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Climate Change and Saving OUR World: President Obama Speaks

Tuesday, May 21st, 2013


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Below is the speech we NEED to see President Obama deliver and then implement. It is long past time for the United States to take it’s rightful place as the leader on climate change solutions. Our future and our NOW and that of our children, depends on it. As parents, we are regularly moved to action by our children’s tears, their thoughts and their ideas. As parents, we are all powerful to move mountains in our owns spheres of influence…

As Winston Churchill once said: “The Americans will always do the right thing… after they’ve exhausted all the alternatives.” At ClimateMama we feel that as a nation, we have reached that time..we’ve tried all the alternatives…it’s now time to act.

This wonderful guest post touched us deeply and we think you will find much “food for thought” in it. This post is written by Climate Reality Leader David Goldstein, and was first published in the Huffington Post on May 16, 2013. We republish it here, in part, with David’s permission, for all of our Climate Mamas and Papas. For the full text, please visit the Huffington Post.

OBAMA ON CLIMATE CHANGE AND SAVING OUR WORLD: By David Goldstein

Bulworth/War of the Worlds Productions brings you the full text of President Obama’s historic, legacy-forging climate change speech.

Good evening my fellow Americans:

Tonight I speak to you concerning a matter of the utmost gravity. It is a matter of national security. It is a matter of human rights. It is a matter of economic and social well-being. I speak to you tonight about a major shift in my approach to climate change.

I am the president but I am also a father. Last week my younger daughter Sasha came to me. In science class, she has been learning about climate change. Sasha overheard one of her classmates saying that his parents said that the president was not doing nearly enough about climate change, that I was playing politics. This classmate’s parents went on to say that I am not providing the forceful leadership necessary and am thereby placing our children and grandchildren at risk.

I’ll be honest. My first reaction was to be irritated. In my mind, I started to list the policies my administration has put in place to mitigate climate change: higher fuel efficiency standards, incentives to invest in green energies. But then I looked into my daughter’s eyes… and I saw tears, and something happened; my rationalizations and justifications fell away. In that moment of clarity, I admitted to myself that her classmate’s parents are right. When it comes to addressing climate, I have fallen short, substantially and significantly short. But that is about to change. When it comes to this elephant in the living room that I and Congress and, indeed, most of our leaders and much of our citizenry have been doing our best to ignore, from this moment forward I say this: “Not on my watch!”

As president, I must work with both Houses of Congress in order to bring policy onto law. I cannot simply draw up a program and say, “This is how it is going to be.” Compromise and negotiation are an integral part of the political process. And so what I say tonight will not automatically become the law of the land. I recognize that. But for too long, in the name of appeasement, in the name of finding a middle ground, I have avoided a simple and undeniable truth and in doing so have been doing a grave disservice to the American people.

The truth is this: Climate change is an emergency. Right here. Right now. Climate change presents a clear and present

Photo Credit: Shutterstock

danger to the national interests of the United States of America and to the well-being of its citizens. Before I go into details, I want to address the notion that there is still uncertainty among the scientists who are studying our climate. I want to make this clear; there is no uncertainty as to whether human activities, especially the burning of fossil fuels, are warming our planet. They are. There is no uncertainty as to whether the effects of this warming will be mostly negative. They will be. There is no uncertainty as to whether the longer we go without taking needed action the more people will suffer and the more expensive it will become.

The only uncertainty that remains is how quickly things will worsen if we do not act now to reduce carbon emissions.

I understand that for many climate change is still a vague and distant phenomenon. For example, you might be aware that the Arctic ice is melting before our eyes; it is simply vanishing. You might think, “So what? How does that affect myself, my loved ones? We need good jobs, we need to pay our mortgages.” This is what makes climate change the enormous challenge that it is: To most of us it happens relatively slowly, and even if we are experiencing drought or flooding, we know that droughts and floods have always happened. On a day-to-day level, climate change does not set off our survival alarms.

As we put more greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere, our planet warms. The extra heat enters our oceans and our landmasses every minute of every hour of every day. The climate systems upon which we have depended as we have built our nation; where and how we grow our food, where and how we get our drinking water, where and how we build our cities and towns, are slowly being pushed out of balance.

The climate system is complex and climate science is complicated. I have learned as much as I can as quickly as I have been able, but at a certain point I simply have to trust the scientists. A strange thing has happened in our country recently. The findings of our scientists, these good men and women who devote their lives to investigating and examining our world in the name of progress and understanding… their findings are being treated as a political matter. It has gotten to the point, where certain high-ranking politicians and business people have leveled baseless accusations impugning the integrity of our scientific community. I can think of few things more dangerous to the functioning of a healthy democracy.

The bottom line is this: Climate change is happening. It is real. What will happen if we do not address it now? It will get worse. It will be more expensive to address later on. There is even the possibility that we will lose the ability to manage the situation altogether. Because of insufficient action on the part of the United States and other nations, humankind is behind the curve when it comes to addressing climate change. What now are our options?

One option is to stay behind the curve. This week, for the first time in at least three million years, the carbon dioxide level in our atmosphere passed 400 parts per million. Three million years ago the Earth was seven degrees Fahrenheit warmer than today and present day New York City, Miami and many coastal cities in the United States and around the world would have been underwater.

Credit: Shutterstock

Before the use of fossil fuels, these types of temperature rises happened over thousands of years. But we are changing things much, much more quickly. As difficult as this may be to grasp, if we stay behind the curve, according to the latest research, my daughters and your children and grandchildren are looking at a world of “unprecedented heat-waves, severe droughts and major floods.”

Again, I realize that it is not easy for any of us to wrap our heads around, but the nature of climate change is that the longer it remains unaddressed the more quickly it builds momentum. The time to address it is now before the momentum takes the ability to manage it out of our hands. Staying behind the curve will mean a much more difficult world, perhaps an unlivable world, for our children and grandchildren

But we have another option: We can get ahead of the curve. In 1961, speaking of his intention to put a man on the moon, John F. Kennedy said, “We mean to be a part of it. We mean to lead it. Our leadership in science and industry, our hopes for peace and security, our obligations to ourselves as well as others, requires us to make this effort; not because it is easy, but because it is hard. Because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills.”

Do we need to create more jobs? Do we want a robust economy? Creating jobs and addressing climate change actually go hand-in-hand.

When the will, resources, creativity and resolve of the American people are focused on a goal, we have shown, repeatedly, that we are capable of greatness. And so tonight I am announcing the Green Patriot Program. It is the intention of this program to put us ahead of the curve. We will build-up our manufacturing and create millions of jobs in the areas of solar, wind, geothermal and tidal energy as well as the supporting technologies of battery storage and smart grid capability.

I spoke earlier of having two options. We also have two options for funding the Green Patriot Program. One is a massive build-up of government bureaucracy. The other is a market option that will keep government intervention to a minimum. I will tell you right now and in no uncertain terms, there is only one way to make the market option possible and that is by instituting a carbon tax.

I am a father and I love my daughters as much as I love anything on this Earth. Now, some may say, “President Obama is attempting to completely revamp our economy and society because his daughter had tears in her eyes.” Not so. You have elected me to be your president and Commander-In-Chief. It is my foresworn duty to put forth policy that I deem to be in the best interest of the people of the United States of America. Across the board; economically, ecologically, morally and in terms of national security that is what I have done tonight. We may or may not be able to get this program through Congress now or six months from now or three years from now. I don’t know. But as your president and, yes, as a father, I will not stop trying.

Thank you, God bless you and good night.

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Posted in Climate Mama News, Take a Stand: Action & Advocacy | No Comments »

Responsibilities: Birth Stories, Climate Change and Mother’s Day

Monday, May 6th, 2013


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As I write this post the sun is beaming through the window in my office, lighting up my desk and placing spotlights on pictures of my children, which surround me. The pictures capture “moments in time;” freezing memories of special days spent with my children that now live on and on. In a similar way, as if by spotlight, images and feelings from the moments of my children’s births, also are vividly locked forever in my mind and heart.

Photo Credit: Save the Children

As Mother’s day approaches, I am thrilled to be part of an awareness campaign on newborn survival rate and what can be done to improve this, illuminated by Save the Children, and coordinated by Mom Bloggers for Social Good. According to Save the Children’s, State of the World Mother’s Report 2013, a baby’s birth day is the most dangerous day of it’s life, with more then 1 million babies dying the day they are born.

As part of my participation in this awareness campaign, I am allowing myself some real time to reflect, to relive and remember those moments again and to sit back and think deeply on what it means to me personally to be a mother; how that very moment of my children’s birth forever changed me in large ways and small.

Photo credit: ClimateMama

I have two children who are now teens, Alana 13 and Elliot 15, both of whom where born in hospitals in New York City. Elliot came several days earlier then his due date and as he was my first, I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I worked until 36 hours before he was born, and left my office as I was beginning to feel the first twinges of labor. With Elliot, I went to the hospital with these first labor pains, only to be sent home to wait, as I was told that it could be a day or two before he made his entrance into the world. My husband and I were both off from work so we passed the time being “tourists” in our city. We went on a “back stage tour” of the Metropolitan Opera house, caught a movie and walked in Central Park. At 4:30pm that afternoon we went back to the hospital and this time they told me to stay. The next 12 hours seemed long and hard for me, but I was constantly under excellent care and monitored at all times. Elliot arrived at 4am, healthy and happy.

Alana’s birth was a different story. The date was fixed and planned. We had family in place to care for Elliot, the doctor had organized everything at the hospital and we felt completely prepared. We were ready for almost everything, except the weather as it turned out in the end. (Perhaps an omen and a sign that a few years later I would train with Al Gore and The Climate Reality Project and make fighting climate change my life’s passion and work!)

Alana and Mom coming home from the hospital

The day Alana was born was one of the wettest in New York City’s history, with multiple inches of rain falling in a very short time, flooding streets and also stopping the subway in it’s tracks. We were able to flag a cab who navigated the flooded streets and got us to the hospital safely. Our doctor was coming into the city from Westchester County, so while a little late getting to us, she made her way into the city, driving herself to be sure she could get to us. I was in labor only 3 hours, and Alana came out with bright eyes and already smiling, a happy child then and now.

Two things now stand out to me amongst the strong memories from both of my children’s births.

First is the fact that I felt completely safe and in the most capable hands, not only on the day of their births but throughout both of my pregnancies. I never doubted that I and my children would survive and flourish, and I was certain that if there were any problems, I had a medical team who would make sure that all problems were addressed and taken care of. This feeling of security and the care I had throughout my pregnancies and during my children’s births is a luxury that many mothers in developing countries and even many mothers in my own country, do not have. In fact according to a new Birth Day Risk Index found in the 2013 State of the World’s Mothers Report, based on data from 186 countries the chances a baby will die on the first day of life places the US behind 68 other countries. An eye opening statistic for me.

Second, while I felt incredible joy and unconditional love holding my children for the first time, I also felt an overwhelming sense of responsibility wash over and through me. It was now my responsibility to make sure that the world that my children would be growing up in was a safe and secure one.

As I learn more and more about the realities of climate change, and the crash course we are on with our environment as we head full steam for the climate cliff in front of us, I feel that it is MY JOB as a mother to help everyone I meet, via my blog, on line and in person, to understand more about the climate crisis. I feel a sense of urgency, for my children’s future and now, to help as many people as I can become equipped with the proper toolkit we will each need to draw from to slow down the damages we are doing and to put the breaks on while we work to transform our world to one which is safe, clean, renewable and truly sustainable….

Whether you are a parent or not, I hope will join me on this transformational path. As super storm Sandy showed those of us living in the northeastern US, we are ALL in the path of climate change. We are ALL vulnerable to extreme weather and changing climate conditions through our reliance on fossil fuels and our thoughtless dominance over our natural world – regardless of race, creed, political persuasion or color. To me, our responsibility to our children has never been clearer. How we treat and tend our natural world has far reaching ramifications for our children’s health directly and for the health, welfare and future of all mothers and children around the world.

Yours,

Climate Mama

As part of the Global Team of 200 and Mom Bloggers for Social Good, bloggers around the country collectively support a cause or action to bring attention to an important issue. This month we are thrilled to bring attention to Save the Children and their Saving Newborn Lives program which is supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The Newborn Lives program works in partnership with countries to reduce newborn mortality and improve newborn health. As part of the Global Team of 200 I also am honored to have the opportunity and play a role in helping others “connect the dots” between our climate crisis and social issues impacting us all.

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Posted in Climate Mama News, Global Team of 200, Health & Fitness, Take a Stand: Action & Advocacy | 1 Comment »

Radon gas in your Kitchen, Exploding Pipelines in NYC: Terrorism and Climate Change!

Friday, May 3rd, 2013


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Radon gas in your kitchen, exploding pipelines in Greenwich Village, terrorism you ask? Yes, but not the kind of terrorism we have been sadly awakened to recently in our country. This “terrorism” comes to us from many big companies doing business around our country, using us as experiments as untried and untested chemicals and infrastructure make their way into our bodies, our homes and our neighborhoods. Sandra Steingraber has called this invasion of our bodies, toxic “trespass.”

Special thanks to our friend Ronnie for bringing this video from Occupy the Pipeline to our attention, and to people like our friend Angela at The Mothers Project for making us more aware of this serious yet still “under the radar” issue. We want to bring this to YOUR attention so you can share it carefully with the kids in your life. Take 2 minutes and watch this video, you will find it hard to believe.

The sad truth is that in our rush for “cheap energy” we are ignoring growing concerns that scientists are raising about the potential for terrible long term health impacts and the potential for deadly accidents from fossil fuels and in particular natural gas, never mind the climate impacts, which are very real and sobering. On this note and as a quick refresher, methane, which is the main component in natural gas, is around 100 times more potent as a greenhouse gas then carbon dioxide over a 20 year period and 20 times more potent over 100 years; thereby working to trap solar energy and heat up our planet at an unnatural pace. The sobering part of this story is that, with the natural gas gold rush we are experiencing – if allowed to continue unchecked – it may be enough to push us over the “climate cliff” and to a point of runaway climate change..Truly a horror movie in the making.

All eyes on New York City. Can New Yorkers make this an issue in their November Mayoral race, such that it can’t be ignored? As many New York city buildings rush to convert from oil to “clean gas,” politicians and building owners are putting blinders on as to where and how this gas is getting to NYC buildings and whether or not it is really safe. They are drinking the “koolaide” the gas companies are serving. We need public hearings, in New York City and nationally on this. We need more health studies. There is NO rush for this gas except the artificial one being created by gas and oil companies to shore up their stock prices. We need to slow down the gas explosion before it really does “explode” in our kitchens, neighborhoods, playgrounds or backyards.

Something to think about today…

Yours,

Climate Mama

P.S. If you live in the NYC metro area and are interested in learning more about this, sign up for this free event: Lung Cancer and New York City Kitchens, on Tuesday evening, May 14th. See you there….

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Posted in Climate Mama News, Construction, Disasters, Health & Fitness, In The News, Renewable Energy, Take a Stand: Action & Advocacy, fracking and pipelines | No Comments »

Environmental Challenge: The End, or Just the Beginning?

Sunday, April 28th, 2013


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Our first Earth Day Challenge has ended, a full week of “daily” challenges, that got us thinking about things we use, buy and eat – where it all comes from – and why we need to be mindful about many of the things we in the developed world often take for granted.

What did the kids in your life think about “Meatless Monday” “Take Care of Yourself Tuesday” “Water Wednesday?” “Try a New Recipe Thursday?” “Foodie Friday?” and Satisfied Saturday?

Slow Down Sunday

At your family meeting or at breakfast or perhaps when you wake up the kids in your life or when you tuck them in for the night, take a few moments to reflect together on the challenges you chose to do this week. Maybe drinking more water improved your day and gave you more energy. Or perhaps you see the value in eating less meat for your own health and for our earth. Are you going to “reduce, reuse and YERDLE?”

Choose at least two of the actions you and the kids in your life completed this week and do them today. Follow through and see how changing a habit and creating a new action affects your day. Do you see you and your family doing any of these challenges all the time now? As Margaret Mead said: “Never doubt that a small group of people can change the world, in fact it is the only thing that has.”

Remind your kids about what another famous individual they may know – who cares greatly for our earth – told us:

Yours,

Climate Mama

Special thanks to Michel Aboodi for developing our first annual Earth Day Environmental and Climate Challenge!

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Environmental Challenge Day 6: Waste & YERDLE

Saturday, April 27th, 2013


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Photo Credit: Suzy Skye

On Earth Day, we launched our first Earth Day Challenge, a full week of “daily” challenges, that gets us thinking about things we use, buy and eat – where it all comes from – and why we need to be mindful about many of the things we in the developed world often take for granted. Check in with ClimateMama each morning to see what the next day’s challenge will be. Remember to have a quick family meeting at breakfast or dinner to discuss the daily challenge and see what the kids in your life have to say about it.

What did the kids in your life think about “Meatless Monday” “Take Care of Yourself Tuesday” “Water Wednesday?” “Try a New Recipe Thursday?” and “Foodie Friday?”

Today is Satisfied Saturday

Photo credit: Shutterstock

When we consume things, be it products we buy or foods we eat, we generate waste. Waste comes from wrappers, packaging, things we no longer want or feel we need and leftover food. If you’re feeling like going the extra mile, carry a garbage bag with you throughout the day and see how much you accumulate; a challenge for the kids in your life today? At the very least, ask them to consider these facts today every time they throw something away – on food waste alone:

• 1 billion dollars is spent a year just to dispose of food waste in the U.S.
• The Environmental Protection Agency says food leftovers are the single-largest component of the waste stream by weight in the United States.

While we are talking about waste, let’s talk about all the “stuff” we each accumulate every day, week and year and all the “new stuff” that you and the kids in your life buy that we may or likely may not really need. Stuff for a day at the beach, for one season of soccer or lacrosse, clothes for that “special party,” a new costume for Halloween, or decorations for your table for a dinner party you are giving. Did you know that for every pound of new goods produced, 71 pounds of waste are generated during manufacturing? This Earth Week, NBCUniversal is partnering with the sharing site Yerdle to help you minimize your impact on the planet by sharing your stuff. One person’s stuff is another person’s story! We thought we would share this fun program with you, as we challenge ourselves to be more mindful and carrying for our planet Earth.

Here’s how it works.


Our friends at Yerdle, a new mission-driven California Benefit corporation, are out to help people share with their friends rather than buying things new. On Yerdle, Facebook friends post items they’re willing to give away or loan, search for items they’re looking to get, and nab the things they want. Simple. Are you up for the challenge? Introduce your friends to Yerdle, have some fun and help do something good for our planet.

1) Join or host a Share & Tell Party
2) Post your stuff to share with friends. Discover other items that are up for grabs.
3) Tell the story of your sharing experiences on your favorite social media site using the hashtag #ShareandTell, and make sure to share your story with us at ClimateMama so we can share it with others too.

The decomposition of waste in landfills produces methane, a greenhouse gas that traps heat in our atmosphere, which accelerates climate change. According to the EPA, pound for pound, the comparative impact of methane on climate change is over 20 times greater than carbon dioxide over a 100-year period.

Remember, our challenge ends tomorrow with, Slow Down Sunday, so tune in!

Yours,

Climate Mama

Eating with the Environment in Mind was developed by Michelle Aboodi.

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Posted in Climate Mama News, Earth Day is Every Day, Food, Health & Fitness, Lifestyle & Fun, Recycling | No Comments »

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Welcome to Climate Mama

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You are a mother, a father, a grandparent, an uncle, an aunt, a teacher or a child at heart. When you hear the Native American saying, “We don’t inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children”, it makes you stop for a moment and think. You love nature, travel, adventure and believing in a world that is special and unique. Climate change and global warming are words that alarm you, that often seem too big to get your arms around. You care about what’s happening to the world and notice small changes in your own life that seem to point in the direction of a threatened environment. But you wonder if these changes are real, and if they are you can’t imagine what you can do to help change what is happening.

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Climate Mamas and Papas

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Climate Change so often seems too big to get our hands around. We wonder where we can start and how we can actually make a difference. Each one of us has a different path that we will follow. Some of us cut a wider swath than others, but each of us has a role to play. We would like to introduce you to some amazing individuals, Climate Mamas and Papas who are making a difference, who are, through their daily lives, affecting the lives of all of us. They inspire us, empower us, and challenge us to reach for the stars, to strive to do the best we can to help change the crash course we are currently on with our environment. Lets meet some of these amazing people and find out what inspires them. Meet our featured Climate Mama, Desiree Di Mauro today!

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Featured Partner & Campaigns

 

The Climate Reality Project is one of the world’s leading organizations dedicated to mobilizing action around climate change. With a global movement that is more than 2 million strong and a grassroots network of trained Climate Leaders, Climate Reality is "spreading the truth and unleashing the cultural momentum to solve the climate crisis."

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