Recent Events
Contents |
Fall/Winter 2010
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October 31
Jacqueline, Toby and Claudia marched in the Park Slope Halloween Parade for the first time. We got cheers and applause from the by-standers and observers. People loved our costumes and our message.
October 17
We hosted at table at the ParkSlopeParent's Harvest Festival, at JJ Byrne Park, in Park Slope. We have been represented at the Festival since 2007, and always love to come back to spread the climate protection message among parents. As in the past, families worked together to create works of art that compellingly convey the message: We want climate protection legislation now!
October 10
Parents for Climate Protection joined the 350.org's Global Work Party by holding a letter-writing event with expert guest. Gernot Wagner, Economist with the Environmental Defense Fund, led a spirited discussion on the failure of the American Power Act, and what our next steps need to be as a movement. Attendees wrote 40 letters in support of climate protection legislation on the federal and state levels.
Spring/Summer 2010
June 26
For our last event before the summer break, we participated in the national Hands Across the Sand action, drawing attention to the urgent need for clean energy legislation in the wake of the devastating oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. We met up with other activists from NYPIRG and the Park Slope Greens to form a line across Brighton Beach, Brooklyn.
June 13
Charles Komanoff from the Carbon Tax Center was our surprise guest at our second Eco Drinks gathering. People were riveted by his presentation and discussion of the carbon tax or fee - an approach to reducing a greenhouse gas emissions that offers many advantages over a cap-and-trade approach according to Charles.
June 5
Parents for Climate Protection hosted a table at the Local Produce Festival at Spoke the Hub in Park Slope, Brooklyn. About 20 families visited the table and wrote letters to their elected officials in support of climate protection legislation.
On that same day, later in the afternoon, we brought all of our supplies to Manhattan, where we set up a table....to be continued.
April 25
Our first Eco Drinks gathering was a great success. The event, which took place at Amy Cohen's home, was well attended and we had a fabulous discussion despite the fact that our surprise guest cancelled at the last minute. Our co-coordinator Claudia provided an overview over state and federal climate legislation, and attendees, including Joshua Wolfe and Frank Zeman, chimed in with their expertise and knowledge of climate issues. We discussed in particular the CLEAR Act, a cap and dividend approach to curbing greenhouse gas emissions, which was introduced in the spring of 2010 by Maria Cantwell, Senator from Washington State.
April 24
Friends of Greenwood Playground invited us to host a letter-writing and informational table at their annual Fair to benefit the playground. We had the opportunity to speak with many parents about the urgent need for federal and state climate protection legislation.
April 9 and 10
At least once a year, co-founders Jacqueline and Claudia attend a conference on climate change issues to educate themselves about the science, predictions, and assessments of the impact of climate change on our planet. This year, we selected the Economics of Climate Change Conference that was offered through the New School in Manhattan. ...to be continued.
March 7
About one hundred adults and fifty children joined Parents for Climate Protection and Beth Elohim Environmental Committee for our 4th Annual Climate Awareness Day. We offered activities for children of all ages and a fabulous panel discussion with internationally known experts on climate change.
The panel discussion was entitled After Copenhagen: The Science and Policy of Climate Change. This year's speakers included:
Gavin Schmidt, Ph.D., climatologist at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, and co-founder of RealClimate.org.
Joshua Wolfe, photographer and founder of GHG, a leading photography agency focusing on climate change Frank Zeman, Director of the Metropolitan Institute for Sustainability at the New York Institute for Technology
And:
Sean Sweeney, Ph.D., Director of Cornell University's Global Labor Institute, who delivered an update on national and international policy. He has been an an observer at all UN climate gatherings, including the recent talks in Bali and Copenhagen.
Lauren Schuster, Environmental Campaign Director at 1Sky/NYPIRG, played the role of moderator.
For young children, Tiffany Threadgould of RePlayGround demonstrated how to turn scrap materials into fun and useful objects.
The Alliance for Climate Education presented a spirited multi-media presentation, including music, live narration, video and animation to educate and empower teens to take action on climate change.
The co-sponsors included NYPIRG/1Sky, Brooklyn Food Coalition, New York League of Conservation Voters, The Alliance for Climate Education, The Green Team at P.S. 154, Brooklyn for Peace.
January 28
Parents for Climate Protection hosted a letter-writing table at the P.S. 321 annual Healthy Choices event. Congrats to the organizers! This event was very well attended and a lot of fun to participate in. Kids crowded around our table the entire time we were there. About 20 letters were written in support of comprehensive climate protection legislation.
Events 2009
December 6
We co-coordinated a climate emergency action with the Park Slope Greens on 5th Ave and 3rd Street in Park Slope, Brooklyn. There were pledge card on hand for passers-by to sign asking President Obama to commit to serious greenhouse gas emissions targets while in Copenhagen.
November 9 and 15
After we heard that President Obama did not plan on attending the UN climate talks in Copenhagen, we decided to host tables at the Park Slope Food Co-Op on two occasions. Hundreds of people signed post cards asking asking President Obama to travel to the international climate talks.
October 24th
On International Day of Climate Action organized by Bill McKibben's 350.org, Parents for Climate Protection teamed up with Rebecca Foster, a Park Slope resident concerned about climate change, who came up with the fabulous idea of carving pumpkins with 350.org message designed to raise awareness about climate change.
May 9
Parents for Climate Protection hosted a highly successful table at the Brooklyn Food Conference and Claudia moderated the panel on food and climate change entitled Take a Bite Out of Climate Change: Learn about the Connection between your Fork and Climate Change and what we can do about it as a Community. Speakers included Mia McDonald of Brighter Green, Nadia Johnson of Just Food, and Isaac Evans-Frantz of Oxfam.
Panel description: The global food system--from seed to plate to landfill--is responsible for as much as one-third of the global warming effect. Why is industrial agriculture such a major contributor to the climate crisis and why haven't we heard more about this aspect of the crisis? This panel will discuss these questions and explore what it has to do with us here in Brooklyn and we can do about it, sharing the most exciting local solutions to bring to life a truly green and climate-friendly food system from Brooklyn to Bali.
January 29 and 30
WEACT Advancing Climate Justice Conference at Fordham University
Claudia attended the WEACT conference, which featured a thrilling array of speakers, panels and discussions. Among the highlights were EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson's first public appearance, a panel on policy approaches to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and a panel on food, poverty and climate change.
January 25
This year's Parents for Climate Protection's annual house party took place at Barbara Kancelbaum's. She graciously opened her house to about 50 attendees and their children. This year's amazing speakers included Amy Larkin, Solutions Director at International Greenpeace, Allan Frei, Climatologist at CUNY, and Jackson Morris, Global Warming Analyst at New York Environmental Advocates.
Events 2008
December 14
We hosted a table at the Brooklyn Ethical Culture Society at the annual holiday fair. We had several outstanding artists among our letter writers. These letters could be as well exhibited in an art gallery and are sure to convince legislators that youth feel a great sense of urgency on this issue.
December 6
We hosted a table at P.S. 154 Winter Festival, which presented yet another wonderful opportunity to speak with kids and their parents about climate change. Thirty-two families wrote letters in support of climate protection legislation.
December 2
Claudia attended the U.N. Briefings on the Impact of Climate Change on Women and Children coordinated by the League of Women Voters of New York State at the United Nations. The panelists included Michele Ferenz, climate advisor to UNICEF, and Rachel Harris from WEDO. The presentations were great, but their content was distressing. We need a renewed commitment from the developing nations to assist with adaptations to the already strongly felt impact of climate-change on women and children in Third World Countries, who are more vulnerable to becoming victims of floods, droughts and other severe weather events.
October 19
June 1
We hosted a table at the Gowanus Goes Green Festival organized by the Gowanus Canal Conservancy. It was super hot on that day. No wonder that 35 families wrote letters in support of climate protection legislation.
May 17
At this year's Eco Fair sponsored and organized by ParkSlopeParents, we hosted a letter-writing and informational table. Fifty-two parents came by and wrote letters in support of the best climate protection legislation that we can possibly get. The Climate Security Act came up for a vote in June, and sadly was withdrawn from the floor before amendements to strengthen the legislation could be discussed.
It was a windy day and we struggled to prevent all of our materials from being blown away, but moms, dads and children kept coming nonetheless to join our effort.
April 30
The Go Green Committee of P.S. 321 organized a panel discussion entitled Greening Your Everyday Life, and invited us to host a table at their event. Families stopped by to write letters reminding congressional representatives about the need for federal climate change legislation.
April 26
We made lots of great connections with other activists and organizations at the Brooklyn Peace Fair, and all visitors to our table wrote letters. Thanks to Brooklyn for Peace for organizing the Fair and keeping up the fight against the war.
March 2
House party on climate change with panel discussion at Amy's place: About sixty parents with their children joined us for an eye-opening panel discussion. They also created many beautiful letters asking our legislators to pass climate protection legislation that reflects the latest science on global warming.
Speakers:
Sean Sweeney, Ph.D., Director of the Global Labor Institute at Cornell University. Professor Sweeney attended the recent UN climate talks in Bali. He provided an overview of the international political process on climate and stressed the need for the US to become part of international efforts to limit greenhouse gas emissions.
Drew Shindell, NASA scientist, whose work centers on the computer modeling of climate change, spoke about the ways in which researchers are able to re-create the history of climatic changes millions of years into the past. He then explained how this information is used to help predict the course of human-induced warming.
Abigail Dillen, staff attorney with Earthjustice, recently moved from the Bozeman, Montana office to New York City to help prevent the construction of additional power plants, major emitters of greenhouse gases. At our house party, she described federal legislative efforts to address the climate challenge.
The panel's message was unequivocal: we need to address global warming through legislation. Individual and voluntary efforts are laudable, but reducing greenhouse gas emissions to stem warming is a vast and complex undertaking that exceeds in scope far beyond what individuals can accomplish.
Events 2007
January 25
House party at Claudia's place in support of the Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act, which is considered the gold standard by many environmental organizations when it comes to climate protection legislation. Environmental Defense sent two scientists, James Wang and Lisa Moore, to make presentations and field questions on the dangers of global warming. Sixty families attended and wrote letters urging their elected officials to support the Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act.
April 21
Recycling Fair at J.J. Byrne Park: Thirty moms and dads stopped by with their sons and daughters to write letters encouraging Hillary Clinton to co-sponsor the Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act.
April 22
Earth Day event in front of the Park Slope Food Co-Op co-coordinated with the Park Slope Chapter of the Green Party: Over a hundred people signed postcards calling on Senator Hillary Clinton to support the Sanders-Boxer bill.
October 13
Harvest Festival coordinated by ParkSlopeParents: The response to our table was tremendous. Within two hours, 30 families came by and wrote letters to Senator Hillary Clinton reinforcing the need for swift and progressive action on climate change.
November 14
Recycling event sponsored by the Go Green Committee of P.S. 321: Lots of kids visited our table and created letters calling on Senator Hillary Clinton to both help stop global warming and protect all animals and plants.
December 8
Holiday fair at P.S. 321: About 20 families stopped by to ask Pete Grannis, Commissioner of the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation that all pollution permits be auctioned off rather than a certain percentage handed out free of charge under the cap-and-trade program established through the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, the state's program to reduce emissions from power plants.
