Letter to the editor of the Sun Times, a daily newspaper in Owen Sound, Ontario in reference to a column by Dennis Thomsett.

“Apathy is the glove into which evil slips its hand”~Bodie Thoene

After a full day promoting projects that strengthen communities and address the reality of our changing world, I finally had time to read the Sun Times. For the second time in a few weeks, I was surprised by the ignorance and depressing message that some of your writers are sending to our children.

Since I was young, while organizing environmental programs that caused me to win OSCVI’s Citizenship award, I knew that global warming, the greenhouse effect, and climate change, are real and accelerated by humans; we need to be responsible and turn this around. Since the 70s, climate change science has been strong, and now even our esteemed CBC no longer has discussions about the reality of the science because the only debate is how bad it will get and how fast.

I’ve always believed that by educating people, we can make our communities a better place for ourselves, other living creatures, and leave a legacy of a beautiful world for future generations.

Instead of sending powerful, positive community-building messages like this to your readership, your paper has been publishing some sad, uneducated, unscientific and destructive articles spreading misinformation about what the educated world knows is the reality of climate change. The March 10 column from Dennis Thompsett is just one sad and awful example, and if I were the publisher, I would never print another word from him. I could easily win any argument about the reality and seriousness of climate change with your misguided authors, but it’s a waste of time. No wonder people are comparing this type of ridiculous spin to the 70s argument that smoking doesn’t cause cancer.

“We can’t change anything important and we certainly can’t make much of a lasting difference on God’s green earth, for good or ill.” If this is the kind of message you want to send, then put your head in the sand, stay home and do nothing more destructive than you’ve already done. Maybe then those of us who care enough about the world can be allowed to create a brighter future for our grandchildren without that kind of interference and negativity. Making more money selling controversial content should not be more important than ethics, truth and good journalism.

My 13-year-old daughter Corrina has spoken about addressing climate change to over 25,000 people around the province, will be receiving one of the Ontario Junior Citizens of the Year Awards from the Lieutenant Governor, and will be speaking on Earth Week to over 5500 students. Most people would want her to feel empowered, to know she is making a difference, but not Dennis. She read the article, and her response was: “He probably still smokes too.”

I find it extremely sad that your publishers, editors and writers are promoting disempowerment and taking so lightly the future of our planet. What is the world coming to?

Bill McKibben, the organizer of the fabulous international movement 350.org of International Day of Action on Climate Change fame, has written a great article called: Climate change skeptics present their case too well. In it, he talks about how the science showing the human causes of climate change are varied and solid, but the deniers have been able to create more doubt in people's minds. James Hoggan and Richard Littlemore wrote a great book called Climate Cover Up: the Crusade to Deny Global Warming and have shown how the spin doctors have shifted the debate from how bad global warming is to whether it is real.

It's really too bad that all our citizens don't  read enough to really understand these important issues: we could save our world if we all took the time to educate ourselves enough to make informed decisions and act accordingly.

WWF has a great blog Miracle in your pocket by Zoë Caron (co-author of Global Warming for Dummies with Elizabeth May): It seems that iPhone has come out with another application that makes me drool, this one from Skeptical Science (getting skeptical about global warming skepticism).  It allows you to look at the main arguments from the denier camp and shares the real science in an easy, accessible way. They're asking people to download it and give them feedback, so the next version will be even better!

Maybe now my husband will give in and let me buy an iPhone! Maybe if I beg? Say it's for ClimateSphere (of course I might enjoy it a little)? Please, if I can help to save the world?

First of all, Happy 20-10!

The New Year is always a good time to review our assumptions and think about how we want to change our lives for the next year. Umair Haque, in the Harvard Business Review, has a great discussion of how 'leaders' lead makes a difference in how effective our leadership is, with thoughts on building a different paradigm for the 21st century. Here's an excerpt:

"The 21st century doesn't need more leaders - nor more leadership. Only Builders can kickstart the chain reaction of a better, more authentic kind of prosperity.

How can you become one? Here are the ten principles of Constructivism (contrasted with these principles of leadership).

1. The boss drives group members; the leader coaches them. The Builder learns from them.
2. The boss depends upon authority; the leader on good will. The Builder depends on good.
3. The boss inspires fear; the leader inspires enthusiasm. The Builder is inspired — by changing the world.
4. The boss says "I"; the leader says "we". The Builder says "all" — people, communities, and society.
5. The boss assigns the task, the leader sets the pace. The Builder sees the outcome.
6. The boss says, "Get there on time;" the leader gets there ahead of time. The Builder makes sure "getting there" matters.
7. The boss fixes the blame for the breakdown; the leader fixes the breakdown. The Builder prevents the breakdown.
8. The boss knows how; the leader shows how. The Builder shows why.
9. The boss makes work a drudgery; the leader makes work a game. The Builder organizes love, not work.
10. The boss says, "Go;" the leader says, "Let's go." The Builder says: "come." "
    

It's time to build a better society, with a better system for economics not based on growth, on caring most about the individuals in our community's health and happiness.

It's time for new leadership resolutions!

  Members of Avaaz and the Climate Action Network International gave Canada the Colossal Fossil award in Copenhagen today. Stephen Harper was snubbed by Obama, was one of the only leaders to not address the assembly (Jim Prentice spoke for him), and overall, Canada has had another international PR disaster. George Monbiot said "Canada's image lies in tatters. It is now to climate what Japan is to whaling." 

  Maybe we need a national movement like was so effective in BC with the Voters Taking Action on Climate Change campaign, where people, regardless of political stripe, posted signs on their lawn showing that climate change is a voting issue.

  I also can't figure out why environmental activists are generally shown negatively in the media, while some politicians like Bill Murdock and Randy Hillier are lauded for getting banned from parliament over the HST.

  Desmond Tutu was positive: "They marched in Berlin and the wall fell. They marched in Cape Town and apartheid fell. They march in Copenhagen, and we are going to get a real deal," speaking at a rally for climate change in Copenhagen.

  But just today, the 2010 deadline for reaching a legally binding climate treaty has been dropped. We need change at the grassroots level that is parallel to the government.

   With COP15  in Copenhagen  in its final stages, many important ideas are being discussed, and I want to touch on a few here.

    Al Gore and Gro Harlem Brundtland (who released the landmark 1987 Brundtland report) were in Copenhagen to lend their strong voices to the discussion and announce the release of the report: Greenland Ice Sheet – Melting Snow and Ice: Calls for Action. The world-renowned scientist Dorthe Dahl-Jensen, the Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller, Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Stoere, and Greenland Premier Kuupik Kleist were among the other prominent presenters. Mr. Gore was reported by the Guardian to have announced that Mexico was prepared to host a deal-making summit.

   The best synopsis of the presentations that I've found is on Michael Cote's blog, where he says: "Ms. Dahl-Jensen’s take home message is recognition that we have awoken the giants.  The Greenland and Artic ice sheets are literally melting in front of our eyes (she shows a dramatic 3 minute video documenting this); second, SLR is accelerating beyond anything imaginable.  The IPCC AP4 report was relatively modest in its predictions; and third, (voice cracking) the scientists who wrote the paper are calling for nations to act now."

   If you have time, please read Michael's blog so you can get up to date on the latest on Greenland's ice melting and what the heavyweights are up to in Copenhagen.

   You may also want to check out Newsweek's article about Mr. Gore: Evolution of an Eco-Prophet. One of the things he's suggesting would be really helpful for farmers: paying farmers to use soil as a carbon sink.

   He writes that soils could sequester an additional 15 percent of annual global CO2 emissions from fossil fuels. That could cut 50 parts per million of CO2 from the atmosphere over the next 50 years. (We are now at 387, up from 280 before the industrial era, with 450 ppm or even less a dangerous level.) To encourage changes in agriculture that would foster carbon sequestration, Gore advocates moving away from price supports and toward paying farmers for "how much carbon they can put into and keep in their soil," he says. Paying farmers to sequester carbon might jump-start the use of biochar, which Gore calls "one of the most exciting new strategies for restoring carbon to depleted soils, and sequestering significant amounts of CO2."

   Yesterday, Corrina and I also participated with youth around the world in Mass Dialogues, a discussion amongst youth from around the world organized by David Noble from 2degreesC and Moussa Sinon from Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie. Sadly, they've had to cancel today's discussion due to limited accessibility to and protests outside of the Bella Centre, the site of the climate negotiations and the mass dialogues. We enjoyed hearing live from Copenhagen what is happening, and it's a treat to be able to ask questions and get them answered.

   I can't wait for the internet ClimateTV channel that Peter, Nick & I have been working on to go live in a few weeks! (We'll fill you in soon!)

   The times they are-a-changin'...it's time for us to change!

Experts are warning: Adapt or die

Adapting to rising seas and higher temperatures is expected to be a big topic at the UN climate-change talks in Copenhagen next week, along with the projected cost — hundreds of billions of dollars, much of it going to countries that cannot afford it.

This is the headline from the COP 15 website...the situation is so serious that all the stops have been pulled out, the 'nice' language is gone, it is time to get down and dirty.

There was a proposal for Canada to be suspended from the Commonwealth because of its policy and inaction on climate change, and at the Commonwealth talks, even the Queen was adamant about action:

"The threat to our environment is not a new concern but it is now a global challenge that will continue to affect the security and stability of millions for years to come."

UN Chief Ban Ki-Moon said Canada must step up in setting a mid-range goal to curb emissions. "Many countries, developed and developing countries, have come out with ambitious targets," Ban said.

"And Canada, as one of the leading G8 countries, and G20, Canada is going to soon chair G8. Therefore, it is only natural that Canada should come out with ambitious targets as soon as possible."

In the past few weeks I've had quite a few discussions over the so-called "ClimateGate" situation, not about the "scandal", but primarily around whether human beings need a crisis to act and turn things around. Have you noticed that the countries and places where climate change is severe are the ones taking action? For example, the British government knows it is threatened by sea level rise, therefore they are more progressive on the issue: BBC has a great section on climate change, BC has a carbon tax because people know that the lower mainland could go underwater, the Maldives already don't have fresh ground water, why don't Canadians care when we have the longest oceanfront in the world?

When is the government of Canada going to wake up to the reality and have real leadership?

The Global Carbon Project recently released its new findings that we are heading toward a 6C rise in temperature...scary stuff, but reality folks.

"If we want to be staying below 2C then it's true to say we've only got a few years to curb emissions"

According to Corinne Le Quere, the lead scientist, "Based on our knowledge of recent trends and the time it takes to change energy infrastructure, I think that the Copenhagen conference next month is our last chance to stabilise at 2C in a smooth and organised way," she told BBC News. 

A colleague from the Climate Project will be meeting with Pope Benedict on Wednesday...what will you do?

It's time for people who don't normally like to be involved in politics to rise up and lobby away! This is the crux of our times, and I'm looking forward to telling my granchildren all the hard work and effort we all put in together to save the world!

  It's been a busy week for me and Corrina: after organizing the climate change stream, we both were able to speak at the Go Green at Saugeen forum. I introduced the stream with an overview of the other 5200 events held around the world for the International Day of Action on Climate Change, which were so successfully organized by Bill McKibben's 350.org. We launched a one month challenge between Saugeen Shores and Brockton for One Million Acts of Green, and had a number of amazing speakers including David Lawless, who is a youth Climate Champion from the British Council of Canada (It was also complete with a speech by Ben Lobb, our Conservative MP, about local environmental initiatives). Corrina was able to end off the day with a quick overview of 12 things we can all do to address climate change, and we were off home to pack.

  Just a short while later, we took off in the Toyota Prius hybrid car generously loaned to us by Jason van Geel, President and General Manager of Carlsun Energy Solutions. Late that night, we arrived in Ottawa, took 4 hours rest, then got up to attend the 3rd day of the first PowerShift Canada, organized by a team headed by Amber Church. It was a fabulous atmosphere: youth organizing youth to have the tools to learn more about the climate crisis, the politics internationally leading up to the Copenhagen Summit, and how to lobby Canadian politicians.

  We had arrived after the great gathering for Climate-Day: Fill the Hill, where 2500 people of all ages had gathered on Parliament Hill to call for serious action on climate change this fall. From their website: "Our story begins with university student, Gracen Johnson. She heard from David Suzuki, while watching CBC’s The Hour, that our best chance to affect real change in our government’s inaction towards climate change is to fill Parliament Hill with concerned citizens, just like her." Check out the website for more about the speakers and see the inspiring videos: this is just one more example of how one person can make a huge difference.

  Early Monday morning, Corrina and I, along with a group of perhaps 150 youth, gathered again on the Hill to do a flash mob climate dance, preceding the Lobby Day where 65 meetings with MPs had been organized by the youth. The youth went off to meetings, and later gathered again to go witness the Question Period in the House of Commons. What followed was one of the most memorable experiences of my life.

  The Question Period had escalated to the normal back and forth seemingly childish bickering between the MPs, and I could see the youth becoming more and more agitated in the audience. Suddenly, one person stood up and yelled to the parliamentarians to pass Bill C-311 (the Climate Change Accountability Bill that was being delayed in committee), as well as the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.  Some of the youth, unknown to the rest of the group, had decided that they wanted to protest there, and started a call and answer using slogans such as "I say 311, you say sign it, 311, sign it...", and this action was carried on by youth after youth taking up the call as the leaders were removed from the balcony. All of the spectators from that balcony were eventually expelled from the building, whether participating or not; there was a lot of press following this protest, including a Press Release from the organizers of PowerShift and the Canadian Youth Delegation saying they were not involved in organizing the protest.

  Although I do not personally feel that this protest is a method I would use to shift politics, I could definitely empathize with their frustration, since it seems that politicians are not taking climate change as seriously in Canada as needed to shift away from dangerous climate change and leading into the post-Kyoto international agreement.

  We are very lucky to have so many dedicated youth who care about this most important issue: keep up the good work Amber, Gracen, Matthew, Aiden, Tria, David, and teams!

GreenReportCard.org is an interactive website that uses a cool search tool to sort sustainability profiles for 332 colleges/universities in the U.S. and Canada.

Since the majority of students wanted information on the environmental status of the university or college they were thinking of attending, this report card was developed to indicate which colleges and universities are leading by example in their commitment to sustainability. They also want to help post-secondary institutions learn from each other and rise to the challenge of having effective sustainability policies.

Check out this cool tool!