News from our partners is coming in fast and furious these days. I wanted to take a moment and highlight a few mobilizations coming up, as well as a great new resource from the Post Carbon Institute.
Take a look:
-Richard Heinberg, noted scholar on peak oil, made a terrific video about coal, and why it’s no good. Check it out!
-This weekend, Green the Block is coordinating a series of events for the National Day of Service on September 11. Attend one near you!
-Next weekend, New York City will kick-off Climate Week. Read on for a guest post from Avery Halfon, 350.org all-star volunteer in New York:
Can’t wait until October 24th? Looking for opportunities to join with your neighbors and friends to call for climate action globally while working on sustainability projects locally? If you’ll be nearby New York City in September, you can whet your appetite for October’s International Day of Climate Action during NYC’s Climate Week. From September 20 to 26, New York City will host events and activities throughout the city to address the urgent need for international action on climate change and to create a greener New York.
Major environmental, faith-based, humanitarian and labor organizations from around the world are planning a slew of fun and creative activities and events during Climate Week that you won’t want to miss. Oxfam, Avaaz, the Bangladesh Environmental Network, the UN Foundation, Religions for Peace, SustainUS, Rainforest Alliance, Cornell Global Labor Initiative, Realizing Rights, Unite for Climate, and 350.org are just some of the organizations that have teamed up as part of the Global Coalition on Climate Action’s TckTckTck campaign to host Climate Week events. The full schedule can be found here. We encourage you to check out as much as you can!
Climate Week will bring together hundreds of government, business, and civil society leaders from around the world, alongside thousands of concerned citizens. The week’s events will be an important step towards the United Nations Climate Convention in Copenhagen this December, as UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon has invited the world’s heads of state to a climate summit on September 22. This summit is unprecedented in that it will be the first international climate meeting held in the United States; hopefully it will catalyze U.S. political leaders to take the leadership role in international climate policy that they have shied away from so far.
Secretary-General Ban clearly showed how important he believes Climate Week to be when he announced it in New York with Mayor Michael Bloomberg and The Climate Group: “We are here for one reason: to push for urgent action on climate change from world leaders, from civic leaders and from everyone, every citizen of the world, including New York City. Climate change is the greatest challenge facing this and future generations. Emissions are rising and the clock is ticking.”
No Impact Man Premiere – Friday, September 11 at the Angelika Film Center
No Impact Man, a documentary about a man and his family who go a year without a carbon footprint (while living in Manhattan!) and learn that saving the planet can also make a family closer and healthier, looks incredible – touching, powerful, and inspiring. Check out the trailer for yourself here, (or read the book, the blog, or the New York Magazine blog post…). The film premieres in New York (and Los Angeles) this Friday, and then continues playing at the Angelika Film Center through September 17. Each showing will be followed by a Q&A with different local environmental leaders, including No Impact Man himself, Colin Beavan, this Friday and Saturday. 350.org will be hosting its own screening on Sunday, September 20. If you’re not from New York, check out where and when No Impact Man will be opening near you.
Human Countdown – Sunday, September 20 at Wollman Rink in Central Park, 1-4PM
Oxfam and Avaaz.org are organizing a massive human formation demonstration event called the "Human Countdown." This event will be perhaps the only fully participatory event available to the public during Climate Week. Oxfam, Avaaz and other TckTckTck partners are working to get over 4,000 people out to Central Park to form a massive, moving display that will be captured from above to create an amazing image and show the urgency of agreeing on an international climate change solution. There should also be some great musical performances, free stuff, and in general lots of fun. The Human Countdown is kicking off 24 hours of Avaaz’s "Global Climate Wake-Up Call" on Monday, September 21. On September 21 at 12:18PM local time around the world (12/18 representing, at least in U.S. date style, December 18, the last day of the Copenhagen conference) Avaaz will organize people all over the Earth into “flashmobs” to ring bells (set alarm clocks, cell phones, ring bell towers, etc.), and a few minutes later to call their political leaders demanding climate action. You can see more details of the Human Countdown here, and of the Global Climate Wake-Up Call (including an interactive map of where people will gather around the world) here.
The Age of Stupid Premiere – Monday, September 21 at 7:30 in US cinemas, Tuesday, September 22 in over 50 other countries
The Age of Stupid is an impressive and thought-provoking eco-documentary about a future after the worst effects of climate change. The film will premiere in New York in a solar-powered tent, at the World Financial Center and will feature many celebrities arriving by creative green transportation and walking the "green" carpet will be made of recycled bottles. Kofi Annan will speak with others on a panel before the movie, and Thom Yorke of Radiohead will perform live via satellite afterwards. You can watch the entire event live by satellite feed at over 700 cinemas in over 50 countries across the world, or check it out online. Find a theater near you in the U.S. to watch the event streamed live via satellite, or find screenings globally.