EarthAction

The bruges whale

Near the statue of Jan Van Eyck, Skyscraper (the Bruges Whale) rises up from the Canal. Skyscraper is 5 tons of plastic waste pulled out of the ocean to create a 4 story tall whale: a powerful reminder of the 150,000,000 tons of plastic waste still swimming in our waters. Skyscraper is a physical example of why we need to change how we use and dispose of plastic in the world today.

The Installation

The gigantic sculpture is more than just a representation of a whale; the animal is made of waste, collected from the plastic soup that floats on the seas and oceans of the world. Working with volunteers from the Hawaii Wildlife Fund and the Surfrider Foundation, StudioKCA combed the beaches of Hawaii to gather up the waste. The installation was built out of those finds. StudioKCA seeks this way to draw attention to the universal problem of pollution that affects us all, and to make viewers aware that individual action is necessary.

About the Skyscraper Kickstarter Project

StudioKCA has started a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter. Processing and transporting the waste on this scale is larger than expected. StudioKCA is still looking for $15,000 to complete the manufacturing of the steel and aluminium parts, to hire the cranes and tools, to transport everything to Bruges in time for the event and to assemble all 107 parts that Skyscraper consists of on location. Deposit your contribution to this project via the Kickstarter website and receive exclusive Skyscraper (the Bruges Whale) returns!

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Top 3 Shocking Facts About Plastic Pollution

Fact #1:

8.3 BILLION Metric Tons (9.1 BILLION US Tons) of plastic has been produced since plastic was introduced in the 1950s. The amount of plastic produced a year is roughly the same as the entire weight of humanity!

Fact #2:

Virtually every piece of plastic ever made still exists in some shape or form (with the exception of the small amount that has been incinerated).

Fact #3:

Nearly TWO MILLION single-use plastic bags are distributed worldwide every minute.

Plastic pollution is killing our planet, and plastic pollution is killing us. It's choking our oceans, poisoning our food and water supply, and wreaking havoc on the health and well-being of humans and wildlife worldwide.

That's why we are dedicating Earth Day 2018 to ending plastic pollution. We've developed a series of comprehensive resources and toolkits to help Individuals, Organizations, and Educators like you inform, inspire, and mobilize everyone you know to join the movement to END PLASTIC POLLUTION this Earth Day.

Every week, we'll be releasing new resources to help you build the Earth Day 2018 End Plastic Pollution movement-starting now, with our Scope of Plastic Pollution Fact Sheet offering 10 shocking facts about plastic pollution.

Stay posted for more upcoming resources you can use to play a role in saving our planet. Putting an End to Plastic Pollution is a fight citizens across the world MUST win.

Our survival depends on it.

Join the fight today!

DONATE NOW

The Earth Day Network Team

Takoma Park Becomes First US City to Declare Its Compliance with Nuclear Ban Treaty

Photo Credit: Google "labeled for non-commercial reuse"

TAKOMA PARK, MD, March 15, 2018 — The City Council of Takoma Park, Maryland, last night (March 14^th) voted unanimously on a resolution that reaffirms the city’s support for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, or ‘Nuclear Ban Treaty.’

The Nuclear Ban Treaty was adopted last year at the UN by 122 countries. The Treaty comprehensively prohibits everything to do with nuclear weapons and makes these weapons illegal under international law. Fifty-seven countries have signed it so far, and as many as 146 countries are expected to sign it in the coming months.

The United States is not one of them, but as with the Paris Climate Agreement, that does not stop cities, states, businesses, colleges and faith communities from complying with this Treaty.

Takoma Park was one of the first cities in the US to declare itself a ‘Nuclear-Free Zone’ back in 1983. Since then, through a city ordinance, Takoma Park has banned companies involved in the production of nuclear weapons from doing business in Takoma Park, or from bidding on City contracts, and has avoided investment in companies engaged in the production of nuclear weapons.

Since these prohibitions mean that Takoma Park already complies with the new Treaty, the March 14 resolution declaring the City ‘treaty compliant’ was more of a formality. As the first city in the US to do so, however, Takoma Park has led the way for many more to follow.

As many as 220 Nuclear Free Zones were established across the US during the 1980s. Many of these, including Chicago, still have legally-binding ordinances on their books which comply with the new Treaty. Others, including New York City, are now looking into this afresh in light of this Treaty.

By aligning themselves with the rest of the world in support of the Nuclear Ban Treaty, Takoma Park is turning its back on the $1.2 trillion plans to upgrade and modernize the US nuclear arsenal. Takoma Park is the first to officially do so, but it will not be the last.

By Tim Wallis, Treaty Compliance Campaign

7 Days in the Life of Avaaz...

Colombian Deputy Minister receives Avaaz petition delivery last week :)

We may have won our campaign to stop Colombia’s massive deforestation!

The team and members brought a million-strong petition (and several cute kids) to a key minister this week, and got 42 election candidates signed on to our 5-point forest pledge! After satellite pictures we obtained showed massive deforestation in Colombia, the President flew over the land we were campaigning for, and it looks like we’re going to win! Here's an update (in Spanish) from Ana Sofia.

Who wouldn't want to protect this?

We might help win the largest ocean reserve in the Atlantic!

Last week we met with the key official pushing this ocean-saving plan at the Ministry of Environment in Brazil. As we entered the room, they were looking at the final draft of the project and the official told us: “We need Avaaz to win this! When are you launching this campaign?!” The minister actually wanted our help to win over the rest of the Cabinet and the President! Video update from Diego (in Portuguese) here.

Our fake far-right leader on his fake tour of southern Italy got over 100 media hits!

We worked our hearts out to stop a far-right win in Italy!

With a fascist-led coalition close to winning the election on Sunday, we were flat-out for a month -- reaching millions of voters in close races over email, on Facebook, and in the media, asking them to cooperate across a splintered opposition, and vote for the candidate most likely to defeat the far-right. Our polling showed our impact, and Avaaz was constantly attacked in the right-wing press (e.g. here and here) and our Senior Campaigner Luca got threatening phone calls.

The election largely turned on the South, so last week we also staged a hilarious fake tour of the South by the far-right leader -- who once said Southerners smelled worse than dogs -- that generated over 100 media articles! Examples here, here and here, and here’s an update from Luca (in Italian). The media likes to hype the fascists, but the result was a clean sweep of the south and the far-right coalition is FAR short of the majority we feared!

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Protect Wild Salmon

Juvenile sockeye salmon swimming past salmon farms are exposed to piscine reovirus shed by the farm salmon. Photo by Tavish Campbell

 

Finally, good news!  Washington State, on the West Coast of the USA, is the first government anywhere, to legislate removal of Atlantic salmon farming from a region of our oceans.

It was a tough fight, but determined organizations and citizens won an impressive and life-saving victory. 

I have released a new 5 minute innovative film - behind-the-scenes on farm salmon science because, frankly it is hard to believe. The film is spreading rapidly. You can see it here:

Alexandramorton.typepad.com

We are getting closer to finally closing this disastrous chapter in our history, but for now the next generation of wild salmon leaving BC rivers face the same exposure to farm lice and disease and they really are in no condition to survive this. 

Thank you for sticking with me on this!

Alexandra Morton

Climate Change Public Opinion Surveys Show Growing Concern

Climate Scorecard Report #15 highlights the results of climate change public opinion surveys that have been conducted in leading greenhouse gas emitting countries over the last five years. Looking across countries we see the following trends:

• Citizens in many countries agree that climate change is caused by humans and that it is a major threat to national security and their own well-being. (Argentina, France, India, Italy, Nigeria, Russia, South Africa)
• Citizens in many countries are in favor of their nations taking stronger action to reign in greenhouse gas emitters. E.g. Germany, Spain
• There is strong support for the Paris Agreement in many countries. (China, Canada, the United States)
• In several countries, citizens believe that their country as well as other countries are not doing enough to combat climate change, e.g. Brazil, India
• Citizens beliefs in the importance of climate change is at a low level in certain countries, e.g. China, Japan, Saudi Arabia, South Korea

The surveys also reveal the need for increased efforts in all countries to better inform citizens about the nature of climate change and the importance of both their governments and individuals taking stronger action to mitigate the impact of global warming.

Download Climate Scorecard Report 15

EarthAction is a founding partner of Climate Scorecard, an international project that monitors and reports on the status of efforts to implement the UN Paris Agreement among leading greenhouse gas emitting countries. This is Climate Scorecard’s 15th Report. Learn more at climatescorecard.org

There will never be a better time to save the planet

Why we’re going to win the climate change fight — despite Trump’s election as denier-in-chief… maybe even because of it

My fellow Americans (and concerned people everywhere), this is not the time to give up on meeting the planetary crisis. This is the time to prepare to win. Here are some notes on why I think we can. The Bad News Let’s get the tragic reality out of the way: Donald Trump will be the next president of the United States, and — on top of all his other moves to increase income inequality, attack immigrants, stoke racism and religious hatred, undermine workers, threaten civil liberties and undercut women’s rights — he will certainly attack the progress that has been made on climate change under President Obama. Trump is anti-climate. That’s the simple truth. Now, for three decades, climate advocates have focused on climate strategies at the Federal level. For good reason: the unparalleled power of the levers of national government to change economic, energy, agriculture, housing and transportation policies. The Feds can get shit done. But we’ve never made as much progress as we should have, and now, even that progress will be undone by an anti-climate president — with the support of two anti-climate houses of Congress. Climate denialists will sit in the Cabinet. Others will chair the U.S. Senate Committees on Environment and Public Works; Energy and Natural Resources; and Commerce, Science and Transportation. A large majority of Republican lawmakers are overt climate denialists. There has not been a U.S. government this hostile to climate and environmental progress since Reagan was elected in 1980. There is a very good chance that many, if not all, of the key climate action achievements of the Obama administration will be undone in the next year or two. The Ticking Clock Meanwhile, the planet continues to warm. Many smart people are in despair right now, because they understand that a Trump election has at least cost us time, and time is the one thing we don’t have. Every day, we add carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gasses to the atmosphere. Adding CO2 to the atmosphere heats our planet. To stay within any given range of temperature, we must limit to total accumulation of CO2 in the sky: we must stay within a carbon budget. The warming limit the world agreed to last year in Paris is two degrees Celsius. Staying under 2ºC demands massive change — but even more, it demands massive change quickly. And with every day we delay action, the changes we must make to stay under 2ºC become larger and must be deployed faster. Climate change is a steepening problem. That’s why Trump’s election is such bad news for the climate. Trump cannot stop the global march to a carbon-balanced society. But he can slow it down in the U.S. (and to some extent abroad) — perhaps even slow progress enough to make 2ºC no longer achievable for the planet as a whole. Dave Roberts argues this over on Vox, when he writes “Trump’s election marks the end of any serious hope of limiting climate change to 2 degrees.”   Read the rest of this piece HERE

Victory in Landmark Climate Case!

FEDERAL COURT AFFIRMS CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS OF KIDS AND DENIES MOTIONS OF GOVERNMENT AND FOSSIL FUEL INDUSTRY IN YOUTH’S LANDMARK CLIMATE CHANGE CASE

Eugene, OR – On April 8, 2016, U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas Coffin of the federal District Court in Eugene, OR, decided in favor of 21 young Plaintiffs, and Dr. James Hansen on behalf of future generations, in their landmark constitutional climate change case brought against the federal government and the fossil fuel industry. The Court’s ruling is a major victory for the 21 youth Plaintiffs, ages 8-19, from across the U.S. in what Bill McKibben and Naomi Klein call the “most important lawsuit on the planet right now.” These plaintiffs sued the federal government for violating their constitutional rights to life, liberty and property, and their right to essential public trust resources, by permitting, encouraging, and otherwise enabling continued exploitation, production, and combustion of fossil fuels.

Plaintiffs’ attorney Philip Gregory with Cotchett, Pitre, & McCarthy of Burlingame, CA, said: “This decision is one of the most significant in our nation’s history. The Court upheld our claims that the federal government intensified the danger to our plaintiffs’ lives, liberty and property. Judge Coffin decided our Complaint will move forward and put climate science squarely in front of the federal courts. The next step is for the Court to order our government to cease jeopardizing the climate system for present and future generations. The Court gave America’s youth a fair opportunity to be heard.”

As part of Friday’s historic decision, Judge Coffin characterized the case as an “unprecedented lawsuit” addressing “government action and inaction” resulting “in carbon pollution of the atmosphere, climate destabilization, and ocean acidification.” In deciding the case will proceed, Judge Coffin wrote: “The debate about climate change and its impact has been before various political bodies for some time now. Plaintiffs give this debate justiciability by asserting harms that befall or will befall them personally and to a greater extent than older segments of society. It may be that eventually the alleged harms, assuming the correctness of plaintiffs' analysis of the impacts of global climate change, will befall all of us. But the intractability of the debates before Congress and state legislatures and the alleged valuing of short term economic interest despite the cost to human life, necessitates a need for the courts to evaluate the constitutional parameters of the action or inaction taken by the government. This is especially true when such harms have an alleged disparate impact on a discrete class of society.”

 

100% Renewable Energy: What We Can Do in 10 Years By Richard Heinberg

If our transition to renewable energy is successful, we will achieve savings in the ongoing energy expenditures needed for economic production. We will be rewarded with a quality of life that is acceptable—and, perhaps, preferable to our current one (even though, for most Americans, material consumption will be scaled back from its current unsustainable level). We will have a much more stable climate than would otherwise be the case. And we will see greatly reduced health and environmental impacts from energy production activities.

But the transition will entail costs—not just money and regulation, but also changes in our behavior and expectations. It will probably take at least three or four decades, and will fundamentally change the way we live.

Nobody knows how to accomplish the transition in detail, because this has never been done before. Most previous energy transitions were driven by opportunity, not policy. And they were usually additive, with new energy resources piling onto old ones (we still use firewood, even though we’ve added coal, hydro, oil, natural gas, and nuclear to the mix).

Since the renewable energy revolution will require trading our currently dominant energy sources (fossil fuels) for alternative ones (mostly wind, solar, hydro, geothermal, and biomass) that have different characteristics, there are likely to be some hefty challenges along the way.

Therefore, it makes sense to start with the low-hanging fruit and with a plan in place, then revise our plan frequently as we gain practical experience. Several organizations have already formulated plans for transitioning to 100 percent renewable energy. David Fridley, staff scientist of the energy analysis program at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and I have been working for the past few months to analyze and assess those plans and have a book in the works titledOur Renewable Future. Here’s a very short summary, tailored mostly to the United States, of what we’ve found.

This piece first appeared in YES magazine 

Climate Justice in Pakistan

6 November, 2015

A High Court in Pakistan has set a legal precedent, both at home and abroad by ordering the government to enforce its climate change policy and establishing a climate change commission to oversee the process. A public interest litigation case brought by a farmer against government failure to develop the required resilience to climate change as set out in the 2012 National climate Change Policy has provided fresh impetus to civil society to play a lead role in highlighting the impacts of climate change on sectors like food, water, energy and disasters that directly affect the lives and livelihoods of people.

Pakistan is the third most vulnerable country to climate change. Weak regulations at home and lack of assistance from countries responsible for global warming is increasing vulnerability and reducing resilience. Pakistan needs support to build its adaptive capacity and hopes that COP21 in Paris will achieve an agreement that will help it to develop a climate resilient policy framework that combines local action with global support to strengthen its adaptive capacity.

-Aisha Khan