October 30, 2009
Filling Parliament Hill – The Video Edition
by Tzeporah Berman
Friends at seeactinspire have posted my speech to the Fill The Hill rally in Ottawa last Saturday. Lots of other great videos on their channel too. Big shout outs to Fill The Hill, 350.org and Power Shift Canada for their organizing and ecoSanity.org who shot the video. Sure was cathartic looking out at 3000 people on Parliament Hill, knowing we were only one among thousands of events around the world that day.
I thought Bill McKibben captured it (as always): “In some sense, the global warming movement finally went global yesterday. There were thousands of people in the streets from Togo and Ethiopia and Paraguay to Vancouver and Ottawa and Sydney.”
7 Responses so far...
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Chris Turner Video: The Great Leap Sideways
Rogerlg, Sunday, March 7th, 2010 Oh, so that's our Calgary author Chris Turner! Boy, he talks fast! But can there be any doubt that we need leaders and proponents like him? I had a wake up call about the ocean acidification from a CBC radio program about six months ago, and I cried... What can I do to speed up this great leap sideways? When I'm not praying and advocating for a carbon tax, I remember two of my favorite quotes: "A twig can turn a flood, but the twig must be well placed." spoken by Coll in The High King, by Lloyd Alexander; and "When we study the biographies of our heroes, we learn that they spent years in preparation, doing tiny, decent things before one historic moment propelled them to center stage and used them to tilt empires." by Danusha Veronica Goska Read More 3 comments
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Chris Turner Video: The Great Leap Sideways
jflsys, March 8, 2010 What a tightly packed 15 minutes! The parts about urban development reminded me of the great Canadian documentary film... Read MoreChris Turner Video: The Great Leap Sideways
jflsys, March 8, 2010 What a tightly packed 15 minutes! The parts about urban development reminded me of the great Canadian documentary film... Read MoreChris Turner Video: The Great Leap Sideways
Rogerlg, March 7, 2010 Oh, so that’s our Calgary author Chris Turner! Boy, he talks fast! But can there be any doubt that we need... Read MoreUPDATED – Ex-Foreign Affairs Minister Defends “Skeptics,” Condemns Climate “Alarmism”
Barry Saxifrage, February 25, 2010 LOL. Own goal. Even... Read MoreKeep Calm But Don’t Carry On
Barry Saxifrage, February 23, 2010 There are some good things to do in this list, but I disagree with the overall message that we need to back away... Read More
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Open letter to Harper on UN Climate Summit Copenhagen
Tzeporah Berman, December 3, 2009 Tzeporah Berman addressing Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Read MoreIn the Fight Over Clean Energy, Will “Environmentalists” Stand With Science?
March 23, 2009 By Professor Andrew Weaver, Lead author for the Nobel Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Read MoreBacklash Against the Green Economy in BC
Tzeporah Berman, March 19, 2009 "You mean they want to ban all renewable energy companies from your province?" This is the point when I sigh inwardly during conversations with colleagues from outside B. Read MoreWhat Is The Next Generation of Environmentalism?
Tzeporah Berman, March 5, 2009 I'm planning a series of posts on the state of play of "environmentalism" in Canada and to work through the thorny questions over what environmental "leadership" (icky term I know) means at this pivotal moment on Earth. Read MoreFederal Budget: where’s renewable energy?
Chris Hatch, January 28, 2009 The Conservative government is talking “green stimulus” but, in a surprise move, did not renew support to green energy production in its budget. Read More
What the Sami people can teach us about adapting to climate change.
As accelerating climate change and other man-made environmental degradations create growing alarm across the planet, the Sami people have much to teach the world about how to adapt, survive, and thrive, says Elina Helander-Renvall.Conversation about growth in global energy demand begins with China.
China is already the world's largest producer of heavily polluting coal, and the biggest emitter of carbon dioxide.The promise of green chemistry.
Although Grossman is not a trained chemist, she has done a remarkable job of compiling a tremendous amount of technical information and translating it into language nonscientists can appreciate.Hyperbole erodes credibility.
After the Copenhagen shambles, IPCC head Rajendra Pachauri's alleged conflicts of interest and the fabricated propaganda of the University of East Anglia emails, proponents of climate change action need to rebuild credibility.Polar explorer to take on new challenge.
A Scottish explorer who was part of the first British team to walk unsupported to the North Pole is to take on a new challenge helping scientists gauge the impact of greenhouse gas emissions on the Arctic Ocean.Open letter to Harper on UN Climate Summit Copenhagen
Tzeporah Berman, December 3, 2009 Tzeporah Berman addressing Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Read MoreCanadian Industry Leaders Call For Carbon Caps
Chris Hatch, October 20, 2009 Some of the leading player in Canadian industry are calling on the federal government to set hard, declining caps on global warming emissions in a statement released today. Read MoreOttawa Dashes Hopes? Not Of the Canadians I’m Meeting
Tzeporah Berman, October 23, 2009 Ottawa Dashes Hopes for Climate Treaty in Copenhagen blares the front-page headline facing Canadians across the country today. Read MoreHope Blowing in the Wind
Tzeporah Berman, August 12, 2009 I wrote a piece based on my visit to BC's first wind farm which is published in today's Vancouver Sun. Read MoreTime To Fire Up A Clean Energy Economy
Tzeporah Berman, May 22, 2009 My Op-Ed in the Vancouver Sun earlier today. Read More
Prod the Politicians – Write Now
Write the party leaders, demand that Canada keep up with Obama’s green economy plans Join Up Donate
Write the party leaders, demand that Canada keep up with Obama’s green economy plans Join Up Donate
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the most important number in the worldBreakthroughClean Break
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A [Washington] insider’s view of climate science, politics and solutions
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Thanks for the support, Tzeporah. I’ve done a lot of things alone in my life and I’m all too capable of continuing.
But I don’t know about bravery… I’ve just been thoroughly disgusted with the Tories’ approach to climate change for years: Rona Ambrose, John Baird, and Stephen Harper all spending years blaming the Liberals, but I remember what the Tories did on climate change while the Liberals were in power; denial of the science, and stonewalling of any attempts to take action.
Now we have my MP, Jim Prentice, as Environment Minister and all he can do is point fingers at China and the U.S.
Our per capita emissions are very high and if we took genuine action to “sustainabilize” our economy instead of all this blaming, other countries would say, “Wow, if Canada can do it then we can, too.” And I would call that leadership.
“One ought never to turn ones back on a threatened danger and try to run away from it. If you do that, you will double the danger. But if you meet it promptly and without flinching, you will reduce the danger by half.”
Sir Winston Churchill
Good on you. I’ve been hearing about your vigil at Jim Prentice’s office. I think it’s very brave to take on a role on your own like this. Must feel lonely at times. We’ll put an end to this defeatism yet!
I have the good fortune of being in the Alberta riding of MLA David Swann, whose entry in politics began when he was fired by the Alberta Government several years ago for speaking out on climate change. I suppose I’m also fortunate to live in the federal riding of MP JIm Prentice and tomorrow, as I have done for one hour in each of the past six weeks and will continue to do up until Copenhagen, I will go stand on the sidewalk outside his office with two signs which say, “Jim Prentice does not speak for me, either as my MP or as Environment Minister”, and “Stop pointing fingers, and LEAD on climate change.”
Thank you, Tzeporah and all the others who stood in front of Parliament on Oct. 24th. May all our national heel-dragging on climate change come to an end.
Oh wow, I’m so glad you posted this video. I’m going to show this to all the students in our environmental club. They need inspiration and vision, not just more and more stories about how much is stacked against them.
I also made a simple video of the event:
http://www.sindark.com/2009/10/24/fill-the-hill-2009-video/
Thanks a lot for speaking there, and contributing to the strong overall effort. Here’s hoping Canada finally manages to develop and deploy a credible climate change plan.
Thanks Tzeporah, that was great.
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