Eco-Chick · The modern girl's guide to living green & fabulous.

Bill McKibben Talks Climate Change and 350.org with Colbert

I LOVE Colbert, and I am a long-time Bill McKibben fan; his new organization, 350.org is fighting climate change by encouraging initiatives that bring carbon down to 350ppm or lower (we are at 390 right now), which is the safe level for continued healthy and prosperous life on Earth.

Food Democracy Now! Petition Sustainable Choices for the USDA

Food Democracy Now! is a grassroots campaign comprised of farmers, writers, activists, policy advocates and people who eat. A petition is circulating to bring our attention to the desperate need for sustainable practices regarding food. The Food Democracy Now! petition asks President-elect Barack Obama and newly appointed Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack to consider leaders for the Under Secretary level who understand organic and sustainable agriculture.

While some are more concerned with the appointment of Vilsack, Dave Murphy of FoodDemocracyNow! remains hopeful;

We understand that many in the sustainable agriculture community are disappointed with President-elect Obama’s selection of former Iowan Governor as our next Secretary of Agriculture. Concern over his record regarding genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and the proliferation of confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs) during his time in office have given many in this community pause over the type of change he may be willing to implement as the head of the USDA. The fact is that many in Iowa who have worked with Gov. Vilsack in the past have always appreciated his willingness to listen to the concerns of family farm and rural advocates and believe that he may be able to realize more progressive change at the USDA as he will not be hampered by a Republican House and Senate as he was as governor. We are also encouraged by the fact that President-elect Obama has committed to payment limitations, eliminating subsidies for factory farms and labeling GMOs in the human food chain.

Twelve sustainable choices are listed at the end of the petition. FoodDemocracyNow! is working hard to get 100,000 signatures by January 1st, 2009. To join the likes of Bill McKibben, Michael Pollan, Wendell Berry and Eric Schlosser, just to name a few, SIGN IT!

350: Global Warming. Global Action. Global Future.

Last night I was reading my favorite magazine, Orion. Bill McKibben was discussing the campaign 350. From the website:

350 is the red line for human beings, the most important number on the planet. The most recent science tells us that unless we can reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to 350 parts per million, we will cause huge and irreversible damage to the earth.

But solutions exist. All around the world, a movement is building to take on the climate crisis, to get humanity out of the danger zone and below 350. This movement is massive, it is diverse, and it is visionary. We are activists, scholars, and scientists. We are leaders in our businesses, our churches, our governments, and our schools. We are clean energy advocates, forward-thinking politicians, and fearless revolutionaries. And we are united around the world, driven to make our planet livable for all who come after us.

We are everywhere, and together we are unstoppable.

We are currently living at 387ppm. Scientists claim numbers could reach 450-550ppm which would mean disaster for life as we know it. Every time we turn on a car, a light, the heat, the stove, the television, the computer; we partake. Unless we are receiving our power solely from renewables, then we are using coal and oil. The 350 campaign is hoping to influence lawmakers, political leaders, and individuals to take action. One view has perpetuated the notion that climate change, such as what we are experiencing now, is normal, just as ice ages come and go. However, the real science is in and it is time to listen, regardless of partisan politics.

Last week my extended family gathered. A discussion arose, among friends and family, about the fictionalized nature of global warming and how it is simply a marketing campaign so people can sell “green” products. Greenwashing exists. We know this. But this conversation, dominated by one in particular, was reiterating a denial about what is happening. My young cousin, who is twenty and overheard the discussion, told me she wasn’t sure. We had a decent conversation about some examples of climate change, what greenwashing means, and environmentalism in general. The information is out there. Bill McKibben, Michael Pollan, Terry Tempest Williams, Treehugger, Grist, Adbusters, Huffington Post, ENN – just to name a few sources.

Is Green Too White?

In a recent article, “Beyond Eco-Apartheid,” Van Jones of Oakland’s Ella Baker Center for Human Rights asks, “Is the environmental movement too white?”

According to Jones, “The LOHAS (lifestyles of health and sustainability) sector is growing like crazy…but unfortunately [it] is probably the most racially segregated part of the US economy.”

The article was originally written for Common Ground, but I found it posted at Truth Out, which collects lots of good cultural critics including Jessica Valenti, Michael Pollan, Bill McKibben & Bill Moyers.

(Acknowledgment: Thanks to the man paddling a canoe to Carl Ross Key island…)

Sea of People Takes Lower Manhattan

by guest-blogger Olivia Zaleski

Yesterday I went to my first global warming rally, which was part of the Step It Up 2007 campaign (check out their page to see fun images from all over the United States). In Battery Park at the lower tip of Manhattan, I joined an estimated 1,200 fellow protesters to create a “Sea Of People,” (also the name of the local event).

Scientists warn sea levels could rise 10 feet or more, enough to flood Lower Manhattan and other low-lying coastal areas, which was the idea behind the placement of NYC’s event. In Battery Park I rallied along side some feisty protesters along with a plethora of people dressed as sea creatures, endangered species, and anything maritime-related you could think of.

Manhattan’s Sea of People was just one of 1,400 plus other events across all 50 states, which were part of the Step It Up Campaign to convince Congress to reduce heat-trapping carbon emissions by 80% by 2050. The campaign was created by Middlebury (VT) students, professors, and environmentalist Bill McKibben, author of the 1989 book on global warming, The End of Nature.