Cincinnati Earth Hour March 27 @ 8:30PM

Last year, I worked to get the City of Cincinnati to take part in Earth Hour.  Doing it again this year!

On Earth Hour hundreds of millions of people, organizations, corporations and governments around the world will come together to make a bold statement about their concern for climate change by doing something quite simple—turning off their lights for one hour. In the U.S. where we are already feeling the impacts of climate change, Earth Hour sends a clear message that Americans care about this issue and want to turn the lights out on dirty air, dangerous dependency on foreign oil and costly climate change impacts, and make the switch to cleaner air, a strong economic future and a more secure nation.

Participation is easy. By flipping off your lights on March 27th at 8:30 p.m. local time you will be making the switch to a cleaner, more secure nation and prosperous America. View the toolkits, to find out what else you can do to get involved including leading the Earth Hour movement in your community.

To join in the fun, just click here:  Earth Hour Invitation

Climate change info war offensive #3

More and more voices are starting to say that scientists need to take the initiative in communicating the true climate science in the face of the deniers and liars. Here (Dr Richard Betts is head of climate impacts at the Met Office Hadley Centre) is one British scientist joining this growing chorus:  "Climate scientists need to take more responsibility for the communication of their work to avoid this kind of thing.... If we do not help the media, NGOs and the public to understand this, we have done nothing to stop them getting it wrong....  If our science is misunderstood and misused, and then turned against us, it really will be a case of We've Been Framed."

Climate change info war offensive #2

I'm not the only one suggesting compiling a list of climate deniers and liars.  RollingStone.com Climate Killers and Alternet Climate Villains have also posted lists. I'm suggesting action to be taken in my previous post on this blog.

Climate change info war offensive

Since the Flopenhagen Accord, I've been doing a lot of thinking.  I'll be sharing my thoughts with many in the climate change movement. The good people at 350.org were insane enough to publicly ask for ideas, so I shared this with them first, along with a few others, trying to get feedback.  So here are my thoughts on the climate change info war.  I have others ideas, which will be in other posts.  So strap yourselves in, we're going for a very interesting ride....

We are at war.  We are at war with the fossil fuel lobby.  We are at war with the climate change deniers and liars who are getting paid by the fossil fuel lobby.  The existence of humanity is at stake.  We can't win a war on the defensive, which is how NGOs and scientists have tried to wage this war for the most part.  As someone trained by the US Army in psychological operations, my suggestion is that we take the battle to the deniers and liars.

We know who the most effective, consistent, and popular deniers and liars are:  Inhofe, Patrick Michaels, George Will, etc.  My suggestion is to have all the civil society groups who attended COP15 agree on a list: 'Ten Most Wanted Climate Change Deniers and Liars for Crimes Against Humanity' (and yes, I think 'deniers and liars' should be branded to these people's names every time civil society groups refer to them).  Paul Krugman agrees in principle that climate change liars need to be called that here: Krugman: Call climate change liars what they are

Once we have the list, target ALL of their public statements directly (we need a separate list of US Senators, but Inhofe qualifies for both; I'll address that list in another email).  Include publications like Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, NY Times on the 'Ten Most Wanted' list as appropriate.  (I would strongly suggest ignoring Beck and Limbaugh.  David Brooks has shown they have no influence with voters here:  David Brooks: Wizard of Beck.  Their egos would relish being part of the group, and it would give them an aura of influence and strength they don't deserve.)

From every corner of the globe, every waking moment, the 'Ten Most Wanted Climate Deniers and Liars' need to feel the pressure, feel the heat.  From the time they wake up in the morning, to the time they go to bed at night, they need to feel the heat from protesters with signs and bullhorns, through emails, vmails, faxes, letters.  I like the 'Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse' that showed up in COP15.  Having the 'Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse' follow the Ten Most Wanted Deniers and Liars around for a week each would be great video for the major TV networks and YouTube.  Having protestors dress up like climate change refugees from the future in rags and follow the Ten Most Wanted Deniers and Liars around asking 'why did you kill me, why did you make me hungry, thirsty, why did you do this to so many people for so many generations with your lies' would also be great video.  (When Paul Volcker was Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board and interest rates were 20% because of his policies, although he knew he was doing what needed to be done to reverse inflation, when people started mailing him bricks and boards that they couldn't use because there were no new housing starts, it made him reflect deeply.)

When any of the Ten Most Wanted Deniers and Liars are mentioned in any media at all, have ALL civil societies and scientists target that outlet with the truth honed specifically to what they presented that was wrong.  If anything appears about the Ten Most Wanted that calls them on their denials and lies, have all civil society groups comment on it in support, and email it, fax it, mail it, slip it under their office door.  Every time they lie, there needs to be a tsunami of truth!  Every time they are called out on their lies, there needs to be a tsunami of support!
  
Once the 'Ten Most Wanted Deniers and Liars' are identified by civil society groups, find one person per Most Wanted (preferably a retired police detective or investigator, ideally retired FBI) to compile a dossier.  These ten dossier keepers would be people who are available to work on this full-time, and would be anonymous.  All civil societies would publish the 'Ten Most Wanted Climate Change Deniers and Liars' list, and ask people to forward all known information about them to a gmail account set up just for each of the 'Ten Most Wanted'.  The keeper of the dossier would verify all information that came in, to the extent possible.  Once the basics of place of birth, places and times of education and employment are generally known, research can began in those geographical areas.  What did they write and publish, even letters to the editor?  What groups were they members of?  If they worked for any government agencies, requests through Freedom of Information Act can be made for as much of their personnel records as is legal.  All public records can be obtained, to see what there is to see.  Arrest records, court cases of any kind, can all be used to give a more thorough idea of a pattern of behavior that supports a mercenary moral and ethical sense and/or any FACTUAL event that can be used to call into question their sincerity and/or motives when spouting climate change denials/lies, IF such a pattern can be identified and verified.  

For instance, Patrick Michaels works for the University of Virginia.  Letters to the editor of the university paper and the largest paper in the city he lives in would put pressure on him to report the science, not what he's paid to lie.  In particular, we would need to identify who is paying him and how much, to call into question his veracity.  He needs to have 'paid denier and liar' as the signature to his name, every time he is mentioned. The concrete facts of who he is paid by, and how much, need to be reported each time his name is mentioned.

There is probably already a student climate change activist group on that campus.  Have every civil society org actively recruit on that campus by sending organizers there to enlarge those extant groups and create others.  They can protest at Michaels office, particularly during his office hours, for one.  Find out where he lives and organize protests at his home.  Organize protests at very class he teaches, every single day.  Those class schedules are public information to students, faculty and staff at the very least.  Actively recruit the entire campus, beginning with the science departments to join the protests.  Ask science faculty to sign a petition disavowing the things he is saying as being based on science.  Find his official university email address, and organize online emailing campaigns, particularly among those nations that will first feel the effects of climate change like Tuvalu.  Bombard his university fax #, his university mailing address, home mailing address.

Where is he spending this money?  Someone who would lie for money probably has other moral and ethical failings.  Recruit local people specifically to watch the Ten Most Wanted.  This would need to be more subtle, hidden.  It would be a more passive surveillance approach, rather than active following.  The 'watchers' could establish the daily routine of the Ten Most Wanted, update the dossier keeper by email, cell, text on their sightings.  This could be as mundane as UV students learning what Michaels looks like, becoming familiar with his routine on campus, and texting any sightings; time, place, activity, etc.  Once the normal, regular, routine pattern is established, other more dedicated people could be assigned to use active surveillance to fill in the gaps outside the normal, known routine.  It's the non-routine behavior that will likely show any illegal use of the money he's getting, if there is any.

I would also like to suggest hitting the Ten Most Wanted Deniers and Liars with lawsuits.  There are numbers of lawyers out there who are unemployed/underemployed due to the economy.  Finding them and enlisting their pro bono services shouldn't be hard.  The fossil fuel lobby has already taken Jim Hansen to court once (and lost), it's time to turn the tables on them and hit them with every lawsuit imaginable from every angle, every state imaginable.  Fifty lawsuits from fifty states, plus at least one from the federal courts, one suit per day, at each of the Ten Most Wanted, will get media coverage and cost them money to defend.  I don't know how the World Court works, and whether lawsuits can be filed through that Court at individuals, but it's worth looking into.

Feeling uneasy about any of these suggestions?  You think the fossil fuel lobby isn't doing this, with piles of money we don't have?!  Again, they sued Hansen, stole emails as we all know (it's highly unlikely those emails were stumbled on accidentally, it was most likely an active, paid operation and not necessarily the first attempt, just the first attempt that found something usable; look for more like that to come), they are planning to sue Gavin Schmidt of RealClimate.org here Completely Evil Institute announces plan to sue Gavin Schmidt, and targeted Van Jones.  One way to put a damper on future stolen emails is to offer a reward for info about the CRU hackers.  Somebody is out there bragging big time!  Enough money will get the authorities the names of the thieves, if not actual evidence that could be used in court.  We find the email thieves, we probably eventually find their paymasters, which will do great damage to any sense of authority or propriety on anyone who uses the emails as climate deniers.  They have certainly targeted other people, they just haven't turned up any dirt on that they can use yet.  They will target Joe Romm of Climateprogress.org for certain, especially now that he's one of Time's 10 Environmental Heroes.  Rajendra Pachuari describes how he has been targeted here:  IPCC Chair targeted by climate change deniers and liars

I understand that scientists may not want to be part of the 'Ten Most Wanted Deniers and Liars' identification and publication.  However, given that our very existence as a species is at stake, I think we have the right to expect a tsunami of truth from scientists every time the deniers and liars that are identified propagate their lies in print, broadcast, and/or online.  I'm not the only one who believes this, see also:  "On issues like global warming and evolution, scientists need to speak up." Scientists need to speak up  A sea-change in attitude and actions in the scientific community will be virtually REQUIRED to counter the propaganda of the deniers and liars, IF we are going to prevent runaway, catastrophic climate change.

I know the AGU is actively persuading it's members to contact their Congress members.  I know the AAAS and 17 other orgs sent a letter to the Senate.  But I don't see AAAS+17 actively persuading their members to take the infowar offensive and contact their members of Congress individually.  Organizing a group of volunteers from those orgs using online tools to respond to EVERY denial and lie would not be difficult, and would be very effective.  Civil society groups can actively ask for this kind of cooperation from all scientists the world over.  1Sky.org in particular is very well-trained in arranging meetings with Congress members, so a joint venture with AAAS+17 and a civil society group with similar abilities would be a great way to counter the lies in a systematic, tsunami-like flood (full disclosure, I'm a volunteer community organizer for 1Sky.org, but do not speak for them, this is all my own).  I personally am trying to recruit one IPCC member and also a Nobel Laureate for exactly these kinds of visits.

Although volunteers from AAAS+17 will be more likely to respond often to the denials and lies, I would also like to see AAAS+17 actively working to get EVERY ONE of their members to respond!  Groups like 1Sky, Greenpeace, etc. email prepared issue statements to their members which can be modified per each person's desire prior to sending to their elected representatives.  AAAS+17 can do the same for the US Senate, and also arrange such statements to be sent to ALL their members, when a climate change denial/lie appears in public, to be sent to the media outlet the denial/lie appeared in.

Joe Romm nails it here:  Joe Romm on actively speaking against disinformation.  Scientists passively issuing a statement is NOT going to cut it in the 24-hour news cycle driven by cable outlets and the blogosphere.  Blather, spittle, and volume rule the new media world, but they CAN be overcome by sheer numbers of emails, letters, calls, comments.  By the truth.  We need to take the initiative, just as Michael Mann and Joe Romm did with Swifthack.

I'm NOT suggesting anything illegal or any violence of any kind.  Anything they've done that's legal, we can do better!  Nothing in this email is intended to promote or endorse violence or any illegal act.  The tactics described are intended to unabashedly reveal truth in a sincere and earnest way without reservation or apology and in so doing to avoid libel and slander by painstakingly documenting and vetting the factual statements made and/or actions committed by the subjects of surveillance.  Personal harassment if it occurs is intended to be a collateral result of revealing facts that are fully verified, and provide the reader with a larger background against which to evaluate the actions of the deniers/liars.

It's important to understand that taking the offensive in the info war on climate change should not come from a place of hatred or anger, but simply a passionate desire to tell the truth in an attempt to prevent pain and suffering on a scale and scope, and for a time span, never before imagined.

In service to the Earth.

Flopenhagen accord

As you probably know, the 'accord' that came from COP15 has been called 'Brokenhagen', 'Flopenhagen', and various other monikers that I don't recall.  It's nothing close to the what the planet and our descendants (if we have any) need.  Such as it is, here is the text from the UN website:  http://unfccc.int/files/meetings/cop_15/application/pdf/cop15_cph_auv.pdf

Climate change science and politices timeline

I've been wanting to work up a comprehensive timeline of climate change for some time, and will probably still do my own thing someday. In the meantime, The New York Times science team has done a great job with this timeline:  Climate Change Science timeline.

56 major newspapers around the world published a climate change editorial calling for action!

"Kicking our carbon habit within a few short decades will require a feat of engineering and innovation to match anything in our history. But whereas putting a man on the moon or splitting the atom were born of conflict and competition, the coming carbon race must be driven by a collaborative effort to achieve collective salvation."

Climate change call for action by 56 newspapers around the world