Climate Crisis

Coming soon :: How to campaign in a general election

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I’m expecting a general election soon. BJ has spaffed up a Brexit mess that is certain to be refused by everyone.

In theory in UK we exist in a participatory democracy. I say in theory because in reality rich vested interests dominate. The rich are powerful through their wealth and influence.

Participatory democracy depends on people to participate. It’s a very long since I’ve campaigned in a general election. Oh, come to think of it … Anyway, I’m hoping to bring you a rough guide on how to campaign in a general election soon. It’s not strictly necessary to be associated with a political party to participate in general election campaigning. You could for example want to campaign for a candidate that appreciates the climate crisis. [ed: or against a candidate that doesn’t]

I’d better update my rough guide.

ed: Problems were encountered posting this post. Thanks to my hosting service.

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THE STATE WE’RE IN :: George Monbiot is trying to get arrested today

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Journalist and author George Monbiot is trying to get arrested today as part of the Extinction Rebellion Climate Emergency protests in London. There have been over 1,400 arrests of XR rebels in London and the Metropolitan Police have now imposed a blanket ban on London XR protests.

Today, I aim to get arrested. It is the only real power climate protesters have

Image of Extinction Rebellion protestors getting removed and possibly arrested by police
Photograph: Ollie Millington/Getty

A few hours after this column is published, I hope to be in a police cell. I don’t yet know what the charge will be, where I will be arrested or when, but I know that if I go home this evening without feeling the hand of the law on my sleeve, I will have failed. This may sound like a strange ambition, but I believe it is a reasonable one.

If I succeed, I will be one of many. In the current wave of Extinction Rebellion protests, more than 1,400 people have so far allowed themselves to be arrested. It’s a controversial tactic, but it has often proved effective. The suffragettes, the Indian salt marchers, the civil rights movement and the Polish and East German democracy movements, to name just a few, all used it as a crucial strategy. Mass arrests are a potent form of democratic protest.

They work because they show that the campaigners are serious. When people are prepared to jeopardise their liberty for their cause, other people appear more likely to listen to what they say, and more likely to recognise its importance. Those who founded Extinction Rebellion researched these histories and sought to apply their lessons to the greatest predicament humanity has ever faced: the gathering collapse of our life support systems.

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Continue ReadingTHE STATE WE’RE IN :: George Monbiot is trying to get arrested today

Global Extinction Rebellion protests start

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Extinction Rebellion London protests 7 October 2019

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-49957521

Extinction Rebellion activists are protesting in cities around the world, including Berlin, Amsterdam and Sydney.

Organisers have planned to shut down key sites in central London, in addition to demonstrating outside government departments.

Extinction Rebellion says protests in the capital will be five times bigger than similar events in April.

The protests are calling for urgent action on global climate and wildlife emergencies.

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Thank you Extinction Rebellion.

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The climate crisis explained

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The climate crisis explained in 10 charts

The problem – rising carbon dioxide in the atmosphere

The level of CO2 has been rising since the industrial revolution and is now at its highest for about 4 million years. The rate of the rise is even more striking – the fastest for 66m years – with scientists saying we are in “uncharted territory”.

The causes – fossil fuel burning

Billions of tonnes of CO2 are sent into the atmosphere every year from coal, oil and gas burning. There is no sign of these emissions starting to fall rapidly, as is needed.

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The climate crisis explained in 10 charts continued at the Guardian

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This Friday 20 September GLOBAL STRIKE FOR CLIMATE

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Young Climate activists are inviting adults to join them starting this Friday.

Greta Thunberg and 46 young activists write

“Starting on Friday 20 September we will kickstart a week of climate action with a worldwide strike for the climate. We’re asking adults to step up alongside us. There are many different plans under way in different parts of the world for adults to join together and step up and out of your comfort zone for our climate. Let’s all join together, with your neighbours, co-workers, friends, family and go out on to the streets to make your voices heard and make this a turning point in our history.

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This is about crossing lines – it’s about rebelling wherever one can rebel. It’s not about saying “Yeah, what the kids do is great, if I was young I would have totally joined in.” It doesn’t help, but everyone can and must help.

This moment has to happen. Last year’s UN intergovernmental panel on climate change’s special report on global warming was clear about the unprecedented dangers of going beyond 1.5C of global heating. Emissions must drop rapidly – so that by the time we are in our mid- and late-20s we are living in a completely transformed world.

But to change everything, we need everyone. It is time for all of us to unleash mass resistance – we have shown that collective action does work. We need to escalate the pressure to make sure that change happens, and we must escalate together.

So this is our chance – join us on climate strike this September. People have risen up before to demand action and make change; if we do so in numbers we have a chance. If we care, we must do more than say we do. We must act. This won’t be the last day we need to take to the streets, but it will be a new beginning. We’re counting on you.”

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