Flooding in the Philippines yesterday displaced over 600,000 people. As if we didn’t need more of an urgent call to solve the climate crisis.

Increased intensity of flooding is among one of the may well-documented impacts of global warming. The implications have hit our organizing here at the UN in Bangkok too – as some activists had to go to support their families amidst crisis.

But Filipino groups are still here in full force, emboldened to call for the solutions their communities need – this morning The Peasant Movement of the Philippines and the National Federation of Peasant Women in the Philippines held a demonstration in front of the United Nations Climate Change Negotiations in Bangkok.

With vivid street theater, the groups called to abandon false solutions to climate change – such as biofuels.

Demonstrators this morning said “Climate change is not only jeopardizing our future but is being used by multi-national and trans-national corporations who are the main contributors to global warming to rake in more profit from our misery…vast tracts of agricultural lands around the world are being controlled and converted by plunderers into cash-crop plantations such as biofuels and other corporate schemes that forcibly drives us out from our land.”

Their calls for climate equity in negotiations were echoed by even more demonstrators today from Jubilee South and many others, calling on rich countries to pay their ecological and climate debt to the rest of the world. Activists from Thailand, Nepal, Philippines, Malaysia, Pakistan, Indonesia, Africa, and Latin America mobilized to push Northern countries to recognize their historical and disproportionate contributions to climate change, and the disproportionate negative impacts suffered by the Global South. This concept of climate debt is increasingly gaining traction among international civil society, flipping on its head the idea of the debt owed by the South to the North from loans from international finance institutions.

As civil society groups call for financing and compensation for the averse affects of climate change for affected peoples, delegates inside the UN continue to debate on our 3rd day of the climate talks. The pressure is on, and the 600,000 people displaced in the last day only add to the urgency.

from cindy wiesner, grassroots global justice:

After 87 days in popular resistance in Honduras, the masses are defying the unjust curfew imposed by the dictatorship, walking and marching in the thousands from the surrounding cities and countryside through the barricades and military check points towards the Brazilian Embassy in Tegucigalpa, where President Zelaya is. The teachers union has declared an indefinite strike, until Presidente Zelaya is restored. There are talks amongst the labor unions about doing a general strike, shutting down the country economically until democracy is restored. The National Front of Resistance Against the Coup is asking for us to increase the pressure on the State Department for there to be a peaceful and rapid resolution: Micheletti must step down. Please read article by Carlos Marentes of UTAF below.

Now more than ever is time to Take Action, in support of the people of Honduras!
We should contact the U.S. State Department and Congressional Representatives to demand that the U.S. government:

pressure the de facto government of Honduras to refrain from using violence against nonviolent protestors
pressure the de facto regime to cease its repression of the freedom of expression and information in Honduras
unequivocally support the return to power of elected President Manuel Zelaya
Call the State Department today!
202-647-4000
Send a text message campaign to Secretary of State Clinton. You can text her at: 90822 or do it online.

By Carlos Marentes, UTAF

September 21, 2009 – Tonight, the heroic Honduran resistance, represented by thousands of workers, peasants, women, teachers, indigenous and afro-descendant people, students, human rights activists, and people in general, is outside the Embassy of Brazil. Inside the embassy, president Manuel Zelaya, who returned surreptitiously to Honduras in the morning, after a 15-hours trek, declared earlier: “From now on, nobody will take us out of from here, for this reason our position is homeland, reinstatement or death…”

Zelaya, surrounded by his wife, Ziomara Castro, members of his government, leaders of the National Front of Resistance Against the Coup, like Rafael Alegría, leader of La Vía Campesina in Honduras, and others, said to a large group of reporters: “I am committed to the Honduran people and I will not rest for a day or a minute until we bring down the dictatorship… The first time, on June 28, they took me off guard, sleeping, but not anymore…”

Outside the embassy, people began to arrive from all the corners of the country to join the massive presence of residents of Tegucigalpa and members of the National Front of Resistance, who had gathered to welcome Zelaya and to demand his reinstatement as the legitimate president. The jubilant crowd was yelling ¡Si se pudo! ¡Si se pudo! ¡Ahora la constituyente! (We made it! We made it! Now, on to the constitutional assembly!)

Immediately, the coup regime sent thousands of military troops and national police officers to intimidate the resistance and attempt to stop the masses marching to the Embassy. During the whole day, many persons were attacked violently, but the military and police forces were unable to stop the massive wave of people. The forces sent to repress the resistance included the terrible military team “Las Cobras” which is famous for its aggressive and violent methods. Several military helicopters started to fly over the protestors and the embassy. Unable to stop the massive gathering, the military and police forces then decided to surround the multitude in an ostensible gesture of provocation.

However, many Honduras where unable to arrive because their buses were stopped by the army and the national police. According to human rights activists, at least 2,000 persons from the municipalities of Danlí, El Paraíso, Jamastrán and other border towns, were stopped by the military. The military set blockades with military trucks to stop the circulation of caravans moving into Tegucigalpa. Four buses and many vehicles were detained in a place called Colonia Villa Nueva, outside the city capital. Also, the military officers retained members of the press from China, Reuter and Associated Press.

The usurper Roberto Micheletti, appeared in television to give several messages during the day. One of the messages was to declare a state of siege from 4 p.m. to 6 a.m. and warned that the curfew may be extended. He stated that his regime will not tolerate agitation either from inside or outside. He informed that they had deliver a letter to the Brazilian Ambassador demanding to hand over Zelaya “so he can be tried before a court to respond criminal charges.” He also reminded the international community not to intervene in the internal affairs of Honduras. When asked about the declaration made by Secretary Hillary Clinton that since Zelaya had returned to Honduras it was the moment to reinstate him in the presidency, Micheletti responded: “We respect the opinion of the gringos, but we don’t care what they said…”

During the day, several sources had continuously announced that the General Secretary of OAS and other diplomatic ministers will be arriving next day to help find a solution, so coup mongers decided to close the four international airports for two days. Then, they also shut down communications at several sectors of Tegucigalpa and turned off the electricity in the area where the embassy is located. Some members of the resistance expressed concern that the intentional block-out may be used to attempt a break-in into the embassy to capture Zelaya or to repress the large concentration of people which decided to remain and spent the night there despite the curfew.

Meanwhile, in Washington, D.C, the Organization of American States (OAS) hold an emergency reunion to discuss the situation of Honduras. During the meeting, a resolution was proposed by initiative of United States and with the support of Canada. The resolution basically was a directive to have the “parties involved in this problem” to immediately sign the proposed San José Accord prepared by president Oscar Arias of Costa Rica and to move forward into the electoral process. Several ambassadors, including the ones from Venezuela and Nicaragua, rejected the resolution because president Zelaya had not been consulted, but the majority decided to approve it anyway saying that “it was not a perfect resolution, but that it was better to have a bad accord than to have a good fight.” Once the chairman of the meeting declared that the resolution had been approved and that the ambassadors were standing up to leave, the Nicaraguan Ambassador, colonel Denis Moncada, suddenly raised his hand and asked for permission to approach the mic. He then said that he had just received a call from president Daniel Ortega asking him to inform the OAS ambassadors, that Zelaya had called Ortega to say that “he did not support the San José Accord” and to ask OAS to demand that the “dictatorship and the coup mongers lift the state of siege because it was dangerous to the lives of the Honduran people.”

Today’s events are a clear signal that we are witnessing the beginning of the end of the military coup. It may take more days and more sacrifices and more suffering, but there is no way to stop now the struggle of the Honduran people under the inspirational leadership of the National Front of Resistance Against the Coup. The usurpers may attempt to bring a blood-bath to hold into power. But that will not happen if we are alert and fulfill our moral responsibility to offer our concrete solidarity to the sons and daughters of Morazán…

http://radioeslodemenos.blogspot.com/

http://www.radioglobohonduras.com/

For Immediate Release                               September 16, 2009

For More Information Contact:

Celia Alario, +1.310.721.6517

Kim Marks, Rising Tide North America, +1.503.539.7471

Andy Bichlbaum, The Yes Men,  +1.718.208.0684

Tom Goldtooth , Indigenous Environmental Network, +1.218.760.0442

Thousands Called to Risk Arrest To Fight Climate Chaos

Climate ‘Pledge of Resistance’ Effort Spurs Tradition of Nonviolent Civil Disobedience in the USA

Nationwide~A Climate Pledge of Resistance http://beyondtalk.net/pledge/ (CPR For the Planet) has been initiated by social, environmental, faith-based, indigenous and climate groups [1] to move beyond talk by organizing the largest civil disobedience campaign in the history of the struggle to stop climate change.

The Climate Pledge of Resistance/CPR For the Planet was inspired by the 1980s Pledge of Resistance [2] solidarity movement against U.S. involvement and support for wars in Central America.  That Pledge emerged with a very effective national campaign whose structure supported autonomous grassroots nonviolent direct action and rooted itself in direct democracy.

Sharon Lungo of the Ruckus Society http://www.ruckus.org/ said:  “Climate chaos is real and people are obligated to come forward and help resuscitate our planet from the on-going damage that is being done. The Pledge realizes that no social justice movement in history has been successful without the strategic use of nonviolent direct action. There comes a moment in every struggle when the power of everyday people needs to be felt, and when the community understands that it can only attain victory by advancing their front line. That moment is now.”

Lungo also points to a recent example of the effectiveness of nonviolent action: “This Call for CPR For the Planet comes on the heels of the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision last week to put a moratorium on Mountain Top Removal  [3], following a massive campaign of non-violent civil disobedience. Non-violent direct action works.”

“Not only are the extraction and combustion of fossil fuels killing our sacred Mother Earth, it’s peoples and all living things, fossil fuels development is a human rights and environmental justice issue disproportionately affecting Indigenous Peoples and cultures here in North America and around the world,” stated Tom Goldtooth, Executive Director of the Indigenous Environmental Network http://www.ienearth.org/ Goldtooth continued:   “People and most especially governmental leaders of the industrialized countries of the North must take responsibility and take action now to quickly make a transition away from a fossil fuel economy and demand real solutions to climate change.”

“Climate policy arenas (in DC or Copenhagen) will not deliver any durable solutions unless community-based, actions-led strategies can neutralize the power of big oil and their buddies,” said Ananda Lee Tan of Rising Tide North America  http://www.risingtidenorthamerica.org/.  Tan is mobilizing support for community-led campaigns to end the Chevron Oil company’s climate pollution in Richmond, CA and around the world

Tan concludes, “In order to save people and planet, we need to confront the biggest corporate polluters with direct action in our own backyards.”

The Call also comes one week before the International Coal Conference and the G-20, both meeting in Pittsburgh, PA.  So far that city is planning for a virtual lock-down, even calling in 2,000 combat ready National Guard troops, plus thousands of other law enforcement personal.  The city is not allowing the Three Rivers Climate Convergence to assemble and camp, escalating the need for activists to commit civil disobedience in defense of the planet.

Nonviolent direct actions are planned which will call upon the Senate to pass legislation that will adequately address the climate crisis. (4)  Such actions will build toward and culminate in full implementation of the Climate Pledge of Resistance on November 30, 2009. This is one week before the United Nations Climate Conference begins in Copenhagen, Denmark where negotiators will attempt to find agreement on a climate treaty to succeed the expiring Kyoto document. The Pledge states that, “Sadly, if these leaders reached an agreement today, it wouldn’t be strong enough to do much good.”

Civil disobedience has a long history at home and abroad.  It was only the uncompromising action of hundreds of thousands that ended U.S. segregation and South African apartheid.

“Non-violent civil disobedience has been at the forefront of almost every successful campaign for change. Especially in America, and especially today, we need to push our leaders hard to stand up to industry lobbyists and make the sorts of changes we need,” said Andy Bichlbaum of The Yes Men.  “Roosevelt would never have been able to push through the New Deal if people hadn’t taken to the streets, occupied factories, and demanded it. The election of Obama is still a huge opportunity – but only if we give him the pressure he needs to be who we elected him to be,” he added.

###

NOTES TO EDITORS:

[1] The initiators of the Pledge are 350.org http://www.350.org/ , Alliance of Community Trainers   http://trainersalliance.org/ , Center for the Working Poor http://centerfortheworkingpoor.org/ , Global Justice Ecology Projecthttp://www.globaljusticeecology.org/ , Indigenous Environmental Network http://www.ienearth.org/ , Mobilization for Climate Justice West http://west.actforclimatejustice.org/ ,Rainforest Action Network http://www.ran.org/ , Rising Tide North America http://www.risingtidenorthamerica.org/ , Ruckus Society http://www.ruckus.org/ , Yes Men                      http://www.theyesmen.org/

[2] During the 1980s a solidarity movement against the US involvement and support for wars in Central America emerged with a very effective national campaign whose structure supported autonomous grassroots nonviolent direct action and rooted itself in direct democracy. The campaign was for people to publicly commit to engage in acts of legal protest or nonviolent civil disobedience to prevent a US invasion of Nicaragua or more significant escalation in Central America. It was believed that if enough people publicly announced their intent it would be a powerful deterrent.

Mainstream groups like the American Friends Service Committee and the United Methodist Church were key partners along with solidarity networks, policy organizations and anti-intervention groups. By 1985, 50,000 had signed the pledge. By 1987 over 100,000 had signed. The network lasted for years and in all likelihood prevented an invasion of Nicaragua.

The Pledge Campaign had a unique structure that used a people-powered strategy to prevent war. By rooting the work at the local level, organizations, individuals and groups of friends formed affinity groups, spokes councils and coordinating committees that would engage in local campaigns. These local pledge groups formed regional councils for action coordination. The whole network was supported by a national clearing house that provided information, resources, media work and coordination of national calls to action.

[3] Mountaintop removal / valley fill coal mining (MTR) has been called strip mining on steroids. One author says the process should be more accurately named: mountain range removal. Mountaintop removal /valley fill mining annihilates ecosystems, transforming some of the most biologically diverse temperate forests in the world into biologically barren moonscapes.  For further information seehttp://www.mountainjusticesummer.org/facts/steps.php

4]  Over 300 organizations have signed a statement saying that the climate bill passed in the House has been seriously weakened by “polluter giveaways” and will not adequately slow down the emission of greenhouse gases.

Canadian Tar Sands Oil Undermines North America’s Clean Energy Future
See more photos here.

Before dawn this morning, a small team of climate and Native Rights activists rappelled from the US observation deck at Niagara Falls. Dangling hundreds of feet above the ground, they sent a special welcome message to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper ahead of his first official visit to the White House to push dirty Tar Sands oil.

Not that he’s feeling so welcome anyway. Obama limited the meeting to just one hour. While some have called it a slap in the face, Aides say Harper will turn the other cheek. “The economy, and the clean-energy dialogue,” one aide told the Globe and Mail, “will dominate the discussions.” Obama needed to dodge controversy over oil imports from Canada’s tar sands in the midst of the Climate Legislation debate. Harper needed a story to go with his photo-op.

During Harper’s first official trip to meet Obama in the U.S., the two leaders are expected to discuss climate change and energy policy ahead of the upcoming G20 Summit. Canada supplies 19% of U.S. oil imports, more than half of which now comes from the tar sands, making the region the largest single source of U.S. oil imports. The expansion of the tar sands will strip mine an area the size of Florida. Complete with skyrocketing rates of cancer (by 400%!) for First Nations communities living downstream, broken treaties, toxic belching lakes so large you can see them from outer space, churning up ancient boreal forest, destroyed air and water quality, the tar sands have been called the most destructive project on Earth.

Tomorrow’s visit to the U.S. by Prime Minister Harper is the latest attempt by Canadian Federal and Provincial officials to lock in subsidies for 22 new and expanded refinery projects and oil pipelines crisscrossing 28 states, which would transport and process the dirty tar sands oil. Many are concerned that Prime Minister Harper wants to protect the tar sands oil industry from climate regulation, even though it is one of the fastest growing sources of greenhouse gas emissions in Canada.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdB39U77rGE]

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