SIGN THE PETITION

Well.  I have been working on a monumental entry on the subject of the Kyoto Protocol, which goes into effect today - for those nations which have chosen to ratify the Treaty.  These include Russia, but  not the USA.  However, I have gotten so bogged down in references and quotes and sites and stuff, that it may be a long time from now before I ever get it jerked into shape.  And by then everyone will have forgotten - what in hell is the Kyoto Treaty, anyway?  The way we seem to function in this throw-away society.  Here today, gone tomorrow. 

I want to quit my jobs and just blog all day.  Maybe all night too.  Until such time as I can do that (and it's G's worst nightmare for what will happen when we do finally get to the point where we can retire), monumental entries - even on important subjects - have to take a back seat to grading tests and papers, planning classes, vetting possible new texts to use for several classes in coming semesters, helping plan the new language lab - software, websites, etc., and getting some sleep now and then.

So, I have shortened my monumentality into simply referring you to something that gives me a great deal of hope.  This column in the current Grist online magazine section called Soapbox, "Sign Here to Save the Planet," talks about a new grassroots movement to ratify the Treaty at a people's level.  My research on Kyoto has led me into the realms of darkness and despair - environmental groups are arguing among themselves, some environmentalists are saying it's too late anyway, others are pinning their hopes on the Climate Stewardship Act (McCain-Lieberman's bill), which is once again entering the circles of hell known as Congressional approval.  Or, an icicle's chance in hell. 

As the article says:  All the while, we are, as the British paper The Independent put it, sleepwalking into the Apocalypse.

What on earth is a person supposed to do?

The existential choices are few and barren. We can try to findasafe haven in, say, New Zealand -- but there's no escaping a global threat. We can defy a history of futility and try, yet again, to appeal to the humanitarian instincts of ExxonMobil and Peabody Energy. We can go into hibernation for four more years. Or we can try, as individuals and organizations, to bring the U.S. in line with the rest of the world.

That's what a small group is attempting with today's launch of a nationwide signature-gathering drive for a People's Ratification of the Kyoto Global Warming Treaty. Last year, longtime New York-area activists Ted Glick, Connie Hogarth, and the Rev. Paul Mayer put together the Climate Crisis Coalition, an umbrella group that includes environmentalists, religious leaders, campus organizers, peace groups, and activists working on indigenous rights, environmental justice, and human-rights issues.

It's a short column, but if you don't have time to read it all, just click on this link, which will take you to a site called Kyoto and Beyond, where you will find the link to the petition.  Please consider signing it.  Environmental Defense also has a petition, one of my many links in my original plan, to send to the White House and Congress asking them to join with the other industrial nations in trying to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.  Perhaps if this People's Ratification plan gathers enough participation, those in Washington will see that this is indeed what we want for our planet.

Now, as I have all these links, I think I'll just post some of them here for anyone who's truly deeply madly interested to explore.  And then, perhaps, someone else will do the monumental entry.

Global Warming - Undo It.  From Environmental Defense. 
Climate Stewardship Act - an update.
Kyoto Can't Save Us - a scary piece from Grist Magazine.
Welcoming Kyoto - also from Grist.
Apocalypse Now:  Sleepwalking to the Ends of the Earth, from The Independant  (talk about scary!)