Former Secretary of State John Kerry is launching World War Zero, a coalition aimed at building public support to tackle climate change and global warming. The New York Times reports that the name, World War Zero, is supposed to evoke both the national security threat posed by the earth’s warming and the type of wartime mobilization that Mr. Kerry argued would be needed to stop the rise in carbon emissions before 2050.
The initiative has been in the works for months but the official unveiling of the coalition will take place tomorrow Sunday Dec 1, a day ahead of the big U.N. climate conference COP25 that begins in Madrid, Spain on Monday.
The founding membership includes some prominent leaders and celebrities that have been active in the climate change fight —
- Presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter,
- Madeleine Albright, Susan Rice, and Retired Gen. Stanley McChrystal,
- Ernest Moniz and Hank Paulson
- John Kasich and Meg Whitman
- Arnold Schwarzenegger and Leonardo DiCaprio,
- Young activists Katie Eder and Penelope Lea
- Sting and Ashton Kutcher.
Now I understand why Kerry and Schwarzenegger are scheduled to make appearances on NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday morning.
The organization’s website states its mission as —
We’re uniting unlikely allies with one common mission: making the world respond to the climate crisis the same way we mobilized to win World War II.
Join the movement to achieve net zero carbon emissions and create millions of new jobs in the process.
Together, we’ll win this war. Join us and enlist today.
Check out the full article at www.nytimes.com/…, which has additional info -
With a starting budget of $500,000, Mr. Kerry said, he and other coalition members intend to hold town meetings across the country starting in January. Members will head to battleground states key to the 2020 election, but also to military bases where climate discussions are rare and to economically depressed areas that members say could benefit from clean energy jobs.
Their goal is to hold more than 10 million “climate conversations” in the coming year with Americans across the political spectrum.
COP25
COP25 starts next week in Madrid, Spain. The conference is designed to take the next crucial steps in the UN climate change process. “Following agreement on the implementation guidelines of the Paris Agreement at COP 24 in Poland last year, a key objective is to complete several matters with respect to the full operationalization of the Paris Climate Change Agreement.”
The news on the climate change front is discouraging. China and the U.S. have failed to meet emissions targets. Predictions of temperature and ocean-levels rise are dire.
Drastic action and reductions in emissions are needed to save Earth from catastrophe. To meet the 1.5°C Paris Agreement target, the world needs to reduce global emissions by 7.6% every year for the next decade. The stated goals of this summit is to reach agreement on the 3 main targets —
- Reducing emissions 45 per cent by 2030,
- Achieving climate neutrality by 2050 (which means a net zero carbon footprint), and
- Stabilizing global temperature rise at 1.5°C by the end of the century.
Nancy Pelosi and Democrats will speak for America at the summit, since republicans and the WH won’t, although republicans will also be present, probably to sing the praises of coal.
The angry voices of many of our young activists will be heard loud and clear at the summit.
Whether this organization will succeed and make an big impact remains to be seen. They have the star and organizational power to raise funds and to make their message heard. Hopefully, they will help other organizations become more prominent and effective in educating the public and influencing policy makers around the world. Yes, our young activists could do with some adult star power in the fight to save the planet.
We will see the right quickly mobilize to denigrate and demonize Kerry and everything the coalition stands for; that’s what they do - slash and burn. Let’s do everything we can to neutralize their message; failure is not an option. For starters, lets join the organization by registering at worldwarzero.com.
Further Reading
- Negotiating the Whirlwind — www.newyorker.com/… (Profile on John Kerry)
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Greener Pastures — www.newyorker.com/… (John Kerry at the Paris Agreement signing)
Update
Here is a clip of Kerry and Schwarzenegger on Meet the Press. Full interview at www.nbcnews.com/...