Park Slope Petitions Obama For Leadership On Climate Defense

The Eagle received this press release:

On Sunday, Park Slope citizens had a chance to tell President Barack Obama that real cuts in carbon emissions are necessary to avoid environmental catastrophe, as activists from the Park Slope Greens and Parents For Climate Protection collected signatures to send to the White House.

In under two hours the activists collected close to 150 signed pledge cards from Brooklynites, stating that US legislation and policies must cut climate pollution by at least 25 percent to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2020, and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent to 95 percent by 2050. These are the targets that climate scientists say are necessary to avoid a climate crisis.

The Obama administration’s earlier announcement of cuts of 6 percent from 1990 levels fall far short of the warnings of the scientific community.

In addition to posters and literature about the climate defense movement, the activists displayed a dozen home-made ice globes that melted in the afternoon sun to symbolize the need for climate defense now, as glaciers and arctic sea ice recede every year.

Activists in attendance included David Pechefsky, Green Party 2009 Candidate For City Council, and Gloria Mattera, Green Party Candidate For Brooklyn Borough President in 2005.

The pledge cards will be mailed to the White House before President Obama appears at the Copenhagen conference on December 18th.

Back to homepage

March for Climate Leadership Over B'klyn Bridge

Hundreds of New Yorkers joined environmental advocacy group Greenpeace this past Saturday in the March for Climate Leadership across the Brooklyn Bridge. The march was part of the largest global day of climate action ever as one of more than 4,500 events in over 170 countries to call on President Obama and other world leaders to secure a fair, ambitious and binding global deal in Copenhagen this December at the UN Climate Change Conference.
There were more than 50 events throughout New York City, as reported by the New York Times. Why was the number 350 on so many signs carried by demonstrators? According to the report, 350 parts per million is the upper limit for heat-trapping carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
 

Photos by Michael Nagle courtesy of Greenpeace


Back to homepage