Join Us On April 14th - National Day of Climate Action
Step It Up 2007 - Western North Carolina
In concert with a national day of demonstrations we are organizing two gatherings to call for our leaders in Washington, DC to STEP IT UP in addressing climate change. If you are interested in participating or partnering in either one of these gatherings, please contact us or leave a comment in the comment box below. We need as many people as possible in these two locations to represent the call for action from western North Carolina! We are grateful that SouthWings has agreed to photograph our group from the air.
Date? April 14, 2007
Time? 2 - 3 p.m.
Where? Asheville, NC (Exact Location To Be Announced)
Contacts? Phillip Gibson & John Huie
Partners: If you or your organization would like to assist with either of these efforts, please email Phillip Gibson at praygibson@hotmail.com. We will list those participating as they sign on.
Questions? Post questions to the comment section (located below) of this Blog.
What is the catalyst for this event? Read the letter below:
From Our Friend Author Bill McKibben:
I’m writing to ask your help. I know you’ve already made changes in your own life to deal with climate change; I’m guessing that, like me, you feel a little helpless about the scale of the problem. Some of us who are eager to do something more are organizing a day of demonstrations for April 14. We’re calling ourselves Stepitup2007.org.
If everyone pitches in, we’ll have by far the largest action yet in this nation about global warming—large enough that Washington will notice and start to act. It’s going to be an unusual day. People will be rallying in many of America’s most iconic places: on the levees in New Orleans, on top of the melting ice sheets on Mt. Hood and in Glacier National Park, even underwater on the endangered coral reefs off Key West and Hawaii.
But we need hundreds of rallies [throughout the nation] outside churches, and in city parks, and in rural fields. It’s not a huge task—assemble as many folks as possible, hoist a banner, take a picture. Pictures of the protests will be linked together electronically via the web—before the day is out, we’ll have a cascade of images to show both local and national media that Americans don’t consider this a secondary issue. That instead they want serious action now.
We’re not an organization—we’re, in essence, a few people sending out invitations to a party. A potluck. This is going to be a homemade day of action.
The best science tells us we have ten years to fundamentally transform our economy and lead the world in the same direction or else, in the words of NASA’s Jim Hansen, we will face a “totally different planet.” We’re calling for 80 percent carbon cuts by 2050, which would be a good first step to warding off that future. But the exact numbers are less important than the underlying message to Washington: get serious. The recent elections have given us an opening, and polling shows most Americans know there’s a problem. But the forces of inertia and business-as-usual are still in control, and only our voices, united and loud, joyful and determined, can change that reality. Please join us. Bill McKibben www.Stepitup2007.org
Step It Up 2007 - Western North Carolina
In concert with a national day of demonstrations we are organizing two gatherings to call for our leaders in Washington, DC to STEP IT UP in addressing climate change. If you are interested in participating or partnering in either one of these gatherings, please contact us or leave a comment in the comment box below. We need as many people as possible in these two locations to represent the call for action from western North Carolina! We are grateful that SouthWings has agreed to photograph our group from the air.
Date? April 14, 2007
Time? 2 - 3 p.m.
Where? Asheville, NC (Exact Location To Be Announced)
Contacts? Phillip Gibson & John Huie
Partners: If you or your organization would like to assist with either of these efforts, please email Phillip Gibson at praygibson@hotmail.com. We will list those participating as they sign on.
Questions? Post questions to the comment section (located below) of this Blog.
What is the catalyst for this event? Read the letter below:
From Our Friend Author Bill McKibben:
I’m writing to ask your help. I know you’ve already made changes in your own life to deal with climate change; I’m guessing that, like me, you feel a little helpless about the scale of the problem. Some of us who are eager to do something more are organizing a day of demonstrations for April 14. We’re calling ourselves Stepitup2007.org.
If everyone pitches in, we’ll have by far the largest action yet in this nation about global warming—large enough that Washington will notice and start to act. It’s going to be an unusual day. People will be rallying in many of America’s most iconic places: on the levees in New Orleans, on top of the melting ice sheets on Mt. Hood and in Glacier National Park, even underwater on the endangered coral reefs off Key West and Hawaii.
But we need hundreds of rallies [throughout the nation] outside churches, and in city parks, and in rural fields. It’s not a huge task—assemble as many folks as possible, hoist a banner, take a picture. Pictures of the protests will be linked together electronically via the web—before the day is out, we’ll have a cascade of images to show both local and national media that Americans don’t consider this a secondary issue. That instead they want serious action now.
We’re not an organization—we’re, in essence, a few people sending out invitations to a party. A potluck. This is going to be a homemade day of action.
The best science tells us we have ten years to fundamentally transform our economy and lead the world in the same direction or else, in the words of NASA’s Jim Hansen, we will face a “totally different planet.” We’re calling for 80 percent carbon cuts by 2050, which would be a good first step to warding off that future. But the exact numbers are less important than the underlying message to Washington: get serious. The recent elections have given us an opening, and polling shows most Americans know there’s a problem. But the forces of inertia and business-as-usual are still in control, and only our voices, united and loud, joyful and determined, can change that reality. Please join us. Bill McKibben www.Stepitup2007.org
1 comment:
Hello North Carolina--
We are so glad you're stepping up to this challenge; in fact, we've been humbled all week by the number of people across America who are finally eager to take action. There are few places much more beautiful than your rhododendron-tangled hills; we'll all be thrilled to see what kind of cool actions you cook up for April 14!
Bill McKibben
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