Ya ha pasado un tiempo desde el blog action day y es interesante recapitular sobre los resultados que arrojan este tipo de iniciativas.

La gente de blog action day tiene cifras interesantes sobre los resultados de la iniciativa.

Como primer punto querían que la mayor cantidad de gente escribiera sobre el Cambio climático el mismo día, en esta ocasión fueron 13.604 blogers los que contestaron la convocatoria los cuales suman más de 18 millones de lectores combinados, esta es una iniciativa que cada vez toma más fuerza. Pero que tantos resultados arrojan estas iniciativas. El mundo si será al menos un poquito mejor.

Si medimos los 18 millones de lectores contra la población de los 156 países que participaron, no son una muestra significativa y menos si comparamos esto a la población mundial que de internautas.

Aunque tiene resultados interesantes, como un aumento de un 500% en la cantidad de personas que hablaron de ese tema el mismo día, y eso se puede tomar como un muy pequeño impulso a la resolución del problema. La esperanza está en que alguno de los más de 18 millones de usuarios que leyeron los diferentes blogs se le ocurra como resolver el problema es lo que hace esta iniciativa interesante.

La idea es que este tipo de iniciativas, no sean iniciativas de un solo día, sino que generen mayor impulso para estar seguros de que generan resultados, o que se les diera espacio a los lectores de aportar ideas sobre cómo resolver el tema planteado y así la interacción de los lectores y los blogers generen una dinámica de más de un día.

Aunque crean que es un poco dura mi observación sobre estas iniciativas y parezca que no le veo sentido ni capacidad para generar resultados, las seguiré apoyando y me verán en el siguiente blog action day.

Sé que hasta ahora es un pequeño movimiento, pero es cada vez más grande, cada año más y más importantes blogers son miembros de esta iniciativa, así que seguiremos trabajando para que las iniciativas basadas en Web 2.0 tengan cada vez mas efectividad y para ello solo contamos con que cada vez mas blogers se unan a estas iniciativas y que alguno de sus lectores tenga la idea que hace falta para resolver el tema planteado en el blog action day de cada año.

Por ahora esperemos que se publique cual es el tema del año entrante y la manera de apoyarlo.

http://www.voipers.net

Texto de Francisco Maciel, co-fundador e presidente da Iniciativa Verde para a WebCitizen:

Não é para ficar rememorando “tempos imemoriais”, mas nem faz tanto tempo assim que os países reuniram seus representantes numa grande conferência ecológica, a maior de todos os tempos, no Rio, em 92, com a cidade sintomaticamente tomada pelo exército brasileiro para garantir “a segurança” e um acordo, do então governador Leonel Brizola, com os barões da cidade para sacramentá-la…

Naquela época, quando a gente falava em aquecimento global tínhamos de enfrentar o lobby da economia de petróleo com todo um bloco de cientistas renomados que defendiam que o aumento da concentração de gases de efeito estufa pelo uso da energia pós-revolução industrial, o modelo de ocupação territorial humana e a displicência com a capacidade de absorção do meio ambiente teriam pouco a ver com o aquecimento global. Este um ciclo natural da terra, irreversível e sem relação com o homem e seu modo de vida.

Bom, 17 anos depois, o tratado de quioto em vias de sua renovação, muita coisa mudou.

Hoje dificilmente encontramos alguém que não tenha um entendimento nem que rudimentar do efeito estufa e suas causas e já é um conhecimento até comum saber que o meio ambiente não aguenta mais, que pagamos um custo alto pelo desmatamento, que o Brasil está entre os 5 maiores emissores de gases de efeito estufa do mundo e ainda reluta em assumir uma posição de corte de emissões exemplares, os mesmos medos dos reflexos disso para a economia do que os já santanizados Estados Unidos.

Efeito estufa e aquecimento global contribuem para o degelo das calotas polares e desequilíbrios ecológicos que já são realidade em nosso Planeta

Da minha vida nisso, passei de um jovem engenheiro que falava de um assunto distante e incompreensível (podia parecer meio coisa de picareta) para um profissional com experiência nessa área de mudanças climáticas do momento e do futuro, sendo chamado para falar, escrever, debater, informar e formar novos profissionais e decisórios no assunto.

Mais… coisas específicas decorrentes dos avanços em soluções, como compensação de emissões, neutralização, e nomes como Carbon Free (inventado na sala da minha casa), se tornaram terminologias mundiais que se associam as marcas mais famosas do mundo, as principais corporações e se transformam em uma nova economia, a economia do pagamento dos serviços ambientais, a economia da floresta, não a do desmatamento, a da recuperação e conservação das florestas!

Ora, então está bom, avançamos muito, como humanidade, se pensarmos q a formalização do ambientalismo foi marcada com livro Primavera Silenciosa e as estruturas governamentais como ministérios e secretarias de meio ambiente são recentes não apenas no Brasil, mas no mundo…

Tudo bem se não estivéssemos falando de um objetivo segurar o aumento de temperatura média do globo em 2 graus C em 2100, com a idéia de um esforço conjunto entre os países para isso e não soubéssemos que atingiremos os mesmos 2graus C em 2050, apenas considerando o resultado inercial dos gases de efeito estufa já emitidos.

Tudo bem se dentro dos cenários de comportamento da humanidade no combate e diminuição estipulado pelo IPCC (International Panel of Climate Change, Nobel da Paz com Al Gore em 2007) não nos encontrássemos no pior cenário, o que aponta para um aumento de temperatura ainda maior ou uma necessidade de radicalização nas soluções…

Tudo bem se a geoeconomia do planeta não estivesse já sofrendo alterações significativas, as Ilhas do Pacifico não estivessem sendo submersas, se a ocorrência de cataclismas com alta probabilidade de fundo por alteração climática não estivesse aumentando exponencialmente…

E tudo bem se a velocidade de decisão dos nossos representantes governamentais não obedecesse mais a dinâmica política e diplomática do que a necessidade urgente pela gravidade do problema e seu potencial de agravamento de exclusão social…

Menos mal se a fantástica capacidade de conscientização que a humanidade desenvolveu pela disponibilidade de informação e velocidade de seus meios puder significar uma ação coordenada (ou não?) que passa pela cobrança aos eleitos, às agremiações e as ações locais, regionais e globais.

Famílias mobilizam-se e protestam nas ruas seguindo manifestações em todo o mundo contra o aquecimento global

Neste ano de 2009 estamos vivendo um feliz florescer da ação da sociedade sobre o tema, e essa é a grande diferença.

Já tivemos a Passeata Ecológica, em São Paulo, temos o movimento do Global Climate Act, que começou no Fórum Social Mundial e acaba em grande evento no dia 12 de dezembro, em plena Copenhagen da Conferencia do Clima, do qual a mesma, e outras passeatas fizeram parte. Tivemos o dia do planeta.

Proliferam mobilizações web e agora este belo Global Action Day.

Esta grande diferença é a percepção de que a mudança não é apenas de economia, política e diplomática.

É, antes de mais nada, uma mudança cultural onde somos todos envolvidos e interessados, pois resulta numa mudança de modo de vida e percepção das coisas que compõe essa vida, sonhos e expectativas.

E dessa vez não será possível fingir que não estamos vendo e esperar soluções prontas.

Temos de perceber que se o mundo não nos cabe, não estamos mais cabendo nesse mundo.

Temos de discutir o essencial, requalificar o luxo e rever o belo.

Conseguiremos, pois a nossa capacidade de surpreender é enorme.

Mas ela está logo ali, com a vontade de fazer, a necessidade de expressão e a mobilização!

Sigamos em frente!

Francisco Maciel, presidente da Iniciativa Verde ou Txai Brasil, músico e poeta

In the month of October, we all witnessed the very impressive Blog Action Day where bloggers from all over the country and the world addressed the issue of climate change through their writings. Repower America has taken it a step further.

Their website now has a wall for everyone to go and post their pictures, videos, or text. It is a very original and unique idea that Al Gore has described as a “revolutionary approach” and an “ambitious strategy.”

The wall is a place where people from different walks of life express their opinion about green energy. Doctors, military leaders, actors, environmental organizations, and many others have all posted their pictures and videos. It is an overwhelmingly powerful tool.

The Wall is a place where literally thousands and thousands of people committed to a revolutionary new energy future for our nation and the world are coming together — to express our hopes, share our resolve, and step up to a leadership role in building a grassroots movement for change like nothing America has ever seen. It’s an opportunity for you to be part of the climate movement in a new way, in a way that takes us beyond ourselves. – Al Gore wrote on his his journal.

It is a very simple process to get your post on the wall. Visit this website and follow the simple instructions. Remember adding your own video or photo to you post will only make your message it more powerful.

Click here to go to Repower America’s Wall. Voice out your opinion and join us in the fight.

Derrick Jensen, activist and author: “…Consumer culture and the capitalist mindset have taught us to substitute acts of personal consumption (or enlightenment) for organized political resistance. An Inconvenient Truth helped raise consciousness about global warming. But did you notice that all of the solutions presented had to do with personal consumption—changing light bulbs, inflating tires, driving half as much—and had nothing to do with shifting power away from corporations, or stopping the growth economy that is destroying the planet?…

“…I want to be clear. I’m not saying we shouldn’t live simply. I live reasonably simply myself, but I don’t pretend that not buying much (or not driving much, or not having kids) is a powerful political act, or that it’s deeply revolutionary. It’s not. Personal change doesn’t equal social change…”

You can read more of his article from Orion magazine here. Unfortunately he provides almost no answers other than taking on the system. I seem to remember that An Inconvenient Truth advocated that individuals reduce their carbon footprints and consume less and more wisely, but also that they use political and social power as well.

The reason I’m beating this drum today is that I read an alarming (although not alarmist) article in Business Day yesterday about how climate change is affecting fishermen (and women) here in the Western Cape and how the rainfall in the Southern Cape has changed drastically for the worse. It’s easy to overlook the effects of climate change here in Cape Town. What’s a bit more rain here and there and some hotter days in summer? But for those living a few hundred kilometres away, their lives are much worse off now as a result of global warming.

I also read an interesting take on personal and climate change as part of this year’s Blog Action Day (the theme of which is Climate Change). I’ll be interested to read some more on this so let me know if you have any articles or links to recommend.

As for personal change, that’s a subject for a lifetime’s worth of blogs (and books) itself.

AAUW learned in early August through news reports that our name was being forged in letters to Congressional representatives. These letters were meant to appear to be written from members of organizations comprising grassroots networks. In AAUW’s case, the letter (PDF) was sent from a Charlottesville, Virginia, branch, which is not even in existence. Furthermore, the AAUW logo was forged and placed on the fraudulent letterhead, and the letter was signed by a deceased AAUW member. The forgery even hit a personal note for an AAUW staff member as well.

What were these forged letters lobbying Congress about? Clean coal! That’s right — as AAUW mentioned in our statement on August 6, “An agent of Bonner & Associates — through its work with the Hawthorn Group and the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity — forged one or more letters from AAUW to members of Congress. Other well-known organizations were similarly targeted. The goal was to further the coal industry’s lobbying efforts against the Clean Energy and Security Act, also known as the ‘cap and trade’ legislation.”

This “AstroTurf” (or fake grassroots) campaign, an act of blatant fraud, has caught the attention of Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-MA), chair of the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, who had scheduled a hearing today to further investigate the fraudulent letters. (It has been rescheduled for some time next week.) AAUW supports investigations into this matter and urges Congress to take action against deceitful tactics.

What’s really ridiculous about this incident is that AAUW does not lobby Congress about energy policy — we focus on issues affecting equity  for women and girls. AAUW staff and members are indignant and outraged that our name and reputation would be co-opted to oppose an energy issue that we do not even advocate. Fortunately, it seemed as though some environmental bloggers were just as shocked and upset as we were.

It’s important to note that these acts defying our democracy may happen more than people are aware. This time they were used to lobby against energy policy, but other issues could fall victim to fraudulent, AstroTurf-style practices as well. AAUW empathizes with the other organizations affected by these forged letters, and we will  certainly  be on the lookout for these kinds of activities in case  there are any attempts to wrongly use AAUW’s good name again.

Comments are closed here, but open at the posting on AAUW’s blog, Dialog.

Mais uma ação apoiada pelo Blog Action Day que o FunSurfer está ajudando a divulgar.É um vídeo feito por algumas super-modelos em aoio ao Dia mundial de Ação Climática que teve participaçao de mais de 19.000 fotos de manifestaçoes artísticas coletivas com o número 350.
Conheça o movimto que já conta com mais de 100 milhões de participantes em 181 países.

Faça sua parte e participe clicando aqui.

Another action supported by the Blog Action Day.FunSurfer is helping to disseminate the 350″s action.This video has been made by some super-models to support the International Day of Climate Action which was attended by more than 19,000 pictures of collective artistic manifestations with the number 350.
The popular movement already has more than 100 million participants in 181 countries.
Make your duty for the future and click here to participate.

Lo sé. Posteo 13 días despues del 15 de octubre (Día del Blog Action Day)  y luego de más de tres semanas de ausencia. Muchas tareas, muchos exámenes, mucho estrés. Más vale tarde que nunca, dice el viejo refrán, y acá estoy para escribir sobre el cambio climático.

Hace unas semanas en “Punto Final” apareció un excelente reportaje en el que un grupo de gente loquísima, y justamente por eso genial, propone una idea descabellada: Pintemos la sierra de blanco. ¿A qué se debe esta iniciativa? Pues, resulta que al pintar las rocas de nuestras cordillera de blanco, este color al ser recesivo disminuye la intensidad del calor proveniente de los rayos solares. Luego de estudios y análisis han concluido que de pintar toda la cordillera de blanco, sería posible hacer un impacto positivo frente a los inminentes efectos del calentamiento global en el Perú.

Es una idea loquísima. Y justamente esas son las genialidades que necesitamos. Necesitamos gente loca, pero comprometida. Gente que sueñe con lo increíble, pero que desee plasmarlo en realidad. No estamos condenados a esperar que el calentamiento global nos destruya. Aún podemos hacer algo para evitarlo.

Hagan clic aquí para entrar a la página de estos locos increíbles y geniales.

Acá los dejo con el link a un reportaje que Nicolás Lúcar mostró en su programa “Punto Final”.

Clayoquot Summer People’s History Dossier

Rainforest Dispatches podcast series

With a litany of environmental-related events in Blog Action Day, Tck Tck Tck, 350, Bridge to A Cool Planet – i’ve rustled up an overview of my recent climate change, activist-oriented media project.

Listeners to “Choogle On with Uncle Weed” podcast have noticed the special series called Rainforest Dispatches. Consider subscribing by RSS Feed,  iTunes, Email (gratis).

Here’s the blurb:

“A series of explorations and soliloquies from the Clayoquot Sound area on the west coast of Vancouver Island during a summertime water outage in the midst of a temperate rainforest. While figuring out what happened, Uncle Weed recollects the tense logging blockades in early 1990s and compares current conditions through lens of deep ecology and sustainable development practices.”

Part of my aim in this project is to gather a record of the events written and created by people camped amongst the stumps taking snapshots, writing in diaries, sharing recollections and collecting ephemera related to the blockades.

If this protest happened these days, Flickr, YouTube and Twitter would be rife with commentary, evidence and documentation but as i’ve found, most all materials found on the web are digitized by diligent documenters well after the event and i feel many historical treasures are trapped in show boxes, attics, aging memories and degrading film.

Collecting Clayoquot:

What i seek from you and others …

Recorded Recollections – Audio recording of your personal reflections from the blockades or from whereever you were. How did you get there? Why did you go? How did you keep you spirits up? How has participation influenced your life? Please record on any digital audio device (computers or iPhones work great) and email to choogleon (at) uncleweed (dot) net. Have old cassettes or other media? Please let me know.

Clayoquot Summer Photos - Snapshots from the Peace Camp and blockade lines, plus campouts on Long Beach, coffee breaks in Tofino, hitch-hike rides to the camp … Stick them on Flickr and tag ClayoquotSummer or email to choogleon (at) uncleweed (dot) net. Please CC license.

Showdown, the police and MacMillan Bloedel have arrived. The persons with the pink ribbons were peacekeepers, who were mostly successful in calming down emotions often running very high. By Aldo de Moor

News Articles, Flyers, Signs -Did you keep a scrapbook of article, signs, posters or other miscellanea? Stick them on Flickr and tag ClayoquotSummer or email to choogleon (at) uncleweed (dot) net. Please CC license.

Clayoquot Mass Trails booklet - I’ve seen scans of a book made profiling everyone arrested and including some diaries from prison – do you have a digital copy or one i can digitize?

Impact of Arrest - For those 800+ who were arrested and sentenced in the mass trial, how has the arrest affected your life? Any problems with travel? How did you survive financially during the trail and sentence? What did you do during your 3 month house arrest? How did the arrest influence your life’s work? Positive or negative remarks welcome.

Any content i receive will find a place in my historical dossier via podcasts, photo galleries or artwork to be named later.

Clayoquot Resources (so far):

Many links are outdated and pointing to changed archives. Much of the evidence comes from mainstream media with their sound-bite-sized and often sensationalized segments. While interesting, this does not capture the significance of the event to generations of eco-advocates who really brought many points of view.

See the articles and resources i’ve assembled at: Clayoquot tag on Delicious social bookmarks

I’ve found EF!-ers’s talking about the soft approach against logging by the PeaceCampers and other celebrating and studying the non-violence and consensus building found in the cooperative community environment. Other discourse focuses on the way the big corporations dealt with the protests and other chronicle the court cases. Plus a few articles about the Clayoquot Summer legacy (mostly from the 10 year anniversary).

A few highlights:

Clayoquot Sound—A Summer of Protest by Luke Moore

Reading the injunction at Clayoquot Sound protest. Photo: Luke Moore.

Over the past summer, the Kennedy River Bridge entrance to logging operations on Clayoquot Sound became the site of one of the largest civil disobedience campaigns in Canadian history.

The protest followed the B.C. government’s decision on April 13 to allow MacMillan Bloedel to proceed with a harvesting plan that will see the eventual cutting of another 51 percent of the area’s old-growth forest. The B.C. government, perhaps coincidentally, is the largest single shareholder in MacBlo. Twenty-three percent of the forest has already been harvested.

Although industry refers to logging as “general integrated management,” and there is a lot of rhetoric about improved forestry practices, large scale forest management remains environmentally unsound. If there is any improvement, it is that the future clearcuts will be smaller. Since the government decision, a brand-new 125 hectare clearcut graces the side of a mountain visible from the Kennedy River Bridge.

The forest around Clayoquot Sound is one of the largest remaining stands of old-growth forest in North America. This is an irreplaceable cradle of rainforest biodiversity, and it can only be saved if the government will reverse its decision.

Peace camp established

To press for that reversal, a peace camp was set up by the Friends of Clayoquot Sound (FOCS), a Tofino-based environmental group which has fought for the protection of the forests for fourteen years. The camp served as a base for protesters, who blockaded the Kennedy River Bridge until the camp was closed down Oct. 4.

More Clayoquot Sound—A Summer of Protest

Blockades and Civil Disobedience (1993 – 1995), Whole Systems Engagement by Ann Svendsen & Myriam Laberge from Collective Wisdom Initiative

Blockade on Kennedy Bridge – Photographer unknown

In the summer of 1993, the battle in Clayoquot Sound escalated. Environmental groups organized a Clayoquot Sound Peace Camp, which attracted protesters from throughout North America and Europe. At least 9,000 people participated in demonstrations against clear-cut logging. More than 800 people were arrested in the largest act of civil disobedience in Canadian history when protesters massed to block logging roads and climbed trees to protect them from cutting. Suddenly, Clayoquot Sound was in the headlines around the world.

In October 1993, the government responded by initiating the Scientific Panel for Sustainable Forest Practices in Clayoquot Sound, an independent panel of First Nations and scientific experts. The Panel’s mandate was to develop world-class standards for sustainable forest management by combining traditional and scientific knowledge. Two years later, the Panel’s report recommended that clear cutting be replaced by variable retention forestry, an approach that would leave some trees standing in each area to protect the health of the forest ecosystem.

At the same time that the panel was developing its recommendations, the provincial government was engaged in negotiations with the First Nations to resolve their land claims. A joint resource management process was established with the First Nations of Clayoquot. Even as these initiatives were moving forward, however, environmentalists were escalating their campaigns against clear-cut logging in the rest of the province.

Clayoquot Sound: Not Out Of The Woods Yet! By Valerie Langer Common Ground

The ten year anniversary of the largest civil disobedience in Canadian history is approaching. During the summer of 1993 over 850 people were arrested and 12,000 people demonstrated in opposition to logging in the ancient forests of Clayoquot Sound.

The magnificent forests and the strength of the non-violent protests captured the imagination of the public and the media. Canadians, Americans and Europeans flocked to the Peacecamp, and every morning before dawn they caravanned down a dusty logging road to the demonstration site. When logging trucks arrived at the Kennedy River Bridge, the international media turned on their camera lights and brought the stand off to TV sets and radios all around the world.

Friends of Clayoquot Sound (FOCS) was there to facilitate people bringing their consciousness into action. A few years of action experience had trained us how to leverage that presence into the international forum. After the mass trials of the 850 arrestees Common Ground published an “Honour Roll” of those courageous souls who put their liberty on the line for the ancient forests of Clayoquot Sound.

Today art pieces featuring the protests hang on the walls of the Vancouver Art Gallery, and the BC Museum designates ‘Clayoquot ’93’ as one of the most significant events in BC’s history. Clayoquot was a fire in the belly, a symbol of our rage against environmental destruction and a cathartic outlet to do something about it.

The Summer of ‘93 – The Struggle for Clayoquot Sound by Aldo de Moor of Tilburg, The Netherlands, collection of snapshots from August 1993 on Wikicommons

Blocking the Logging Road15.jpg Plenary meeting in the Peace Camp. Each night, all plans and conflicts were discussed in an effective consensus-seeking process. One of the main issues on the agenda always was who was going to be arrested the next day. By Aldo de Moor

The arrested taken to the police station by school bus. By Aldo de Moor

The entrance to the “Peace Camp”, base of the protesters. By Aldo de Moor

Wilderness & Resistance – Bears, Blockades & Burning Bridges By an Expatriated Biocentric Turtle Island Earth First!er in “Do or Die” Vol. 6

The Friends of Clayoquot Sound (FOCS) started as a radical group of various and sundry American draft-dodger hippies, traditional Nuu-Chah-Nuulth natives, tree spikers, and other dissident voices against the clearcut logging of the largest remaining lowland coastal temperate rainforest (280,000 ha.) [located on BC's Vancouver Island]. In fact, one of the former directors of FOCS started the Society for the Protection of Intact Kinetic Ecosystems (SPIKE), which openly advocated spiking and claimed to have put nails into 20,000 trees.

Another director was convicted of burning a bridge to a logging site. Yet, by the summer of 1993, the campaign to save Clayoquot had evolved into one of massive civil disobedience; all summer long, every single day, one of the main logging roads was blockaded by crowds varying from perhaps 5,000 on the first day when the band Midnight Oil played, to just a handful of folks. Over 1,000 people were arrested that summer for criminal contempt of court by defying a court injunction to stay off the road. An extraordinary diversity of people came out and got involved: from raging grannies to loggers, peaceheads to saboteurs (more on that in a moment), New Agers to Anglican clerics, people came from all walks to take part. Hell, even a dozen Basques showed up who spoke no English but said in Spanish, “clearcutting kills men and the beasts.” Unfortunately, the campaign was to a certain extent controlled by the “peace nazis,” who were afflicted with a bad case of tunnel vision. Even though there were often hundreds of people around, the only form of protest allowed by FOCS was the stand-in-the-road-while-they-read-you-the-injunction-and-then-cart-you-off demonstration; consequently, there were only a few days all year that the logging was actually stopped. Usually, it was only a matter of a few minutes for the police to remove the demonstrators and then the trucks rolled on by.

Earth First! was definitely not welcome at that point, nor were tree-sitters, or lock-ons, or elves. Even though many FOCS activists are EF!ers, that summer saw a definite change of tactics in Clayoquot, one which perhaps foreshadowed the FoE/EF! conflict here. Many years of hard work by FOCS, and help from international groups like EF!, Greenpeace, and Rainforest Action Network among others, has resulted in the main logging company (Macmillan Bloedel) pulling out of Clayoquot, and the other company has had its cut reduced by 45%.

In a sense, Clayoquot has been saved and should be considered a victory. On the other hand, the government and timber industry are using the tiny area of Clayoquot as a smokescreen to cover up the fact that they are clearcutting the rest of the province.

University of Victoria’s “A Political Space” Clayoquot Project

The New York Times ad which sparked the protest gathered at Univ. of Victoria Clayoquot Project

Clayoquot Info from “Friends of Clayoquot Sound“:

Maps:

Interactive Map: Logging

Map of Intact Clayoquot Valleys

Vancouver Island Old Growth 1860

Vancouver Island Old Growth 2004

Historical Notes from FOCS

1992 Blockade at Clayoquot Arm Bridge of Kennedy Lake, 65 arrested, protesting MacMillan Bloedel’s logging at edge of intact Clayoquot River valley.

1993 International campaign takes off with ad in New York Times and FOCS trip to Europe. FOCS and allied environment groups call for boycott of MacMillan Bloedel and other companies. Largest peaceful civil disobedience in Canadian history is sparked by BC government’s decision to log 74% of Clayoquot Sound’s ancient forest. FOCS opens Peace Camp at “Black Hole”. Daily blockades and arrests begin at Kennedy River Bridge. 856 arrested and 12,000 participate during “Clayoquot Summer 93″.

1996 FOCS and Greenpeace takeover of Rankin Cove logging camp leads to First Nations-brokered truce between MacMillan Bloedel and environmentalists. Negotiations begin regarding protecting large intact (pristine) valleys in Clayoquot Sound from logging.

1997 FOCS begins a fish farm campaign aimed at reforming open net-cage salmon aquaculture in Clayoquot Sound and BC.

1999 FOCS helps to negotiate Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between 4 environment groups and Iisaak Forest Resources, the First Nations/MacMillan Bloedel joint venture logging company that replaced MacBlo. MOU commits Iisaak to protecting large pristine areas in its portion of Clayoquot Sound, while enviro groups agree to help market Iisaak’s wood. FOCS does not sign MOU in order to maintain its independent watchdog position.

• Scientific Panel
• Biosphere Reserve
• Clayoquot Green Economic Opportunities Project Vol 1 (1.3 MB PDF)
• Clayoquot Green Economic Opportunities Project Vol 2 (3.7 MB PDF)
• About Clayoquot Sound from FOCS

What Is Clayoquot Sound?

Clayoquot Sound is a magnificent, biologically rich, mostly wilderness area on the west coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. It encompasses 350,000 hectares of land and ocean.

A view of Clayoquot Sound – Photo by Diego A. Garcia

The land portion of Clayoquot Sound is 265,000 hectares (2,650 square kilometers or 1,000 square miles), comprising about 8% of Vancouver Island. It is covered with ancient temperate rainforest, a globally rare forest type. The remaining 85,000 hectares of Clayoquot Sound consist of ocean — narrow inlets of the Pacific Ocean, into which empty rivers and lakes.

Clayoquot Sound occupies a straight-line distance along the coast of 90 kilometers, between Barkley and Nootka Sounds. It reaches a maximum of 35 kilometres inland, up to the crest of snow-capped mountains. These mountains are part of the central spine of Vancouver Island and form the headwaters of the rivers that drain Clayoquot Sound.

The “Sound” portion of the region’s name indicates an indented section of coastline, with numerous inlets and islands. “Clayoquot” — pronounced Klak-wot — comes from Tla-o-qui-aht, the name of one of the First Nations tribes who live here.

There are 5 communities in Clayoquot Sound: the town of Tofino and 4 First Nations reserves inhabited by Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations tribes. The total population of these 5 communities is about 3,000 (in 2005).

Two well-known parks lie in Clayoquot Sound: the Long Beach Unit of Pacific Rim National Park, and the southern portion of Strathcona Provincial Park. These and other parks protect one-third of Clayoquot’s land area and less than one-quarter of its productive ancient forest.

Industrial activities such as logging and fish farming have occurred and continue to occur across the landscape and ocean waters of Clayoquot Sound, but most of the Sound is still wilderness — intact forest and wild ocean. The spectacular scenery attracts about one million tourists to Clayoquot each year.

Participando do Blog Action Day que pede aos Blogs de todo mundo fazerem alertas contra o aquecimento global provocado pela emissão de poluentes, o FunSurfer traz uma matéria dramática do ChinaHush sobre os impactos da poluição no meio ambiente.
É o trabalho do fotógrafo Chinês Lu Guang, que era ele próprio um operário de uma dessas regiões.
O FunSurfer pede aos blogs parceiros que ajudem a mostrar essa tragédia em andamento.
Clique aqui para ficar chocado !

Participating in the Blog Action Day by asking for everyone’s doing something against global warming caused by emissions of pollutants, the FunSurfer brings a dramatic ChinaHush post about the impacts of pollution on the environment.
It is the work of Chinese photographer Lu Guang, who was himself a worker of one of these regions.

FunSurfer asks partner blogs to help show this ongoing tragedy.
Click here to be shocked !

Today is the day…. the day in which the world seek to demostrate the importance of 350, the number being the maximum amount of carbon dioxide (co2) in the sky that is acceptable.

Why is there a demostration?
Because the amount of Carbon dioxide is too much for the sky to be healthy, and us to be safe.

What is the amount of Carbon dioxide in the air now?
I have no idea, but it is WAY more than that.

Why are you guys demostrating? I mean, the world is doing something about it right? Sides, you guys had a Blog Action Day already.
Yes, we had a Blog Action Day, and we did what we can. Now, we are doing more.

Why more? Are you guys terrorist? Extremist?
Maybe we are extremist…. I don’t think we are terrorist… I welcome terrorist to join in the act, we do need more people to be more conscious about the world…. maybe they will even stop using bomb to harm the world, who knows? That is something good right?

No more terrorist

If you can stop this dude above, go ahead. *Photo credit of photobucket*

But whyyyyy are you doing this???
I don’t know. Someone told me it is not enough, and so I thought I would help a little.

Are you an idiot?
Who knows? Maybe? But I DO know that there cannot be LESSER that we can do for the world, only MORE.

Argghh, I am disgusted… Do you have any last words?
Are you a terrorist? *you sound like you are going to shoot me the next moment*  I know you are kind.

———————-

Yes, I know I am not sane. I am not saint either. This is the best I can do for 350, 24 Oct.

basically what the blog says

its a few weeks past date but i suppose thats fine for an official unofficial day.

im gonna be straight up i don’t know much about climate change except:

how its our fault,greenhouse effect, contributors- buildings/cars etc., habitats changing, animals dying, random weather effects

climate change is of course all around us but its something im simply just not interested in which explains why im not going to go research it right now.

We know its present because of occurrences around the world and it never really hit me in the face until there was a tornado in toronto,ontario where i grew up. there hasn’t been one there in decades. im not even sure if there was even one in the pass century until now

some people say we’ll all be pretty damned in the next few years because of pollution, some are more optimistic and say we’ll change by 2020 2030 2040 2050 or whatever year people hope to aim for.

personally i have no opinion on it and thats not just because i don’t have enough in depth detail about the topic but because of what i hear. theres been a lot of different assumptions on whats going to happen in the near future.

we’ve been made aware by the media and people have made choices to do something well others have made choices to do nothing:like us.

don’t hate. but like they say and sorry for the cliche line but if a mans gonna fall do you stand there and pray or do you go help him. same thing

blogging isn’t going to do anything about climate change. why have a blog action day why not just action day. why isn’t there a day where we do something to help. or maybe even a week/month/year/for life. i usually don’t do these kinda things mainly because i don’t find a purpose in it.

the media makes us aware:done, thats why we do this. we don’t have to echo the media but instead should be going out to do something. protest,clean up, change people around you, something. but if your sitting on your butt writing up on some forum then your not really helping are you?

i guess you could call me hypocritical…i’ve never helped in a service voluntarily. i’ve never done anything spectacular to help my community or other communities. im just average. i dream big, stay the same, not much changes.  im not sure what to d with my life but hopefully it’ll be something to help. but whatever i do  i  know for sure that it won’t be blogging or praying. it’ll be helping. (cliche line)

well im not too sure what i’ve covered in this blog, it was more of a mind “fart”and im not going to edit this

but to sum it up..and this is more for me than you.

-climate change sucks:agreed

-don’t talk about doing something and do it

-blog action day-retardo idea…no offence

this will most likely be the last time i go on this site.

questions/concerns/wanna talk? email-jess.c2@hotmail.com

Blog Action Day for Climate Change was on the 15th of this month, and nearly 14,000 bloggers participated, including the White House and the governments of the UK and Spain. In that spirit, we’re posting an excellent article by the U.S. Green Building Council on ‘The Benefits of a Green Home’. SCS is constantly researching sustainable means of renovation and construction in an effort to contribute as best as we can to saving the environment. Further, we’re always looking for new ideas and innovative large or small scale ways to take action. We’d love to hear feedback from our friends and fans on this topic. Tell us: what are you doing to facilitate the green movement? And how can we help you spread the word?

The Benefits of a Green Home

I’m usually one of the last people to jump on the “let’s name a day” bandwagon, but Blog Action Day for Climate Change is one I can embrace. Beyond the “sexy factor” of climate change, green, sustainability and the like, is a real need for people to understand what climate change is and why it’s relevant now.

The Environmental Protection Agency defines climate change as “a change in long-term weather patterns. [Weather patterns] can become warmer or colder. Annual amounts of rainfall or snowfall can increase or decrease.”

Climate change seems to be a normal occurrence, natural even. But, problems arise with the degree and rate to which our climate changes, resulting in global warming, the greenhouse effect and sea level rising, among other things.

How are we doing?

Climate Change in ºF
(Environmental Protection Agency)

• Average global temperature has increased by almost 1ºF during the past hundred years
• Scientists expect the average global temperature to increase an additional 2ºF to 6ºF over the next one hundred years.
• At the peak of the last ice age (18,000 years ago), the temperature was only 7ºF colder than it is today, and glaciers covered much of North America.

It’s easy to take for granted that the world as we experience it today will remain the same for all of OUR tomorrows, but what about when our children and grandchildren are planning for the future of their families?

What’s happening in California
(California Department of Water Resources)

• Snowpack: By 2050, scientists project a loss of at least 25 percent of the Sierra snowpack, an important source of urban, agricultural and environmental water.

• Floods: An increase in extreme weather will lead to higher winter river flows, runoff and flooding.
  • Runoff water contaminates the water supply by carrying soil contaminants, motor oil and other ground coverings into bays, watersheds and out into the ocean.
• Water Quality: Less fresh water flowing out of the Delta in spring and early summer will allow more salt water to intrude.
  • Salt water is great for soaking, not so great for drinking.

Don’t get me wrong. I am not the doomsday type. I am not ready to go off the grid. I realize that I am very privileged to have a life where water magically flows at the twist of a lever and I can communicate via gadgets galore.

I also realize I have a responsibility to not only do less harm, but to do more good; look at the little things I can do to contribute to making a big difference.

10,000 people from 150 countries are taking time today to blog about climate change in an effort to get your attention.

Want to know what you can do to make a difference?

Following are some resources to get you started.

EPA
Climate Change: What you can do

TUAW
Five Apps to help save the world

Ecology Center
Ecology Center resource page

On Twitter: Follow #BAD09 – @AndaPR – @blogactionday

Blog Action Day

Este blog não morreu… Esverdeou-se… Pro bem, depois pro mal, pretendemos que volte pro lado bom da força em breve… Uma semana depois da campanha verde… Onde gritamos BAD09… Agora, estou bad mesmo… No sentido literal… Talvez eu esteja mais verde… Porque não tomo sol, não como carne, não saio do escritório, ou do transporte. Verde-lodo. Verde doente. Doente de descrente. Doente de gripe. Doente. Não entendam mal… Eu quero ser verde. Verde alface+carne+feijão! Verde limão felicidade! Verde grama, grana verde. Cuidar do meu ambiente: eu! Cuidar do  nosso ambiente: elas! Cuidar do ambiente de todos nós: mundo! “Verde que te quero ver te”

350. The limit in which the amount of carbon dioxide is save in our skies, so that we can live sustainably.

The world leaders are signing treaties to help save the world, but it is not enough, or so they say.. and we need to demostrate more. Now, I am not someone who wants to persistently do something because someone tells me to. Yet, I wanted to participate in this world, because it is just not moving fast enough. People are still not alert enough.

Yet, I feel that it is a very private thing, and that what I do does not have to coincide with the world. So I think I will end up with a blog post, and then, be as green as possible, even more than I normally am.

Today is Blog Action Day and the focus this year is climate change.  Since my main focus is colleges and universities, I wanted to highlight an organization that is working to bring green habits and education to our campuses

The Alliance to Save Energy, headquartered in Washington DC has a “Green Campus” program.  Here’s their website  http://www.ase.org/content/article/detail/3037

“Our nation’s institutions of higher education spend a significant portion of their annual operating budgets on utility services, diverting funds from valuable programmatic and community-building activities. The Alliance to Save Energy’s Green Campus Program is leading the way towards campus sustainability by bridging the divide between students and institutional energy costs. Through Green Campus, students are working to save energy on campuses by building general campus awareness, incorporating energy conservation and efficiency into course curricula, and implementing projects targeting energy use, student purchasing decisions, and operational changes.”

This Saturday 350.org  is urging people all around the globe to organize an action incorporating the number “350″ (supposedly the parts per million of carbon in the atmosphere that planet Earth needs to get down to to be safe for humanity, though I’ve heard debate around the number we should get down to). The idea behind 350  is to come together and as a community and do something neat, take a picture and submit it to the website. The organizers will then work on getting your photos into the mass media which will help stimulate buzz. It shouldn’t be too hard to get into the media with big groups of people involved and a number to catch everyone’s attention. For instance, some of my coworkers are attending an event in Portland where the goal is to write 350 with their kayaks/canoes in the Willamette this Saturday. The website also includes some ideas to help people out– for example one group baked cookies at 350 and 450 degrees to illustrate how the 450 cookies were burnt to a crisp.

I bring this up because lately there seems to be a world push toward really trying to amp up awareness on the issues surrounding climate change as we approach December, when world leaders will meet in Denmark to draft a new climate treaty (which should hopefully help reduce some of the global injustice Dale Jamieson spoke about on Friday).  Hopefully the buzz marketing behind events like this, Blog Action Day, and The Great Green March will gain enough momentum and show that citizens are indeed concerned about global warming. However, I sometimes worry that maybe instead of having all of these different groups working to do different things (which is good because different plans of attach can serve different purposes, but may not get on every politian’s radar) maybe they should all combine their efforts into one mass event that would really fetch a lot of attention?

Looking at the map of events, there are lots of fun things going on in my area, and a variety of people taking part (including an 8th grade class). I heard about 350 (this is embarassing) a while ago, but I somehow never went to poke around the website. I wish I could have organized my own event to help out!

LUCHA LIBRE DE RAW: TRIPLE H DERROTA A JOHN CENA

La Columna del Rey
Por Dark King Arthur

Hola a toda la Banda.

Kiona ya me regañó por postear cosas al chilazo, sin embargo esta vez me pasaré su regla por el arco del triunfo porque este artículo aunque chiquito, es rinconero.

Ya lo dijo una vez El Hijo del Santo, los luchadores gringos ya se superaron, y es que ahora aunado a que siempre los ha caracterizado una fuerza monstruosa, y que parecen supermodelos los canijos (tanto luchadores como luchadoras), su estilo de lucha libre se ha enriquecido en diversas ramas de la lucha libre, adaptando estilos de diversas partes del mundo.

Pero el tema que nos ocupa en esta sección es que el lunes 19 de octubre por la noche, las personas que sintonizaron las luchas de Raw por tv abierta pudimos presenciar un encuentro verdaderamente espectacular entre El Rey de Reyes Triple H y el ídolo de medio mundo, John Cena.

Fue un encuentro seco en ocasiones y espectacular, donde no solo predominó la fuerza, sino también la técnica, hasta donde vi, sin el uso de sillas u otros objetos “prohibidos”, matches así se dan una vez cada tres años, uno de los momentos más espectaculares fue cuando Cena finalmente aplicó su “ajuste de actitud”, y todos pensamos que era el final, y aún más espectacular cuando HHH aplicó tres veces el “Pedigree”, en verdad memorable, más porque John aguantó los primeros 2, y se derrumbó en el tercero, en fin, que un encuentro donde los dos gladiadores sacaron su mejor repertorio.

Personalmente que chido que ganó el Rey de Reyes.

Saludos a toda la Banda que lee Warui Kiona,

De su Dark King Arthur.

So I’ve finally done it – dedicating four posts to the issue of climate change for Blog Action Day 09, although that’s only three if you don’t count the video. I have to admit to running a little late this year but I’ve been unwell, just a cold, but it had me crook in bed for actual BAD09 last Thursday and then I ran off to Todmorden to spend a weekend in the hills on the border of Lancashire and Yorkshire. Better late than never.

That’s it for  posts today but expect posts on the One Laptop Per Child project, Democracy in Russia and even a poem for the rest of this week – I have a blogging plan.

On a side note – the Blog Action Day team tell me there were 31,000 total trackable blog posts, with 13,000 registered bloggers on the site.

From their email:

We had at least three major world governments as active participants in this year’s event. United Kingdom Prime Minister Gordon Brown posted the first Blog Action Day entry in Britain at the stroke of midnight on the 15th. The PSOE  governing party of Spain hosted a bloggers event focused on climate change and transformed their website for the day to promote Blog Action Day. And late in the day, President Barack Obama’s White House blog joined in become part of the global movement of bloggers shaking the web.

Well done to all who participated, I hope I’ve inspired a few people to read deeper into the issue, to think through the problems and come up with their own ideas for how to cut their carbon footprint. Me, I’m becoming obsessive about turning everything off before I leave the house in the morning to cut our electricity use when we don’t need it - every little bit counts.

In seven weeks, the UN-sponsored Copenhagen Conference on climate change will be happening.  The conference, however, is the final stage of a multi-sessional attempt to draw up a new agreement on climate change and as such is proving difficult. Will anything substantial come out of Copenhagen?

As I write this there are articles buzzing around the internet rumouring that Barack Obama will not come to Copenhagen, that he is instead hammering out a bilateral deal that circumvents the UN.  If this becomes the case, then we will be back in the same position we’ve been in for years. The “failure” of the Kyoto Protocol has been blamed by some on the unwillingness of all parties to come to the table, although this  also relates to deeper environmental economics issues. The way ahead, at least in my mind, and only option strikes me as cooperation at a truly global level, including major players like the US, China, and Brazil.

One of the Copenhagen pre-sessionals has been happening in the last few days. 17 countries of the Major Economies Forum have gathered to discuss, among other things, climate change. The discussions and deals that occur in the coming days and weeks will shape the final communique that comes out of Copenhagen and therefore this makes these fora as important, if not more important, as the final meetup in December. Gordon Brown, who has taken a strong stance on this, stated at the Forum:

“In every era there are only one or two moments when nations come together and reach agreements that make history, because they change the course of history. Copenhagen must be such a time. There are now fewer than 50 days to set the course of the next 50 years and more.”

On Saturday, people all over the world will be gathering for an international day of climate action.  Go to http://www.350.org for details on what’s happening in your area. I urge you strongly to take part and/or circulate the message and encourage others to take part. While the inevitable demonstrations in December will be important, as world leaders, in every corner of the globe from the smallest to the largest states, consider their positions for this summit we must demonstrate our need for action and cooperation now.

The US Special Envoy for Climate Change has already stated that it is possible for there to be no agreement reached in Copenhagen. To miss this opportunity would be blindingly stupid. All parties need to stay at the table, rather than seeming to wander away for bilateral deals, to nut this thing out and reach a truly international agreement including China, India, Brazil, South Africa and the US (some of those a little less keen at this point).

They’re taking action in Niue, the rock of Polynesia with a population of 1400 – can you find the time to join with them on Saturday wherever you are?

On October 12 around 100 young people descended on Jubilee Gardens, on South Bank in London, and amazed those passing by with a synchronised dance. These young people had spent four days at Power Shift,  a gathering for young people who were keen to be part of the solution to climate change.  Campaigning takes place in lots of ways and raising awareness of any issue can be done through such a variety of means that even dancing in the streets should be encouraged – well I think so anyway. So here, for something completely different, are 100 enthusiastic and passionate young activists dancing to raise awareness of climate change.

I hear we’ll need to watch out for more dancing at the Wave Demo in December.

The Maldives Government met on the sea bed in scuba gear to draw attention to the dangers of climate change for the island nation.

In the first, or last (depending on how you read these), of my blog posts for my belated blog actions day 09, I’m going to focus on small island developing states, also known as SIDS.  The Maldives, despite appearances, is a nation struggling with poverty, it has a ranking of 99/179 on the Human Development Index and a GDP per capita of $5,008. There are 26 atolls there and it is the lowest country on the planet, with the lowest highest point. It’s doing well for itself these days, with child mortality (a good indication of healthcare provision in a country) having declined significantly from 127/1000 (1977) to 12/1000 in the last 30 years, with help. The Pacific Islands are a similarly problematic area.

SIDS are difficult, they struggle with the usual batch of development issues – health, education, participation and governance – but are blindsided by various natural distasters (recent earthquakes in the Asia Pacific should be evidence enough of the problems these cause) and now the problem of rising sea levels caused by melting ice caps.  It’s a lot to bear for small countries – let alone small countries that struggle as it is.

For the Maldives, where the average atoll sits 2.1 metres above seal level, there is huge concern for the current land that the 350,000 residents live on. As the article highlights, Nasheed (President) has plans to create a fund to buy new land for his people – can you imagine how much more active we’d all be if the population of London was going to be forced onto new land because of climate change?

At present 51 SIDS and territories are included on a list used by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, who help them to implement the Barbados Programme of Action (for sustainable development of SIDS).

Here’s the problem though – they’re small, with small populations, and they are the front line (as Nasheed puts it) for climate change. SIDS need a stronger voice as a unit, a stronger prescence as some of the more affected by the issue of climate change. I’d argue they need people with influence to argue their case, so that stunts like that of the Maldives’ Cabinet are not simply ‘one day’ news, and more people with knowledge and skills to help them deal with the effects of climate change on their islands and people.

One of the sweetest surprises of the Blog Action Day 09 – Climate Change, was a post by Sukuma Kenya. As you already know, we have been ‘collaborating’ with this passionate Kenyan to try and end the show of opulence and total disregard for climate change – with the vehicles they drive – among UN employees in the Nairobi office.

Did UNEP staffers drive such a car on #BAD09?

Although I get carried away by wildlife conservation matters and tend to wander away from this ‘campaign’ to end ‘environmental impunity’ at the offices that house the global headquarters of the United Nations Environmental Programme, Sukuma Kenya doesn’t.

I was thus pleasantly surprised when he informed me that he had chosen to address the ‘Kick the Habit‘ campaign in his Blog Action Day 2009. Never mind the post was on 16th not 15th October, which is the official Blog Action Day, the post was simple but very powerful.

You might want to read it yourself…So UNEP, did you Kick The Habit (Just for today)?