A Climate Of Peace

http://www.berkshireeagle.com/ci_7167508?source=most_emailed

A climate of peace
Saturday, October 13

Former Vice President Al Gore is a fitting recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, an apt reward for his tireless efforts to call attention to the dangers of climate change and the moral responsibility that falls on all people to find a solution.
The Nobel committee expanded its definition of "peace" by conferring the prize yesterday on Mr. Gore and the United Nation's climate change panel. It was a wise decision, one that recognizes that our stubborn refusal to reduce greenhouse gasses will have just as disastrous an effect on mankind as war and weapons.

Until the unexpected success of "An Inconvenient Truth," Mr. Gore had been a voice in the wilderness on climate change. His advocacy pre-dates his 2000 run for president and was an obsession even as the rest of the nation was buying Hummers and building McMansions. The prize is a justified recognition of his foresight and dedication.

Sadly, Mr. Gore's perseverance and determination are not shared by the Bush administration. Upon taking office, President Bush immediately withdrew from the Kyoto treaty, a foolish and reactionary move that meant the United States — the world's largest producer of greenhouse gasses — has spent the last six years on the sidelines as other nations have sought to limit emissions. It took a ruling of the Supreme Court to convince Mr. Bush's Environmental Protection Agency that greenhouse gasses are a pollutant that should be regulated.

Study after study is confirming what we already know: Climate change is real, measurable and will change our world forever unless we take action. But Mr. Bush only pays lip service to environmental problems and has failed to follow his words with deeds.

This is not only dangerous, it is shortsighted. Green technology is undeniably the future — just ask any American car manufacturer who has watched Toyota, with its fleet of fuel-efficient vehicles, became the biggest auto maker in the world. By catering to special interests like the chambers of commerce and utility companies, the Bush administration has let Japan and Europe move ahead in this growing field. That could have a detrimental economic impact on the United States for decades to come.

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Instead, we must keep the future in mind. Mr. Gore is just the most visible face of a growing number of leaders convinced of the need for climate change. Now we need the movement — a tidal wave of people who will change their own actions and demand change from their governments.

The Nobel prize is arguably the greatest honor that any living person can receive, and it will grant Mr. Gore an undeniable legitimacy. Mr. Gore should use that to build himself an even bigger stage from which to advocate for change. It up to the rest of us to join him and demand action.

For me, the next step is Bali in December. I am going to be writing letters to heads of state and sending them to their offices at the the UN to tell them that international pressure must now be exerted on the U.S., China, and other polluting countries in order to get a treaty at Bali that places international caps on CO2 now.

http://www.climateprotect.org/

The Alliance for Climate Protection (chaired by Nobel laureate Al Gore) is now THE organization leading the way to changing the mindset of Americans and others internationally to move from awareness to solutions (of course, imo.) And this will not be an easy task, but one that is essential in creating the atmosphere needed to move the political sphere not only here but worldwide. Of course, you can give to any organization you believeis doing the best regarding the enrvironment, but ( and I know I'm singing to the choir here) getting involved yourself is now key to the success of turning this around... at least the damage we now can turn around. What is up in our atmosphere now is causing what we are now experiencing globally, but we can and must do our part to work to cap what is currently going up in our atmosphere that will only exacerbate the affects. This is now not only Al Gore's mission, but ours.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/environment/jan-june05/maathai_1-25.html

WANGARI MAATHAI: Well, I'm quite sure that I would have achieved much more in those 30 years if I had been supported by my government, if I had been given the freedom and the movement to be able to do that. But we definitely have achieved a lot.

And, most of all, you are dealing with people who are empowered, who feel that they can make a change in their own lives, within their own environments and utilizing the resources that they have around them. That's really wonderful. That transformation, that feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction is really wonderful to see happening to other people.

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Empowering others and seeing the wonderful results that can come from it I agree is what this movement and life are all about.