350 has become synonymous with environmental, social and economic responsibility:
- Environmentally, the number refers to the maximum carbon emissions the planet can bear (350 parts per million).
- Socially, the number points to the cultures that will be lost, communities devastated and wars fought, if we do not curb climate change, as populations scramble to meet basic needs of food, shelter and public health.
- Economically, 350 reminds of the astronomical cost of climate change, with Karina serving as a mere micro-example.
However, leaders are not yet committed. 43 days from now, COP15 (the Copenhagen Climate Conference) will occur as a last-ditch effort for a global emissions treaty. But, the Obama administration wants voluntary (as opposed to legally-binding) goals, the EU has failed to reach internal consensus with Eastern-block countries unwilling to commit, and China and India are joining together in a united step toward controlling carbon emissions with out the US and EU beside them.
October 24, 2009, we made history. Today, we must use our new-found global activism apparatus to continue to make 350 a house-hold topic of discussion. Leaders and businesses must recognize that we, their constituents and markets, will support them only if they support a viable future for everyone.
It is not acceptable if companies continue to make frivolous products that pump carbon into the air, triggering melting poles and rising tides that spread floods, famine and destruction. I do not want to fly to India, if it means the very people I'm coming to visit will be washed away by the climate change that ensues from the jet fuel it took to make the flight. I'm not suggesting we go back to living in caves. I'm suggesting we pressure our governments to subsidize development of waste-free, carbon-neutral technologies instead of harvesting old-growth forests or farming crops thrown away to keep prices high.
Don't worry: hypocrisy is the first step!
Amazing event! Don't know how I missed it. Didn't even know about 350.org. And therein lies part of the challenge. If someone who is concerned about climate change, reads the news and listens to NPR didn't know about it, what about all those folks out in the shopping malls, supermarkets and multiplexes? There's a wall. How to break down that wall? That's what needed. Political leaders know most of their constituents are oblivious so they have little incentive to act unless they have their own personal commitment to the climate change issue.