Day 1 of the Climate Justice Fast

A gorgeous Fall day with friends and my son and a sweet good-bye to a friend and fellow baseball coach and reunion with the past.

The first day is always the hardest and I can't tell you the number of times I thought about food and started unconsciously prepared my body mechanisms to receive it.

As the day passed I got better at catching the early signs..."thanks for sharing body" and moved on to raking, cribbage and even our first spirited game of spheroid catch...that's baseball to a disc enthusiast.

The media for the Climate Justice Fast around the World was quite amazing...check out the website if you are interested....www.climatejusticefast.org 24 and 25 year old youth who get that this is their time to step up for what they believe in.

Also got an message from NASA's James Hansen, the leading Climate scientist who has been out of action with prostate cancer surgery and now looks clean and will be at COP 15.

60 and Sunny tomorrow and November continues to purr and I'd better get some sleep if I want to tomorrow.

Good night.

Day 26- The Fast Begins

Good Morning,

Awoke at 4 am this Friday after my best sleep in 5 days...I've been fighting a nasty bug that has kept me down and out most of the week....but not today!!!!

The slumbering activist awakes to start my 3 day fast with partners from all over the world....more than 100 of us are starting the Climate Justice Fast (www.climatejusticefast.org)It's been an incredibly connecting experience getting at least 20 emails every day from fasters and supporters in Austrailia (where it started), UK, India, Denmark, Spain, Canada,South Africa, HJonduras, France, Germany, Bhutan, New Zealand, the Philippines and the US. It's growing fast (no pun intended) and yesterday in Barcelona where the last negotiations leading up to COP 15 are ending today....the reason for the start of the fast, the news conference was well attended and stimulated a lot of buzz.

A number of the fasters are doing a water only fast through COP 15 or 42 days!! Not something I'm willing to do but I will be joining them for these first 3 days, the first 3 days of COP 15 (Dec 6-8) and the last 3 days of COP 15. I will also be a spokeperson for the fast and it reminds me of my younger days with Skiers Ending Hunger and my 10 and 11 days fasts on Peavey Plaza in downtown Mpls MN to raise awareness about ending hunger and creating the political will to get the job done.

What is it about political will and it never being there on the tough issues that cause massive suffering and poverty (and now climate refugees in places like Tuvalu, Kirabati and soon the Maldives). The Africans walked out of the negotiations yesterday stating that the rich countries need to show up and do their part for the damage caused by our over consumption and inaction on the issue of Climate Change.

From the Climate Justice Fast news release; "Our Governments inaction could well go down as the greastest crime against humanity in history, allowing the world's most vulnerable people, and even our own children, to suffer at the hands of an irreversible catastrophe they played no part in causing"

Strong words but part of what drives me with my missionary zeal is this sense that: "my life has been entirely fueled by the blissful ignorance I had about the lifestyle that I have been given to me because of the luck of my birthplace"

when I first heard the quote "there but for the grace of God go I" rang true to me and lead me on this exciting jopurney that has been my life.

Check out this video and tell me if it moves you to action
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jMXJ7jsj-4&NR=1

I invite you to join me in the Climate Justice Fast on Dec 7 and Dec 18 the first and last day of COP 15 and send prayers to our world leaders and negotiators that they open their hearts in listening for the greatest good for all people.

Time for a walk to the Co-op and one last piece of fruit before my fast begins.

May we all know peace and carry that peace into action to reshape our world.

Edina to Copenhagen...not so far

Election Day 2009...remember last year? The whole country...perhaps much of the world was watching America and feeling this amazing change take place. As I walked down to Weber Park warming house to cast my vote for Edina School Board I was thinking about context and how important that is to set the scene for something big to happen.

Well, something very big is happening and like Obama's inauguration in January, I just need to be there.

The UN Summit on Climate Change will be held in Copenhagen Denmark from Dec. 7- 18 and it promises to be full of difficult negotiations, inspiring partnerships, humbling realizations and hopefully unexpected breakthrus. Heaven knows we need some big shifts to align the stars with a new pathway back to 350 ppm of CO2, the science based number referring to the safe maximum level of CO2 in our air to keep the Earth humming along the way it's been for the past few centuries..

the bad news....we passed 350 about 20 years ago and are now hovering dangerously close to the 4th century. so now that I've bummed everyone out here's the hopeful news that can help to create a Hopenhagen out of Copenhagen.

You.

10 days ago tens of thousands of you stood up, climbed mountains, had a cabinet meeting under the ocean surface in scuba gear, sang songs to the Earth and each others and tossed frisbees for the planet.....in 5200 locations in 181 countries...most of the countries that will be haggling out the details in Copenhagen for the most important of all treaties ever signed.

You did that, and now the real work of re-building our precious planet continues....and perhaps you'll come back to see how a frisbee player and retired 2nd grade teacher and a bunch of friends got together with a few million other unique humans to say "NO" to business as usual and "Yes" to building new systems for operating spaceship Earth....we seem to have lost the directions.

check out 350.org and 1 Sky for some inspiring scenes about you and your fellow humans on the move....I'll be back...more context to set the stage...with your help.

Green Your Halloween: Thoughtful Treats

Green Your Halloween: Thoughtful Treatsg
give out UNICEF boxes for kids to practice their asking for others skills.

Our Clean Energy Future- Aug 18- Edina High School

Welcome Bill!!!!!

How do you promote a movement on a gorgeous summer evening? Will people show up on a Tuesday in mid-August to hear about Climate Change Action?

500 people answered yes to that question on Aug 18th at Edina High School in Edina MN to hear Minnesota's own polar explorer Will Steger and 350's founder Bill McKibben to engage the attendees in an multi-faceted evening of conversation, education, entertainment and celebration on growing the awareness and urgency of creating "Our Clean Energy Future."

The Edina Dialogue event sponsored by the Edina Community Foundation, the Edina Energy and Environment Commission, the Will Steger Foundation, Cool Planet and 5 other local sponsors was linked with the Will
Steger Summer Institute for Educators the following day at the U of MN. Both events were planned to help spread the message of 350.org and to align the planet's focus on the number 350 and what communities can do to continue the process of making the number 350 the place to be ASAP.

With 20 local organizations hosting information tables for 2 hours before the presentations by Will and Bill and a book signing, organic local food reception and local music provided byEdina High School students after the talks, the buzz of energy and networking was tangible as Edina citizens and folks from all over the Twin Cities continued their plans to make October 24 a day the world will remember for a long time.

The next evening at the Edina Energy and Environment Commission meeting the number 350 was mentioned many times as the reality of having a tangible goal to shoot for was translated to "how doesEdina cut 3% of our energy use in the next year?"

Thank you to Bill, Will and all the staff and volunteer's who made this wonderful evening in August another step on the path to a new world of sustainability, responsive governmental action and friendly, engaged communities.

The 350 message is being heard in Minnesota and we're taking action!!!!