Students Against Climate Change

We are a University of Toronto campus club. We support 100% renewable energy and conservation, and oppose coal, nuclear and other centralized hi-tech solutions to climate change. We oppose the following: greenwash, climate change denial, destuction of the natural world, governments that allow this destruction to continue. We envision an ethical global community in which social justice for all (including aboriginal peoples) and respect for Mother Earth and her children is the norm.

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Meeting Agenda for Friday July 13th

Both students and non-students are invited to attend the next SACC meeting this Friday:

Friday, July 13th 2007 (for those who are not superstitious!) Time: 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at Wordsworth College, Rm. 101 119 St. George Street (east side, south of Bloor, north of Harbord) Rm 101 is the student lounge, north side of building, 1st floor (big sofa chairs) Non-students interested in fighting climate change are welcome as well.

*** Everyone who attends gets a free full-length movie on the enviroment on DVD! ***

Issues on the agenda ...

* Minutes from last meeting

* Discussion on Al Gore's 7 point pledge, what it represents, and how to advance it For background info: http://www.thestar.com/News/article/230649

* Report on air conditioning action on Yonge St. by SAAC, and the Closed Doors campaign For background info: http://weconserve.ca/doorsclosed/?page_id=3 Vote on whether to actively participate in Closed Doors campaign in a systematic fashion.

* Report on forums beings organized by SACC for Environment Week in September: (1) Power to Choose: A Citizen's Forum on Ontario's Energy Future, and (2) Global Warming Solutions: A Citizen's Forum on Climate Change Note: SACC is the main organizer for these two events, so your input is needed!

* Update on organizing efforts at UTS, UTM and St. George campuses

* Report on recent alliance with Canadian Youth Climate Coalition. Info on CYCC: http://www.ourclimate.ca/main/aboutus.php

* Report on meeting with renowned expert on climate change, Dr. Harvey. You can enroll in his course: http://www.geog.utoronto.ca/programs/geog/under/uoutlines/outlines2006-2007/GGR314.htm

* SACC support for the Vote Green Energy campaign against nuclear and coal power and FOR 100% renewables. See http://www.voteforcleanenergy.ca/node/72 for details.

* Other issues: community garden at U of T? Films? Other ideas and initiatives?

2 comments:

Recogitare said...: Your organization is based in Canada, so surely you must have seen this documentary shown on CBC News World on why global warming is almost certainly not human induced, but a naturally occurring cycle.; July 12, 2007 at 7:30 PM
Paul York said...: I'm glad that this climate change denier left a message. George Monbiot's "Heat" contains a valuable section on climate change denial, showing how it is funded by the oil industry. Of course much climate change is naturally occurring, but our concern is with anthrogenic (man-made) climate change, and there is a massive body of peer-reviewed scientific evidence to show that it is anthrogenic. The claims by the small number of scientists (most of whom are paid by coal and oil lobbyists) is not peer-reviewed and therefore has no scientific weight. Yet members of the public contiue to be fooled by the denial misinformation and continue to delay necessary politial and social action to address the problem. Some climate change deniers are clearly doing evil work if you consider that the delays are costing the lives of people in Africa and poorer nations, robbing future generations of their right to live in a stable climate and contributing to the unecessary mass extinction of species worldwide.; July 21, 2007 at 1:37 PM

Agent provocateurs in Montebello

In Montebelle, Quebec (summer 2007) Cnd., U.S and Mexican governments met to hammer out a deal (Security and Prosperity Parternship), which results in the U.S. corproations being able to freely take all of Canada's natural resources. Critics (such as Council of Canadians) asked "prosperity for whom?" For the ultra-rich of course. Local police tried to agitate the non-violence crowd to violence by posting as activists and throwing rocks. Union activists uncovered the false front and the police later admitted to sending provocateurs. A really shameful performance by Bush and the police. The U.S. Army was also present, ready to keep law and order - on foreign (Canadian) soil! Of course their presence underscored the fact Canada is no longer the property of Canadians. In a deeper sense it never was: Oh Canada, our home on native land.

Canadian complicity in China's emissions

Pundits excuse Canada's reckless behavior on global warming by blaming China. Let's look at why this is wrong: 1) China's manufacturing sector, fuel by coal, makes cheap disposable goods that we (American/Canadians) buy; 2) Canada endorses globalization, which allowed this to occur; 3) Canada exports its natural resources to China to be made into this garbage; 4) Canada (along with the U.S.) has the highest per capita consumption rates in the world; 5) we ship our e-maste and junk back to China, which pollutes their cities and poisons their people - and this shipping of resources, goods and waste - is all done on ships with 'bunker oil' - the most deadly type of emissions. Canada should not blame China when Canadians are in fact to blame for being so gluttonous in their consumption habits and negligent enough to let corrupt criminals like Harper et al run the country.

The Ghost Dance - a ritual for the end of the Earth

19th century plains Indians, marking the end of their culture, formed an apocolyptic ritual of death and eventual renewal - the Ghost Dance. We now need to dance, as they did, and resist the evil of industrialization and madness that has contaminated this Earth. They provided an example of how to meet the end of life with dignity - by honouring that which is eternal and cannot be killed by evildoers. One day the human species will be gone and the Earth will renew itself. Their dance honours that moment of renewal.

Population predictions

At current trends, the Earth will have about 9 billion human beings, which is many times more than what it can handle. As oil reserves are used up (for industry and vehicles and planes), food production will go into a major decline - since it dependant on cheap oil for petroleum and farm machines and transportation. A mass famine of tens of millions will, resulting in major wars over scarce resources - especially water and oil - will decimate humanity. The suffering of this century and the next will make the 20th century's bloodbaths look tame. This is the hell that Harper, et al, are condemning humanity to.

Reclaim Earth Day! Toronto. April 20, 2008

Go to Climate Ark A very thorough digest of news articles on climate science and worldwide political news pertaining to c.c.

Protest Barrick An international site dedicated to worldwide struggles by poor and indigenous people against Barrick Gold's global operations. Has photos of local (Toronto) actions against Barrick organized by Students Against Climate Change

Mining Watch Canada News and resistance to the Canadian mining industry

Earth First! Journal Journal of Earth Liberation Front (ELF). Very radical decentralized movement dedicated to ecotage and disruption of industrial society for the sake of the natural world; ideologically close and Animal Liberation Front (ALF).

Sea Sheppard Society Sometimes said to be the marine division of ELF.

OCAP Southern Ontario pseudo-anarchist radical action group for the poor and oppressed. At the forefront of revolutionary activity.

Tenant Action Group - Belleville Belleville division OCAP, focused on tenants' rights. Sam Kuhn, jailed last year for trashing PC MPP Ernie Parsons' office, is a founder.

Corpwatch Good site for info. on exposing corporate greed and hypocrisy.

Greenspiration Toronto-based site run by Angela Bischoff - focused on radical non-violent environmental activism and fighting pharmaceutical drug companies.

Climate and Capitalism A lot of good articles on climate change, from an eco-socialist perspective

"Uranium News" from Sharbot lake fight Main site of the community movement opposing the uranium mine at Sharbot Lake. Gives daily bulletins on events.

Thomas Berry's site His essays on the need to move into a biocentric Ecological Age. Very inspiring. The 'big' picture of our struggle.

Derrick Jensen's site Jensen's 20 premises are a must-read. He advocated ecotage and radical breaks from industrial society. He is also very funny and though-provoking.

De Smog Blog Exposes the lies of the climate deniers and skeptics by showing their funding sources (fossil fuel industries)

Ardoch Algonquin First Nation Part of the Sharbot Lake anti-uranium fight

The Oil Drum Peak oil / energy news and views - the main worldwide site for this issue

Climate ethics Commentary site by academic ethicists on climate change science and policymaking

George Monbiot's column Great articles on climate change with a social justice element. Has a UK focus in many articles

Green Anarchy Radical site, similar to ELF

Tribal Climate Native American site from U.S. dedicated to climate justice

How to save the world Very thoughtful blog on climate science and policy

Toronto Climate Campaign Toronto based group - did the D8 rally - now doing Earth Day rally

Global Climate Campaign UK site for dissemination of climate rally news worldwide - many good photos of rallies

Renewable Is Doable Ontario ENGO site showing that 100% wind power is possible in Ontario; against nuclear power

Ecosanity Radical group that does non-violent civil disobedience - run by Glenn MacIntosh - videos of some good disruptions!

Step It Up U.S. based group that promotes rallies for c.c. action, headed by author Bill McKibben

Homes Not Bombs Not up to date, but gives you an impression of Toronto-based non-violent civil disobedience group dedicated to social and environmental justice - very inspirational and educational - has sections on the Security Certificates fight by Matthew Behrens, who is a major figure in that fight to protect Muslims from CSIS and the courts

Western industrial monoculture: a society of drones

All forms of social and environmental justice are related

The war against nature and the war against people living in the middle east is closely related on many levels: 1) the dehuamization of Muslims and the dehumanization of those living in the developing world who are victims of biofuel production and drought and extraction industries has the same root cause: a fundamental psychic division from the natural world and one another; 2) wars over scarce resources (such as oil and water) are waged by the U.S. government, at great cost to both human lives and to the natural environment (because it maintains dependence on fossil fuels); 3) public funds spent on war and militarization are NOT spent on energy conservation, renewables, public transportation, social programs, health care and habitat protection, to save biodiversity.

Toxic trespass

Our bodies are filled with hundreds of deadly toxins from contaminants dumped into the air, water and soil - which enter our bodies as we breathe, eat, through clothing, personal products, and water. Asthma and cancer rates in industrialized areas are many times higher than in non-industrialized areas. This health cost and the pyschological cost of industrialization and consumerism (which has been shown, statistically, not to make us happier), not to mention the moral cost, reveals why endless economic growth is not good for us on any level - in addition to the fact that it is killing the planet and cannot be sustained.

The ethics of culling

5,000 elephants are to be "culled" (murdered) in South Africa because they are overopopulating the area and eating all the vegetation. This is because the area they are confined in is arbitrary, created by human beings. If human populations are too great, do we cull them because they use up too many resources. Why are elephants' lives considered less valuable than huamns'? Why should these elephants pay with their lives because we have imposed an arbitary boundary on them, which is the initial imbalance introduced into the system? Do we not have a responsibility to not overopopulate beyond one billion human beings, for the sake of current and future generations of human beings and for the sake of non-humans, and if so, why are we not complying with that moral imperative (called zero population growth)? Why should other species pay with their lives because we are morally irrepsonisble?

Victim of illegal hunting of primates in Asia

There are only 300 of this species of primate, Rhinopithecus avunculus. This infant died in captivity. He is emblematic of the fate of most non-human species on Earth in the 20th and 21st centuries - the darkest hour of history, the time period when we (the human species) murdered life on Earth (including ourselves) in great numbers. The biggest mass murder is yet to come, due to climate change, causing drought and famine. Activism is the necessary response, but will it be enough? We measure success through small victories. An activist might not finish his or her work, but it is necessary to start it; others of good conscience will take up the struggle for justice. Love is the well-spring from which hope emerges. We must also experience grief, in response to the magnitude of the loss that occuring right now and transmute that grief into action.

We are animals and we experience a great range of emotions - so do non-humans

On what basis do we separate ourselves from the non-human world and exploit and destroy it (and ourselves)? Whatever the rationalization, it is insufficient to excuse the extraordinary torture and mutilation of non-human animals. Will humanity ever get to the point of embracing non-humans (and other humans and ourselves) as worthy of life and respect? Our society, as it is, is built on an insane hatred of life. As activists we have 1) love life, and 2) work politically to affirm life-affirmative policies and projects.

What is more frightening: the torture or animals or the indifference of good people?

Illegal and immoral Japanese whaling

For some years now there has been an international ban on whaling; despite this the Japanese continue to murder these great creatures - surely as great a crime as any that exists, except Biocide (murder of the entire planet). Everyone guilty of these crimes ought to be tried before an international tribunal, much like Nuremburg. Perhaps after the great catastrophes strike, they will be. The the end, however, the loss of their souls is the greatest punishment. If hell exists, they are going there. If not, they must face themselves on their death beds, knowing that they destroyed God's beautiful creation for profit, like Judas sold Jesus to the Romans for a few pieces of gold.

The mass die-off of bees

Due to human activities - probably pesticides - bees are dying en masse. Since they pollinate much of the world's vegetation, there is fear a great food shortage -- combine this possibility with drought, caused by climate change and deforestation and industrialization and use of agricultural lands for biofuels for vehicles - and the increasing diminishmen of existing oil reserves (which factory farming relies on) and it is propable that a mass famine may occur for North Americans in this century -- in Africa it is already occuring.

The effects of depleted uranium, used in Iraq

This photo is of an Iraqi child. Depleted uranium is placed inside U.S. armaments, directed against civilian populations in George Bush's "war on terror" (to maintain hegemony over Middle Easter oil deposits). Those who have perpetrated this crime are guilty of crimes against humanity. Now the Liberal government of Dalton McGunity is promoting nuclear energy and uranium mining, which will eventually be used in weapons that result in birth defects (as in this photo), as well as nuclear weapons. There is no way that the government can guarantee that uranium mined in Ontario cannot be used in this way.

Man is an willfully arrogant creature

Victim of nuclear energy

This girl is dying of radiation poisoning. Throughout this blog you will find many postings against the idea that nuclear energy represents a viable solution to climate change, for several reasons including the fact that 8,000 generations of human beings (over 25,000 years) will be negatively affected by nuclear energy for the sake of energy generated for the sake of 3 or 4 generations. The risks associated with nuclear energy are too great to allow its use, especially when safer forms of alternative energy (other than fossil fuels) are available. What this requires of our generation is committment to an ethically sound life-affirmative worldview. A solution to the climate crisis which is not ethically sound (i.e. nuclear, mass production of biofuels, geoengineering) should be abandoned for the same reasons that we are concerned about climate change: because of its adverse effects. Is the perpetuation of a culture based on endless consumption worth the destruction of the natural world and the murder of future generations?

Harper's new advisor on nuclear energy

Harper has rammed through a special law to over-ride a decision of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission. The CNSC was upset to learn that AECL (Atomic Energy of Canada Limited) had failed to install an important safety feature two years ago -- a back-up pump to prevent a core meltdown under certain accident conditions -- which was an explicit requirement of AECL's licence to operate the NRU reactor. As a result the fifty-year old NRU reactor, which has been operating in violation of its licence, was facing a month-long shutdown while the necessary safety equipment would be installed. But Stephen Harper introduced an emergency piece of legislation to re-start the NRU isotope-production reactor at Chalk River, despite the objections of the CNSC. In fact Harper spoke derisively of the "Liberal- appointed" commission as being obstructionist in preventing the reactor from operating when its isotope production capacity is needed. Harper stated in the House of Commons that there was no legitimate safety concern, that there would be no accident, because he had consulted an independent nuclear expert. This independent expert turned out to be someone from Bruce Power, who is also an active member of the Conservative Party (Harper's party), and who only read some relevant documents about the NRU situation the morning before. Now Harper is trying bully the Ethics Commissioner:

Activist Matthew Behrens

Matthew founded Homes Not Bombs and Toronto Action for Social Change, two groups that do non-violent direction action. In 2002 he and Angela Bischoff (Greenspiration) were arrested for trying to meet with OPG represenatives to discuss their sanction of smog through coal power, which kills 1,700 people a year. The charge was trespassing; it was dismissed. This type of activism, following in the tradition of Martin Luther King Jr. and Gandhi, seeks to transform society through non-violence and peace. The Buddhist monks in Burma recently tried to do the same; non-violence is an ongoing project and way of life that never ends.

Geoengineering: fixing the symptom, not the problem; and what if the cure is worse?

Geoengineering could kill all life in the Galapagos Islands, burn the ozone layer away and other unforseen disasters. Yet policy advisors are taking us in this direction, using the climate crisis to justify "climate altering." This is really being done to avoid changing the way we live: the excess of consumption, and energy waste. Ultimately this is a spiritual problem: our seperation form nature leads us down the path of killing nature -- and ourselves in the process. Is it really worth it to leave a dead planet just so we can continue to drive SUVs?

Computer addiction is killing the planet

Computer games, email, Facebook, computer model used by economists and corporations and government -- all these are examples of human beings plugged into a virtual reality at the expense of a vital connection with the natural world. The virtual world is supplanting the natural world, both in terms of our thoughts and through the creation of "ubiquitous computing devices" (e.g. PDAs, cellphones, digital screens, embedded computing devices) used to control populations through surveillance and market goods to them.

The cost of war versus the cost of renewable energy

Something close to two trillion dollars has been been spent on the war in Iraq, compared to $1.5 billion in spending on environmental technologies. The climate crisis could have been solved with 2 trillion dollars. As it is the war, makes climate change worse: See why the Iraq war means inaction on climate change; how far could 68 billion go toward securing energy independence? Pretty damn far; Beating swords into wind turbines by solar energy expert Paul Gipe, who asks, "What could we have accomplished toward building a renewable future here in North America instead of launching a war in the oil-rich heart of the Persian Gulf?"

The Creation Story ...

Thomas Berry and others regard the Big Bang as a telling of the Creation Story from the perspective of modern science (figuratively potrayed in Genesis and other mythologies and narratives). This "creation theology," the miracle of life and our ability to appreciate it through consciousness reveal a spiritual dimension to the universe. Religion and science, long at odds, come together in the modern era, compelled by our collective need to move beyond the folly of seperating ourselves from the natural world.

The face of the other and the command of ethical responsibility

Wanted: a magic button to make all cars on Earth vanish instantly

Other things the world would be better off without: pesticides (they are killing the soil), genetically modified seeds (serve only Monsanto's interests), superhighways and all internal combustion engines, the entire petroleum industry, television, iPods, cellphones, industrial waste, transnational corporations, guns, all weapons of war, air planes, coal plants, nuclear energy, industrialial machinery, computers, pharmaceutical companies (their overall effect is negative), pornography (exploits women), animal experimentation, factory farms, violent comptuer games, free market economics (promotes dehumanization and exploitation of nature) and business schools (trains people to dehumanize), both capitalism and communism and all other self-serving ideologies which are rapidly killing biodiversity and life on Earth. The answer: decentralized bioregionalism, which promotes small local sustainable businesses and community life, not requiring centralized industrial products.

Victim of greed and indifference

This is representative of the fate of the great mass of humanity in the future, thanks to the self-serving policies of the WTO and G8, the Bush Administration, Harper's minority government, the transnational corporations they all serve, and last but not least the self-absorption and indifference of good people who are called on to stop this criminal neglect but feel powerless and give up before they try. Everyone who is privelaged enough to read and write and have a roof over their head has a moral imperative to become an anti-poverty and environmental activist.

The greatest crime of all: mass extinction

Protecting biodiversity is among the highest of callings, and yet one little practised by humanity, the majority of whom are completely self-absorbed. The North American culture of excess, fast spreading in popularity across the world (notably in China and India) is a death sentence for millions of species. Man-made species extinction is criminal. Every sector of human society ought to work to prevent the further loss of natural habitats, invader species being introduced, and climate change.

Carbon offsets useless?

There is a huge controversey over offsets. Monbiot and others claim they are useless and compares them to papal indulgences; Al Gore uses them to justify his frequent flying; some advocates argue that it matters which offset scheme you buy into -- that reforestation is a problematic because it provides funds for projects which are already underway, not projects that would not otherwise happen. The best option is not to fly or drive in the first place, but this is practically useful only if enough people make this decision collectively, or the decision is mandated for them through legislation or restricted by carbon taxes. Currently air travel is becoming cheaper and more popular -- the very opposite of what needs to happen.

Responding to the climate crisis: a moral choice

The cartoon represents good as a mini-car and an SUV as bad. Of course there is no such thing as an environmentally friendly car, but the point of the cartoon is to illustrate that we have a moral choice in how we respond to the climate crisis. That choice extends not only to what we consume, but also to who we vote for and whether or not we act responsibly by taking seriously our civic duty to "green" where we live and work, and to promote local and national policies to protect the environment.

"Flick off" campaign sticks it to residential energy users, gives free license to industrial sector

Industrial users account for a very small percentage of energy users (estimated 1.2%) yet they use an estimated 55% of all energy produced by coal and nuclear power plants. They also pay a reduced hydro rate (3.2 cents per kilowatt hour versus about 5 cents for residential users). Instead of equalizing hydro rates to reduce their consumption, the Ontario government (whose election campaign was funded by the auto sector and other industrialists) implement a disengenuous conservation campaing, to get residential users to turn of the lights. Meanwhile the industrialists lobbied for and got an allocation of $43 billion to build and refurbish nuclear power, to allow them to continue the production of goods (such as cars) that we don't need. Pictured is Environment Minister Laurel Brotten, who will be rememberd for her bid to cut down a tree on her property to make way for the expansion of her garage (all four of her family members owned a car).

Blood money

The Munk Centre, at University of Toronto, is financed by Peter Munk, whose wealth was made through Barrick Gold. Open-pit industrial mining violates human rights and devestates local ecosystems. Dr. Marketa Evans, Director of the Munk Centre, gives academic legitimacy to the notion of voluntary "corporate social responsbility," favoured by Barrick Gold. Barrick favours voluntary CSR because it provides them with an argument for avoiding the restrictions that could be imposed by Canadian legislators to ensure that Canadian companies do not violate international human rights and environmental standards abroad -- as proposed during the Halifax Initiative talks. Evans recently appeared with Barrick reps at a talk on Bay Street, sponsored by Barrick's law firm, and spoke of the problems faced by "our industry" (her words) -- referring to Canadian extraction industries and in particular open-pit mining.

Manufacturing consent

The Toronto Star endorses nuclear energy. The National Post denies the reality of man-made climate change and promotes "clean coal." The Globe & Mail failed to report on energy issues in the provincial election (as did all other mass media). CTV airs climate change denial. The SUN is the same. Even U of T's Varsity failed on all these fronts. The influence of advertising (from the auto industry in particular) and self-censorship on the part of editors and journalists is to blame. Ontario's mass media is biased in favour of the Liberals and PCs (whose allegience is purchased by corporations). Scientific truth is aired only when it appears to be sensational, but real solutions (including mandatory regulations to reduce emissions) are given almost no copy space.

Exxon Mobil and CSIS are watching

Some environmental activists are on the CSIS blacklist because they practice peaceful non-violent civil protest. CSIS is funded by the Canadian public but advances the interests of the military-industrial complex, including Exxon Mobil, Imperial Oil, and similar transnational corporations. Figuratively, the Eye of Mordar represents the evil that dwells in our souls which make such abuses of power possible. This is why the philosophy of non-violence, as advocated by King and Gandhi, urges spiritual purification as a prerequisite to political action.

In this book Gore argues (coherently) that television news enteraintment has successfully distracted us from the important issues that deserve our attention -- including the necessity of acting to mitigate catastrophic climate change. He also provides an historical arguement that the Bush government represents a fundamentalist reactionary position against Enlightenment and Deist ideals advanced by Jefferson and the American founding fathers. Seeking to bring together church and state and identifying one's political party with God's sanction goes expressly against the principles of Enlightenment reason that America was founded upon; for this reason, the Bush Administration's politics are anti-American. It is also a violation of reason to defy science as they have done, in the case of evolution and climate change debates.

The issue of tactics ...

Ann Hansen spent 7 years in prison for bombing a weapons manufacturer (Litton) and a pornography store selling videos of rape. Some environmental activists (e.g. Earth Liberation Front) favour her approach, while many others do not, and some advocate non-violent direction action (e.g. Greenpeace, Earth First) in order to persuade the masses, rather than destroy the "means of production" as Hansen did. Many NGOs will not even join a rally or a march, but at the same time they benefit from government and corporate funding generated as a result of the activism of volunteers whom they distance themselves from. The issue of tactics is worth greater discussion among activists, and was raised during the recent SPP protests in Montebello when agent provocateurs posing as anarchists unsuccessfully infiltrated the protest. Students Against Climate Change favours low-level non-violenct direct action and education, but does not disdain those who take it further. All activism for the environment, from letter writing to arrest scenarios is better than doing nothing!

Eco-psychology: the idea that separation from the natural world is pathalogical

While the human mind is shaped by the modern social world, it can be readily inspired and comforted by the wider natural world, because that is the arena in which it originally evolved. Mental health or unhealth cannot be understood simply in the narrow context of only intrapsychic phenomena or social relations. One also has to include the relationship of humans to other species and ecosystems. These relations have a deep evolutionary history; reach a natural affinity within the structure of their brains and they have deep psychic significance in the present time, in spite of urbanization. Humans are dependent on healthy nature not only for their physical sustenance, but for mental health, too. The destruction of ecosystems means that something in humans also dies. The climate crisis represents an end for many species and human lives; it also points to the necessity for the transformation from an anthro-centric to a biocentric worldview -- because our technology affects the planet so profoundly, other species' lives are affected by our mental state.

Next meeting

Organizing meeting for Global Climate Date of Action

When: Friday, Oct. 26, 6 p.m.

Where: Hart House, 7 Hart House Circle, University of Toronto, lounge on second floor, east end (room TBA)

Why: to organize the Dec. 8 day of action, working with Stop Climate Chaos -- an international day of protest (which in Canada means defending Kyoto against Harper) -- coinciding with climate talks in Bali.

Last major event: Protest against Barrick Gold to protest open-pit mining which is both socially and environmentally irresponsible and to call for Federal Canadian legislation to close the loopholes that protect it. Done in conjunction with activists from Chile, Jamaica, California, and Toronto. The big issue these days is the Pascua Lama mine in Chile, which is destroying a glacier that is part of a water system providing water to 100,000 people. See http://protestbarrick.net/

Dalton's mantra: "I love nuclear"

Ontario's premiere is using public funds to pay for energy for big industry use, and planning to dump the waste in holes in Ontario's native reservations. Lethal waste will be leaking into the water table for the next 25,000 years, long after the Liberals (and Canada) are long forgotten. McGuinty says that he is a Christian, but the Old Testament says "thou shalt not kill." Students Against Climate Change is sending him a copy of the Bible with that passage marked in hopes that he reads it and takes it to heart.

Wind potential in Ontario - courtesy of Greenpeace, WWF

Politicians tell us there is not enough potential renewable energy to keep the lights on in Ontario without nuclear or coal power. They’re wrong. At the end of August, the McGuinty government released a 20-year electricity plan that overlooks a whole array of options for renewable and clean energy in favour of a $40 billion nuclear building spree. One untapped renewable resource is wind power on the Great Lakes. A government commissioned study in 2005 showed that there’s enough wind on the Great Lakes to generate up to 47,000 megawatts of electricity. That’s almost fives times the capacity of Ontario’s ageing nuclear stations. Despite this, the McGuinty government has rejected outright any development of offshore wind. Should we believe the Liberals when they tell us we don’t have the renewable energy potential to go without nuclear or coal? No.

Climate crisis and species extinction

Half the species in the world live the Amazon rain forest, which will become scrub-brush by 2100 AD if the climate crisis is not sufficently averted. The acidification of the oceans is also another major factor. In Canda, the pine beetle infestation and melting of the Arctic tundra are major concerns. Flying and driving are major causes, but what's really need is political action, which means political activism: we must all become politically active, to force the Canadian government to take decisive action. If they won't do it, they should not only lose their jobs; they should be tried for crimes against humanity and against the Earth! What will it take for the Canadian public to realize the gravity of this situation and act? Where is the moral indignation? Why are Canadians allowing the self-interest of an elite to dominate public policy, despite international criticism? Will it take another crisis of major proportions on North American soil (such as Katrina) for this society to wake up?

There's no such thing as a green car

Hybrid car technology is less damaging than conventional engines, but the energy cost involved in making a "green car" is enormous and the car will continue to use both gasoline and electricity (produced in large part by coal power). The greenest option is to use public transportation or bicycles. The problem with that is that the structures of society are built to accomodate these options. Which means that society has to be reshaped along different, more biocentric priorities. This requires a revolution in thinking at all levels. Now we can see what there is such deeply entrenched resistance to the "inconvenient truth" that we are killing the planet (and ourselves)! Yet in the end, a car-less culture is healthier and better off than one in which millions of cars compete for space, used up finite resources, and contribute to the destruction of life.

Boycott Tim Hortons for using non-recyclabe / non-biodegradable cups, drive-thru idling

In response to the excuse of China and India: what happened to moral integrity and responsibility?

Bush, Harper and other invoke the China argument: they are building a new coal-fired power plant every week, so why should we hurt ourselves economically? Gore's answer (and one that rings true) is that the U.S. must take the lead on reducing emissions so as to have the moral authority to urge China and India to do the same. What about taking responsibility for your own errors rather than blaming others? Why can't we have public policy based moral integrity rather than blamecasting and criminality?

The world would be better off without computers

Despite their uses for environmental activists, the overall legacy of computers is negative: they have allowed the extraction of natural resources and the wasteful consumer culture these resources fuel to grow to monstrous proportions in the last 30 years. They are used in every extraction industry, for businesses, in the stock market -- what they do in every case is devalue humanity and nature by quantifying and commodifying them -- reduced the sacred to quanta, to be manipulated. They are not merely tools in our service; they change the way we think and act fundamentally. Not to mention the argument against e-waste, the energy and water waste involved in producing them and the mindless consumer culture that they breed (along with television). Computers are killing the planet as surely as coal-fired power plants and cars. Their only redeeming value is that they are used by activists to spread information, but this could be done by other means. If you have a button in your hand that could make all computers dissapear instantly, would you push it? I would.

Cars: an integral part of the culture of death

Look at the life-cycle of cars: minerals extracted from the ground produce toxic mine tailings, a massive amount of energy is used to produce a single car, arable land and forests are destroyed to make roads, oil extraction industries pollute the sea and earth to produce the fuel cars need, wars are fought to secure oil hegemony, CO2 is burned by cars causing global warming and lethal smog, millions of people are run over and injured in car accidents, road rage and traffic jams less the quality of lives of citizens, insidious advertising by car companies dominates public spaces (called 'mind pollution'), needed housing is displaced by roads (as in NYC), cars at the end of their life cycle become waste (as in the photo above).

Nuclear marketing hype

Pictured above is a beaver sitting on nuclear fuel rods, the symbol of the Canadian Nuclear indusgtry. Investment in nuclear energy is marketed as a solution to global warming but it isn't. The public funds invested in nuclear are funds that could be better spent on clean, safe renewable energy such as wind, solar, cogeneration and conservation efforts (energy retrofits, for example). Uraniam mining produces GHGs; radioactive waste is an unresolved problem; nuclear power is unstable, requiring coal plants; the risk of nuclear disasters such as Chernobly are very real; and most importantly, it is now proven beyond a doubt that the "base load" energy needs of industrial socieites can operate on wind and solar, with sufficient investment in both. What cannot be produced ought not to be used; most energy use goes to unecessary production to feed uncessary consumption. Less consumption and waste will result in a better quality of life for all of us, and the plants and animals we share the planet with.

John Baird, Harper's anti-environment minister

The Harper government in its throne speech (Oct, 2007) announced that "Kyoto is dead" and suggesting a "made in Canada" alternative that emphasizes voluntary compliance by corporations, no binding targets on emissions and is clearly not serious about curbing global warming. Their position is informed by a strong allegiance to "the economy," positioning economic prosperty against the natural world. They clearly either havn't read the Stern report! The economy-ecology debate is false, as pointed out by Gore in An Incovenient Truth and DiCaprio in 11th Hour.

Not much time left ...

The "tipping point" is thought to be two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial temperatures; at that point global warming goes into a"positive feedback" loop. When that happens, it will be more difficult (and probably impossible) to stop global warming from going to 4 degrees or even more (some scientists predict 10 degrees by 2100 AD). A 10 degree increase would wipe out most life on Earth and destroy or greatly alter human civilization to such an extent that it would unrecognizable by today's standards. We have anywhere from 5 to 15 years left before the "tipping point" is reached. Every second of every day, global temperatures rise, taking us ever closer to the edge of an abyss. There is already massive ecosystem loss, but immediate action -- meaning a practical program to reduce global GHGs by 90% -- could still avert total disaster.

Television distracts us from reality

In "The Assault on Reason" Al Gore makes the entirely plausible argument that "news-entertainment" on television distracts us from the foremost issues of our age: the impending threat of global warming and worldwide ecosystem collapse. Television also indoctrinates the masses to desire consumer goods they don't need and can't afford, resulting in wasteful production and consumption -- both of which are destroying the natural world at an unprecedented rate. There is also a psychological and physiological cost: the average American and Canadian watches 4 to 5 hours of television per day, which contributes to obesity and social isoloation.

Protest against agro-chemical

The so-called "Green Revolution" of the 1970s introduced petrochemical-based pesticides into agriculture on massive scale. This initially led to increased food production (which allowed for a massive increase in the world's population) but eventually destroyed the soil, leading to massive crop failures. Genetically modified seeds are also a major problem, improvrishing farmers to pay Monsanto, a major seed producer, and destroying crop biodiversity. In India, thousands of farmers lost everything and many committed suicide. Around the world, local farmers are returning to organic farming. This protest against agro-chemicals is in the Phillipines. Local organic food production is necessary to build a post-carbon world and to mitigate the damage to the soil and atmosphere caused by petrochemicals.

Pro environment = anti-war

Modern wars are a symptom of the fossil fuel age: wars are fought over oil and consume vast amounts of energy in weapons production and transportation, and they devastate local sustainable communities (e.g. Afghanistan), polarizing the world into enemy camps. Violence against nature and animals and violence against human beings has the same root, and the same cure: non-violence or what the Buddhists called "ahimsa." This photo shows a young Buddhist in Sri Lanka, protesting the civil war there.

The 21st century: an era of climate racism

Why do many of our political "leaders" appear to regard Africans and Bangladeshis as expendable? How else can we explain the apparent disregard for the lives of those will perish from drought and flooding caused by climate change? The tactics and philosophy of Dr. M. L. King and M. K. Gandhi are needed to invoke the moral strength needed to fight climate racism and the grotesque imbalance of power between rich and poor in a world in the throes of environmental collapse. Greenwash and government policies which do not radically curb the wasteful GHG emissions of corporations and consumers will make little diference; only a grassroots people's movement has any chance of effecting real change.

Water Justice Now

There is a terrible water inequity in the world today. Global warming will amplify the problem, as glaciers melt. This is not a gradual process; new evidence suggests that even 2 degree Celsius above pre-industrial temperatures could result in the loss of crucial water supply. The water justice movement against the privatization of water resources needs to gain strength, to save lives. Water is a basic need, and should not be wasted in heavy industry (e.g. the tar sands) or sold for profit at the expense of the poor.

Electronic waste

Millions of tonnes of e-waste is produced by North Americans every year; most of it is shipped illegally to China, to be broken apart for component parts. This poisons the land (ground water contamination), and the people who do the work. Computers are responsible for global warming throughout their entire life cycle: their production is very energy-intensive, they are used to increase production in polluting industries and as e-waste they are shipped overseas where mountains of old monitors displace trees and poison the water.

Darlington nuclear facility

Public funds spent on nuclear power takes away funding from clean, safe renewable power sources (wind, solar, geothermal). Nuclear power produces toxic waste that cannot be safely disposed, it results in cost overruns (Darlington is a prime example), represents a target for terrorists, is used in nuclear weapons production and produces CO2 through uranium mining and concrete production. The McGuinty government plans to spend $40 billion on nuclear power and dump the radioactive waste on native reservations.

Greenwash Alert

Governments and corporations routinely claim to be "green" or sustainable. Few of these claims are valid, and many are purposely misleading. "Clean coal" and climate change plans that do not impose mandatory regulations to curb pollution (e.g. the McGuinty "Green" plan for Ontario) are two major examples. A major Canadian grocery chain promotes a "green" line of products but continues to ship in food from thousands of miles away and waste massive amounts of energy through open refridgerators in its stores. Can you name some examples of "greenwash"?

Mass extinction - the crime for which future generations will not forgive us

Shut down the Oil Sands

The Alberta oil sands is the biggest environmental disaster in Canada and Canada's single largest source of CO2 emissions. To produce one million barrels of oil per day, boreal forests covering land the size of Florida are being destroyed, massive amounts of natural gas is used (even though Canadian reserves have peaked), more water than is used by the city of Calgary is turned into toxic mine tailings, and 23 mega-tonnes of CO2 is produced. Daily production is expected to triple in coming years, subsidized by $1.4 billion by taxpayers.