Life is precious. Our time on this Earth is precious. Now is the time for me to post my diary in this blogathon. Tomorrow will be the time for tens of thousands of people in New York City, across the country and the world to march! I live in
Seattle and tomorrow will be the time for people here to be in the streets too. I will not be one of those people.
Tomorrow will be my time to board a plane and head to Kansas City to begin the process of moving my wife's parents, both in their mid-nineties, into assisted living. For the past ten years we've been trying to persuade them to make some changes in their living situation without success. "We'll make some changes when the time comes.", they said. "We'll make changes when something changes."
So by some weird oddity of cosmic circumstance, I, who have spent a good part of my time during the last ten years trying to awaken people to the perils of climate change will not have the time to march in the streets tomorrow.
But I'm really not that upset about it all. After all time marches on. I know tomorrow is really just another day. Oh it's an important day for sure. But each and every day is imortant isn't it? So what if I won't have the time to be in the streets tomorrow.
I can only do the best I can with the cards I'm dealt in the moment I have now. The past is gone never to be altered. There is no guarantee of a future. The only time one has is anchored in the now.
Now has always been the time for me to take climate change seriously. Now has always been the time to do something about it. And now, because of Daily KOS, I have a chance to share.
My Washington State Governor, Jay Inslee, is putting climate change at the top of his political agenda now. I intend to help him as best I can and thanks to Daily KOS I now have a chance.
Governor Inslee was featured in episode five in the recently aired Showtime series entitled "Years of Living Dangerously and touted as being the "greenest Governor in America". He has formed
A Carbon Emissions Reduction Taskforce (CERT) composed of 21 leaders from business, labor, health and public interest organizations, that will provide recommendations to him on design and implementation of a market-based carbon pollution program.
Governor Jay Inslee recently said:
“We’re already seeing the impacts and bearing the costs of climate change in our state. I’ve met with shellfish growers in Shelton who are working hard to deal with increased ocean acidification and the resulting difficulty to grow shellfish. Because of reduced snowpack in our mountains and longer drought periods in central and eastern Washington, we’re seeing water resource challenges requiring significant investments in places like the Yakima River Basin. And I’m meeting with local officials who must rebuild water treatment facilities to anticipate more severe flooding, including recently in Anacortes and later today at Discovery Park in Seattle, with King County Executive Dow Constantine.
“Taking action to reduce carbon pollution is not only important for our children, our environment and our health, it is essential for our economy. The costs of inaction are simply too high. Meanwhile, there are enormous opportunities in developing the clean energy technologies that will cleanly fuel our homes and businesses for decades to come. And once again, Washington state is uniquely poised to lead the nation. I applaud Senator Murray and President Obama for their actions today to highlight the economic risks we face if we continue to delay climate action. And I commend the President for his leadership at the federal level to reduce carbon pollution from our nation’s power plants.”
The establishment of this taskforce was part of his
Executive Order 14-04 issued in late April of this year which took steps in 7 key areas.
Follow below the orange hairpiece for more!
Executive Order 14-04
Carbon emission – Established a Carbon Emissions Reduction Taskforce to provide recommendations on the design and implementation of a market-based carbon pollution program.
Coal-fired electricity imported from other states ("coal-by-wire") – State agencies are directed to work with key utilities to reduce, and eventually eliminate, the use of electrical power produced by coal.
Clean transportation – The greatest percentage of carbon emissions come from cars, trucks and other transportation-related sources. The state Department of Transportation will lead an effort with other agencies and governments to promote strategies, policies and investments that support electrification of our transportation system, lower-emission multi-modal options, and clean fuels.
Clean technology – The state Department of Commerce will work with Washington State University and others on a program to develop and deploy new renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies, including those with an emphasis on solar power.
Energy efficiency – One of the most cost-effective strategies for reducing carbon emissions is to use energy more efficiently. The state Department of Commerce is directed to work with WSU and others to significantly improve the energy performance of public and private buildings.
State government operations – The state Department of Enterprise Services will lead efforts to achieve carbon reduction and energy efficiency improvements throughout state government including meeting goals established by Gov. Inslee’s Results Washington.
Carbon pollution limits – The state Department of Ecology will review the state’s greenhouse gas emission limits and recommend updates.
The above list is aggressive but it is not unrealistic. It represents a common sense achievable program any state can adopt.
I am proud of Governor Inslee's leadership on this issue. He does not have his head here.
But he also doesn't have his head here.
He (
CERT)ainly deserves support in his efforts to bring energy sanity and climate equilibrium to our world! And thanks to Daily KOS I now have the chance to be of some service. And now is all I have. It is all any of us have.
My wife's parents waited until the last minute to make a change. They waited until it was a crisis and now impacting their loved ones in disruptive ways. They had their heads in the sand for far too long. The irony of this correlation with my personal life and that of the world regarding climate change is not escaping me.
As I'm sitting on the plane tomorrow flying across this great country I'll be hoping and praying that NOW is the time the world takes climate change seriously. Time is slipping away. Time is wasting. Time waits for no one. And the time is NOW.
"That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind".
If you are lucky enough to have the time to march tomorrow know that every step you take in whatever street you're marching in is an important step. And after tomorrow please remember to keep taking those important steps.
Investigate how you can get involved in your community. If you happen to live in the Seattle & Puget Sound area, as I do, here are some resources to "save you time".
Because of the work of some dedicated people at Cascadia Climate Action it is now easy to find a place that fits and get involved.
With just one easy click on the Cascadia Climate Action Calendar you can easily review and find the perfect event in which to participate or organization you wish to become involved. You can even sign up to receive weekly updates of upcoming events sponsored by 350-Seattle, Sierra Club-Beyond Coal of Washington, , Citizens Climate Lobby of Seattle, CarbonWA and many other groups are now compiled together in one weekly email, organized into sections.
Meetings/Recurring Events
There are organizations and groups working on climate issues that meet monthly to plan, strategize, network, and implement events and actions. These include
Sierra Club - Beyond Coal Washington (3rd Thursday)
350 Seattle (1st Wednesday)
Citizens Climate Lobby (1st Saturday)
Seattle Environmental Activists (3rd Sunday)
Sustainable Seattle and other SCALLOPs groups
Local 20/20 - Port Townsend
GreenDrinks - Seattle (2nd Tuesday) and Bellingham (1st Wednesday)
Recurring meetings are posted on the Cascadia Climate Meetings calendar. If there are other groups that would like to be listed here, get in touch with us at admin@cascadiaclimateaction.org.
Special Note: Earlier today Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon (D-WA/34th), Chair of the Washington State House of Representatives Environment Committee posted an excellent diary with specific information about Washington State. Please take a look especially if you live in Washington State.
Fighting to end climate gridlock in Washington state
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UN Climate Summit/March Blogathon
September 19-23, 2014
World leaders representing nations, industry and civil society are convening in New York City for the historic September 23 UN Climate Summit. The summit, announced by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon last September, is designed to bring all parties to the table to facilitate the 2015 UNFCCC passage of a global treaty to dramatically reduce global warming.
In what is being called a “movement of movements” moment, hundreds of thousands of marchers are expected at the NYC People's Climate March on Sunday, September 21. Other huge marches are occurring around the world, demanding what we all know is within reach: a world with an economy that works for people and the planet; a world safe from the ravages of climate change; a world recognizing the need for climate justice; a world with good jobs, clean air and water, and healthy communities.
Please join us for a blogathon September 19-23 in a campaign to inspire people to take to the streets and to tell the story of why climate change is the defining issue of our time that can no longer wait to be addressed in earnest.
From ClimateBrad: I'm excited to announce that I will be providing livestreamed, on-the-ground coverage of the People's Climate March this Sunday and at follow-up actions in the days ahead at PeoplesClimate.tv.
To see the September 21 Climate March routes and sign up, click here. To find an event in your region, click here. To learn more about the UN Climate Summit 2014, click here. The complete guest list of diarists is in this diary by rb137.
Our Daily Kos community organizers are Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse, boatsie, rb137, JekyllnHyde, citisven, peregrine kate, John Crapper, Aji, Kitsap River, Dont Just Sit There DO SOMETHING, and jarbelaez. Photograph/Graphic credit: Facebook - People's Climate March.
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