People for a Renewed Society

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Carlos Rymer Summer, 2007

People for A Renewed Society

: A Proposed Vision

Background

The climate movement is growing quickly in the United States and elsewhere. Youth areleading the way through the Campus Climate Challenge, citizens have spoken through Step It Up2007, the labor community is demanding action through the Apollo Alliance, farmers areembracing clean energy with their 25 x 25 challenge, the religious community has called for firmaction to protect the planet from disruptive climate change, the clean energy industry has beenworking hard at improving technologies, and many other communities have risen to the climatecrisis to demand deep and quick cuts in global warming pollution. Later this year, there will beclimate marches in three states, a national convergence of youth in Washington, D.C., and manyother actions calling for strong federal action, especially from presidential candidates who willwork to replace the current administration.Discussions at the governmental level still treat the growing climate and broader environmental crises as external issues that are critical but do not require substantial changes tosociety (economically, politically, and culturally). Today, the global community is clearly not ona good track. The climate crisis is just the most noticeable symptom of how bad we’re doing. Of course, unless we cut emissions globally as soon as possible, we may not have a chance of correcting any other problem. But what is meant by “not on a good track”? It’s more than just theenvironmental crisis. It’s how government is controlled today because there are no incentives for businesses to be separate from government; it’s how people’s health is declining everywhere(growing obesity, diseases, etc.); it’s how youth are being indoctrinated by a culture that promotes conflict; it’s how poverty and income inequality are actually growing; and it’s how allnatural stocks are on a downward trend.So, on the heels of a growing climate movement that will ensure something is done aboutthe climate crisis, we have an opportunity to change all this, to attach all these issues to the broader flaws in our political

and economic

systems. The climate crisis involves energy,

Proposed name.

Narrow political system, designed centuries ago and not appropriate for today’s society, which has so manydifferent communities (workers, farmers, environmentalists, scientists, women, youth, economists, engineers, businesspeople, etc.).

Our economic system is based on markets that are exclusive of social and natural capital, which clearly haveenormous value. As a result, the future has no value to us under the current system.

Carlos Rymer Summer, 2007 businesses, poverty, loss of natural resources, health, and many more components and symptomsof our worsening society. Cleary, solving it alone will solve most of the problems connected toenergy, such as agriculture, air pollution, and perhaps even poverty, and will undoubtedly present a huge economic opportunity. But it won’t address many other problems. We need toembrace a new vision that frames the climate crisis as an opportunity to address the inherentflaws in our government structure and our form of capitalism.

Building a Model in ew Jersey or Anywhere

The current climate movement is too focused on its mission to ensure that appropriateleaders get elected to pass legislation to begin the task of rapidly reducing global warming pollution. Other movements, such as the anti-war and the human rights movements, are alsofocused on their goals. Unfortunately, it is unlikely any of these will make the inherentconnections across issues and embrace a vision of systemic changes that connects all the issuesto the flaws in our political and economic systems. That is, unless a successful model is in placesomewhere to serve as an example of what this kind of vision can achieve.We need to build this kind of model in our state if we want others to embrace this kind of vision. We need to find out whether it can work and whether it truly is the best way to deal withthe climate crisis and the host of other problems our nation and the rest of the world have. Therehave been attempts to cross-connect issues and different communities, but none has developed avision simple and attractive enough in our state so as to really make clear that our problems aremajor symptoms of flawed politics and economics. We don’t have problems because theysomehow happened and we can’t deal with them. At the level of sophistication and progress atwhich society is today, we really are capable of dealing with all these problems all at once; weknow that.In order to build this model, we need to collectively agree to establish an organizationthat will:1.

Promote this vision.2.

Identify and attract the different movements in our state.3.

Make the message behind our vision clear through the media.

Carlos Rymer Summer, 20074.

Run campaigns

in municipalities, schools, businesses, and other places to get someversion of our 8-Point Plan implemented or endorsed.5.

Propose state legislation in the form of a package – one that will fix the economic and political flaws (this may defy federal laws, but we need to find a way to do it; it will alsosee a lot of opposition due to many reasons).

Motivation

The Climate Crisis: Despite the clarity on the seriousness about the climate crisis, there is stillsignificant inertia to change on the part of political leaders. Recent studies show that IPCC predictions are low. For example, Arctic summer ice melting predictions were 30 years ahead of reality. The North Pole will be completely gone during the summers of the 2020’s. Similarly,IPCC didn’t include the dynamics of the ice sheets. Top scientists indicate that these (WestAntarctica and Greenland) have begun to disintegrate, and that if they melt, sea level globallywould rise 14 meters. In addition, with a 0.8C increase above pre-industrial levels, Australia isseeing a drought never seen, Africa is being increasingly desertified, severe weather events are becoming more common, glaciers are retreating almost everywhere, and poverty is beingexacerbated by agricultural loss due to global warming.In spite of these warnings, governments are failing to react appropriately. The currentscience indicates that in order to prevent the 2C threshold, we must reduce global emissions 60% by 2030. More recent studies indicate that the carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphereshould be no more than 350 ppm. Yet the boldest plans call for 50% cuts by 2050. What isn’tnoted is that the 60% by 2030 goal gives us a 50% chance of avoiding catastrophic climatechange. Catastrophic here means widespread migration, a spread of infectious diseases, loss of forest, soil, and water resources, destructive storms, loss of agriculture, 14-meter sea-level rise(that will destroy many cities and economies), increased conflicts, and possibly a large reductionin the human population. It seems that we are trying to manage the unsustainable.The Politics: Many governments make decisions that are motivated by the calls for specialinterests to keep the status quo of making profit, as if making profit can only be done bydegrading social and natural capital. Despite widespread support for significantly higher environmental protection, universal health care, an end to wars, the eradication of poverty, better

We will need one strong, visionary name for the state-wide campaign.

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Category:	Research > Science
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Upload Date:	05/14/2009
Copyright:	Attribution Non-commercial
Tags:	carbon freshwater sustainability incentives global warming climate change (more tags) carbon freshwater sustainability incentives global warming climate change cambio climático renewable energy Sustainable Development medio ambiente calentamiento global clean energy desarrollo sostenible environmental conservation energia renovable payments for ecosystem services pagos por servicios ambientales carbon mineral agua fresca alternative economic indicators (fewer)

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