I, the undersigned, commit to a global climate treaty that:
Safeguards the survival of all countries and peoples.
Signed by over 80 country delegates at Poznan, December, 2008

- All during the holidays, the images of a powerful youth protest at the Poznan talks that appeared after the last December issue of Climate Today moved my soul. This got almost no publicity, yet over 80 country delegates signed the pledge. How could anyone not agree that nations have a right to exist?  Rising sea levels, however, will cover low-lying nations. This action by youth from around the world hits a very profound chord. - Editor
SURVIVAL IS NON-NEGOTIABLE- A Pledge
Young people from around the world made their voice heard at the UN Framework Convention on Climate change in Poznan, Poland. After an inspiring speech from Al Gore, over 200 young people from India to the U.S. to the Congo held a spontaneous action inside, with banners that read “SURVIVAL IS NON-NEGOTIABLE.” The demonstration was the next step in our “project survival” - inspired by a speech earlier this week by a representative from the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), stating that current emissions targets set by powerful countries condemn their nations to extinction. In the last two days youth have mobilized to get over 80 country delegations to sign a pledge to “safeguard the survival of all peoples and nations.” Youth organized actions, tracked down delegates in the halls, lined the entrance to the plenaries, and knocked on meeting room doors to push their countries to sign the Survival Pledge. This morning our text has been adopted in the official UN Ministerial declaration document emerging from COP14, the COP President’s text on long-term vision. Heads of state referenced our call in major speeches. “It’s been an amazing success,” said Amanda McKenzie, of the Australian Youth Climate Network. “Hearing Australia’s Climate Minister Penny Wong commit to ’survival’ yesterday had me cheering in the halls. Now, it’s time to make sure she delivers.” We’ve had an exciting victory, but we know we must continue to organize to make the implications of that statement meaningful - we know that any targets less than 350ppm will not insure the survival of all peoples and nations, and we know that any solution that is not equitable and just, is no solution at all.
http://itsgettinghotinhere.org/2008/12/12/survival-is-non-negotiable/ 
Photos copyrighted by www.vanwaardenphoto.com

Current approaches to deal with climate change are ineffectual, one of the world’s top climate scientists said today in a personal new year appeal to Barack Obama and his wife Michelle on the urgent need to tackle global warming. The letter, from Hansen and his wife Anniek, is a personal plea to the first couple. It begins: “We write to you as fellow parents concerned about the Earth that will be inherited by our children, grandchildren, and those yet to be born … Jim has advised governments previously through regular channels. But urgency now dictates a personal appeal.” Hansen lambasts the current international approach of setting targets to be met through “cap and trade” schemes as not up to the task. “This approach is ineffectual and not commensurate with the climate threat. It could waste another decade, locking in disastrous consequences for our planet and humanity,” the Hansens wrote.
Hansen advocates a three-pronged attack on the climate problem – all measures he has promoted before. First, he wants a moratorium and phase-out of coal-fired power stations – which he calls “factories of death” – that do not incorporate carbon capture and storage.
Second, he proposes a “carbon tax and 100% dividend”: a mechanism for putting a price on carbon without raising money for government coffers. The idea is to tax carbon at source, then redistribute the revenue equally among taxpayers, so high carbon users are penalised while low carbon users are rewarded.
Finally, Hansen wants a renewed research effort into so-called fourth generation nuclear plants, which can use nuclear waste as fuel.
For more on carbon tax and 110% dividend- http://www.columbia.edu/~jeh1/mailings/2008/20080604_TaxAndDividend.pdf
For the letter which includes useful footnotes- http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/community-news/james-hansen-obama-climate-47010206
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/jan/01/scentist-letter-hansen-barack-obama

“Some presidents aren’t very interested in science, but some are like vacuum cleaners for information,
they want all they can get. One has a sense that Obama will be one of those.”
Al Teich, science and policy programs director at AAAS, commenting on Obama’s selection of well-respected Holdren

- Holdren is a great choice for science advisor. There is a fine video that is worth watching and sharing with others of Holdren giving a talk on climate. Check out http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/12/obamascienceadv.html  - Editor
Researchers Hope Obama Team Will Reinvigorate Role of Science Adviser
Scientists and scientific organizations hailed President-elect Barack Obama’s choice of top science advisers as a “dream team” this week. Some also expressed hope that the new picks would restore the influence of the White House science adviser position, which has waxed and waned over the years. Mr. Obama announced the appointments last weekend in a radio address, in which he promised to “once again put science at the top of our agenda.” For his top science adviser, he chose physicist and Harvard environmental policy professor John Holdren, an outspoken proponent of alternative energy research and a critic of Bush administration science policies. If confirmed, Holdren will serve as an official assistant to the president as well as the head of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
 http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/science/july-dec08/scienceadviser_12-26.html

It was a bad year for US carmakers, corn ethanol and EPA rollbacks. But not for wind. For the nation’s most promising clean energy source, it was another record-breaking 12 months, says the American Wind Energy Association. America closed the year with a sprint to the finish, beating out Germany to become the largest generator of wind energy in the world. In addition, the AWEA estimates that 21,000 megawatts would generate over 60 billion kilowatt hours of electricity in 2009 — enough to power over 5.5 million American homes. That’s also enough to displace some 30.4 million tons of coal. What’s to come in 2009? New wind projects are coming on line nearly every week, says the AWEA. It concludes: “The wind industry is on its way to charting another record-shattering year of growth.”
http://solveclimate.com/blog/20081230/america-closes-2008-world-s-no-1-wind-power-producer

- There’s a new report that needs to get into the hands of all our legislators. It was developed for the new President and Congress, Wind Energy for a New Era presents the wind energy industry’s federal policy agenda.  We need even more ambitious goals, but if we really get serious about conservation, solar, etc. we can reach the necessary more ambitious goals. - Editor
Wind Energy for a New Era
For a 6 page brochure as a summary- http://www.newwindagenda.org/pdf/AWEA_NewEraBrochure.pdf
For the full report- http://www.newwindagenda.org/documents/Wind_Agenda_Report.pdf 

“On Monday, the newspapers tell you the ice caps are melting,” begins Global Warming for Dummies. On Tuesday global warming is all a hoax. By Thursday you just don’t know what to think anymore.” The book represents Friday, when all the bits and pieces about climate change come together so you can understand them, promise co-authors Elizabeth May and Zoe Caron. The 342-page paperback translates scientific and enviro-speak jargon, ranging from terms like “abrupt climate change scenario” through “biomass,” “carbon credits,” “Kyoto Protocol,” and “photovoltaic energy,” all the way to “zero-energy homes.”

December 9, 2008 - January 5, 2009
QUOTE
“People toss around a lot of lofty words at the UN, so let me be clear.  I’m not talking about “survival” as an abstract concept, or some distant problem for future generations. I’m talking about countries and peoples getting quite literally wiped off the map within decades.  I’m talking about human lives and livelihoods being destroyed by the impacts of climate change here and now. 
The countries fighting on the front lines of climate change are struggling to get the attention they deserve. Case in point: last week 49 of the world’s most vulnerable countries endorsed the 350 target that the latest science calls for.
When I landed in Poland for the UN Climate talks a week ago, I thought I knew what to expect: a few meetings, some bureaucratic backpedaling, and some frustratingly slow progress on a global climate treaty.
  I wasn’t prepared for feeling moved, deeply, by the stories from those on the front lines of climate change.  These are stories from countries like Kiribati and Tuvalu, island nations who are losing their crops and drinking water due to the ever encroaching sea.
 Left unchecked, within my lifetime there may be nothing left of these nations but waves.”
Jon of www.350.org

- For years, Climate Today has defied the conclusions about the safety of going to 450 ppm CO2, despite global rhetoric and consensus. Questioning was so simple- if the ice is already melting far faster than predicted, then today’s level (382 ppm) is too high. Period. There is no way to share with you the excitement that this very challenging recognition is finally reaching decision-makers. With 49 countries (out of 145) endorsing 350, and Gore finally admitting 350 to the world leaders in Poznan, the word is officially out! James Hansen’s brilliant research and Bill McKibben and his colleagues’ campaign 350 were big contributors- congratulations! - Editor

Gore Tells Poznan Countries It’s 350!
Forty five minutes ago Al Gore set the new bottom line for the climate debate—thanks to your hard work for the last year. Giving the climactic speech at the Poznan global warming conference, Gore set the new bottom line for action on global warming, right where we’ve been suggesting: 350 parts per million. The old goal of 450 parts per million is “inadequate,” he said. We “need to toughen that goal to 350 parts per million.”  The line, which drew the longest applause of the day, was a remarkable repudiation of established targets that have driven the climate debate for more than a decade. Now the world’s leading scientific authority on global warming and the world’s leading political authority on global warming have said the same thing: 350 is the target we have to hit. Let’s get to it.
Bill McKibben at www.350.org