Why "Sustainability" Doesn't Work

I'm half way through a climate change conference at a local university, and the opening speaker this morning — who, despite the fact that he's a professor in an institute that deals with resources, environment and sustainability, was likened to Bjorn Lomborg after his talk by one of the students in the audience — posed the question Whose Sustainability?

His talk became an excellent example of the problem with the term "sustainability" and why it (sustainability) just has not worked. He made it crystal clear, to me at least, why North America made a gargantuan mistake when we decided we didn't "like" sustainable development, after the Rio Summit in 1992. (Other places in the world simply got on with developing sustainably!)

You see, this professor couldn't have posed this question using the term "sustainable development" (SD), because the concept was well defined and laid out before it was even thrust into the public sphere. The principles of sustainable development mean that we don't need the Bjorn Lomborgs of the world pretending that they care about poor people at the expense of action on climate change. The SD principles of

• integration of environmental, social and economic concerns
• multistakeholder roundtable consultation
• intragenerational equity (concern for today's disadvantaged)
• intergenerational equity (concern for future generations)
• precautionary principle
• polluter pays
• pollution prevention
• etc.

mean that the needs of the world's poor are automatically considered in tandem with environmental and other economic and social issues. (Does that make sense to you? Let me know if it doesn't. Perhaps I've spent so long learning and teaching about it that I see it as a simple concept when it isn't. I believe that once understood and implemented, sustainable development will be a transformative new paradigm.)

This university is doing excellent work on sustainability education. Including education about sustainable development — for students, staff and faculty — will go a long way towards helping create a cultural mindset that could ensure a climate-safe future.

2 Days to Copenhagen - Alarmist versus Alarming: What Legacy Are We Choosing?

Alarmist: someone who is considered to be exaggerating a danger and so causing needless worry or panic.

Well, I don't consider myself to be exaggerating the dangers of continued global warming and climate disruption. Only precious time will tell, of course, and I am now reduced to hoping beyond all hope that I (along with thousands of climate scientists) am wrong. Better me than the deniers, cuz if they're wrong, we're up that famous river without a paddle — and no time to save ourselves before we head into the abyss.

So, let's pray that the laws of physics go wonky on us, or that the Americans and Chinese decide to go renewable (dragging most of the rest of us with them) next year, or that all the deniers, skeptics, ignorers and delayers suddenly see the light (or the climate chaos beyond their own backyards) and get all their cronies into action.

*****

Versus alarming. Who's to judge? All our descendants. All future generations. Posterity. Wanna talk about going to heaven or going to hell? Whether you believe in those concepts or not (personally, I've made my peace with becoming compost), I've come to believe that we make our heaven or our hell right here on Earth — and if there's a higher power overseeing this whole grand experiment, then you'd better believe that we are judged by what we leave behind as our legacy: a sort of intergenerational golden rule.

*****

By the way, see that pretty coloured map at the top of this post? It spells the end of agriculture (which spells the end of us, since we're now an agricultural species). It's the first time that climate modellers have been able to predict regional temperature increases given a globally averaged temperature increase. For this map, the global increase is 4º Celsius above the average temperature in 1890.

Why 4ºC when everyone is saying we have to stay below a 2ºC warming? Here's the rationale for a September 2009 conference at Oxford called the Four Degrees and Beyond International Climate Conference:

"Despite 17 years of negotiations since the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, global greenhouse gas emissions have continued to rise. Since 2000 the rates of annual emissions growth have increased at rates at the upper end of the IPCC [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] scenarios, presenting the global community with a stark challenge: either instigate an immediate and radical reversal in existing emission trends or accept global temperature rises well beyond 4°.

"The immediacy and scale of the reductions necessary to avoid anything below 4°C, and indeed the human and ecosystem implications of living with 4°C, are beyond anything we have been prepared to countenance. Understanding the implications of 4°C and higher temperatures is essential ...."

So please note that with a global average increase of "only" 4º Celsius (it just doesn't sound like much at all, I know, but consider that the Arctic's permafrost is already thawing with an increase of only 0.78ºC), all the bread baskets of the world — all the prime agricultural areas — will increase 6 to 12 degrees Celsius (yellow to red regions).

Holy flying mother of pearl! If a temperature increase of a measly .78ºC is thawing the permafrost, melting the Arctic summer sea ice (our summer "air conditioner"), destabilizing methane hydrates (those pesky frozen methane deposits along our continental shelves that could move us into runaway global heating if they continue emitting into the atmosphere), acidifying the oceans, killing the coral reefs, desertifying vast swaths of land around the world, causing worse droughts, floods and famines, etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. (trying to make a point there), then 6 to 12ºC increases are going to be downright deadly — indeed, exterminatious (just made that word up).

We won't be able to grow food, our water sources (for drinking and irrigation) will dry up, and the heat waves will kill our populations off slowly if nothing else does. How much more do the deniers et al need to see and hear before they start to give a damn for their children's future?

So go ahead: how would you vote? Alarmist or alarming? Remember that it's only alarmist if it's not true. And if we're not sure (and there's still perhaps time for miracles), then surely for the sake of our children and grandchildren, the precautionary principle — rather than our pocketbooks — should be what motivates our actions and choices.

*****

You see, we're already experiencing catastrophic climate changes and we've only reached +0.78ºC. This seemingly small temperature increase could tip us into runaway global heating any time now. Why in heaven's name would we want to "wait and see" and not alarm people when the situation is downright alarming? Be afraid! This is scary!

We need to cut our emissions to virtually zero FAST if we want to ensure a future for life on Earth. Let's have no more talk of 2ºC and 4ºC and 2050 and 2100. Let's get to ZERO as quickly as possible, because life depends on it.

Zero carbon emissions is a legacy worth leaving.

15 Days - Meat Eating Gone Very Wrong

In trying to uncover the reasons why we humans are doing the unthinkable (committing progenycide), we recently came across a report in the Guardian on findings that suggest the Neanderthals disappeared at least in part because Homo sapiens ate them.

This news has us thinking that one of the main reasons we're letting the Earth go down the drain is that we aren't very good at considering fellow human beings our kin. We are not species-aware or species-sensitive, therefore we don't hold our species as sacred — nor do we think in terms of species survival. (We are egocentric and think in terms of our own personal survival and perhaps that of our own family — although even that is questionable these days.)

So, we wondered, could that be because we have poorly developed schnozzes? Since we human beings didn't evolve with a powerful sense of smell in order to identify each other through our noses (like most animals do), then perhaps we were destined to not recognize our own kin. (Hey, this is all so depressing and frustrating that we're reaching for anything that will help us understand climate change deniers and industry-seduced politicians.)

If this is true — that we don't "recognize" our fellow humans — well then, we've got to start consciously putting aside our instincts and start viewing the whole human family as worth safeguarding. If we allow one child to die because of our climate change neglect, then we risk all the children — of all nations, all species and all generations.

p.s. Thanks to Oliver Kurth for the artwork.

23 Days - It's Time to Listen

It's Time to Listen is a new youth-driven initiative that is asking Canadians (steal this idea in other countries!) to demand leadership from elected officials by flooding phone lines every Monday.

If you're in Canada, please follow up. If you live somewhere else, do the same thing in your country ... or hey! phone our Prime Minister of the Alberta Tar Sands. Here's their communiqué:

*****

This December in Copenhagen, world leaders will meet to negotiate an international climate treaty. I cannot tell you how essential it is, for the future of life on earth, that our leaders come up with a fair, ambitious and binding agreement. There are only 23 days until Copenhagen — we must act fast.

Every single day I worry about what the future has in store if we/our leaders fail in Copenhagen, and everyday I work hard to demand action from our Canadian government, but I can't do it alone; we need to do this together. We need to tell our government that leadership at the UN Climate Summit, investment in clean energy and action on green jobs are the most important issues to us. They need to know that we're not going away and our numbers are growing. I am asking you to join hundreds of people across the country every Monday in calling our MPs and asking them to please listen, to commit to environmental justice (more info below), and to protect our future.

Last week in Barcelona, African countries walked out of UN climate talks because some rich countries like Canada are refusing to commit to deep cuts to global warming pollution, and Canada won the "Fossil of the Week" award at the same talks for being the most unhelpful country. We need to work together to change all of this. It will only take 3 minutes of your time, a small commitment given the severity of the climate crisis. As youth who are going to have to deal with the impacts of climate change, we really need all the help we can get.

There is more info below but here are the basics...

If you have never done this before, here is a little video (that's our Pedal for the Planet friend, Nadia in the video) that demonstrates how easy it is! And here's a script you can use in case you aren't sure of what to say....

"Hi, my name is _________ and I would like to leave a message for _______________ to tell him (her?) that Canada must commit to environmental justice in Copenhagen. It is not fair that those who have contributed least to the problem of climate change are, and will be, suffering the most. To do this, we want him to target funding to protect impacted communities including the North, rural communities and Indigenous communities and to commit Canada to world class climate targets like those in Bill C-311. Thanks, have a good day."

Here is the number and MPs to call in Canada....

CALL 1 (866) 599-4999 & ASK FOR THEM - OR USE THEIR DIRECT LINES LISTED BELOW TO GET STRAIGHT TO THEIR STAFF.

Stephen Harper, Prime Minister - Harper.S@parl.gc.ca - (613) 992-4211
Jim Prentice, Minister of the Environment - Prentice.J@parl.gc.ca - (613) 992-4275
James Bezan, Chair of the Environment and Sustainable Development Committee - Bezan.J@parl.gc.ca - (613) 992-2032

Tell the following opposition MPs the same thing...

Michael Ignatieff, Leader of the Opposition - Ignatieff.M@parl.gc.ca - (613) 995-9364
David McGuinty, Environment Critic for the Official Opposition - McGuinty.D@parl.gc.ca - (613) 992-3269
Frank Scarpaleggia, Vice-Chair of the Environment and Sustainable Development Committee - Scarpaleggia.F@parl.gc.ca - (613) 995-8281

We are organizing it for every Monday (with a different theme) until Copenhagen but if that doesn't work for you, you can do it anytime, all the time. That said, when we do it all together, it demonstrates our unity and commitment and sends an even stronger message. So mark down Mondays on your calendar!

If you would like to do more than call, please sign up a location to host a "Climate Crew Monday." 
Email domesticactions@ourclimate.org to get a Climate Crew Starter Kit - and remember that only a few people is a great way to start. Here's a link to an online form to sign up a location for a Climate Crew - http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dHJsSVpuajFYbUltX25wdkJJNTZ3QkE6MA

This is what youth across the country did last week.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3U-Ecq0O0y8

Please, please, please pass this message along to your family and friends, we need to flood the phone lines.

Let me know if you have any questions or need more info.

Sad, angry, scared and full of HOPE,

Nadia


More information on the Campaign

This campaign is called "It's Time to Listen"--a youth-led six week campaign in the lead-up to Copenhagen with a different theme each week for each of the Power Shift Principles

Oct. 26 - Time for politicians to listen
Nov. 2 - Reduce emissions now
Nov. 9 - Commit to environmental justice
Nov. 16 - Invest in clean energy, not tar sands
Nov. 23 - Create effective green jobs
Nov. 30 - Lead Canada to be part of a progressive global deal in Copenhagen

We're going to use a mixture of flash dances, quick actions, special missions, emails, videos, letters, phone calls and good ol' face-to-face communication to:

1: Tell our government that climate leadership at the UN Climate Summit at Copenhagen, investment in clean energy and action on green jobs are the most important issues to us. They need to know that we're not going away and our numbers are growing.

2: Make climate leadership at the UN Climate Summit at Copenhagen, investment in clean energy and action on green jobs the #1 issue for Canadians.

Sign up a location for a Climate Crew/Be part of a Climate Crew near you

This week our focus is on committing to environmental justice. Our Climate Crews are doing a range of actions from a "freeze" while one person calls out environmental justice facts, to a group of people representing poor countries with tape over their mouths to show that they don't have enough voice in these decisions, to a rich country/poor country face-off that ends with either a poor country "die-in" if the rich countries refuse to act or a mutual "gratitude dance" if the rich countries commit to be climate leaders.

You are welcome to think of your own action to promote environmental justice (but please don't break the law, trespass or put anyone's health or property at risk).

We will turn photos and videos from this action in an awesome video and viral email to get more and more Canadians plugged in to the campaign and acting. We'll also use the video and viral email to build to next week. So please take pictures and video of your action so we have evidence of all the support for environmental justice. You can upload the photos to the facebook page and there will be instructions for video upload on the facebook event.

You can find a list of locations on the facebook event - http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=191944257603 - We want to get 50 locations accross the country doing weekly flash dances and quick actions by the end of this campaign.

If there is a location near you then you just need to show up at the right time, and bring a cell phone or signs with the theme of the week with you.

If there is not a location near you it is easy to sign one up, and easy to get a Climate Crew going.

Email domesticactions@ourclimate.org to get a Climate Crew Starter Kit - and remember that only a few people is a great way to start.

Here's a link to an online form to sign up a location for a Climate Crew - http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dHJsSVpuajFYbUltX25wdkJJNTZ3QkE6MA

Since we're geographically scattered we're using a coordinated and unifying tactic to raise awareness and project unity. If you're planning on doing something really different please get in contact with us (250-858-6057) to talk about how the action works within the broader campaign strategy.

FINALLY, PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD BY SHARING THIS EMAIL AND JOINING THE FACEBOOK PAGE - http://www.facebook.com/ListenEcouter

What is Environmental Justice?


It might be easier to explain environmental "injustice." Think of Canada's Inuit. They have lived on the sea ice for generations hunting seals and other important food sources, but have only contributed to greenhouse gas pollution for just over 50 years. As climate change melts the sea ice the Inuit lose not only their ability to hunt and provide for their families, they lose an integral part of their culture and spirituality.

In Bangladesh, farmers sow and harvest simple crops like beans, rice and lentils. Many use oxen for this task, not being able to afford a tractor or other motorized equipment. These poor farmers contribute very little to the world's skyrocketing carbon dioxide levels, but are at risk of losing everything to climate change. Rising sea levels combined with more violent storms are starting to force salt water inland, destroying valuable crops. Farmers are now faced with an uncertain future where each year could bring starvation.

Climate change, in combination with other land-use factors, is turning once habitable land into desert; this process is known as "desertification." The United Nations has claimed that desertification is the "greatest environmental challenge of our times," and estimates that two billion people world wide could be victims of desertification in the future. Many of the victims of desertification live in Africa. As with so many other vulnerable populations whos lives have been devastated by climate change, these people produce almost no greenhouse gases and have done almost nothing to cause the problem of global warming.

The key point is that climate change has the biggest impact on poor people that did little to cause it, whether they live in Canada's north, Canada's rural and Indigenous communities, Bangladesh's flood plains, or the rapidly desertifying parts of Africa. This is injust, you could even call it a climate crime.

How does Canada play into this? Well, we have one of the largest per capita rates of greenhouse gas emissions on the planet, and we have been emitting greenhouse gases en masse for over 100 years. In short, we are a nation that has helped cause the world's climate change crisis. Not only have we helped create the problem, we have more money and resources to do something about climate change, and to deal with the negative effects, than most countries around the world.

We need to step up and do our part to reduce emissions, here in Canada and around the world. We also need to provide aid for developing countries and vulnerable populations that are being threatened by climate change. When Canada attends the UN Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen this December, we need to push for an agreement that commits rich, industrialized countries to science-based emissions reduction targets, and that provides aid for developing countries to deal with the devastating effects of climate change.

That is what we mean by "environmental justice." Can you help us spread the word to Canadians and talk to our government?

Thank you!

Nadia Nowak
Student, UNBC Environmental Planning
E-mail: northernATcampusclimatenetwork.org


"If you can't fix it, please stop breaking it."
— Severn Cullis-Suzuki

27 Days - Speak for the Children

Someone sent me an email recently, encouraging participation in a climate rally. "Speak for the Climate" was the subject of the email, and it really got to me. But it took me a moment or two to realize why.

The climate does not need anyone speaking on its behalf. It is not a living thing. It is not suffering. Even if it were alive, however, I'm sure it would be an extrovert, and an assertive one at that!

No, the climate does not need anybody speaking for it.

The children, on the other hand, need many advocates. The children of all species are, for the most part, voiceless and powerless in this struggle to safeguard the planet and their future.

Two ideas for giving young people a voice have come my way recently. The first is that we should allow adolescents to vote. The obvious reason these days is that the older a voter is, the less he or she cares (or seems to care) about the future. So the people whose lives we are threatening most by not taking strong action to get to zero carbon emissions are the people who have no say and cannot participate politically.

"I say, allow them [children] the right to vote at birth, but give that right to the parents until the child turns the age of majority. Variation 1: make your vote proportional to your remaining life expectancy. To make it easy, consider the normal life span to be 100. Infants get 100 votes, 100-year olds, get 1 vote."

— Goesta Berling

Kind of a cool idea (even if I did find it at Halfbakery.com). The second reason to give teenagers the vote, as explained by a friend recently, is that young people are still passionate and apt to vote for the Earth. The older we get and the more responsibilities we take on, she said, the more we vote for our own security — mainly financial security, putting the Earth much lower on our list of priorities.

The second idea is to create a children's ombudsman, voted in by young people in each jurisdiction. This position would be held by a youth and yet be considered a senior level portfolio. Kind of like having a kid looking over your shoulder every time you make a decision, reminding you to keep the children in mind.

This reminds me of something Raffi (the Canadian children's singer) proposed around the beginning of this century: child honouring. It's not unlike the concept of intergenerational equity, a principle of sustainable development. Raffi developed a Covenant for Honouring Children, which is a beautiful document. According to the Centre for Child Honouring website, "Child Honouring is a philosophy—a vision, an organizing principle, and a way of life—the children-first way of sustainability."

In any case, we all should be speaking for and thinking of the children, of all species, in every decision we make that might affect the Earth and the future.

28 Days - Erga Omnes is Not a Lady (Outlawing Progenycide)

Erga omnes is a legal term from the Latin meaning "in relation to everyone." It describes obligations or rights towards all. From Wikipedia:

"In international law, erga omnes has been used as a legal term describing obligations owed by states towards the community of states as a whole. An erga omnes obligation exists because of the universal and undeniable interest in the perpetuation of critical rights (and the prevention of their breach)."

In other words, these are principles and rules accepted and (hopefully) enforced by all states, on behalf of all human beings. Examples of erga omnes norms include slavery, torture, genocide, piracy, and racial discrimination.

I would like to propose a new erga omnes obligation: that all states will do all they can to avoid progenycide: the genocide of future generations by not taking emergency action today on global climate change that is threatening the future.

I've heard it said that my idea could be mistaken for "right to life" or similar concepts, but I'm not talking about individual human beings. I'm talking about all future human beings, taken as a whole.

I've also been told that we can't give rights to future generations ... but here I would beg to differ. I see Chapter 11 in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) as a precedent, since it gives future rights to corporations. Future shareholders are future generations. Not only that, but corporations are treated like people. So if future shareholders have economic rights, and corporations have future economic rights, then certainly future generations of all humans have environmental rights. (Okay, I'm no lawyer, but it makes sense to me!)

This all came up as I read about Canada's minister of the environment speaking only for Canada's economy. Because he is standing in the way of a treaty in Copenhagen, I wondered, could he be charged with crimes against humanity? Could other states charge him with breaking erga omnes norms, since genocide against future generations surely must be considered by the international community as an obligation owed by Canada to the citizens of all other states?

This non-minister of the environment has shamed me as a Canadian by his heartlessness towards the children of all species. I hope he doesn't have children of his own, because if he does, they must certainly be wondering why he cares so little for them and their future.

Duty to Future Generations 
The human right to a healthful environment should be viewed in the context of a duty to future generations. The duty to preserve and protect the environment is a duty that is owed not merely to all other human beings, non-human beings, and inanimate objects in present time but extends also to future generations. The duty is expressed in the theory of "intergenerational equity," which articulates that "all members of each generation of human beings, as a species, inherit a natural and cultural patrimony from past generations, both as beneficiaries and as custodians under the duty to pass on this heritage to future generations," and that this right to benefit from and develop this natural and cultural heritage is inseparably coupled with the obligation to use this heritage in such a manner that it can be passed on to future generations in no worse condition than it was received from past generations. — Edith Brown Weiss, United Nations University Press, 1992 

Perhaps premiers and prime ministers should be more circumspect in promoting policies that ignore the precautionary principle and devastate the environment. Future generations might prosecute them posthumously for crimes against the planet. — Hugh Robertson

35 Days - If the Children Knew What We Know...

As I wrote about a few days ago, the young people in Canada are starting to get a little miffed at our government's complete refusal to consider their future and do the right thing in Copenhagen. Mine is such a heartless, soulless generation. We've had too much, and not enough pain, perhaps. We can't imagine going without, and therefore we do nothing (and worse) to ensure that our children and grandchildren will have something when they are our age.

Here's the response from our brilliant young friend who bicycled across Canada this past summer to raise awareness about the global climate change emergency.

"Thank you for getting it and for feeling it. I've been pretty rattled for the past few days watching all of this unfold and watching the media spin its speculation. It is heartbreaking. That said, the youth are pissed off now and we are getting organized — across the country. We are going to keep the heat on every Monday until Copenhagen.... Every time we are betrayed by Members of Parliament, I think to myself, "But I biked across the country for this, I organize every day for this, I read every day for this, I shed tears every day for this, I get little sleep for this — and they still don't hear us, see us, acknowledge us." My sister told me that when they screened the Age of Stupid in Ottawa [our national capital], the MPs that did come were on their Blackberries the whole time."

Sad. Scary. Stupid!

Here's a public service announcement I'd like to share with you — luckily, an enactment. But it makes a good point. And probably does a good job of portraying how the young people of Canada are feeling right now.

What about in your country? Is your government putting children at the centre of your nation's climate decisions, policies and actions?

137 Days til Copenhagen - Gratitude to the Children

Yesterday, I talked about feeling compassion for the children who are sensing, knowing and feeling in their hearts that the planet is in peril along with their futures.

Today, I'd simply like to say thank you to those kids. Their concern, their fear, their passion, their commitment might be the only things that melt the ice in the hearts of climate change negotiators in Cophenhagen. (How come the ice is melting everywhere else on Earth, but not in the hearts of those running the planet? Eh?)

Have you seen this article? If you've got cockles in your heart, How to Teach Your Children About Climate Change - Without Scaring Them will warm them. Well, the story about the wonderful young man who started Kids vs. Global Warming will. (If you visit his website, be sure to scroll down to watch his brilliant little movie, iMatter: Story of Global Warming.)

I am reminded of the afternoon I was putting up a climate change bulletin board in the hallway of the school where I was working. A grandfather of one of the students came in and started chatting with me as I stapled away. And then, he said it. What so many adults are thinking. (And hoping?) "Ah well, it's not my problem. I'll be dead."

What an obscene way to run a species! What a complete abdication of any responsibility for the future of his grandchildren! He seemed a very nice man, but what a vicious attack on the future — sin by commission for the past several decades, and then sin by omission when we really need everyone's help.

Well, I'm sure grateful to all the young people working their hearts out for the Earth and the future. Thank you. Merci. Gracias. Tak. Danke. Arigato. Siyabonga. Quyanaghhalek. Xie xie. Meitaki ma'ata. Tanikiu. Grazie. Fakafetai. Nandri. Obrigada. Kalangan. And thank you again.

167 Days - Message to Young People: TAKE BACK YOUR PLANET!

We've been meeting once a week with a young friend I've told you about before who will be bicycling thousands of kilometres across Canada this summer to carry the message that global climate change has become a planetary emergency.

What my husband took to the meeting today resonated for each of us. Here is his simple yet excellent idea (which apparently grew out of something he read about what young people in India are calling for):

Youth in all countries and states or provinces could demand to have deputy-minister-level representatives (chosen by them) to represent their "vested" interest in a viable future and a climate-safe planet. These chosen young people (or perhaps, in some cultures, trusted elders?) would participate in all government energy and climate change policy discussions and decisions.

Their message at every table would be climate justice for all today's youth!

Our young friend loved this idea. We hope the idea flies around the world, and that young people everywhere demand the right to take back their planet.

172 Days - Sharing a Fantastic Resource, Crisis Guide: Climate Change

Here's a great multi-media resource on the climate emergency that we discovered this morning. It's from the Council on Foreign Relations, which is US-based so some of it has an American focus, but that's okay.

Crisis Guide: Climate Change

I know that school is out or almost out for the summer in many parts of the world, but that makes this a perfect time for teachers to educate themselves on the climate crisis.

Academic Module: Confronting Climate Change

One tip: Don't bother reading anything older than 2008. Research findings are coming at us so fast and furious that anything older than about 2007 could be out of date already.

Get ready to go back to school (or work) with a firm grasp of why climate change constitutes a global emergency ... and then teach that to your students (or colleagues) — they have a right to know.

179 Days to Go - The Role of Children in Fighting Global Warming: Gardening

I keep insisting that children — everywhere — should have the right to a childhood. But nowadays, we need all hands on deck with this climate change emergency.

So how can children help out? They can learn how to grow food. They can participate in the great "homecoming" of people around the world to the land. They can plant seeds and watch them grow.

One spring, my students and I, with the help of a parent who understood grain growing, created a pizza garden (in the photo above) and planted wheat on an old farm that has since become a community garden. The families tended this garden during the summer, and then in the fall, the students picked the veggies and harvested the wheat with little kindergarten scissors. We threshed the wheat by hand (ouch!), and milled it in a parent's stone grinder.

We then made pizzas right after milling the wheat into flour. Oh my. Not only was this a fantastic experience for the kids (experiencing the circle of life) but the pizzas were absolutely delicious! I had no idea how much flavour we sacrifice for the sake of convenience.

I tell that story because I don't want anyone to think that I'm advocating a return to child labour. No. I am advocating a return to children understanding where their food comes from, and being able to grow it locally. Every schoolyard in the world should have a school garden, and children can grow food plants no matter where they live — even in the tiniest of apartments, with pots on a window sill.

This is something that children can contribute in our struggle to regain a stable climate. Because without that stable climate, there will be no agriculture, no ready food, and definitely no pizza.

194 Days - Compassionate Solution #3 Support Public Investment in Renewables

I won't be back from camping with my students for a couple of days, so today's compassionate climate action comes as a short question.

If you were a kid, which national/global debt would you rather pay off as an adult, once you're grown up — the debt for fighting an illegal war in a far off land, or the debt for making the switch to a safe, clean, healthy,
equitable and peaceful renewable energy economy?

Let's call for using at least 80 percent of all the economic stimulus money floating around to kickstart the renewable energy revolution. For the sake of, you guessed it, today's children of all species, the rest of Nature, the global poor and vulnerable, and all future generations.