Who killed Copenhagen
Tuesday, 29 December 2009 10:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
miriam_eI just contributed some money to Avaaz, raising money to fight our worst enemies on the planet.
Avaaz.org does a lot of human rights work. It was co-founded by Res Publica, a global civic advocacy group, and Moveon.org, an online community that has pioneered internet advocacy in the United States, the Service Employees International Union, GetUp.org.au, and many others.
Here is the immediate problem in their words:
Leaders disappointed the entire world in Copenhagen this month. But one group was cracking open the champagne - the polluting industry lobbyists who pushed our politicians to failure. The polluters have only one worry now: us.
Recently a few youth climate activists (funded by Avaaz online donations!) dared to challenge the most powerful polluter lobbyist group, the US Chamber of Commerce, by helping to stage a humorous satirical press conference announcing the Chamber had decided to help fight climate change.
The polluter lobby’s response? A huge lawsuit suing these young activists for potentially enormous amounts of money. Experts say a response like this is extremely rare. It appears designed to send a chilling message to our movement and silence others who would effectively challenge these groups holding our planet hostage.
Let's send a message back. The Chamber has raised $750,000 from US corporations to help launch this attack – If 20,000 of us give just a small amount each to our effort to stand up for climate activists and stop the polluter lobby, we’ll outraise them - showing their intimidation backfired! Let’s show the polluter lobby that we can’t be silenced, and show politicians that the future belongs to people, not polluters:
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/people_vs_polluters
Copenhagen failed primarily because big polluters US and China wanted a weak agreement. But President Obama was heavily constrained by a US Congress that has been captured by lobbyists. The Chamber is a front group for the largest corporations in the polluting lobby, including oil and coal companies like Exxon Mobil. The New York Times (link below) says "no organization in this country has done more to undermine [climate] legislation." The Chamber were major backers of President George W Bush, and have spent hundreds of millions of dollars blocking Obama's attempts at change. The Chamber claims to represent US businesses, but even many large corporations (like Apple, Nike, Microsoft, and Johnson & Johnson) have opposed its pro-polluter positions on climate change.
While people were out in force in Copenhagen, polluter lobbyists worked in the shadows, their voices loud only in our politicians' ears. To get the climate deal the planet needs in 2010, we have to expose their influence, stand up to their intimidation tactics, and send a signal to others that the time has come, once and for all, to stand up to the villains holding our planet hostage:
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/people_vs_polluters
In our journey together as the Avaaz community, we've taken on dictators in Burma and Zimbabwe, promise-breaking politicians in Europe and North America, and the forces of extremism in the Middle East. But the Chamber is in some ways the most powerful and dangerous opponent we've faced. Some have advised Avaaz to stay quiet about this, to protect our own organization. But with danger comes opportunity, and if people power can defeat even the most powerful corporate lobby in the world, we'll send a much broader message, that a new world, the one we all seek, is on its way.
ere are some links for more information:
New York Times -- "Way behind the curve" - the NYT savages the Chamber's position on climate change:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/30/opinion/30wed3.html
Washington Post -- "The U.S. chamber vs honesty" - the Post is scathing about the Chamber's tactics:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/26/AR2009102602714.html
Huffington Post -- "PGE Quits US Chamber of Commerce" - about large corporations leaving the Chamber because of its climate stance:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brendan-demelle/pge-quits-us-chamber-of-c_b_295424.html
Common Dreams - covering the satirical press conference about the Chamber:
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/10/19-9
Huffington Post -- More details about satirical press conference, including relevant video clips:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/19/chamber-of-commerce-hoax_n_326069.html
Avaaz.org does a lot of human rights work. It was co-founded by Res Publica, a global civic advocacy group, and Moveon.org, an online community that has pioneered internet advocacy in the United States, the Service Employees International Union, GetUp.org.au, and many others.
Here is the immediate problem in their words:
Leaders disappointed the entire world in Copenhagen this month. But one group was cracking open the champagne - the polluting industry lobbyists who pushed our politicians to failure. The polluters have only one worry now: us.
Recently a few youth climate activists (funded by Avaaz online donations!) dared to challenge the most powerful polluter lobbyist group, the US Chamber of Commerce, by helping to stage a humorous satirical press conference announcing the Chamber had decided to help fight climate change.
The polluter lobby’s response? A huge lawsuit suing these young activists for potentially enormous amounts of money. Experts say a response like this is extremely rare. It appears designed to send a chilling message to our movement and silence others who would effectively challenge these groups holding our planet hostage.
Let's send a message back. The Chamber has raised $750,000 from US corporations to help launch this attack – If 20,000 of us give just a small amount each to our effort to stand up for climate activists and stop the polluter lobby, we’ll outraise them - showing their intimidation backfired! Let’s show the polluter lobby that we can’t be silenced, and show politicians that the future belongs to people, not polluters:
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/people_vs_polluters
Copenhagen failed primarily because big polluters US and China wanted a weak agreement. But President Obama was heavily constrained by a US Congress that has been captured by lobbyists. The Chamber is a front group for the largest corporations in the polluting lobby, including oil and coal companies like Exxon Mobil. The New York Times (link below) says "no organization in this country has done more to undermine [climate] legislation." The Chamber were major backers of President George W Bush, and have spent hundreds of millions of dollars blocking Obama's attempts at change. The Chamber claims to represent US businesses, but even many large corporations (like Apple, Nike, Microsoft, and Johnson & Johnson) have opposed its pro-polluter positions on climate change.
While people were out in force in Copenhagen, polluter lobbyists worked in the shadows, their voices loud only in our politicians' ears. To get the climate deal the planet needs in 2010, we have to expose their influence, stand up to their intimidation tactics, and send a signal to others that the time has come, once and for all, to stand up to the villains holding our planet hostage:
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/people_vs_polluters
In our journey together as the Avaaz community, we've taken on dictators in Burma and Zimbabwe, promise-breaking politicians in Europe and North America, and the forces of extremism in the Middle East. But the Chamber is in some ways the most powerful and dangerous opponent we've faced. Some have advised Avaaz to stay quiet about this, to protect our own organization. But with danger comes opportunity, and if people power can defeat even the most powerful corporate lobby in the world, we'll send a much broader message, that a new world, the one we all seek, is on its way.
ere are some links for more information:
New York Times -- "Way behind the curve" - the NYT savages the Chamber's position on climate change:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/30/opinion/30wed3.html
Washington Post -- "The U.S. chamber vs honesty" - the Post is scathing about the Chamber's tactics:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/26/AR2009102602714.html
Huffington Post -- "PGE Quits US Chamber of Commerce" - about large corporations leaving the Chamber because of its climate stance:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brendan-demelle/pge-quits-us-chamber-of-c_b_295424.html
Common Dreams - covering the satirical press conference about the Chamber:
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/10/19-9
Huffington Post -- More details about satirical press conference, including relevant video clips:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/19/chamber-of-commerce-hoax_n_326069.html