ClimateFast
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ClimateFast News May 2014

CONTENTS

GREAT NEWS! 117th MP signs Climate Action pledge! Welcome to MP Françoise Boivin!

Thanks to Climate Fast supporter Joseph Witalis for inviting his MP, Francoise Boivin (NDP - Gatineau) to sign the climate pledge. We need ALL our MPs committed to climate action. We don’t yet have any conservative MPs and we don’t yet have the support of Justin Trudeau or Thomas Mulcair. Has your MP signed? Check on our website. If your MP has signed – but their party leader has not – please send a note thanking your MP and asking him or her to ask their leader to sign as well.
What we have learned is that the parties will often respond to what the public expects. They know people are concerned about the climate crisis, however the actions we are expecting from them might not be as clear. Please consider inviting your family, friends, or faith group members to write letters and join this call for action for three changes:

  • end fossil fuel subsidies
  • put a price on carbon and
  • develop a renewable energy plan for Canada.

‘DO THE MATH’ SHOWN ON PARLIAMENT HILL

On May 6th Climate Fast showed the film ‘Do the Math’ to an invited audience of MPs and other climate activists in Ottawa, from Ottawa350 and Citizens Climate Lobby. Five MPs attended the event which was hosted by Elizabeth May. In photo:  Carolyn Bennett (Liberal), Bruce Hyer (Green), Elizabeth May (Green) and Francois Choquette (NDP). Also in attendance was Paul Dewar (NDP) . A representative from the office of recently elected Liberal MP Chrystia Freeland was in attendance, as well as two staff from the office of Conservative Senator Janis Johnson and staff from the Auditor General’s office. We have since been invited to show the film to staff in the Auditor General’s office in June.
We are very encouraged by the positive response to this film which outlines the urgency of the climate crisis through three key numbers. This film also profiles the work of the fossil fuel divestment campaign, the pollution caused by Alberta’s tarsands and anti-Keystone XL pipeline.
You can view ‘Do the Math’ here, and can arrange for a showing here .

JUNE 1 – ‘DO THE MATH’ FILM SHOWING IN TORONTO

June 1, 7 PM, FRIENDS HOUSE 60 LOWTHER AVE.
The film showing will be followed by a presentation on carbon pricing. Some of us will be fasting on that date, in conjunction with the international fast for the climate. You too can sign up or sign up through our website!
You can also participate in ClimateFast through letter writing, carbon fasting, food fasting, and in many other ways. We are all working together to get action happening on climate - fast!

JOIN US IN SEPTEMBER ON PARLIAMENT HILL!

September 29 – October 2nd, 2014
Four days to press our concerns with a vigil on Parliament Hill, and through meetings with our MPs.
Help us to hold our banner ‘HUNGRY FOR CLIMATE LEADERSHIP /HUNGRY FOR CLIMATE JUSTICE’.
Come for a day, or for all four days, or for our October 1st evening vigil on the Hill.
Please let us know if you might be able to join us or do a companion action in the community where you live.
We will gather in Sunday September 28th for training and teambuilding. We’ll help to organize places to stay in Ottawa, in people homes or hostels. We will have a lot of fun together – and we will make a difference!
Write Climatefast at climatefast.ca/contact to let us know if you may be able to come.

Put Climate First on the First of the Month

With climate change now rocketing back to the top of the political agenda, thousands of people from around the world have to decided to fast once a month to stand in solidarity with those already affected. We want to tell world leaders that they need to do more to solve this crisis. This should include committing to new action at the Climate Summit of the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki- moon in September and stepping up to set in place a fair, ambitious and binding global climate action plan in Paris in 2015.

The new international website aims to build on the momentum around the Fast for the Climate. Yeb Saño has declared this the official site for this international fasting initiative that is now supported by a number of faith, environment, and youth groups.

Join here. This will add you to the global database and list of fasters. Recently, Archbishop Emeritus Rowan Williams, Imam Ebrahim Saidy, Sir Iakobo Taeia Italeli, Governor General of Tuvalu have joined the fast.
Facebook page: www.facebook.com/fastfortheclimate
Twitter: https://twitter.com/FastForClimate

You can also assist with inviting popular figures in our country to join the fast. Here is a sample letter and some social media material that you can modify and use.
So far there are English, French and Spanish versions of the website available. More are to follow.

INITIATIVES TO SUPPORT

Unity for the Climate

At the time of this writing, unicyclist Joseph Boutilier is approaching Medicine Hat, Alberta. Check his progress through his [ blog and social media ] [ http://unityfortheclimate.ca/about ]Please check his route and site to see how you can support his initiative.

The Great March for Climate Action

At the time of this writing, the Great March has arrived at Taos, New Mexico. ClimateFast thanks marcher Anita Payne for her firsthand account of her experience on the march in April:
“April 20 Update on the Great March for Climate Action (GMCA) After a huge send off rally in Wilmington, the site of a large oil refinery in the port of Los Angeles, the Climate Marchers dealt with torrential downpours on March 1 but have persevered. They have made their way across California and are nearly across Arizona. Crossing the Mojave and Sonora Deserts was challenging with cold nights and hot days with little or no shade. Carrying signs elicited supportive honks from many passing motorists but also the occasional “peddle to the metal” from a pickup truck driver. In Phoenix, the most unsustainable American city, a good crowd of climate and environmental activists came out to support the Climate Marchers. Some also took a marcher or two home for the night so they could have a shower and sleep in a real bed. Campsites have been mostly on public land but also on reserves and church or university properties. The marchers have received blessings several times from First Nations elders who are very empathetic to the cause of climate action. Marchers are collecting messages from many they meet to pass on to the government in Washington, DC, where they expect to be by November 1. The GMCA route will soon swing north towards Albuquerque, NM and then to Denver, CO. More marchers are welcome to join at any point, for any length of time. For more information see climatemarch.org. You can also be a virtual marcher by joining the Facebook group.

A Call to Arms: An Invitation to Demand Action on Climate Change

Get ready to march!
Bill McKibben has written a new article in Rolling Stone magazine.
This is an invitation, an invitation to come to New York City. An invitation to anyone who’d like to prove to themselves, and to their children, that they give a damn about the biggest crisis our civilization has ever faced. September 20-21. Tell everyone.
See also this article in Common Dreams.

Clear and Present Danger

On May 6, the American Third National Climate Assessment was released. The Vancouver Observer named our clear and present danger. Where is Canada’s national climate assessment?

A 2007 report by Natural Resources Canada — some say the last Canadian equivalent to this new U.S. report — said that the impact of changing climate is already evident in every region of Canada. We need an ongoing assessment.

You may access a free webinar on the NCA with three panelists: Emily Cloyd of U. S. Global Change Research Program; Anne Waple, Director of Resilience Initiatives at Second Nature; and Jim Buizer, of University of Arizona, by first registering with the Security & Sustainability Forum.
Listed here are NCAnet partners and events.

We call for Canada’s current national climate assessment!

Frances Deverell (Ottawa), Lyn Adamson (Toronto) and Bruce Hyer (MP, Thunder Bay)

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