Greenpeace

I’ve been asked if I still had hope going into this last day of the Copenhagen International Climate Negotiations. Definitely. Yes. I did.

President Obama and all the other heads of state would not be attending these negotiations if it were not to decide on something big. Rumor was that Obama would have some new updates on US commitments and surely, his presence alone has the potential to move nations just as it did last November when the global community celebrated his election.

 

The President’s 10-speech this morning, however, left me severely disappointed in his lack of leadership.

In the speech, Obama still only commits the US to a lousy 4% emissions reduction from 1990 levels by 2020 (the science calls for 25-40% below 1990 levels by 2020). I was hoping President Obama would bring news today that he is pushing the U.S. commitment to higher levels. Why isn’t he showing leadership on this issue?

If I were President Obama, I would be extremely ashamed to bring such a low level of ambition to these  negotiations. We need to be communicating our disappointment now.

One thing I know for sure is that we, as activists in the environmental movement, are doing our part. If world leaders come out of Copenhagen with a poor deal, they need to know it is because they have failed us.

 

 

If you haven’t called President Obama’s administration yet, PLEASE DO!  We must create even more pressure today and hold these talks accountable to the demands of our movement!

The action is not over. We need an escalation. In the US, you still have the voice and we need to be loudest today.

 

Having spent my entire trip here with activists from around the world has really clarified how incredibly diverse, yet united our movement is. Today I stood next to a 60 year old Irish woman making signs for the march tomorrow, I painted banners with a young girl from Finland, and I ate lunch with a man from Ecuador. I have heard that there are over 40 nationalities represented in this warehouse tonight. Isn't that amazing?

I spoke with a Swedish student this afternoon and when I mentioned that I was from the United States, he suddenly got a huge smile on his face. He said that he loved meeting activists from the U.S. because we were "badass." He explained more, saying that he had just been in Japan with the GOT (Greenpeace Organizing Term) students and that he was extremely impressed by the Greepeace Student Network. He was basicially jumping up and down as I was telling him more about what our student network has been doing over the past year and the passion and high level of involvement of our students in the network.

I usually get a little embarrassed when I say I'm from the U.S. to a foreign activist because I feel guilty for our country's poor leadership in environmental issues. But when I had this conversation today, I felt extremely proud of us and what we are doing in our country. I am so thankful for all the hard work our students have been doing and feel confident in knowing we are doing absolutely everything we can to influence our President to make the right decisions at this conference. If he doesn't follow through on his commitments, we will know that it was out of our hands. And he will know that he has let down hundreds (thousands) of students. I know that he wouldn't want that to happen. Let's continue hoping for the best and doing what we know how to do very well: keep up the presha! http://members.greenpeace.org/survey/start/234/

There are over 5,000 youth at the Copenhagen Climate negotiations, the largest youth delegation in the history of the talks!  What’s really incredible is that the U.S. youth delegation is comprised of over 500 people and is the largest youth delegation here at the conference! 

I attended a panel discussion this afternoon titled, “Yes, He Can” to get some more insight on how we can get President Obama to implement science based climate solutions in the US. The primary focus of this discussion was that President Obama has full legal authority to sign a climate treaty into effect without waiting for Congress and that if he says he is legally bound to the Senate, he is trying to take the easy way out.  Signing onto a international climate treaty and bypassing the Senate will be politically challenging for Obama, but it is doable.  We need to make sure the moral imperative and pressure from our citizens is present and forces President Obama to act. 

 

During the Q & A, a British citizen in the crowd reminded us that President Obama was not only elected by the U.S. citizens, but also by the international community.  He has the moral responsibility to the U.S. public as well as the international public to ensure our survival and force progressive action at the negotiations.

This means more work on the ground at home, and I feel completely confident that we can all do it together as we push hard in these next days.  This is our future, and we cannot slow down until our leaders meet our demands.  Just think, the whole world is looking to the U.S.  Let’s do everything in our power to ensure that our President is the global leader we know he can be.

 

There are over 5,000 youth at the Copenhagen Climate negotiations, the largest youth delegation in the history of the talks!  What’s really incredible is that the U.S. youth delegation is comprised of over 500 people and is the largest youth delegation here at the conference! 

I attended a panel discussion this afternoon titled, “Yes, He Can” to get some more insight on how we can get President Obama to implement science based climate solutions in the US. The primary focus of this discussion was that President Obama has full legal authority to sign a climate treaty into effect without waiting for Congress and that if he says he is legally bound to the Senate, he is trying to take the easy way out.  Signing onto a international climate treaty and bypassing the Senate will be politically challenging for Obama, but it is doable.  We need to make sure the moral imperative and pressure from our citizens is present and forces President Obama to act. 

During the Q & A, a British citizen in the crowd reminded us that President Obama was not only elected by the U.S. citizens, but also by the international community.  He has the moral responsibility to the U.S. public as well as the international public to ensure our survival and force progressive action at the negotiations.

This means more work on the ground at home, and I feel completely confident that we can all do it together as we push hard in these next days.  This is our future, and we cannot slow down until our leaders meet our demands.  Just think, the whole world is looking to the U.S.  Let’s do everything in our power to ensure that our President is the global leader we know he can be.