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Climate Action

Dear Reader,

As we put together the new Climate Action issue of YES! Magazine, my fellow editors and I wrestled with concerns about what the future will look like. Climate change is happening much faster than scientists predicted even a few years ago.

President Obama and other world leaders head this month to international climate negotiations in Copenhagen. I think about my niece, born days after we went to press: Our nation’s actions now will determine whether she’ll grow up to find a world wracked by droughts and hurricanes, food shortages, and security crises, or a safe world that offers opportunities for her to have a happy and healthy life.

Fortunately, such decisions aren’t just up to our political leaders. This issue of YES! tells you why stopping climate change is even more urgent than you may have realized and offers ideas for breaking the political stalemate and creating a green economy. It shows how you can step up, be a hero, organize in your community, educate others, and get politically involved.

If you’re not already a subscriber, make Climate Action the first issue in your subscription with this special introductory $15 offer. Or choose a 3-year subscription and get our 2010 Calendar free.

Best,

Madeline Ostrander
Senior Editor
YES! Magazine

What Will it Take to Avert Disastrous Climate Change? We thought we had 20, 30, 50 years to take on the climate crisis. We were wrong. The scary science, smart policies, and critical actions that could still avert disaster. The Climate Justice Movement Breaks Through Mark Engler explores how new mobilizations are injecting urgency into a process stymied by big business and cautious government. Why We Find it So Hard to Act On Climate Change Solving the “It’s not my problem” problem. A psychologist on what keeps us from coming to terms with the climate crisis. The Way to Global Climate Justice Rich and poor countries are in this together. If either fail to step up, the planet is in trouble. A climate deal must take into account the Global North’s responsibility for nearly 70 percent of greenhouse pollution and the Global South’s need to move out of poverty.

WTO+10
The WTO protests 10 years ago changed the way people all over the world understand globalization, poverty, and the power of protest. We asked some of the key figures involved, “What has been the legacy of the 1999 Seattle protests?”

:: 7 WAYS THE BATTLE OF SEATTLE CHANGED THE WORLD by Fran Korten

:: THE “BATTLE IN SEATTLE” AT 10 by Mark Engler

:: THE WTO AND THE MYTH OF ACTIVIST VIOLENCE by Rebecca Solnit

:: THE MEANING OF SEATTLE: TRUTH ONLY BECOMES TRUE THROUGH ACTION by Walden Bello

:: THE WORLD TURNED OUT IN SEATTLE by Anuradha Mittal

:: ONE MORE THING SEATTLE’S WTO SHUTDOWN TAUGHT THE WORLD by Sarah van Gelder

Last Mountain Standing The last intact mountain in West Virginia’s Coal River Valley is slated for mountaintop-removal coal mining. The valley’s residents have other ideas.		Slow Money Interview: Slow Money founder Woody Tasch believes that thinking differently about money will help us transition from “making a killing” to “making a living.”		A “Living” Built Environment What if buildings, communities, and infrastructure projects were designed to be beautiful, socially just, and as gentle on the environment as plants are?

Highlights from recent newsletters:

:: 10 WAYS TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE (NOT JUST YOUR LIGHT BULBS)
    YES! poster by “No Impact Man” Colin Beavan

:: PARKER PALMER: KNOW YOURSELF, CHANGE YOUR WORLD
    How to move from what is to what we know to be possible.

:: 10 THINGS SCIENCE SAYS WILL MAKE YOU HAPPY  Scientists can tell us how to be happy. Really.