Above: Berkeley climate activists urge their city council to take climate change seriously and act.
Note: While the federal government is controlled by climate deniers who refuse to believe in climate change or take any positive actions to deal with it, at the local level people are having some success convincing elected officials to take action. The report below urges people to join a nationwide call to action to demand a fossil free world with a focus on state and local government. A report from an activist on their efforts in Berkeley, CA, often at the cutting edge of change, shows the success of local activism. In Berkeley a climate activist wrote saying:
As a result of local organizers’ tireless work, the Berkeley City Council faced the truth of the climate and ecological crises and committed to protecting its residents and all life on Earth by unanimously declaring a climate emergency and endorsing a just citywide climate mobilization effort to end greenhouse gas emissions as quickly as possible! The resolution called for Berkeley to become a carbon sink by 2030, which the energy commission will study. It also called on all other governments to address the crisis at the speed and scale required, setting in motion a nine-county Bay Area climate emergency town hall this summer aimed at catalyzing local, regional, state, national and global mass mobilizations to restore a safe climate and a collaborative regional mobilization effort. You can read the full text of the resolution here.
In the same hearing, the council took a critical first step in realizing the mobilization by voting to refer a Fossil Free Fast resolution to the city’s energy commission. Under this resolution, Berkeley would actively oppose new fossil fuel infrastructure, making it the first municipality in California and the second in the nation to move forward such a sweeping block. You can read the full text of the resolution here.
September 8th Join: Rise for Climate, Jobs & Justice, Global Day Of Action For Fossil Free World
We often think of leadership as something elected officials and people in power embody. The truth is real leadership comes from the people, and the past week has proven that.
On Friday, June 8th, people across the country showed us what real climate leadership looks like. As the US Conference of Mayors convened in a Boston convention center, hundreds of our friends and allies demonstrated outside to demand action for a Fossil Free future. They were joined by thousands of tweets at their mayors under the #RiseForClimate hashtag — so many, that the live Twitter feed inside the conference was completely taken over by #RiseForClimate tweets. Only one mayor, Tom Butt of Richmond, CA, came out to greet the protesters, but the strength of their demands could not be ignored inside the conference.
Most of our elected officials aren’t truly leading on climate change. We, the people, need to demonstrate real climate leadership where our elected officials won’t. That’s why this fall, people around the world will rise up for the climate solutions we need. Join us on September 8th for Rise for Climate, Jobs & Justice — a global day of action to get all local and state governments to act for a Fossil Free world.
The people didn’t only lead the way forward in Boston last week. Just yesterday, a coalition of climate groups and community members pushed the city of Berkeley, CA closer to a Fossil Free future. The Berkeley City Council voted to move two key resolutions forward that call for a just transition to 100% renewable energy, a stop to new fossil fuel projects, and a Bay Area-wide town hall on climate change.
This is the kind of bold action for a Fossil Free world we need to see from every elected official in the country. We’re setting the deadline for their commitments on September 8th, when elected officials from around the world will gather in San Francisco for the Global Climate Action Summit. A global day of people-powered action called Rise for Climate, Jobs, & Justice will coincide with the summit. Whether elected officials are met with fury or fanfare in the streets on September 8th will depend on the choices they make.
We want to get as many local and state governments to commit to Fossil Free action before September 8th. People are already planning actions in dozens of cities. Sign up here to join or host a Rise September 8th event in your community.
We know that one or two cities acting alone won’t stop the global climate crisis — but what we just saw in Boston and Berkeley is only a taste of what our movement can do. Berkeley City Council bent to the pressure of the people. Boston Mayor Marty Walsh and the US Conference of Mayors were sweating in their seats while being bombarded by our messages on their own social media livestream monitors. Imagine what we can accomplish if we bring this level of pressure to every city, town and state capital in America.
It’s no secret that we’re faced with a monumental challenge. Fossil fuel billionaires control our federal government, and the planet isn’t getting any younger. But we can still make a difference by building a critical mass of local and state governments willing to go the distance to fight big polluters and actualize a Fossil Free future. All of our elected officials could and should do more, but they won’t unless we compel them to — unless we show them what real climate leadership looks like.
Let’s get to work. Sign up here to join or host a Rise September 8th event in your community.