Friday, April 22, 2011

• Earth Day Special: Vandana Shiva and Maude Barlow on the Rights of Mother Earth

  
  
  

  This week the United Nations General Assembly discussed international standards that grant nature equal rights to humans. Similar protocols have been adopted by over a dozen U.S. municipalities, as well as Bolivia and Ecuador. Renowned environmentalists Maude Barlow and Vandana Shiva join us. Says Shiva, "Most civilizations of the world, for most of human history, have seen the world in terms of relatedness and connection,” says Shiva. "And if there’s one thing the rights of Mother Earth is waking us to, is: we are all connected." [includes rush transcript]

• "Hold Both Parties to High Standards": Van Jones, Obama’s Ex-Green Jobs Czar

  
  
  

  More than 10,000 people converged in Washington, D.C., this past week to mobilize around the issue of climate change at the Power Shift 2011 conference. Van Jones, a longtime environmental advocate and former green jobs adviser in the Obama White House, gave the keynote address. "We pull out of the ground death, and we burn it in our engines. And we burn death in our power plants, without ceremony," Jones said. "And then we act shocked when, having pulled death out of the ground and burned it — we act shocked when we get death from our skies in the form of global warming and death on our oceans in the form of oil spills and death in our children’s lungs in the form of asthma and cancer." [includes rush transcript]

• "Now Is Our Time to Take a Stand": Tim DeChristopher’s Message to Youth Climate Activists at Power Shift 2011

  
  
  

  In March, a federal jury convicted environmental activist Tim DeChristopher of two felony counts for disrupting the auction of more than 100,000 acres of federal land for oil and gas drilling. He faces up to 10 years in prison. Last weekend he spoke at the Power Shift 2011 conference and urged youth climate activists to make more sacrifices. "We hold the power right here to create our vision of a healthy and just world, if we are willing to make the sacrifices to make it happen," DeChristopher said. "Where is the point where our movement is going to say that stopping this injustice is more important than my career plans?" [includes rush transcript]

• Bill McKibben of 350.org Calls House Vote on Global Warming "One of the Most Embarrassing Votes Congress Has Ever Taken"

  
  
  

  At this week’s Power Shift 2011 conference in Washington, D.C., longtime environmental activist Bill McKibben critiqued how the United States has failed to take steps to address climate change. He is the founder of the environmental organization 350.org—the name references the 350 parts per million many scientists say is the safe limit for carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. "Think about our own country — historically, the biggest source of carbon emissions. Last summer, the Senate refused to even take a vote on the tepid, moderate, tame climate bill that was before it," says McKibben. "Last week, the House voted 248 to 174 to pass a resolution saying global warming wasn’t real." [includes rush transcript]