Mass Power Shift
The Day Copenhagen Failed
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Climate movement has failed to bring about real change. Barack Obama failed just when we needed one single person to stand up most. Chants of ‘3-5-0 Survival’ are still echoing through the crowd. As Obama is escorted to his motorcade, it gives us climate activists a good chance to debrief and think.
What have we done? Have we been distracted, off-message, inattentive to the realities of political negotiations? Has the movement for change been simply unheard in the great halls of Washington? Today’s failure to resolve a negotiation to save the world at Copenhagen should cast serious disturbance into the windy sails of 350.org, TckTckTck, Avaaz, Power Shift, Energy Action, and all the hundreds of people working on this. It’s already causing a firestorm amongst the millions of normal people it will affect. Does climate change mean the end of our economy, resource war, and a future in Poverty? The false resolution of this deal has me questioning the strength of America and what it stands for.
Could things have been differently? Yes.
1. John Kerry as Political Target (along with a few others, post below). Kerry was not adequately pressured to work on Climate in the Senate.
2. Barack Obama push Climate and Economic agenda. There is no reason that Congress cannot work on healthcare for next year. Now, maybe healthcare will pass before recess, another spending bill.
3. Reframing Emissions Reductions: CERS are a profitable mechanism to incentivize clean energy. The first step to mitigation is a clean energy grid, which provides thousands of jobs to the middle class. America’s advantage lies in sustainable technology. (Obama: “We plan to continue to develop clean energy. We think it’s in our interest.”
4. The “Leadership Campaign”: I quit because the LC was not radical enough. The tightly formed “leadership” was not thinking outside the box, and were out of touch with the people reality of who we were supposed to be representing. We were again unable to connect with the community or outreach in our actions.
Hopefully, the retreat coming up will not be run by time agenda. Hopefully, real criticisms will come up. If there’s a restructuring and a leadership change for next semester’s campaign, may it be a coalition of student groups running parallel campaigns. Take a break from the Gantz’ model. Another climate conference doesn’t come quickly. Maybe take a sustainable agriculture campaign..
Can corporate lobbyists be stopped?
A dialogue of 160-character opinions to record the shock:
Text of Obama’s remarks at UN climate conference http://bit.ly/8fqJqA #COP15
Craig Altemose- ♫ just bummed
@350: “Chants of ‘3-5-0 Survival’ are echoing through the crowd” in front of #COP15, We will keep our flames alive. http://j.mp/4ovFAU
Save Copenhagen petition hits 15,000,000 signatures: https://secure.avaaz.org/en/save_copenhagen/
8:04PM #climate, #fail top twitter trending topics
Tcktcktck: 1000’s of global youth who know the science, & will accept no less. It begins anew 2morrow (via Noble)
…they’ve left the door open to do a (real) deal.
.. [live]
EDIT: I’ve found through the UN something that was drafted, potentially an avenue for Carbon Offsets provisions for LDCs. (Maggie Zhou wouldn’t agree:)
The following paragraph shall be inserted after paragraph 1 of Article 3 of the [Kyoto] Protocol:
1 bis. The Parties included in Annex I shall, individually or jointly, ensure that their aggregate
anthropogenic carbon dioxide equivalent emissions of the greenhouse gases listed in Annex A do
not exceed their assigned amounts, calculated pursuant to their quantified emission limitation
and reduction commitments inscribed in the third column of the table contained in Annex B and
in accordance with the provisions of this Article, with a view to reducing their overall [domestic]
emissions of such gases
Option 1.1: by at least [X][49][15] [per cent ][QELRO] below 1990 levels in the
commitment period 2013 to [2017][2020]
Option 1.2: by 33 per cent below 1990 levels in the commitment period 2013 to 2017 toward
the aim of reducing overall emissions of such gases by at least 45 per cent from
1990 levels by 2020.
Option 1.3: by at least 95 per cent below 1990 levels by 2050 through the reduction of
greenhouse gases from sources and removals by sinks. This shall be achieved
during subsequent periods by the end of 2050.
Option 1.4: by at least [30][[at least] 45]][X] per cent below 1990 levels by 2020
[and by 80 to [more than][at least] 95 per cent below 1990 levels by 2050]
[and by 80 per cent or more by 2050 compared to 1990 or more recent years]
Dangerous information out of context? Read the full text proposal from the Land Use, Land Use Change, and Offsets section of Kyoto (UNFCCC):
http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/2009/awg10/eng/l15.pdf
The Climate movement must learn to be more flexible, if we keep our coalitions together, we will win in voluntary markets.
More unofficial MAPS: http://www.mapsblog.wordpress.com/
Tags: carbon, copenhagen, Eddie, news
A Brief Run-In with the Police
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It was the last night of the Boston University Sleep-In, a successful campaign so far. We were hoping to make something of it, over the regular benches and food menu, into a special new media/messaging event that no one could forget. View our progress online by following @Stepitup09: and our new petition to the Governor on http://change.org/.. Cold, dark, and windy sets the scene.
After reaching the quota of 350 petition signatures in a single night (gotta love that new media sesh!), there was a limit to what my mind could take. There was more work to do, and the 350 block print stencil (distributed free from http://350.org) kept coming to my mind. Somewhat dazed and super cold from the wind, I wake up again and get out my stencil set. It was almost time to leave for thanksgiving break.
My main problem was choosing to test out the stencil around the camp itself, in the GSU plaza floor and trees. The situation was light, and the stencils were turning out so good that I did not see the car roll up from behind Commonwealth Avenue. The officer said he had watched me tag one before approaching. Defacing public property is a serious offense.. all of a sudden there were eight of them. Pat me down, take keys and wallet and phone, read Miranda rights and cuffed. For those of you who haven’t been arrested, it is intense. Nothing quite prepares you for it. I had known it was going to happen sometime, but Oh! so close.
The cars pull out of the camp at 3:27, through the black misty night up to West Campus. I’m lead to my solitary room, where I’m chained and wondering what’s going to come next. They keep you in the dark on these things, and it’s better not to talk to them. When cops are angry, they’re not your friends. Actually the biggest icebreaker was my Che Guevara tattoo. “Revolutionary,” they said. This would come up later.
The biggest holdup at the jail, other than basics like prints and bail and a phone call (got a machine), was the wait for the court marshall to appear. Guy works on call hours, at 4:30 in the morning, he wasn’t going to be there until 6:30. Well, there goes my flight. First phone call. I doze and think away the hours, still in shock.
When help comes in the form of the marshall, we connect almost instantly. “Che Guevara, huh?” And I show him my tattoo. “He was a revolutionary leader, who united the poor of Latin America,” I say. He’s looking at my case. Maybe thanksgiving is getting to him early. And he turns to me and says, “Well, I might do something revolutionary, here. I know you have a plane leaving, so I’m going to let you go. Defacing public property is a misdemeanor offense, AND we’ll let the marijuana possession (just a pipe) slide here.” The court date would be set for sometime later. I could go to my plane: Standby at 7:55AM to Ohio.
It feels good to be home safe, and yet again escape with a peaceful citation. Ohio is a great place to be with family and dog, and clean energy movement is going to be STEPPING IT UP these next few weeks. Stay tuned for more information.
I have two new online profiles!
http://twitter.com/stepitup09
http://twitter.com/newentry
And my old blog (This is cross-posted from there: http://eddiemill.wordpress.com/)
Thanks for following! Any more questions??
eddiemill@gmail.com, 440-935-5434.
-Eddie Miller
The Leadership Campaign
Response to Climate Skeptics: Green Jobs #s
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Update: this weekend the National Department of Commerce “strongly opposes” taking action on Climate Change. Mr. Donahue said that the bill was a “job-killer” and a “regulatory nightmare,” and classified the vote as crucial with determining who it would endorse for Congressional elections next year. With 18 full-time lobbyists telling leaders this in Washington, who’s going to go out of their way to question that authority?
The policy response: strong incentives to develop a clean technology sector. Government deficit-spending can encourage real production growth in the economy, as shown in New Deal in the thirties. A green jobs potentials report shows growth across all sectors breaks down like this:
—about 490,000 (65 percent) are in engineering, legal, research, consulting, or government administration sectors;
– about 197,000 (26 percent) are in renewable power generation, construction, systems installation, and manufacturing sectors.
America needs these jobs. Download this fact sheet (pdf). Massachusetts will gain 38,410 new clean energy jobs from The American Clean Energy and Security Act, or spend 4.5b to oil and adaptation in the next ten years if it doesn’t pass. (not to mention the loss of the fishing sector). MA fact sheet: The Economics of Clean Energy.
Carbon tax as uncompetitive? Just the unsustainable businesses which are harming our planet. Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act as a start to a new economy. Thank you.
So, to Mr. Donahue:
Reorienting our antiquated energy infrastructure around the platforms of sustainability, efficiency, and reduced greenhouse emissions represents an economic engine for innovation, productivity growth, and international competitiveness in coming decades.
Senator Kerry, stay strong! Know in Copenagen that we
support you. (please click!)
New York Times Article on Green Jobs: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/26/business/businessspecial2/26collar.html
New York Times Article on Chamber of Commerce Decision: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/19/business/energy-environment/19CHAMBER.html?scp=1&sq=Storm+over+the+chamber&st=nyt
Clean Energy Resources: http://www.americanprogress.org/projects/energy_hub/
The Leadership Campaign.
A Global Organic Mindset: My own post on: 350 for the Economy
For Change.
Eddie Miller, concerned Student Activist
Community Outreach, the Leadership Campaign.
Please comment/forward!
Group-led versus revolutionary change.
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The government is solid. Recently, there was a contest on Whitehouse.gov for GreenGov, how the country can go sustainable. They received a ton of responses to the initiative, on which everyone with a federal .gov or .fed email account had to submit votes for the best ideas to implement a full sustainability plan by June of next year, many of which are actionable immediately. Watch the meeting here: your-greengov-ideas.html Our ideas are being listened to, and the President’s priorities are in place.
People are good. Already, we’ve found that here at the frontlines in Massachusetts, (not just) young people are ready to give up time, money, or comfort for the cause of global environmental sustainability. These are the basic tenants that you need to give up in business, economics, or sociology to have a national will.
The solution lies there. It does. You can see some of my research on the commercial feasibility of clean energy designs in my other posts, but things that can participate in by the people are number one. My next post is going to be on the strategy of social change, bottom up (revolutionary) versus top-down (political mandate) sustainability and who’s going to win out. [ANSWER:) Both]
History’s evidence.
In all cases, having a healthy sense of historical context is good to correct any unrealistic presumptions. 1. Things happen when they are a priority to people; they give the time to make sure that it’s implemented. 2. Most of the work is in implementation, that is the real physical processes of business: who gives what to whom, how does it get there and what is the application to finish the job. 3. We are in an unprecedented time for the environment. What we decide in the next 50 years really will go down in history as either a mitigation or disaster management story.
… but Oftentimes what would happen to social groups like these is they get coopted into the jargon of organization itself. “Change” was fought out to be some point in the distant future, when we’d be Comparable to the “legendary” protests of the 1960s. Sometimes, we felt we are making a difference, but politicians couldn’t work over it until thousands of the world’s icebergs had collapsed. The forces of lobbying are ever-powerful.. has our cooptation meant too little, too late? Change comes only to those that are open to it.
In the news recently I see disturbing trends of Glenn Beck and the Fox news network… less people believing in Climate Change and more people worried about pennies the government is spending. Is America really becoming more divided as one side progresses? I am worried about the effect of these groups to stop a largely north-led revolution. How can we reach out to them? Even the food lobby is really holding us up.
Finally, real change requires community. It must target the public. Without these essential characteristics no leader can stay sane indefinitely. Leadership must be balanced and in control. However, they have to be able to get the goods there on time.
In almost all cases, it is the youth that lead social change. This is exciting to me, because it means we have the ability to effect change. We are not alone here, or misguided in any way. If the younger generation feels that it’s a priority, that means that the necessary steps should occur. For example, from the bottom left can come the protests, from the top come the reforms. From the young come the ideas (now, submit online at http://www.whitehouse.gov/), and from our super-awesome rockstar politician president come the executive mandates! (Like for a federal sustainability program by next June at the latest, that he already DID 
Maximize power. Here are more basic steps on what you can do.
Accept responsibility to compromise: Listen to the people around you, even especially the ones with a soft voice.
People like visuals. People also like food. Start here in your planning.
Expect results, but be flexible with your goals. And the methods on how to get there.
Conclusion:
Change, I’ve learned, also doesn’t happen from within a vacuum. This is a common mistake which includes a 300-person “Hillarycare” drafting session, the 2-person small office at Small Planet, or a 8-person closed steering committee over one summer trying to solve “the world’s” problems. It doesn’t come from the left (see previous posts!), or the right (link). But requires both. If you are in charge of outreach or communications, how much can you forget what you think you know and move towards reality. That’s where the chance to save our future lies at.
I am going to keep working on it, and hope that you continue to follow on the bright path ahead. Now, to the sleepout! http://theleadershipcampaign.org/participate !
Other posts: Http://Eddiemill.WordPress
Twitter microblog: Twitter.com/EddieMill
Twitter for my campaign: Twitter.com/theLCampaign
Facebook: Facebook.com/Eddiemill
the Man
Leadership camping best practice
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Hello leaders, we found this out at BU. When we had bread and a small camping stove set up as a center of our camp, it brought about twice as many supporters in to the site. These supporters were often interested in what we were doing, and sometimes able to sign our clipboard and join us the next night. Here’s how we doubled support in one night:
1. Scope out bakeries in your area. Panera is what I went with because it is on the way and closes at 10 which is when we start the S-Os. Go by during the day.
2. Ask if they usually give away their extra bread at the end of the day. If they don’t, and they bake the bread there, they’ll usually be throwing a lot out.
3. Get a number of a night manager you can contact, thank them, and then call that night. Tell them that you were hoping to confirm the donation of extra bread and pastries, and go by either just before close or up to 30min later.
If done properly, you are going to have a lot of bread for your event. We got donations of wrapped baguettes, loose bread, pastries, donuts, bagels, and sweets. (The Blondies were delicious). We were able to have open boxes and plenty to share around. It was a source of community and friendly gesture to the people who were interested in the campaign.
I hope to follow up with Panera now to arrange a weekly schedule pickup. From just one load with 2 volunteers (we couldn’t carry it all!), we could support the S-O for two days.
Next up: figuring out coffee donations. Stay tuned for more from BU!
-Eddie
Community Outreach,
Tuesday Night Site Coordinator @ BU
440-935-5434
What Could Have Been: Uniting Diverse Groups for Social Change
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Hello, friends! This is Eddie Miller from BU with a weekly post. The subject is of the Sunday protests, and recent campaign call that changed everything. The story involves food, a grassroots protest, and a new vision for our platform: follow along!
MAPS Emergency Meeting: Decisions and Updates
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Hello, all!
Thanks for checking in.
Here are the notes from the Saturday, October 18th emergency meeting in Boston.
Notable decisions include items on:
1. Flashdance Thursday, October 22nd.
2. Sleep-out materials, and messaging.
3. Contingency planning for the campaign ie. WhatIf…?
4. New media and partners engagement plan
5. NEW NAME FOR MASSACHUSETTS POWER SHIFT — to be decided on among some finalists Sunday.
Respond to someone if you have feedback before then! Keep tuned for a new website, before October 24th (say goodbye to this blog.. *sniff*)
-Eddie Miller
facebook.com/eddiemill
twitter.com/eddiemill
eddiemill@gmail.com (WAVE invite me)
Blog Action Day: Massachusetts Power Shift Leads Students to 350
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This post is part of Blog Action Day, 8414 blogs and counting, all writing about climate change on the same day and together calling the US to take serious action on climate. Sign their petition here.
As a response to climate devastation, thousands of people have taken up in protest. In how they behave, in what they buy, in homes, in lobbying halls of congress, and on the internet. All with a message to spread: We need a new clean energy economy! Designing solutions such as solar and wind, along with reducing how much we do use as a state, can bring us together and provide jobs in a time of crisis.
It is especially important that everyone be involved in Climate activism in Massachusetts right now– Our senator, John Kerry (Follow on twitter, this is going to be essential in our lobbying approach) is long a champion of the environment and pushing new legislation that is sufficiently bold. But not enough to solve the real problems we face! Neither of the bills currently in Washington are strong enough to get us to 350, which is where our corn crop starts to melt and our coral reefs are gone already. We have to act, and fast. Kerry and Barack Obama can hopefully ride this wave of public support and bring home a great treaty for America. There’s broad support in the US, and Massachusetts is the “Saudi Arabia of Wind”. (Clean Power Now Website) Help us transform our energy future!
Get Involved
There are plenty of ways to get involved, right around you.
The easiest is to find a 350.org International Day of Climate Action Event nearby or help plan one with a local group. After that, join MAPS and its partners for a Sleep Out action until action is made at the Statehouse, MA. October to November we will be represented at the doors of the Statehouse or John Kerry’s lawn until better legislation comes up about this!
Sign/Support Blog Action Day! http://www.blogactionday.org/
MAPS Boston U,
-Eddie Miller
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