Scores of activists were arrested today in front of the State Department attempting to shut down President Bush
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 27, 2007
Global Warming Activists Attempt to Shut Down Bush’s Sham Climate Conference
Scores of Activists Decry Bush’s Disastrous Voluntary Global Warming Policies, Demand Strong Leadership from U.S.
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Scores of activists were arrested today in front of the State Department attempting to shut down President Bush’s climate conference. Decrying President George Bush’s support of voluntary measures to curb global warming, activists were stopped trying to enter the State Department where President Bush is meeting with leaders of the 16 countries that produce the most global warming gases.
“We cannot wait any longer for meaningful action on the climate crisis.” said Ted Glick, coordinator of the U.S. Climate Emergency Council and who is on the 24th day of a “Climate Emergency Fast.” “For Bush to try to lead the world at such an urgent time in this completely wrong direction is beyond deplorable. It’s analogous to Herbert Hoover saying all is well as the Great Depression hits. To talk about voluntary measures as we see huge climate impacts from global warming all over the Earth is madness.”
President Bush has invited 16 “major emitter” countries, including China and India, to a climate summit taking place today and Friday. The summit will focus on encouraging industries to cut global warming emissions voluntarily as well as providing subsidies for research into “clean coal” technology and nuclear energy. The summit is the first in a series of U.S.-led gatherings expected to focus on those themes.
“President Bush’s climate summit is clearly meant to undermine real international efforts now underway to achieve mandatory greenhouse gas cuts under the Kyoto process,” said Mike Tidwell, director of the U.S. Climate Emergency Council and the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. “Voluntary measures and future technology fixes aren’t going to cut it. At a time of runaway climate change, Americans, and the rest of the world, are demanding action now!”
Protesters demanded that President Bush align his priorities with the science of global warming, which suggests that warming of anything more than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels will do irreversible damage to the planet. They demanded Mr. Bush support mandatory limits on greenhouse gas emissions and that he stop funneling money to coal and oil companies.
“Bush and others in this meeting are talking about climate change while their money keeps walking the wrong way to fossil fuels” said Steve Kretzmann of Oil Change International. “Talk is cheap, and our energy funding needs to take a U-turn for the climate now”. The Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change called global oil, gas and coal subsidies of roughly $250 billion annually “the most obvious” of the “many policies that distort the market” in favor of fossil fuels.
Organizers of the protest include the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, the U.S. Climate Emergency Council, Greenpeace, and Oil Change International.
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The Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN) is the first grassroots, nonprofit organization dedicated exclusively to fighting global warming in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. Our mission is to educate and mobilize citizens of this region in a way that fosters a rapid societal switch to clean energy and energy-efficient products, thus joining similar efforts worldwide to slow and perhaps halt the dangerous trend of global warming.
Greenpeace is a global campaigning organization that acts to change attitudes and behavior, to protect and conserve the environment and to promote peace.
Oil Change International campaigns to expose the true costs of oil and facilitate the coming transition towards clean energy.
The U.S. Climate Emergency Council is a nonprofit organization dedicated to rigorous grassroots action in the fight to stop global warming and promote a clean energy future.
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