- Climate Advocacy Letter – No New Money For Oil And Gas!
- Petition To Keep Garden Allotments Open
- Petitions – Don’t Bail Out Big Oil!
- Articles - Coronavirus And Climate!
- Video And Podcast Links – Green Economy Heroes!
- Want Some Hope?
- April 3 - Fridays For Future Virtual Climate Strike & Teach-ins - Get Involved!
Dear friends of climate action
This is a critical moment — an opportunity to address the devastating impact of the COVID19 on families and communities AND to take a huge step to address the massive climate crisis that we face as a nation and a planet. It is a win-win opportunity that we cannot afford to miss.
Here are several action items, article links, and an important opportunity to support Fridays for Future in a virtual climate strike this coming Friday April 3rd. if you have not already signed these petitions, please consider doing so, and passing this along to your community. (scroll down for links)
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CLIMATE ADVOCACY LETTER – NO NEW MONEY FOR OIL AND GAS COMPANIES!
Following the Climate Action Network lobby days March 9 - 11 a letter was sent to parliamentarians from labour, social justice, climate and environmental groups including ClimateFast. With thanks to Julia Levin, Environmental Defence, for her work on the letter. It was widely reported on including in this industry publication. Also the Globe & Mail, Toronto Star, CTV and other publications.
CONTACT YOUR MP AND MAKE SURE THEY KEEP CARBON PRICING IN THE BUDGET!
If you are able to take this action please email lyn@climatefast.ca and I’ll send the sample letter.
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TORONTO PETITION TO KEEP COMMUNITY AND ALLOTMENT GARDENS OPEN
Please share this petition widely.
You can share it through change.org and your social media contacts, or you can use the text to send a personal letter to your councillor and Mayor John Tory.
The most important message is that we know how important it is to maintain physical distancing to control COVID19, but growing food is an essential service for many people in our city. There are existing safety protocols that gardens can use to protect the public while ensuring vulnerable community members have access to healthy food.
Find your councillor here or on our website municipal action page.
Here is the initial announcement, see the March 25 item.
This is an important moment for us to let decision makers know how important it is to be growing food in the city. (Scroll down for article link on CO2 storage potential in soil).
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PETITIONS
ClimateFast Co-Chair Lyn Adamson with LeadNow delivering Green New Deal petitions to Minister Morneau
Don’t bail out Big Oil. Support workers and renewable energy jobs instead.
Jason Kenney and his oil lobbyist friends are jumping on this moment to pressure Trudeau to include a big bailout for oil companies in the upcoming federal budget, further locking us into a fossil fuel economy. Our government must stop using Canadian tax dollars to prop up the fossil fuel industry. Instead, they should invest that money in renewables, and create opportunities for workers that are here to stay. Sign the petition to make sure they get the message.
https://act.stand.earth/page/17696/petition/1
PM Trudeau: Save Lives Not Pipelines
Halt all funding to Trans Mountain Pipeline in the midst of a global health crisis.
https://act.leadnow.ca/pm-trudeau-save-lives-not-pipelines/
Rapid and dramatic increase in shelter and drop-in space needed to slow COVID-19 spread and curb deadly consequences for Toronto’s homeless
https://ocap.ca/covid-19-homeless-response/
Sign the petition to phase out Ontario’s gas plants
PETITION FOR INTERNATIONAL CLIMATE ACTION WITH A GENDER LENS
https://petitions.ourcommons.ca/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-2395
Additional Petitions:
https://350.org/just-recovery/
https://act.environmentaldefence.ca/page/58289/action/1
https://www.stand.earth/no-big-oil-bailout? (phone-in petition)
https://www.cleanairalliance.org/support-a-clean-energy-future/
https://act.greenpeace.org/page/43667/action/2
https://act.greenpeace.org/page/58064/petition/1
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ARTICLE LINKS
TORONTO350 BLOG on global carbon strike and Green New Decade
PANDEMIC RESPONSE SHOULD MOBILIZE AROUND LOW CARBON SOLUTIONS
Solutions include : Investing in low-carbon jobs: In the fall 2019 election that now feels like ancient history, the Liberal Party platform promised interest-free loans of up to $40,000 to support energy retrofits in 1.5 million homes. The intent was good, but the numbers may have been off—we need far more retrofits, and the cost could be much lower. Nearly a decade ago, builders in Windsor, Ontario brought costs down from $85,000 to $10,700 per home, by combining 95 retrofits in a single project. By Mitchell Beer. Link here.
It’s important to speak up now to stop massive bailout to oil and gas! ‘Fossil bailout is hours or days away’
and this one by Paul McKay – Fossil bailout not the prescription for Canada’s fiscal health.
50 Ways to Stay SANE During the Coronavirus Pandemic
Lots of great links and ideas from Guy Dauncey
https://thepracticalutopian.ca/2020/03/20/50-ways-to-stay-sane-during-the-coronavirus-pandemic/
Here’s a list of grassroots groups that have come together to ensure vulnerable community members have access to food, housing, healthcare, and other necessities. Scroll down to the Toronto section.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LsHkTBMS0YX_4F7OSAt55ppV0xICi50AXdF62vRw4W8/edit
Coronavirus has caused a bicycling boom in New York City
This is the best time to ride a bike! The streets are empty, the air is clearer, bikes enable social distancing, it's fun, and it promotes health -- a strong immune system requires a healthy and well-exercised body.
https://grist.org/climate/coronavirus-has-caused-a-bicycling-boom-in-new-york-city/
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A letter from the virus. #LISTEN
Stop. Just stop. Be still. Listen.
4 min. video
Coronavirus Capitalism — and How to Beat It
Watch Naomi Klein outline the dangers and opportunities of the current state of the world vis-a-vis COVID19 and the climate crisis. 8 min. video.
Green Economy Heroes – New Podcast! with Dianne Saxe and Paul Dowsett on sustainable buildings.
Photo by Lyn Adamson
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MORE ARTICLES AND RESOURCES HERE:
https://myclimatechange.home.blog/
https://www.broadbentinstitute.ca/covid-19
And ideas for action here: Stuck in Your House Due to Coronavirus? Take Action on Climate!
Guy Dauncey recording on his amazing and detailed 26 week program for federal climate action for a green transition, and a link to his plan in pdf form can be found here.
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A WIN! COURT RULES AGAINST ALTON GAS
AGRICULTURE ARTICLE – ENERGY MIX - SOILS CAN DELIVER 5.5 BILLION TONNES OF CO2 STORAGE PER YEAR
Excerpt from: The Coronavirus is a fast motion climate crisis (Rolling Stone)
“In the face of the coronavirus and the climate crisis, any ideology that worships profit above all else, that trumpets individualism above the common good every single time, is simply a roadmap to self-immolation. As Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told Rolling Stone’s Tessa Stuart, “It’s not just about the science — it’s about the systems that protect all of the power that goes into defying the science.....”
“The last thing you want to read about right now is more doom-filled climate predictions. All the more reason to start thinking of the climate story as more than one of just doom – but as one of innovation and ingenuity, compassion and courage. This week and next, Rolling Stone is releasing its special issue on the climate, featuring Greta Thunberg on the cover. In it you’ll hear from scientists and activists and ordinary people, sharing their grief and their hopes and their hard work on issues such as the state of the oceans, solar power, and the fate of biodiversity. We will not stop covering the climate crisis. We’re not going to look away. There is still time to hold back the worst of the coming tide. Despite likely having contracted the virus herself, Greta hasn’t stopped. She’s continuing her Friday for Future as a “digital strike” until it’s safe to take to the streets again. And we have no doubt she will.”
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FRIDAYS FOR FUTURE GLOBAL CLIMATE STRIKE – ONLINE! FRIDAY APRIL 3
We are moving the April 3rd Global Climate Strike ONLINE.
We have a public health crisis, but the climate crisis has not gone away and we still need urgent action for climate justice.
Please share the Facebook event and stay tuned for details on participating and helping build this ONLINE event.
TEACH-INS THIS WEEK – TUESDAY AND THURSDAY
https://www.facebook.com/events/645188489603192/
https://www.facebook.com/events/1517593028396212/
The youth of Fridays for Future Toronto, along with fellow activists of all ages committed to taking action for climate justice, take the need to act on this public health crisis seriously, but we feel the need to raise concerns about the government response; that Indigenous people, people from other marginalized communities and working people be supported so they have the resources and support they need to take the necessary precautions.
This includes providing clean water and medical facilities for many First Nations who go without; prohibiting evictions for the duration of the crisis and beyond; providing more paid leave and other resources for workers who have lost their job, have been excluded from work or have had their hours reduced. Read statement on COVID19 here. Resources from Toronto Public Health here.
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AND A VISION FOR YOU
"And the people stayed home. And read books, and listened, and rested, and exercised, and made art, and played games, and learned new ways of being, and were still. And listened more deeply. Some meditated, some prayed, some danced. Some met their shadows. And the people began to think differently.
And the people healed. And, in the absence of people living in ignorant, dangerous, mindless, and heartless ways, the earth began to heal.
And when the danger passed, and the people joined together again, they grieved their losses, and made new choices, and dreamed new images, and created new ways to live and heal the earth fully, as they had been healed."
Author unknown
ENJOY OUR PHOTOS FROM MARCH 12TH FORUM ENBRIDGE & OPG VS THE CLIMATE!
Our last in person event before physical distancing! Group photo at Friends House, and Angela Bischoff with veteran activist Frank Showler.
TAKE CARE AND DREAM BIG! WE WILL CREATE A HEALTHY CLIMATE FUTURE TOGETHER!