May Day! May Day! Be a First Responder to the Climate Crisis

May Day! May Day!  Be a First Responder to the Climate Crisis

ClimateFast is inspired by the initiative of Joseph Boutilier, founder of Unity for The Climate Like many of us, he is very concerned about the direction of our Federal Government and its inability to take serious action to reduce Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions.  He is shocked at the dismantling of environmental regulations, and the attack on the free speech of government scientists.  And he has decided to take personal action to raise public awareness and call for a complete turnaround in Canadian policy. 

As a symbol of the unity he seeks, with our brothers and sisters, the First Nations; the unity of people with one another all around the earth and the unity of people with the earth itself.  He calls for unity among all political parties to rally together to lead us toward real solutions.  He has nine specific demands for political change.  Joseph is one example of a First Responder – a Warrior.  He is not giving up, but is instead giving his time and his life energy to make change.   With the current IPCC (International Panel for Climate Change) reports, we all need to be first responders.  We all need to do what we can to raise awareness.  The IPCC told us the only thing stopping us from implementing readily available solutions is political will.  The people are not asking for change and the leaders are not leading.

Joseph’s demands are not the same as ClimateFast’s.  We want serious policy change on three fronts:

• ·      Ending all subsidies to fossil fuels
• Putting a price on carbon
• ·      Creating a renewable energy plan for Canada.

 Joseph is riding a unicycle from his hometown in Victoria to Parliament Hill.  The journey will be very difficult.  It will take five months for him to make it.  He needs our help along the way.  ClimateFast has decided to embrace his campaign and support it.  You can follow his journey on twitter at @josephboutilier.  His list of seven demands can be found at:  his website, http://unityfortheclimate.ca/manifesto.

  

The trip began in Victoria on April 6^th.  As I write this he is already riding along Okanagan Lake.   He hopes to end in Ottawa in time for the opening of Parliament on September 15^th.  Joseph will stay in Ottawa and join ClimateFast on its five day Fast for Climate Leadership between Sunday, September 28^th and Thursday, October 2^nd.  All along the way he needs your support. 

As President of Canadian Unitarians For Social Justice, I am recommending to all Unitarians along his route to welcome Joseph into your homes and hold events in your community in support of his cycle.  Help him raise public awareness of these important issues.  If you are not along his route you may wish to raise money for his journey. 

We can all be first responders.  Join our fast on the first day of every month.  Give time and reflection to what you might be able to do to make a difference.  We all don’t have to do something as dramatic as riding a unicycle across the country.  But we can pay a personal visit to our MP and tell them how important it is to work with other parties on the solutions.  Tell them you are hungry for climate leadership.  Speak to your family, friends and neighbours.  Tell them how worried you are about the future for our children and grandchildren.  Ask your facebook friends to support Joseph’s ride.  Take some action every first of the month. 

And plan now to join us, on parliament hill, September 28^th to October 2^nd.  Let us know if you are coming so we can welcome you!

Tell our leaders we want Action on the Climate Fast!

Be Smart Not Fuelish on April 1st!

Why not try carbon fasting for your Fast for Climate Leadership?  It’s so easy.  There are so many ways you can do it.  Each person designs their own carbon fast so that it is something that stretches them toward a new level of conservation, and healthy lifestyle.

CarbonFast through Diet

Choosing your diet consciously is an important way to reduce greenhouse gases and improve the environment.  Factory farming of all types is much harder on the environment than organic farming.  Buying your food from small local farmers is much less energy intensive than buying, processing, and transporting food from all over the world.  Fresher and more delicious too!

Reducing the amount of meat you eat is always helpful.  Some people would give up beef and lamb because they produce a lot of methane and because it takes a lot of pounds of grain to grow a pound of beef.  Those who have already stopped eating red meat may stop eating chicken, or go vegetarian or vegan.  Some will choose to pay for organic food.

Organic farmers enrich the soil using natural methods and don’t dump excessive chemicals and organic nutrients into the water system.  Some will begin to plan to grow their own food.

CarbonFast through Transportation

On April 1st pick one thing to do for a day to see how it feels.

If you usually drive, try taking the bus or riding your bike. You might find it much less stressful.  Learning how to get around on a bike is fun and exhilarating with the added benefit that you get your exercise and become fit. Walk as many places as you can.

Take the train. Write the government a letter telling them the trains aren’t running often enough and are too expensive. Train travel has to be made more attractive. Try Skyping more often and flying less.  Airplanes are the most energy consuming mode of travel.

CarbonFast through Investment

April 1st book yourself an energy audit for your house.  Think about how we will heat our homes without oil and gas.  Can you renovate for better efficiency?

Do you have a rooftop that can generate good power with solar collectors?  Invest in the future.  Help meet our power needs so that we don’t even need coal or nuclear power.  We need a lot of solar collectors.  If you don’t have a good roof, or you don’t have the money to invest, connect yourself with a Renewable Energy Coop.  In Ottawa, support Ottawa Renewable Energy Coop.  Lease them your roof and they will put the solar collectors on.

Take your investments out of fossil fuels if you can figure out how to do so.  Try to make money on the solutions, not the things that hold us back.

CarbonFast through Simple Living

Make April 1st a buy nothing day.  Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle.  Go through your closets and pass on some things somebody else might enjoy.  Instead of going out, stay home and do something interesting.  Have a social time with family.  Play games.  Make crafts.  Get unwired for a day.  Listen to music.  Make music.

Turn down the heat and wear sweaters.  Hang out your clothes to dry – outside or inside.  Plan your use of electricity.  Pay attention to water conservation.  It takes energy to treat water.  Pay attention to what you put down the drain.  Make your daily living habits a sacred ritual that honour our mother, the earth.

And Don’t Forget to Take Action!

• Write a letter to your city councilllor about bike lanes and complete streets that are safe and accessible for everyone.  
• Lobby your city to stop selling bottled water at city hall and make fountains available.  Tell them your thoughts on a pipeline going through your city.
• Write a letter to your premier about the overall energy strategy for your province.  In Ontario you could write a letter against nuclear power and recommend the province negotiate a water power agreement with Quebec.  You could ask for much stronger house retrofit programs for conservation, and an expansion of the amount of solar and wind power that can be sold to the grid.
• Write a letter to the Prime Minister and the Environment minister demanding a whole new level of environmental protection laws to replace the ones he eliminated.  And a restoration of the environmental science work that was being done in Canada.  Insist that those leaky tailings ponds in the oil sands be cleaned up by the oil companies before any new projects can be started.
• And send your letter to the newspaper as well – perhaps a shorter version.  Post it on your facebook page.  Tweet it to your followers.  Spread the word.  We need to engage the public and we need to let our politicians know that if they don’t show strong leadership on this file, we will not elect them.

Ask our leaders to:

• Eliminate all subsidies, tax breaks, and exploration incentives to fossil fuels.
• Put a price on carbon
•  Develop a Renewable Energy Plan for Canada.

One letter, one action, one public education event at a time, we can raise public awareness that we are engaged in a major transition time.  We are building the road to a future we can be proud of.  We are building a world that will respect nature; that will offer a good life for our grandchildren and their children.

Don’t be a fossil fool.  Put Climate First on the First of the Month.