10 More Big Activism Stories

Some top activism stories from the past week or so that I haven’t been able to get to but deserve a big share:

mexico activists drawing colored bike lanes on street

  1. Two Finland animal activists who were being prosecuted for undercover investigations of factory farms have been found not guilty on almost all charges. Good news!
  2. A climate justice youth caravan of approximately 200 young people is headed for Durban, South Africa and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s conference (COP-17). “Climate change requires a justice response. We cannot to afford to see it differently. It is not only an economic, but also a moral ethical issue. It needs a response that addresses the injustices it has caused so far,” Paul Mbole, Kenya country coordinator for Norwegian Church Aid, one of the supporting agencies. The caravan’s slogan is: “We Have Faith: Act Now for Climate Justice.” Unfortunately, it seems the rich countries of the world have already given up on a climate change agreement this year (or even for several years to come). The “We Have Faith” caravan will also be providing a concert at King’s Park Stadium in Durban on November 27.
  3. EDF, the large French state energy company, was fined €1.5 million ($2 million) for spying on Greenpeace by a Paris court this month.
  4. Mexico City activists fed up with car-centric streets have been drawing their own colored bike lane symbols on the roads. (One of several pictures of the activist effort is above.)
  5. Playing for the Planet is a great event for climate activism and music lovers that you may want to check out or emulate in your city or region!
  6. Polar bears, which are invading Canadian towns due to climate change, are a key symbol of global warming and climate change. Some activists have now set up a live feed for tracking and watching polar bears in the region (you can see it below this activism story list).
  7. D.R. Tucker, an extremely thoughtful conservative who made waves across the internet not too long ago for turning from climate change denial to climate change activist recently wrote a great post on Climate Denial Crock of the Week titled “Occupy Conservatism.” Worth a read, especially if you’re a thoughtful conservative.
  8. 8 environmental activists were arrested in Charlotte, NC last week for protesting Bank of America’s connection to mountaintop removal coal mining.
  9. Greenpeace released a shocking video of the tuna industry’s fishing practices at the end of last week.
  10. Oceana created a petition recently to push for a stop to the “bulldozing of our oceans.” Sign it!

 

4 thoughts on “10 More Big Activism Stories”

  1. Petition Presentation, Town of Chapel Hill, NC, November 21, 2011.

    Opening remarks…….

    In Chapel Hill and around the world, it is all the same: many too many people can be found in too many places destroying the natural world for personal economic gain. Many human-induced pressures on Earth’s finite resources and its frangible ecology, that directly result from the unbridled global growth of overconsumption, overproduction and overpopulation activities by the human species, put demands on the natural world that can overwhelm any efforts to achieve a sustainable future for children, not only in Chapel Hill but elsewhere on the surface of our planetary home. If we are to halt the reckless destruction of Earth as a viable resource base as well as the irreversible degradation of an already polluted environment and a warming climate, we must accept limits to growth.

    We must start somewhere soon to chart a sustainable course. Endless economic and population growth appear to be unsustainable. Let us consider now and here ways we can humanely, fairly, equitably and realistically define limits to economic and population growth in Chapel Hill, while there is still time to do so. Once the comfortable and friendly size of Chapel Hill is lost due to economic and population growth pressures, Chapel Hill’s quality of life and special characteristics will be impossible to regain.

    Perhaps we can “think globally” about the predicament seven billion human beings present to the viability of Earth as a fit place for human habitation. Then we choose to”act locally” in ways that move us in the direction of a sustainable future for children everywhere and for life as we know it. Thank you.

    TO MAYOR MARK KLEINSCHMIDT, MEMBERS OF THE TOWN COUNCIL, TOWN MANAGER ROGER STANCIL AND WHOMEVER ELSE THIS MAY CONCERN on Monday, November 21, 2011:

    A Petition to Define Limits to Economic and Population Growth in the Town of Chapel Hill, NC

    Whereas the Town of Chapel Hill appears to be outgrowing the comfortable and friendly size that has made it a wonderful place to live, raise children, work and retire; and
    Whereas increasing traffic congestion, crime and other social ills are presenting worrisome trends that result from human population growth which will eventually degrade Chapel Hill’s eco-friendly environs, deplete its limited natural resources and conceivably ruin what makes our town beautiful and special; and
    Whereas the Town of Chapel Hill has established limits and the Great State of North Carolina has boundary lines that separate it from adjacent states; and
    Whereas the USA has borders that confirm the limits of authorized human activity under its regulations and laws as well as distinguish itself as a separate nation; and
    Whereas Earth is round, bounded and finite with frangible environs not flat, unbounded and unperturbed by human production, consumption and population activities of the human species worldwide; and
    Whereas there are well-known biological and physical “rules of the house” in our planetary home that are categorically different from the manmade laws which regulate day to day production, consumption and population activities of human species, but are no less important to citizens of Chapel Hill, the State of NC and the USA as well as to the global citizenry of the human family, precisely because the biophysical reality of God’s Creation places immutable limits on the unbridled global growth of human overproduction, overconsumption and overpopulation activities; and
    Whereas a billion human beings were added to family of humanity worldwide in the last dozen years (1999 to 2011); and
    Whereas in the month of October 2011 the seven billionth human being joined the human community; and
    Whereas there are more human beings in November 2011 existing on resources valued at less than two dollars per day globally than were alive on Earth in the year of my birth (2.3+ billion in March 1945); and
    Whereas we have heard many times, understood well enough, and can reasonably be expected to at least consider acting in a morally responsible way upon a shibboleth of humanity that goes like this, “Think globally, act locally,”

    Now, Therefore, It appears appropriate to Propose and Present this brief Summary of a Program for Action.

    As a part of the town-wide envisioning process to consciously and deliberately manage economic and population growth in the Town of Chapel Hill between now and 2020, leaders, planners and stakeholders will assure that the maintenance of the unique character and the quality of life in Chapel Hill, as we enjoy it now, is protected and preserved for the children and future generations. To accomplish this goal, various scenarios or different elements of a single scenario will be developed with the hope that the following steps will be examined for their efficacy.

    Because overpopulation is ultimately a local issue, set an optimum/maximum population size for the Town of Chapel Hill in 2020. This goal can be fulfilled by adopting growth-management policies related to limits on the number of new residential dwelling units and to additional eco-friendly curbs on commercial developments per year between now and 2020. Zoning regulations can be promulgated to further restrict the size of residential, commercial and industrial buildings within the town limits. The reality-oriented adoption of “soft caps” on economic and population growth will make it possible for the Town of Chapel Hill to sensibly acknowledge and adequately address the considerable and potentially unsustainable growth pressures that are readily visible on our watch.

    Steven Earl Salmony

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