Greenpeace calls on
the real Obama to show audacious leadership
on global warming18 September 2009
Bangkok, Thailand —
In a “historic announcement” today delivered
from the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand,
“President Obama” has vowed to end the climate
crisis by committing to legally binding,
timely and deep emissions reductions that
are ambitious, equitable and fair. “Obama”
also committed to funding for mitigation
and adaptation, and has pledged billions
in funds to save forests.
The short but momentous
speech was the declaration that climate
change activists around the world have been
waiting for—except that it was delivered
by 'Faux-bama' and not Obama: Ilham Anas,
34, is an Indonesian look-alike of the US
President. His speech was delivered in a
creative action organized by Greenpeace
Southeast Asia as part of the global Tcktcktck
activities to call on world leaders to act
on climate change, ahead of the climate
session of the United Nations General Assembly
(UNGA) this September 22. The real President
Obama will make an address at the UNGA,
while the 'Faux-bama' address was aimed
at securing his attendance at the UN Climate
Summit in December which is not yet confirmed.
Real Obama for Copenhagen!
President Obama and other world leaders
have an opportunity to show climate leadership
at the UN Climate Summit in Copenhagen this
December. It is the best chance we have
to avoid runaway climate change and the
devastating consequences - world leaders
must agree to a just and binding deal that
will create significant reductions in world
emissions and halt deforestation.
The 'Faux-bama' speech
is just one of many activities aimed at
drawing attention to the need for world
leaders to attend the UN Climate Summit.
Greenpeace Southeast Asia is also leading
the Chang(e) Caravan, a march for change
by people and elephants that have been rehabilitated
by the Thai Elephant Research and Conservation
Fund. The Caravan is traversing Thailand's
Central Plains to tell the story of climate
change impacts on communities there, and
by doing so increase the pressure on world
leaders to act on climate change. Learn
more about the Chang(e) Caravan and 'Faux-bama'
on Greenpeace Southeast Asia's website.
"Few challenges
facing the world are more urgent than combating
climate change. Many of you are working
to confront this challenge. I am committed
to working on this with you.
I will attend the Copenhagen
Climate Summit.
I will ensure an ambitious, fair and binding
global climate treaty.
I will make funds available for climate
mitigation and adaptation, starting with
funds to protect the remaining forests.
This is our chance to
build a new future for our children. I will
not let this moment pass us by.”
-from speech delivered by 'Faux-bama' in
Bangkok, Thailand
+ More
A "new epoch of
sea-ice melt"
18 September 2009
International — The minimum area of summer
Arctic sea-ice extent was reported this
week to have plummeted to the third-lowest
level in recorded history. This is Earth's
way of saying that we're reaching the limits
of what the planet can sustain.
The Arctic sea-ice reached
its yearly minimum low on September 12th,
according to the US National Snow and Ice
Data Center.
The lowest ever extent
was recorded in 2007, and the second lowest
in 2008. While these are signs that the
greenhouse effect is real and requires urgent
action, some people are still in denial
- as this message on the NSIDC's twitter
feed shows:
These minimum sea-ice
extents are more than records -- they are
a call for attention to world leaders about
the devastation that is happening all over
the world due to climate change. We really
need to reduce carbon emissions immediately.
Earth is losing its
"climate control"
What happens in the great North goes way
beyond the polar circle. When the sea-ice
melts, it triggers several feedback loops.
The first is greater heat absorption --
without the white sea-ice to reflect the
sun, more heat is asorbed in the ocean,
making it warm faster.
The second feedback
loop is the disappearance of old, thicker
sea-ice. The ice that melted this year will
be replaced during the winter by new ice,
less thick, which melts more easily the
next summer. Simply put, the more ice melts,
the less control we have.
New epoch of sea ice
melt
The Arctic Sunrise is currently in the Fram
Strait, in the Arctic region, and approaching
the ice edge. On board is world-class sea-ice
expert Dr. Peter Wadhams.
"We're entering
a new epoch of sea-ice melt in the Arctic
Ocean due to climate change," said
Dr. Peter Wadhams. "In five years'
time most of the sea-ice could be gone in
summer, with just an 'Alamo of ice' remaining
north of Ellesmere Island. In 20 years'
time, that will also be gone, leaving the
Arctic Ocean completely ice-free in summer.
It's clear we can't rely on current models
of prediction for sea-ice melt, as they
have been constantly outpaced since the
1980s."
World leaders: Act now!
Clearly, the time for action is now, not
just in five years, when it will be too
late to keep feedback effects under control.
What's needed is a 40
percent cut in greenhouse gases by 2020
on the part of developed countries. They
also need to invest US$ 140 billion per
year to help developing countries deal with
the impacts of climate change, stop deforestation
and switch to a low carbon economy.
To do anything less
is to ignore the warnings we're seeing in
the Arctic and elsewhere that tell us that
the climate is in serious peril.
That's why we want world
leaders to show their commitment to stop
the devastating effects of climate change
now, and attend the Copenhagen climate conference
at the end of the year.
+ More
Activists stop climate
crime in the tar sands
19 September 2009 -
Fort McMurray, Canada — What is soon to
be bigger than England and account for more
greenhouse gas emissions than the Czech
Republic? The tar sands of northern Alberta,
Canada - the largest energy project and
the largest industrial project on the face
of the planet.
Early in the morning
of September 15th 25 Greenpeace activists
entered the Albian tar sands operation and
proceeded to blockade themselves in the
cabs of two dumptrucks and one crane. They
remained on the site for 30 hours, successfully
shutting down the entire operation and sending
a strong message: the tar sands are a climate
crime and they must be stopped.
The tar sands - sometimes
referred to as oil sands - are one of the
dirtiest sources of oil on the planet, and
extracting this unconventional oil resource
has created a truly hellish landscape. Vast
areas of wilderness are chewed up and replaced
by toxic lakes, open pit mines, refineries,
and pipe lines.
Extracting tar sands
deposits is hugely energy intensive and
produces emissions to the tune of 100 million
tonnes of carbon per day. Worse, most deposits
are located underneath boreal forest which
must be completely destroyed to extract
the tar sands which further accelerates
climate change. The Canadian boreal forest
is a huge carbon storehouse, and emissions
resulting from this deforestation have yet
to be included in the official emissions.
Not that the atmosphere cares about the
official numbers. It is clear that tar sands
development is pushing us towards catastrophic,
runaway climate change.
Climate leaders don't
buy tar sands
“It is clear that world
leaders still need to get the message. We
will continue to expose the horror of the
tar sands until they face the urgent facts
and wean themselves off the brutal addiction
to fossil fuels which threatens us all with
catastrophic climate change," Mike
Hudema, Climate Campaigner with Greenpeace
Canada, commented from the action.
“From the mining site,
Greenpeace will continue to bear witness
to the total devastation that is the tar
sands. The message going into critical UN
climate negotiations in Copenhagen this
December is that climate leaders don’t buy
tar sands.”
The blockade coincided
with the release of climate demands from
the world's largest global investors - who
issued a joint statement calling for 'strong
action this year from international policy
makers in the fight against global warming.'
Signed by 181 investors in total - this
is the largest statement of its kind in
history and shows that the future lies in
a green, sustainable energy industry - not
in the tar sands. It also makes clear the
expectations investors have for world leaders
this year. It was issued 80 days before
the UN Climate Summit in Copenhagen - which
is the best chance the world has to agree
to serious emissions cuts and strong climate
policy that will avoid runaway climate change.
Greenpeace's recently
released 'Green Jobs' report shows that
this green energy future is not only possible,
but it is beneficial to jobs in the energy
sector. It is the first ever jobs analysis
of a clean energy scenario made on a global
scale and is part of Greenpeace's Energy
[R]evolution scenario. Working for the Climate
makes it clear that the shift to a renewable-energy
based global system would be our best bet
for environmental, energy and job security.
By 2030 the report projects we could have
8 million renewable and efficiency power
sector workers, while in contrast, if we
continue with business as usual the energy
sector would lose jobs - 500,000 of them
by 2030. The choice is clear.
A poster child for climate
destruction
Images of the tar sands bring home exactly
how devastating and destructive this energy
project is for the environment. The toxic
lakes created by water discharged from the
extraction process are so vast they can
be seen from space, and so toxic that cannons
have to be regularly let off to scare away
wildlife. This does not stop 11 million
litres of leakage to occur per day. Even
worse than what has already been done is
the pace at which tar sands development
is expected to grow.
'Dirty Oil: How the Tar Sands Are Fueling
Global Climate Change' is the latest Greenpeace
report on the tar sands, authored by Andrew
Nikiforuk, a business and environmental
reporter and the author of Tar Sands: Dirty
Oil and the Future of a Continent. The projections
made are frightening.
"Tar sands emissions are bigger than
Estonia and Lithuania right now and in 2020
will be larger than countries like Belgium,
Austria, Ireland and Denmark," explains
Nikiforuk. These are daunting figures which
make it all the more pressing that our world
leaders take responsibility and act on climate
change. They could learn a thing or two
from the 25 activists that successfully
shut down the Albian mine operations. One
of the activists had this to say afterwards:
"We look at our logo 'Stop the tar
sands' which seemed so extreme a week ago
- and now it seems possible."
