 |
| | | | | April 2010 Newsletter | 
|
| The Climate Project
| April 30, 2010 | |
| | Inconvenient Youth Kicks Off, Invites Teens to Apply for Training with Al Gore
 Teens who want to make a real difference in the fight against climate change now have a place to share their pledges, actions and ideas. Inconvenient Youth, the new teen climate education initiative of The Climate Project, a program of the Alliance for Climate Protection, launched on Earth Day, April 22. Inconvenient Youth will also enable five teens to participate in The Climate Project’s upcoming Our Choice training with Nobel Laureate and former Vice President Al Gore, to be held in June. The initiative dovetails with the Alliance’s Repower America “youth surge” campaign to organize students on college campuses across the country.
“Inconvenient Youth is built on the belief that teens can help lead efforts to solve the climate crisis. It will give this generation — which has a unique stake in this issue —a chance to organize and exchange ideas with other young people who want to do their part to address the climate crisis. Perhaps most importantly, this initiative was inspired by youth and shaped by youth with their unique viewpoints guiding it forward,” said Gore.
“It’s not a website; it’s a community. We are building a community — a place where people engage, encourage and empower one another to take action. We’re not broadcasting ‘green tips’ from on high; we’re creating a space where teens can share their ideas and their solutions,” said Inconvenient Youth Manager Sam Davidson.
Teenagers who are ready to have an immediate impact in their communities can visit Inconvenient Youth’s website between now and May 15, 2010 and apply to be personally taught by Mr. Gore at The Climate Project’s next training session. Students will go through a committee review process. Those selected will become official TCP Presenters who will deliver a new slide show to their local communities based on Mr. Gore’s latest book, Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis.
“The ultimate goal of Inconvenient Youth, at least for me, is to provide ideas and to consciously act on those ideas, while pursuing efforts that make obstacles entirely irrelevant,” said Shilpi Misra, a member of the teen advisory board, called the “Super Youth,” which helps shape the direction of the effort.
Inconvenient Youth began as an effort by Mary Doerr, who as a 16-year-old presenter for The Climate Project, wanted to connect her own age group with the urgency of doing something about climate change. Mary’s work centered on adapting The Climate Project slideshow for a youth audience and touring the country to deliver a customized youth talk to students. Inconvenient Youth is an initiative of The Climate Project, which launched in 2006 as an effort to train 1,000 people to give Mr. Gore’s talk from An Inconvenient Truth. The Climate Project now has eight international branches with more than 3,000 presenters worldwide. In March 2010, The Climate Project became a program of The Alliance for Climate Protection.
| |
|
| | | 
UNFCCC Convenes in Bonn for Climate Change Meeting
The first official UNFCCC negotiating session since Copenhagen took place in Bonn, Germany this month, where delegates gathered to decide on how to move the negotiations forward after last December’s conference in Copenhagen.
Delegates generally agreed that the process needed to be reformed, but ambiguity still remains as to what that reform looks like. A common refrain heard over three days was the need for increased transparency and inclusiveness. Key questions were raised such as what text would form the basis of future discussions and what role the Copenhagen Accord would play going forward. No clear decision was reached on those matters; the final conclusion does not rule out the incorporation of the Copenhagen Accord in future negotiations. Parties also decided on two additional negotiating sessions, each one week in length, to take place between the next scheduled intercessional in June and COP 16 at the end of the year.
UNFCCC 2010 Calendar
· May 31-June 11: Intercessional — Bonn, Germany
· Two additional negotiating sessions, dates and locations TBD
· November 29 – December 10: COP 16/CMP 6 — Cancun, Mexico Meet Our Presenters: TCP US Presenter Mike Wallander is a frequent speaker and teacher on renewable energy and solutions to climate change. Mike currently volunteers as a TCP District Manager and is responsible for facilitating the organization’s mission in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina. Ocean Acidification Accelerating at “Unprecedented Rate” A new study published by the National Research Council concludes that carbon dioxide emissions are changing the chemistry of the world’s oceans. According to the report released on April 22, “The long-term consequences of ocean acidification on marine life are unknown, but many ecosystem changes are expected to result.”
Read more here.
Spring Arrives 10 Days Early in the U.S.
Spring is coming about 10 days sooner now than it did two decades ago, according to a Harvard University study on species composition in Concord, Massachusetts. The research focused on how the changing seasons affect competition among species, both native and invasive.
"Climate change is not affecting species uniformly," researcher Charles Davis said. "Certain groups are hit harder than others, and those species that are not able to respond to climate change ... are being hit the hardest."
Read more here.
Add Your Support for Clean Energy on The Repower Wall Post your video, photo or statement here: Request a TCP Presentation TCP presentations arebased on the slideshow from the Academy Award-winning film AnInconvenientTruth and are available free of charge to any size group ororganization. Presentations are personalized by our presenters andcontinuously updatedtoinclude the latest climate science and current effects of climatechange. If you would like to host a TCP presentation in your community, please click here.   
To ensure delivery of this e-mail please add press@theclimateproject.org to your address book or approved senders list. |
|
| | |
|
| | A message from Alliance for Climate Protection President and CEO Maggie L. Fox about the delayed discussion draft of the Kerry-Graham-Lieberman climate legislation
 As you may know, the highly anticipated discussion draft of new climate legislation from Senators Kerry, Graham and Lieberman, initially planned for release on April 26, has been postponed. As negotiations with Senate leadership continue, now more than ever, it is our job to push for action. We have already seen important signs of progress, and even a renewed sense of commitment to get this discussion draft released and strong legislation introduced on the Senate floor. This commitment has been shared by leaders in the Senate, the White House and the community at large. As all of you know, however, this has never been an easy road, and it's clear that it will be hard work all the way to the end.
The delay has galvanized us even more to make the case that now is the time for a clean energy revolution — to make historic investments in clean energy and begin solving the climate crisis. For more on all the reasons why this action is urgent, please read my recent Politico op-ed, “Optimism for a Clean Energy Future.”
 Earth Day’s 40th Anniversary Celebration
The Earth Day Network organized a weeklong Earth Week celebration for the 40th anniversary of Earth Day. During the week, Repower America manned a booth on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. as part of the activities, raising awareness about the climate crisis and educating attendees about clean energy.
The Repower Campaign, as part of the Climate Protection Action Fund, invited supporters from across the country to sing along with hip hop artist Biz Markie’s Earth Day clean energy remix of “You Got What I Need.” Repower then released a mash-up music video on Earth Day, which is nearing a million views on YouTube.
TCP Presenters across the country also participated in events for Earth Day and Earth Week. Here are just a few highlights:
TCP Presenter Andy Gunther provided a New York newspaper with an opinion piece entitled "Climate Change Threat Backed by Science" for Earth Day. Gunther is executive director of the Center for Ecosystem Management and Restoration in Oakland, CA as well as a member of the Union of Concerned Scientists’ board of directors.
TCP Presenter Lise Van Susteren introduced Mel England and Swimming with the Polar Bears, Mel’s one-man show that looks at the dangers of global warming and supports The Climate Project, during the April 18 opening ceremony of Earth Week on the National Mall.
TCP District Manager Stephen Leibo gave radio interviews to WCNY in Central New York on April 21 and WAMC Northeast Public Radio April 22.
TCP Presenter Richard Whiteford organized supporters in Philadelphia and a bus trip to the National Mall for Sunday’s Earth Week closing rally. He also assisted with booking two high-profile speakers for that event.  TCP Presenter Christiana Figueres Nominated for Top Climate Job
Christiana Figueres of Costa Rica is being considered by the United Nations for the role of Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the most senior climate position in the UN. She has been nominated for the position by Oscar Arias, President of Costa Rica. Trained as a TCP Presenter in 2007, Christiana has been a member of the Costa Rican climate negotiating team since 1995. She was elected Vice President of the Bureau of the Convention 2008-2009 in representation of Latin America and the Caribbean, having previously represented the region on the Executive Board of the Clean Development Mechanism. Christiana founded and directed the Center for Sustainable Development in the Americas, an NGO devoted to climate change capacity building.
Christiana’s experience and background will now be reviewed by UN officials along with her fellow nominees from countries including India, South Africa and Indonesia. A final decision will be made by July. If appointed to the post, Christiana would replace outgoing secretary Yvo De Boer, and would be tasked with restoring a sense of unity and shared purpose to the UN climate negotiation process.
Christiana took some time this month to answer a few of our questions via email:
What sparked your interest in climate change and in becoming a TCP Presenter?
Having experienced the disappearance of the golden toad, a species endemic to Costa Rica, during my lifetime because of changes in temperature, I was impacted by the fact that I am bequeathing a diminished planet to my daughters. I was determined to do something about this, and was benefitted by the fact that at the time, Costa Rica had already embarked on pioneering environmental and climate protection policies and instruments. I was intrigued by the possibility of taking lessons learned in Costa Rica to the rest of Latin America and thus in 1995 founded the Center for Sustainable Development in the Americas, a think tank and capacity building institution dedicated to promoting the participation of Latin American countries in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
After many years of making public presentations on climate change and the international negotiations, I discovered that former Vice President Gore made a deeply compelling case in An Inconvenient Truth, and I wanted to be able to incorporate Mr. Gore’s work into my own. I thus applied to be trained by him, and have been inspired by his vision and commitment ever since.
*Note: Christiana was trained in Session Five in the United States in January 2007
Your key message is that climate change is now “very clearly a civil society concern.” Can you expand upon this thought?
The very fact that in Copenhagen there were 10,000 government negotiators but 30,000 non-governmental participants already proves that civil society is concerned and committed. As the negotiation process is led by the UN, governments will continue to take the lead. But over the past few years, civil society has begun to demand higher ambition from governments, both through domestic political processes as well as through eloquent participation in the international negotiations. This voice is most welcome. Climate change is not a theoretical problem. It has deeply painful human consequences, and the voice of those who are most affected is key to motivating ambition. Read the rest of the interview here.  Obama Administration Establishes First-Ever Greenhouse Gas Emissions RulesPresident Obama on April 1 signed the nation’s first greenhouse gas emissions regulation into law. The new rule, jointly developed by The Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), will raise current fuel economy standards and will place the first-ever tailpipe greenhouse gas limits on cars. According to DOT and EPA, the fuel economy standards will save consumers up to $3,000 in fuel costs over the life of a 2016 model year automobile. The new combined fleet-wide average fuel economy of 34.1 mpg, up from the current 27.5 mpg requirement, will be effective from 2012 to 2016 for cars and light trucks. The tailpipe standard will limit emissions to 250 grams per mile, This regulation will ultimately conserve approximately 1.8 billion barrels of oil and cut carbon dioxide emissions by nearly a billion tons over the life of vehicles covered by the rule. "This is a significant step towards cleaner air and energy efficiency, and an important example of how our economic and environmental priorities go hand-in-hand," said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. Alliance President and CEO Maggie L. Fox declared, “The new clean cars rule sets us firmly on the path toward true energy independence, ending our reliance on foreign oil. Coupled with new fuel efficiency standards, these efforts will mean cleaner, more efficient vehicles that emit less pollution, and savings at the pump for America’s families. This national program is projected to reduce carbon emissions by 950 million metric tons, the equivalent of removing more than 179 million cars from the road. With today’s historic announcement, for the first time the Clean Air Act will regulate the dangerous carbon pollution causing the climate crisis.” Read the official EPA/DOT release here. Visit the CAFE website here.
About The Climate Project The Climate Project is Nobel Laureate and former Vice President Al Gore 's climate change leadership program founded in June 2006. As a program of the Alliance for Climate Protection, TCP's mission is to educate the public about the harmful effects of climate change and to work toward solutions at a grassroots level worldwide.
TCP supports more than 3,000 diverse and dedicated volunteers internationally. These volunteers are known as TCP Presenters and have been personally trained by Vice President Al Gore to deliver an updated version of the slide show featured in the Academy Award-winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth.
TCP Presenters have delivered 70,000 presentations and have reached a combined global audience of more than 7.3 million. Presentations are customized and frequently revised to include the latest climate science and can be requested free of charge by any size group or organization. TCP's global headquarters is located in Nashville, Tennessee.
The Alliance, a unique non-profit, non-partisan organization with more than 5,000,000 members worldwide, is committed to educating the global community about the urgency of implementing comprehensive solutions to the climate crisis.
| |
| | | | |
|
| Copyright 2010 All Rights Reserved. The Climate Project April Newsletter. |
|
|
|
