We need a global power shift

Yesterday, I received the email below from May Boeve at Bill McKibben’s 350.0rg. I have received others before and would love to get involved but, having investigated to see what they are looking for, was left with the distinct feeling that they are not looking for middle-aged, unemployed people with no network of physical connections in a geographic area… Maybe, however, you are different? IMPORTANT UPDATE: The links below have now been de-personalised. Therefore, if you clicked on them in the first hour after this post was originally published, you will need to do so again now – and thereby register in your own name (rather than as me – which at least one person has done). – Thanks to Pendantry for alerting me to my error. ————- Friends, 2012 was the year of Hurricane Sandy, Typhoon Bopha, and unprecedented droughts and wildfires the world over. Global food prices rose by 6% and we hit 333 consecutive months of above-average temperatures, as half the Arctic ice disappeared into the ocean. In short, 2012 was the year of extreme weather and climate change. And that’s why 2013 must and will be year zero in our fight against it. This will be the year we look back upon when everything changed — when we rose up to meet the challenge of climate change at the scale that it required, and the world rose with us. Global Power Shift will be the starting point, and we’ll need all hands on deck. Are you in? Already, we’ve begun to ramp up in a big way. The Fossil Free divestment campaign has rapidly spread to over 200 college campuses across the U.S. and we’re not stopping there. Soon, this divestment campaign will be in Canada, Europe, and beyond. This June, 500-600 of the most capable and fired-up youth leaders from around the world will be meeting in Turkey to spark a Global Power Shift. The basic plan is this:

1. They’ll train in grassroots and digital organizing, share their stories, and chart an aggressive strategy for the coming year
2. Attendees will then return to their home countries in teams to organize mobilizations
3. These national or regional events will be launchpads for new, highly-coordinated campaigns confronting the fossil fuel industry and promoting strategic solutions to climate change

And that’s just the beginning. From there, we will continue to grow bigger and gain steam until — town by town, and country by country — we come together to win the kind of planetary transformation that this climate crisis demands. Pledge to shift the power: act.350.org/sign/global_power_shift/ Onwards! May for the GPS Team