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The Climate Crisis Coalition was founded in 2004 to create awareness and a sense of urgency about the climate crisis and to broaden the constituency of the climate action movement. Now, with that urgency evermore apparent, two goals have become paramount: 1) reduce atmospheric CO2 to 350 ppm; 2) enact legislation that will best drive the transition to renewable energy. An escalating and equitable carbon fee (where the revenue is recycled back to the people) must be the central component of U.S. and international initiatives.
Our mission is also to approach climate change from the holistic perspective that links issues of environmental, social and economic equity. This emphasis is now especially important as individuals seek to make changes in their lives and get involved in their communities, as Congress considers new climate legislation, and as world leaders move forward from the problematic UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen with a huge task at hand: a strong, effective and equitable post-Kyoto climate treaty. |
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Climate Actions
CCC facilitates, participates in, and publicizes local and national climate actions that draw attention to the climate crisis and the strong measures needed to address it. With our emphasis on coalition building, we organize forums and events designed to broaden climate action constituency beyond the traditional environmental movement. We encourage local initiatives that inform, motivate and empower citizens. CCC also promotes effective legislative and policy initiatives on every level of government, as well as the need for a strong post-Kyoto treaty.
Getting to 350
There is a growing consensus among climate scientists believe that it is already too late to avoid significant damage to the planet – too much greenhouse gas has already entered our atmosphere and too many bad practices are set in motion. But we still have remarkable opportunities to save millions of human lives, other species and ecosystems that sustain this miraculous green planet.
By the actions we take today, a new course can be set – away from the daunting prospects of massive starvation, forced migrations, social and political upheavals, and wholesale extinctions of species – and toward a more just, and sustainable society. It will take nothing less than three simultaneous revolutions: in government policy; in technology; and in the values and aspirations of people across the globe. And, it will take a goal: 350 ppm of atmospheric CO2 (down from the current level of 386 ppm). |
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Effective Government Policy
With the advent of the Obama administration and the 111th Congress, we have been particularly focused on promoting legislation in Washington based on pricing carbon and recycling the tax or fee back to the people, either as dividends or as payroll tax credits. The cap-and-trade systems in the current House and Senate bills are unacceptably flawed. It’s time for “Plan B,” which is gaining bipartisan support. With our political-action sister organization, the Price Carbon Campaign (www.pricecarbon.org), we are advancing this agenda with a growing coalition of climate justice advocates.
Putting Technology to Work
CCC publicizes technology that can be used to our advantage. Rewiring the globe with clean energy will do more than stave off the most disruptive impacts of global climate change. It will create millions of jobs all over the world and provide economic independence for developing countries. By addressing the economic desperation that underlies anti-Western terrorism, it will help liberate the U.S. from its destructive military and diplomatic entanglements in the Middle East. It will substantially expand the overall wealth and equity of the global. It will mark a major step toward peace among people and peace between people and nature.
Personal Empowerment and Local Action
Hearts and minds of people everywhere must also be engaged, so that we can individually accept ownership of the problem and the solutions. We need to overcome feelings of despair and feel empowered with the sense that our actions matter. To this end, CCC encourages small groups of people to meet and share information, feelings and options for constructive action. Earth Circles (www.earth-circles.org), a program we helped start, guides people through this process. CCC also assists citizens in passing local resolutions that commit their communities to lightening their carbon footprint and in forming local “green teams” to ensure that it gets done.
Dr. James Hansen
CCC has had the honor of working with Dr. Hansen (NASA’s chief climate scientist), in his capacity as a private citizen, to alert the world to the severity of the climate crisis and to offer solutions that, from his scientific perspective, have a chance of addressing the problem. He testified at two Congressional briefings that CCC cosponsored (12/08 & 8/09), and we produced a ½-hour video, A Conversation with James Hansen, where he convincingly makes the case for 350 ppm as the upper limit for atmospheric CO2. He emphasizes that since we are already at 386 and rising, this goal won’t be easy, but it must be achieved, and there are ways to do it. The video (which can be watched CCC’s website) is being used to promote his new book, Storms of my Grandchildren. (StormsofmyGrandchildren.com)
Earth Equity News
The CCC Earth Equity News, our e-mail news summary, goes to concerned citizens throughout the U.S. and around the world. EEN provides a convenient way for our subscribers to keep up with political, scientific, and citizen-action issues on climate change and related subjects. Each story we run includes links to the full news story or web posting and to the organizations and the studies involved. People can sign up for our free comprehensive weekly edition, or for a shorter weekly version on the CCC website. They can also view it on our blog (earthequity.org). |
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