A coalition of environmental activists led by GatewaySucks.org is calling on climate change activists to join the convergence at the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver.

When the 2010 Winter Olympics start a couple of weeks from now in Vancouver, BC the athletes and spectators will be joined by organizations with some of the worst records on climate change.

General Motors is a national partner for the games, and one of the leading corporate opponents of effective action on climate change. Only two years ago, a vice-chairman of GM called global warming a “total crock of shit.” GM is supplying a large fleet of vehicles for the games, almost all of which are gas-guzzling SUVs.

Petro-Canada, another National Olympic Partner, is the retail arm of the largest extractor of Oil Sands bitumen. The Oil Sands are Canada’s biggest ghg emissions point source.

RBC (the Royal Bank of Canada) in addition to being a prominent Olympic sponsor is the largest commercial bank funder of the Oil Sands,. TransCanada pipelines, whose pipelines connect to the Oil Sands, is also an official supplier.

The government of British Columbia is the main funder and promoter of the games. They kicked off a massive plan to add over 1,000 km of new highway lanes (an increase of over 2,000,000 annual tonnes of CO2e emissions ) with the Sea-to-Sky Highway expansion for the Olympics. These plans include the controversial Gateway Program. It continues to heavily subsidize the oil and gas industry which resulted in it being the only Canadian province to see ghg emissions from industrial sources increase in 2008.

The Federal government of Canada which consistently earned “Fossil Awards” at the most recent international climate talks also is a major funder for the Olympics.

These corporations and governments want to fool the world with their claim that these are the “Greenest Games Ever” despite the links to climate change deniers, highway expansion and the Oil Sands.

If you would like to endorse this call-out and the welcoming committee event please contact info@gatewaysucks.org.

MORE INFORMATION:

Convergence Info: http://olympicresistance.net/

Welcoming Committee: http://2010welcoming.wordpress.com/

Green Olympic Watch: http://2010greenwatch.org/

GatewaySucks.org: http://www.gatewaysucks.org/

2010 Climate Crime Scene: http://2010climatecrime.org

]]> http://www.beyondtalk.net/2010/02/climate-change-activists-join-the-vancouver-convergence/feed/ 1 http://www.beyondtalk.net/2009/12/n30-day-of-climate-justice-action/ http://www.beyondtalk.net/2009/12/n30-day-of-climate-justice-action/#comments Wed, 02 Dec 2009 06:51:14 +0000 deadlyvine http://www.beyondtalk.net/?p=314

Today, on November 30, one week before the UN climate negotiations in Copenhagen open, and on the 10th anniversary of the World Trade Organization (WTO) protest in Seattle in 1999, major demonstrations, teach-ins and civil disobedience are taking actions place in cities around the U.S

Reports are now starting to come in from:

• Chicago, Illinois: Activists target Carbon Trading @ Chicago Climate Exchange – 12 arrested
• Denver, Colorado: Citizens ‘Die-in’ at Department of Public Health and Environment in Coal Protest
• Greensville, SC: Blockade of shipment of generator to Cliffside Coal Plant, 4 arrested
• New York City, NY: Occupation of the Natural Resource Defense Council Office with James Hansen exposing their ties to industry
• San Francisco, CA: San Francisco Climate Justice Action at Bank of America; 200 Rally with at least 23 Arrested
• Whitby, Ontatio: Sit-in for Climate Justice at Finance Minister’s Office
• Washington, DC: Downtown march targets major polluters and lobbyists

Many more updates are coming in from Boston, Palm Beach, Bangor, Burlington, Seattle and other locales – you can read all the details at the Mobilization for Climate Justice (MCJ) website - www.actforclimatejustice.org.

Donations are needed for arrestees! Your support is needed:

Your Support is Needed!

Donation Amount

five $5.00 ten $10.00 fifteen $15.00 twenty $20.00 twenty-five $25.00 thirty $30.00 fifty $50.00 one hundred $100.00 two hundred fifty $250.00 five hundred! $500.00

Donate to which action group?

Any! (where most needed) Chicago New York Maine Ontario San Francisco Denver Greenville, SC

Anything you’d like to say?

Also, check out an interview interview with MCJ’s Ananda Tan and David Solnit on today’s broadcast on Democracy Now!

With the corporate media unlikely to give major coverage to such actions, we need you to spread the word! You can see the combined and growing photo gallery here and follow updates on facebook or twitter.

The Mobilization for Climate Justice is a broad and diverse coalition of organizations working for social, environmental, economic and racial justice is calling for urgent action on the global climate crisis, based on equitable, democratic and science-based solutions.

As world leaders gather in Copenhagen, the people hit hardest by this crisis and the least responsible for its cause—working class, Indigenous and people of color communities around the world—have been systematically excluded and are demanding a voice at the table.

Meanwhile, the world’s major corporations have been dominating international and domestic climate policy – as they did in the international trade policy arena. Carbon-trading and carbon offset projects have already allowed these polluters to avoid cutting emissions and expand their markets into poor countries, accelerating corporate take-over of the world’s resources at the expense of local and Indigenous communities.

“We cannot allow the world’s largest corporate polluters to continue robbing our children’s future,” stated Carla Perez of Movement Generation Justice and Ecology Project, who will be marching with her daughter in a parade of children and the Raging Grannies. “US corporations have been holding real climate solutions hostage, while burdening our communities with ongoing attacks on our health and livelihoods.”