Is "Hope" Making a Comeback?

We are all connected. Each baby born carries a miracle inside. A unique purpose and that miracle is promised to one person and one person alone. We are voyagers set on a course towards destiny, to find the one person our miracle is meant for. But be warned: as we seek out the light, darkness gathers and the eternal contest between good and evil is not fought with great armies... but one life at a time. (from the movie Winter's Tale)

The one friend I have whom I can talk to about the bleakness of our climate-changed future is feeling so low, she told me yesterday, that she's in the bell jar. So she's feeling pretty fragile.

But I've realized that the tiny glimmer of hope that's been peeking into the dark tunnel ahead, well, maybe if we adjust our eyes, we can use that glimmer to light our path.

There's the news that the IPCC's scenario RCP ("Really Cool Plan"?) 2.6 (especially when combined with some excellent suggestions from Climate Action Network International's new position statement, so RCP2.6+) presents the possibility of keeping global average temperature increases within a survivable range. (The oft touted 2ºC limit would be catastrophic and deadly.)

There's also evidence that more and more people are "getting" it. At this weekend's convention of Canada's Green Party, it seemed the strongest, loudest and longest applause came when leader Elizabeth May spoke about the urgent need to deal with climate change.

Different types of people are entering the fray. "Masters of the Universe" (today's version of the captains of industry of yesteryear) are meeting to explain that climate change is Risky Business.

The entertainment industry is starting to take climate change seriously (if in funny ways; Jon Stewart and John Oliver, anyone?)

American President Obama is steppin' it up on climate change, in a dance with China that, if they don't step on each other's toes, could lead to major movement toward decreasing emissions. Okay, so they still don't get the "zero carbon" part of the dance ("This week, the United States and China took important steps to advance their cooperation to combat global climate change and work towards the common goal of low carbon economic growth."), but at least they're twirling on the dance floor together. (See Key Achievements of U.S.-China Climate Change Cooperation Under the Strategic and Economic Dialogue.) (Seriously, can't these leaders see that keeping economic growth as their main goal is, um, see Risky Business above.) 

Parents in the US are starting to demand scientific teaching of climate science in schools. (What a concept! Apparently one that Wyoming cannot grasp.) Check out the Climate Science Students' Bill of Rights. 

And the Climate Psychologist (Margaret Klein) has developed a mobilization campaign, to get people motivated by joining a movement (think WWII). Read the full strategy document here.

Plus, the deniers are just getting sillier and sillier! To wit:

There is no global warming. There is climate change. This melting is caused by the underground volcano's..We are starting a mini ice age due to the suns inactivity..This is all a money thing for the bigwigs..Pollution is poison, we are killing our planet. This is not made by us. This is a nature process..We cant stop it. We can stop Fukushima. sharon b, ky,usa   18/07/2014 06:55

So folks, maybe, just maybe, it's starting to happen. Can we create a crescendo of public outcry that convinces negotiators at the December 2014 UN climate conference in Lima, Peru to adopt the RCP2.6+ for the text of the all-important agreement that will be negotiated in Paris in 2015?

Let's start here and now:    * * * **  ** * ***  ** * ** *** *** ** *
                                      * * * * *     * *      * * **** **
                                 * * RCP2.6+  * ** * * !!!
                                 RCP2.6+  ** *** * ** **** ** * ***
                            RCP2.6+                                *** * **     *** **     * * *** **
                  RCP2.6+                                                 
RCP2.6+

I'll tell you something that should chill your blood. No matter how far we tip the scales our way, no matter how many of them we turn dark, nothin' seems to break their capacity for hope. They pass it back and forth like the flu at a preschool fair. We're losing, Lucifer. One bright star at a time, we're losing. (from the movie Winter's Tale)

Which means we just might be winning!

Where Does Climate Change Go During Election Campaigns?

Here in Canada, we're in the midst of a federal election campaign, brought about by a conservative minority government that doesn't give a damn about the electorate, and a prime minister who has become a tyrant.

Now, I'm a bit of a language nut, I'll admit, but "tyrant" comes from the Greek tyrannos meaning "lord, master, sovereign, absolute ruler" — whereas "prime minister" literally means "first servant." Does anyone else see the problem here? Indeed, Rousseau explained that "in the exact sense, a tyrant is an individual who arrogates to himself the royal authority without having a right to it." Yup, that about explains our PM.

Okay, on to the topic at hand. The other day, our community hosted an All Candidates Meeting, and all four candidates showed up. It was a rather sedate affair for the most part (the moderator had asked, in the interests of time, that we not get too fired up and start applauding all over the place). But the strangest part was the complete and utter lack of talk about climate change.

Our incumbent conservative candidate certainly said nothing about climate change (his boss wouldn't let him). From the liberal candidate who is a climate scientist, we heard nothing about climate change. From a left-wing First Nations candidate, we heard nothing about climate change. Even from our favourite Green Party candidate who has written a book on climate change, still we heard nothing about climate change. Did I mention that climate change just didn't come up?

So, I've realized, political candidates only bring up topics they think the voters want to hear about. And of course, even though we should care about the mother of all topics (after all, which other "topic" is threatening the survival of most life on the planet?), we've been convinced by the silence of our politicians that it's not a topic of importance.

Just because our candidates don't talk about it doesn't mean climate change has gone away, folks. Politics in my country has made itself irrelevant — but very dangerous.

IMPORTANT POSTSCRIPT

Just attended an early Earth Day rally with our Green MP, Elizabeth May (fantastic candidate, by the way!). I explained my concern to her and she assured me that climate change has come up in subsequent candidate debates. She also told me that in a recent TV interview, her whole segment on the climate crisis was edited out. So, I guess that along with a contemptuous prime minister, we also have censoring media here in this country I used to feel so proud of.

Calling on the Feminine

Today is one of those days when everything came together to help me decide what to post about.

Depending on where you live, you might know that Canada is in the midst of another federal election campaign. And that the leader of our federal Green Party, Elizabeth May, has been banned, for no clear reason, from the upcoming televised debates (one in English, one in French) between our political party leaders. (Even if you're not Canadian, check out Canadian Election 2011: Demand "Democratic" Debates at ecoSanity.org — if only for the Rick Mercer rant, which rocks!)

But long before that debacle started, I made a commitment to myself to help get our dictator of a prime minister out of power. This is a man who must (there's just no other explanation) be numbed to any love he ever felt for his children. He is certainly completely ecologically illiterate, believing that humans can eat money. He's broken so many laws and done so many unethical things, I've lost count. And he has completely changed the feel of Canada here at home and the face of Canada on the international stage. (See The New Solitudes by Erna Paris, in The Walrus, for more info.) And it hasn't been a pretty transformation. Many of us don't even recognize our own country anymore. (You know how the best kind of love is when you like what you see reflected back when you gaze into your prime minister's, er, lover's eyes?)

It's a vast country, so I decided to help Elizabeth May get elected. By sheer chance, she's running in my riding, and we have the chance to make history here! (First Green MP in our parliament. Electing a future prime minister.) Elizabeth is bright, funny, with it, incredibly intelligent, well spoken and politically savvy. She understands the climate change emergency. She's calling for a more civil, more humane House of Commons. Her party has an outstanding policy platform that integrates fiscal responsibility with care and concern for the children and their future. And there's an excellent chance she's going to win here! (The Conservative Party incumbent fired our federal nuclear regulator when she pointed out something dangerous at one of our reactors, and he's also called for nuclear power plants to be built near the Alberta tar sands to speed up our destruction of the biosphere. A smidge of bad timing there.)

And then I started thinking ... what if all the women in Canada voted for their Green Party candidate? Isn't that an exciting thought? We could have a a complete sea change in the politics of this country!! We could move from an adversarial bunch of guys (and gals) in suits running the country to a consensus-building coalition of people who care about Earth, the future, and the children of all species, everywhere.

When my knowledge of what's happening to the world isn't crushing my spirit, I have moments of excitement at the potential for change! Read the Green Party of Canada platform (Vision Green) and send me anything you disagree with. (The only thing I've seen so far, and I'm reading through it carefully, is the mention of alternative fuels, or biofuels. No, we have to get away from burning altogether. The Burning Age is over. It's time for zero carbon energy. No more fuels. Period.)

And then a friend sent me this video. Men, listen up. Women, get your hankies. Then women, listen up and men, get your hankies. While honouring the good things that masculine energies have brought us, let's call on the feminine energies in all of us to create the transformation all future generations need us to make, today (and on May 2 here in Canada, as we vote).