Colbert Report makes it clear he's got some good things to say:

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Douglas Rushkoff
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Michael Moore

For more, his website is: http://rushkoff.com

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One of those moments...

I'm having one of those moments. Moments where I think we might actually do this fast enough. We might collectively wake up and use some common sense. Common sense to protect our global commons ... the atmosphere in particular right now, and specifically getting CO2 concentrations back to 350 parts per million.

The moment's coming from scrolling through the www.350.org site, after just a day of what I'm sure must be an overwhelming job of sorting messages, posting picture, dealing with press and getting the most out of the epic day that was 10/24/09.

Here in Gloucester, we had a great turnout despite the rain, and got some great shots around the "old salt" - the Man at the Wheel fishermen's memorial statue.

But a few of the other photos from just a small sample of the 5,200+ events in 180+ countries summoning memories from my own experiences, reinforcing how very personal and how very global this challenge is.

First, The Mountain School - a high-school program on an organic farm that attended, and which had a huge impact on me and my thinking is featured on the front page - their picture is of sap buckets and maple leaves:

And then there is the picture from the slum in Kenya. I visited my sister when she was living in Kenya, and it's hard to describe what the impacts of climate disruption will mean for people already living on the edge (i.e. a huge percentage of all people).

And finally, this one from Butte College in California, which is one of 657 signatories to the Presidents' Climate Commitment that I've been helping to support for the past couple of years, announcing that they're aiming to go climate neutral by 2015.

Raven's Message from Daniel Dancer on Vimeo.

Thanks so much to all of you who came out yesterday - in Gloucester and around the world!

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350 - Tomorrow at the Fishermen's Statue

Join us at the Fishermen’s Memorial statue at 1pm tomorrow – Sat. Oct 24thfor a group picture that will be part of the collective International Day of Climate Action. Details at www.350.org/capeann

350 represents the safe levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere we need to get back down to: 350 parts per million. Tomorrow nearly 5,000 events in 179 countries will take place to get this message to negotiators at the Copenhagen meeting in December.

Nearly 5,000 youth form the image of a windmill and 350 in Uden, Netherlands. Photo: (c) Daniel Dancer and Uden Partners

We won’t be as elaborate as the folks from the Netherlands in the picture above, but Cape Ann’s iconic Fishermen’s Memorial will send a strong message that the health and safety of our oceans, fisheries, coastline, and so much more is at stake.

Come help us send a message – rain or shine so bring your slicker!

Maldives Underwater

Maldives leaders prepare for climate change negotiations:

Blog Action Day 09

Seeing as I always blog about sustainability and a lot about climate change… and the theme of this year’s Blog Action Day is climate change, I thought it would be good to write a post about hypocrisy. Also, I’m flying on a plane as I write this. Hard not to think about hypocrisy.

It’s easy to be hypocritical when it comes to climate change and climate action. Even when you really know about it, and truly internalize the scope, scale, magnitude, and urgency of the crisis.

It’s easy to walk outside on a beautiful peaceful day and forget all about the folks in Africa (and Atlanta) who are suffering from extended droughts and flash floods.

It’s easy to think “2100 is so far away… so is 2050, 2020, and 2012 for that matter.” (ok, it’s hard to still think that about 2012).

And so it’s easy to get in the car and drive, or forget to call the insulation guy again, and fly to California for Bioneers and some meetings and a visit.

So let’s use Blog Action Day 2009 – thousands of bloggers on all types of topics blogging about climate change for the day – as a reminder and a rally cry and an energy boost to acknowledge the hypocrisy all of us in the US live with to one degree or another, and not let it get us down, but drive us to do everything we can to spark meaningful action.

Here are a few immediate things you can do:

1. Find a 350 event near you and participate on Sat. 10/24 – go to www.350.org to find an event
2. Find a contractor who does energy audits in your area and have them come do an analysis on your house or apartment – they’ll break it down by payback periods and in most cases find energy savings that will save more than enough money to cover the cost of the audit.
3. Call your Senators and tell them (again if necessary) you support a strong climate bill and they better be doing all they can to stand up against heavily backed vested interests.
4. See if your college president has signed the Presidents’ Climate Commitment, and if not send him or her a friendly email encouraging them to do so.
5. Add your name to the www.tcktcktck.org petition to support a strong international climate agreement.

All super easy ways you can make a huge difference – keep it up and we can all move through our hypocrisy faster, and in time to avoid the worst impacts of climate disruption.

Happy Blog Action Day, and stay going!

Interface - pausing to take in the view

The Interface story never gets old. Check out this 8 minute video that gives a bit of a check-in on where they are in their great trek up Mount Sustainability:

http://www.interfaceflor.eu/internet/web.nsf/webpages/58150_EN.html

Ray Anderson just released his new book, Confessions of a Radical Industrialist: Profits, People, Purpose - Doing Business by Respecting the Earth. I haven't started it yet, but I have a copy and can't wait to dig in.

In the meantime the stats since they've embarked on this journey speak for themselves, these come from a recent interview with Gallup Management Journal:

"Between 1996 and 2008, Interface cut its net greenhouse gas emissions by 71% in absolute tons (the Kyoto Protocol, in contrast, called for 7% reductions by 2012, which many said was impossible). Yet over the same time frame, Interface increased sales by 66% and doubled its earnings, expanding its profit margins and propelling innovation. Interface also reduced greenhouse gas intensity (relative to sales) by 82%, wastewater stream by 72%, landfill-bound scrap waste by 78%, total energy usage by 44%, smokestacks by 33%, and effluent pipes by 71%. Interface also reached the top of GlobeScan's Survey of Sustainability Experts -- all while saving the company $405 million. And, since 2003, Interface has sold 83 million square yards of carpet with zero net global warming effect."

These kinds of success stories show what is possible with leadership, dedication, and strong sense of purpose.

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