But Climate Justice is Coming to the Capitol!

On February 16th the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released their latest reports. They basically said, ‘Well, its even worse than we thought…’

“The world is warming far more quickly than scientists forecast just two years ago..[because of] the unexpectedly rapid increase in the burning of fossil fuels, especially coal, since 2000. “We are looking now at a future climate that’s beyond anything we’ve considered seriously in climate model simulations,’”
- The Financial Times, February 17th 2009

We know the climate is in crisis, and we know we must act. We know that the next 50 generations are counting on us. And we know that clean coal is an industry-crafted control meme - a myth we must dispel if we are to make any progress towards climate justice.

That’s why we invite you to join us on March 2, 2009 for the historic Mass Nonviolent Civil Disobedience at the coal-fired capitol power plant in Washington, DC.

On March 2, join smartMeme and thousands more in a multi-generational act of civil disobedience at the Capitol Power Plant - a plant that powers Congress with dirty energy and symbolizes a past that cannot be our future. Let’s use this action as a rallying cry for a clean energy economy that will protect the health of our families, our climate, and our future.

This will be the largest nonviolent direct action to stop global warming ever. It will be a peaceful demonstration, carried out in a spirit of hope, in keeping with the spirit of this political moment. We will be there lookin’ fly in our dress clothes, and ask the same of you.

In our guts, we know the fight for climate justice is one of the greatest challenges of our time, and that is going to take tremendous courage and political risk. It’s time to take a stand on global warming. We can’t wait any longer for the changes we know we can, and must, make today.

With a new administration and a new Congress, we have a window of opportunity. But we have to open it - together.

• RSVP for the Action
• Attend a nonviolence training in your area
• Join us on Facebook

See you in the streets!

P.S: Why are we inspired to be part of this action? Read our discussion of the ecological crisis in the “Afterword - A Call to Innovation,” which invites activists to reimagine our strategies in the face of a rapidly changing, warming world.

“There are moments in a nation’s-and a planet’s-history when it may be necessary for some to break the law in order to bear witness to an evil, bring it to wider attention, and push for its correction. We think such a time has arrived…The industry claim that there is something called “clean coal” is, put simply, a lie. But it’s a lie told with tens of millions of dollars, which we do not have. We have our bodies, and we are willing to use them to make our point.”

~ Bill McKibben & Wendell Berry’s invitation to the Capitol Climate Action

We know that RE:Imagining Change is over 60 pages long, and we know we kinda “buried the lead,” so we’ve posted the Afterward HERE because we really want to make sure you check it out!

A Call to Innovation is the 5 page Afterward to our new strategy manual RE:Imagining Change, where we discuss the ecological crisis, psychic breaks, and innovating strategies to build powerful movements.

Here is an excerpt:

SmartMeme’s roots are in the earth-centered politics of ecological resistance movements. We founded the organization and wrote Re:Imagining Change because we believe that our lifetimes come at a decisive moment in the history of our planet—a moment that requires creative, bold, and strategic action.

Our times call out for more powerful and effective social movements. We need not only bigger movements but also better strategies to confront the crises head on. We need to unearth the deep roots of our social and ecological problems in the worldview of the dominant culture. Social change, at the sweeping scale we need, will require systematic intervention into the pathological assumptions and control mythologies that maintain the status quo and limit the collective imagination of alternatives. Our movements need to go beyond talking points and isolated policy proposals to actually shift the narratives that shape popular understanding of our economy, our political system, and our entire relationship with the natural world…

Read the full Afterward HERE.

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