This week, an estimated 100,000 indigenous leaders, community organizers, and activists of all kinds and from all places have converged on Belém do Para, a city in nortnern Brazil at the mouth of the Amazon River. The World Social Forum has happened every year for the last nine, a contrast to the hobnobbing World Economic Forum in Davos that happens each year at the same time. The week of action, organizing, and planning for the next year began Tuesday as thousands marched in the streets and 1,000 indigenous leaders took the first action of the summit, sending a message of "SOS Amazon" from the heart of the Amazon to the rest of the world. Indigenous leaders who depend on forests for their survival are concerned about the future impacts of global warming on their livelihoods, and in addition wish to be recognized for the good stewards they are to their own territories. Here's more, from Common Dreams:

The mass message reflects "our concern about global warming, whose impact we will be the first to feel, although we, the peoples of the Amazon, have protected and cared for the forests," Francisco Avelino Batista, an Apurinán Indian from the Purus river valley in the Brazilian Amazon, told IPS.

You might have heard the news that Senator John Kerry is holding his first hearing as chair of the Foreign Relations committee tomorrow and it's going to be on global warming.

He's invited Al Gore as a star witness and with the recent announcements from the Obama administration, we're looking forward to a spirited discussion of how the USA can regain it's leadership on climate change.

We'll also be looking to hear some talk about our favorite number.

Our all-star supporters in Massachusetts have been logging in call after call to Kerry's office today asking him to discuss the latest science and pledge that any new international climate treaty meets the 350 test.

Now, normally we're way more into action than talk, but we've been finding that even a mention of 350 ppm in the right setting inspires ambitious plans for action. Like when Al Gore laid down 350 ppm as the new bottom line for climate negotiations at the recent UN talks in Poland and hundreds of people jumped up into a standing ovation.

Or when Kerry himself laid out the most recent scientific assessment during Hillary Clinton's confirmation hearings:

". . . we are not just marginally above a catastrophic tipping point level. We are hugely significantly above it. Scientists have now revised the levels of supportable greenhouse gas emissions from 550 parts per million to 450 to now 350."

We're hoping that a discussion of 350 at tomorrow's hearings will push the climate debate in D.C. forward and get us on the right track towards an amibitous climate deal in Copenhagen next December. We'll keep you updated - and in the meantime, a big round of applause to all our supporters in Massachusetts (my home state)!

Rev. Fred Small is one of the real heroes of the climate movement. I know I can speak for more than just myself when I say that he's been a tremendous inspiration for many who now identify as a dedicated climate activists. His moral, spiritual perspective on the climate crisis and his equally moral and spiritual response offer a profound, yet clear vision for the purpose of our movement.

I had the pleasure of sharing a bit of carpooling time with Fred a few months ago in Massachusetts, USA, where he lives. As we drove back from the event we had attended he mentioned to me that he was considering a new sermon for his parish, the First Parish Cambridge. Well, a bit earlier this month I got an email from Fred with a copy of his sermon, "The Most Important Number on Earth."

What a gift. The sermon not only clearly outlined the scientific significance of 350, it also offered a clear vision for a moral response to such a daunting number. First, Fred told the story of a 350 bell ringing campaign that churches across the New England states in the US have been leading for several months.

"Throughout history, church bells have tolled to warn townspeople of imminent danger. Last month, First Parish in Cambridge joined a half dozen other Cambridge churches and hundreds across the country in the 350 Rings campaign. Beginning at exactly 3:50 pm on the 350th day of the year, volunteers from our congregation rang our church bell 350 times."