The Chamber of Commerce has no friends

This has been one exciting week for the climate.

Leaders came together in New York for a United Nations Climate Change Summit, climate activists geared up for the G-20 talks in Pittsburgh, and the whole world geared up for the big talks in Copenhagen.

CCAN’s Ted Glick, Andy Revkin at the New York Times and Anna Pinto, an indigenous rights activist from India, all appeared on Democracy Now! yesterday to talk about the all-important talks in Copenhagen.

“We’ve had a fossil fuel party for a century,” said Revkin during the interview. Watch it here>>

Earlier this week, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown committed to going to Copenhagen himself if it means securing a successful outcome. That phone call was part of thousands being placed across the globe as part of Avaaz.org’s “Global Wake-Up Call.” If their inspiring video is any indication (and I think it is), the coordinated “flash mob” actions went really well.

President Obama gave a heartening, although too tame, speech to the United Nations.

Our generation’s response to this challenge will be judged by history, for if we fail to meet it — boldly, swiftly, and together — we risk consigning future generations to an irreversible catastrophe.

At the same meeting, the President of Malidives gave an incredibly powerful, moving speech.

If things go business-as-usual, we will not live, we will die. Our country will not exist. We cannot come out from Copenhagen as failures. We cannot make Copenhagen a pact for suicide. We have to succeed and we have to make a deal in Copenhagen.

And to top it off, PNM Resources just abandoned its seat on the board of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, citing a fundamental disagreement over its approach to global warming.

According to NRDC’s Pete Altman:

The statement comes within hours of news of electric utility PG&E’s complete withdrawal from the US Chamber and a public statement from Nike expressing its disgust over the Chamber’s views on climate.

PG&E, Nike and PNM cited frustration with the Chamber’s call to put climate science on trial, which Chamber vice-President Bill Kovacs compared to the Scopes Monkey Trial. Kovacs later apologized for the remark. Earlier this spring, Johnson and Johnson made public its frustration with the Chamber’s position on climate.

Outlook for the Chamber of Commerce: not so good.

Outlook for the climate: Long way to go, but progress is being made.

Speaking of progress, don’t miss Lester Brown’s encouraging Op-Ed in the Washington Post’s Outlook section over the weekend.

Pittsburgh to Host G-20 and G-20 Protests

Today, September 22nd, is the first day of the United Nations opening session in New York City where heads of state from all over the world are speaking publicly about the climate crisis and, in some cases, what their country is doing and intends to do about it.

Two days from now, some of these same heads of state will travel west to Pittsburgh, Pa. for a summit meeting of the G-20. Part of the G-20 agenda is the climate crisis; specifically, how on-going negotiations can be advanced so that at the United Nations Climate Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark in December, a new and stronger climate treaty than the Kyoto Protocol can emerge.

Climate activists and other activists will be taking part in a variety of actions outside the G-20 meeting in the streets and elsewhere. There will be a number of climate-related activities. The major one is taking place on Wednesday evening when the Alliance for Climate Protection’s Repower America campaign, the United Steelworkers and the Blue Green Alliance will conclude their Clean Energy Jobs Tour with a rally beginning at 7 pm. The Jobs Tour, a month-long campaign with more than 50 events in 22 states, highlighted how a transition to a clean energy economy will create jobs while reducing harmful carbon pollution and our dependence on foreign oil.

The Wednesday evening event will feature musical entertainment, including Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, the Pittsburgh Gospel Choir and Grammy-award winning artist Kathy Mattea. Scheduled speakers include Pa. Governor Ed Rendell, Steelworkers President Leo Gerard, Carl Pope of the Sierra Club, Rich Trumka, President of the AFL-CIO and Rev. Lennox Yearwood of the Hip Hop Caucus.

The event will take place in Point State Park. Click here for more information.

Other climate-related events include a Wednesday afternoon forum on “Challenging the G20’s Agenda of Corporate Globalization, a Thursday morning breakfast with Larry Schweiger, President/CEO of the National Wildlife Federation and a Thursday afternoon Jobs and Climate Solutions Press Conference featuring youth leaders from the United States and India.
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