Radiohead has never been a typical band, and lead singer Thom Yorke doesn’t just sneer at the status quo to sell albums. Any fan of his music is well versed in his paranoid android musings about the end of the world and the total depravity of mankind – see Pyramid Song, Fake Plastic Trees…pretty much everything he’s said since hitting puberty.

But beyond his searing lyrics, Yorke has been organizing like a born rabble-rouser for years, lending his artistic credibility to environmental and human rights issues across the globe. This week, he’s teamed up with 350.org’s project 350 eARTh: Planetary Art Show for the Climate to raise awareness about what is arguably (seriously?!?! Argue with an ICEBERG, climate deniers…if you can find one) the biggest problem facing mankind lately: world destruction and the end of life as we know it. Yep! That big.

350 eARTh is a series of coordinated art installations on a scale rarely seen: satellite size, to be exact. “Art can convey in a different way than science the threat that climate change poses to our planet,” 350′s founder Bill McKibben says, but the breadth and depth (or should I say height) of 350′s project is amazing: they’ve coordinated volunteers around the globe to create works of art large enough to be seen and photographed from satellites in space, immediately before UN Climate Meetings happen in Cancun next week.

For his part, Yorke is organizing thousands of volunteers in England to reproduce the cover image from his solo album, The Eraser (pictured at right). Says Yorke about his particular moment of environmental awakening:

In the paper one day, [Friends of the Earth activist] Jonathan Porrit was basically dismissing any commitment that the working government has toward addressing global warming, saying that their gestures were like King Canute trying to stop the tide. And that just went “kaching” in my head. It’s not political, but that’s what I feel is happening. We’re all King Canutes, holding our hands out, saying, “It’ll go away. I can make it stop.” No, you can’t.

Testify, Thom. Like you told the world so long ago:

We’re not scare mongering
This is really happening!

If a picture says a thousand words, then a video must say a million. This latest Gulf of Mexico fiasco may spell big problems for President Obama by the end of his first term. When certain media and rightwing pundits first begin criticizing the President and comparing his response to the oil spill in the gulf, with that of President Bush’s to Katrina, I dismissed it as mere politics. However, as the oil spill becomes increasingly more devastating by the day, I am starting to believe that this may very well be Obama’s dark cloud that looms over him, throughout the remainder of his first term in office.

This is a stark presumption, I know, but it’s one that I conceded to only after hearing Purdue Professor Steve Wereley reveal a more damning estimate on the amount of oil that he believes is spewing into the gulf each day. Using a technique called particle image velocimetry, Wereley and other scientific minds have been able to analyze a tape that BP released on Tuesday, and calculated, what they claim is a more precise projection of oil leaked in the gulf per day. Initially, the US Coast Guard had estimated that the compromised rig was leaking up to 5,000 barrels per day, but estimates using the aforementioned practice upped that number to around 70,000 barrels, and that’s modestly speaking. This is a startling realization if it is true, and more than likely it is, being that the scientist say that this technique has a 99% rate of accuracy (when conducted properly).

Obama, oh boy, I foresee many forthcoming problems on your hand. While some may argue that the President has done his best to manage the situation. I respond by saying that sometimes a little more than our best is required. I mean, why in heavens name is the federal government still allowing BP to call the shots, when it comes to this oil spill? It makes no sense. Yes, I agree that this conglomerate should be made to clean up their own mess, but since they’re clearly not capable of doing so in a timely manner, I for one believe that our government should act with all deliberate speed to use whatever resources we can to resolve the problem, and that we should just stick BP with the bill at the end of the day. I’m sure that a company that profited a little more than two and half billion dollars in recent quarters can pick up the tab, and that they can definitely do more than what’s being asked of them to do now.

Check out the disturbing video after the jump!

Source: BP video from May 11 showing oil and gas streaming from the Deepwater Horizon well.

Hey all,

So I figure that this is something that’s really interesting! I have given a lot of thought about the 3 fossil fuel disasters over the past 2 weeks and what is really interesting is that these came at a time when climate legislation is supposed to be the top of the list of priorities for the Senate! I think it is now the appointed time for the environmental movement to stand up and really fight for what is needed: One, safer working conditions and two, climate legislation that does not include off shore drilling, coal or natural gas! Especially since the companies can’t even keep their workers safe! Well, I hope everyone is now calling their senators and telling them that they need to pass a strong climate bill without “clean” coal, drilling and natural gas!  Let’s also keep the families of the 11 lost on the oil rig in our thoughts and prayers as it is a shame that we have to lose valuable lives in order to truly understand the need to kick the dirty energy habit!

Secretary Chu discusses the climate change debate.

Check out Gillian Caldwell from 1Sky chopping it up with Obama about clean coal. This is an awesome exchange.

A clip from Van Jones’ amazing speech at #Poweshift09.

From my friend Christina Polcari:

What if Obama announced a plan today that promised green jobs for our urban youth, window panes and lower energy bills, urban gardens and lower medical bills, clean air and clean streets?

The Yes Men dare us to think so. They dare us to imagine the world is as we wanted it just for a minute. Earlier this week in Copenhagen, Canada dropped jaws when it announced a radical reversal of its climate change policy at the COP15. It was exactly the kind of action the world has been waiting for–bold and badass. But it was all a prank, compliments of the Yes Men.

We wanted a global deal out of the COP15. The Yes Men put the spotlight on countries standing in the way to publicly humiliate them. Because the people, the media, and the UN responded, and for a moment, we saw the change we believe in.

Last night, Jayme and Mahfam sat on the rogue Yes Men stage at the “Good COP15″ to tell our leaders about how urban communities are building a better environment and a better economy. People working together on projects like Green the Hood are the true agents of change.

This week, Mahfam has made us realize we need to go back home and “blow up our efforts and take them to the next level…to scale the movement.” She’s absolutely right. Coming from a global conference, to me, the next level looks more local. Our leaders can and must take bolder action but we have to do even more at home to show them exactly what that action looks like. Here’s to the next steps for our communities, the ones to scale the movement and to give our leaders no room to budge.

Follow all of Jayme’s and Marcia’s copenhagen coverage at http://youngvoter.org/cop15

Fasting today and my stomach hurts. Not because of fasting but because if we don’t get a deal, we should not have children. It is a matter of survival.

Heard yesterday that the negotiations are going to go at least through the weekend. We HAVE to keep on pushing! Contact your Congress person NOW!

~Marcia Lee

I really don’t like to miss meals i.e. fast. But when we, meaning the U.S., are making a conscious decision to not take all the steps to stop global climate change I have NO CHOICE but to turn my fork down. Join the movement before it really is too late.

~Jayme Montgomery-Baker

From the folks at Climate Justice Fast…

We, the participants of Climate Justice Fast!, are undertaking our international hunger strike in order to call upon world leaders – and all people, everywhere – to act with courage and good faith for our common, global good, by implementing the most rapid possible transition to stabilise atmospheric greenhouse gases below 350ppm CO2-e, and by committing to deliver justice for the global poor and future generations – who are the least responsible for causing climate change, yet who suffer the most from its effects.

Climate Justice for the poor and for future generations can be delivered by funding climate adaptation and mitigation activities in
developing nations with at least US$195 billion per year; by reducing and rejecting over-consumption, wherever it exists, and by phasing out both deforestation and fossil fuels completely – starting with the elimination of developed countries’ fossil fuel subsidies, shifting them
 wholly to renewable energy and international climate finance.

We urge all people, everywhere, to make a commitment to join the movement for climate justice, and to not to give up until we succeed in these demands being met.

Fasting today and my stomach hurts. Not because of fasting but because if we don’t get a deal, we should not have children. It is a matter of survival.

Follow all of Marcia’s copenhagen coverage at http://youngvoter.org/cop15

Hi! My name is Marcia Lee and I am a volunteer of the Wisconsin affiliate of The League of Young Voters and Education Fund. I have been on location in Copenhagen since last Monday and will be providing some information on what has been happening inside the center where the officials have been meeting to negotiate a treaty and basic feedback on the last couple of weeks. Please comment and let me know if you have specific questions and I will do my best to answer! I’ll start with the basics

1) Why is this meeting called COP15?

The conference is not called COP15 because it is based in Copenhagen. COP actually stands for Conference of Parties and the number 15 follows because this is the 15th year that these meetings have been happening. In 1990, the United Nations General Assembly decided to work on climate change and the first meeting occurred in 1995 in Berlin.

2) What is the purpose of this meeting?

According to the official COP-15 website, “The overall goal for the 2009 (COP15) United Nations Climate Change Conference hosted by Denmark is to establish an ambitious global climate agreement for the period from 2012.”

This meeting between the highest environmental ministers in the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) is supposed to decide how we will move forward as a globe to address climate change in light of the fact that the Kyoto Protocol is supposed to expire in 2012.

3) What is the Kyoto Protocol?

The Kyoto Protocol was the only document on climate change that was agreed upon as legally binding guidelines (countries that have agreed to the guidelines have to follow through according to international law). The guidelines are aimed to reduce four greenhouse gases that impact the ozone layer that protects us from the sun. The agreement was made in 1997 and formally ratified in 2005 when a certain number of countries signed on.

4) What has the U.S. done to apply the Kyoto Protocol?

The U.S. has not done anything. Our government rejected the Kyoto Protocol and is also one of the greatest hindrances to a deal in this negotiation.

5) Why is this meeting such a big deal if they have been meeting for 15 years?

This conference is a big deal because there are over 150 heads of states that are gathering today and tomorrow to work on coming to an agreement. This is very important because the heads of states for most countries have the ultimate power to make decisions for the country. It is a bit more complicated in the U.S. because we have to get approval from the Senate and House as well. But if President Obama does agree to something, it will have much more weight than if a representative for the U.S. did.

Follow all of Heather’s copenhagen coverage at http://youngvoter.org/cop15

“When Kim Nguyen, 28-year-old social worker, left his homeland of Australia in August of 2008, he thought of climate change as an abstract subject that was occasionally discussed on the evening news and something that politicians argued about. But Nguyen always sensed there was a bigger story out there.

So in the lead up to the United Nations (UN) Climate Negotiations in Copenhagen, Nguyen set out on a sixteen-month bike ride through 22 countries between his hometown of Brisbane, Australia and Copenhagen, Denmark to hear firsthand the story of climate change and it’s effects throughout the world…”

Continue reading the full article by Heather Box over at Huffington Post!

Stay tuned here at 99Problems.org for more updates from the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference!

League of Young Voters Education Fund members, Jayme Montgomery,
Christina Polcari and Courtney Hull on the streets of Copenhagen
discussing the protest they will attend on the morning of December 16,
2009 – follow their trip at http://youngvoter.org/cop15

“There is a big protest in COP tomorrow morning – delegates will walk
out of convention to join thousands in the streets (esp 20,000
people). People are really pissed here because it doesn’t look like
we will have a bold agreement that all countries agree on by the end
of the week. We will be at the protest tomorrow to report!” – Heather
Box

Check the video after the jump!

Heather and Jayme interviewed by Current TV

The League of Young Voters Education Fund is on the scene in Denmark! It was inspiring to fly all the way across the world last night only to disembark from the plane and see dozens of familiar faces walking through the streets of beautiful Copenhagen. Some good friends, some co-workers, some acquaintances; all allies, but the quality they had in common was a visible, tangible feeling of exhaustion. As I jumped up and down in the streets of Denmark, taking in the experience and excited to connect with the people I knew to find out where I should be in the AM to get the best story I was stopped in my tracks by their warnings:

“Heather, lower your expectations. It seems like the decision to make no decision is already set.”

It’s stunning, honestly. So I am in search of the silver lining – the good news from Copenhagen – which I know is here, I just haven’t found it yet. A group of international youth sitting next to me right now are discussing the need for the United States Senate to mandate action in order to make the US move in Copenhagen. They are talking tactics for pressuring Congress. Many people are considering an international push on the US Senate; district by district pressure in the States, massive global direct action … I wish I could jump in the conversation with the answer but there are still so many questions.

What I can say with confidence is that we need to fight the exhaustion and keep pushing our elected officials. We don’t have time for exhaustion, only for action. We need to join the small nations, the independent voices, who are crying out for true change, for diplomacy and equal treatment.

Off to join the conversation – will send updates soon. Less than 24 hours on the ground and it’s a different world…

What’s the view from America?

Just hopped off a video announcement from Lisa P. Jackson, Administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency and definitely a top pick on the short list of D.C. insiders who are really taking their title/mission to heart.

On what is coincidentally (purely surely) the first day of the international COP15 summit, the EPA announces that their thorough (musta been really thorough) analysis of all the available facts leads to one simple conclusion: greenhouse gases “threaten the public health and welfare of the American people.”

There’s more:

“These long-overdue findings cement 2009’s place in history as the year when the United States Government began addressing the challenge of greenhouse-gas pollution and seizing the opportunity of clean-energy reform,” said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson.

Great talking point from Mrs. Jackson and my instinct thinks she’s legit. When asked on the call about the timing of the EPA’s announcement, when House reps have indicated no movement on environmnetal legislation until early Spring (months from now), Lisa Jackson said the EPA did not want to wait to get the ball rolling and hoped that Congress would “follow the ball.”

Translation: watch out, world. Apparently it’s not a pre-requisite of American political power to actually lose total touch with the land and your people!

Keep it up, Mrs. Jackson.

What commercials do you remember? One of them – which is kinda before my time – is the Apple “1984″ commercial. About 25 years ago, a commercial came out symbolizing Apple as a ‘change from the ordinary’. Today, it seems, commercials are pushing the envelope a bit more: in England, a climate change ad is on the chopping block due to content that is “scaring kids”.

According to Treehugger,

The premise is simple enough: it’s a British TV ad designed to get adults’ attention and to highlight the importance of acting to stop climate change. It shows a father reading a bedtime story about global warming to his daughter. The story comes to life, showing starving, crying cartoon bunny rabbits and drowning dogs–and the daughter is terrified.

Check it:

Is it too scary? Or just scary enough?

As far back as I can remember, water was a right, and right there for the drinking. When I was a kid, I would turn the knob and cool, clear H2O would just come out, as much as I could want.

Water covers 71% of the Earth’s surface and is recognized as one of the absolutely essential elements in the development of life as we know it…meaning without water, we wouldn’t be here. Due to climate change, that staple of human life is becoming a bit harder to come by.

Check this factoid from the EPA:

All regions of the world show an overall net negative impact of climate change on water resources and freshwater ecosystems. Areas in which runoff is projected to decline are likely to face a reduction in the value of the services provided by water resources. The beneficial impacts of increased annual runoff in other areas are likely to be tempered in some areas by negative effects of increased precipitation variability and seasonal runoff shifts on water supply, water quality and flood risks (IPCC, 2007)

This means that due to climate change, water is becoming a precious commodity. While over 90 percent of the world delivers water as a public utility, water privatization is on the rise in poorer countries and now in stressed areas of the US, as the climate of our planet steadily changes.

By 2013, thirty six states will experience some sort of water shortage. And the enterprising businessmen of America would love to step in and charge us to supply fresh water, even though the industrial pollution of our waterways (often by the same businessmen who support privatization) is a primary factor in the climate change that is leading to these water shortages!

The effects of privatization on lower income communities are drastic. Water bills skyrocket and invariably, the city runs dry. Check this real life story, entitled “Water Warriors”:

You’d think that if you’re paying high prices for a substance as fundamental as water that it’d be pristine and non-toxic. According to a recent report by the New York Times, that isn’t always true. Forty percent of community water systems have violated the Safe Drinking Water Act on – at least – one occasion, which is a startling factor.

So, we could look at it this way: we could purchase overpriced, potentially polluted water from multinational corporations or we could urge the administration to rexamine and come down on climate change profiteers, who purchase and poison the water systems of our communities.

Some things are too priceless to sell, and it is an affront to all Americans that we would be required to pay a privately owned company for what is, in affect, the ability to stay alive, if the climate keeps changing. That isn’t consumer choice, that’s piracy, and the question is, what are we going to do about it?  Will we stand back and accept corporate control of our very ability to live and breathe?

It’s our call, and it’s about time we make it.

Posted as part of Blog Action Day | www.blogactionday.org