Candles and a song for Copenhagen

Though it was cold outside...inside the building Mama gnome felt the warmth of meeting kindred spirits of people who came there for the same purpose:

To light candles for Climate Change Action in Copenhagen (COP15) so that nations will work together for a "fair and binding" climate deal that will reduce carbon dioxide parts per million in the atmosphere to 350.

Mama gnome spotted Leah Levitt who organized this event.

Mama gnome met her previously at an event for 350.org's International Day of Climate Action.

Leah said she hoped more people would show up and Mama gnome nodded her head, mindful of the importance of this event.

And more people joined Mama gnome and Leah...

They were:

Vianna Friss
Judy Garrett
Geoffrey Levitt
David Perkins
Ulrica Bell-Perkins
Eugenia Regan
Mike Vernetti


(c) photo by Jenaelha, Friendly Gnome's Blog

The vigil started with Ulrica reading a speech by President Nasheed of Maldives calling for nations and people to sign up for a "survival pact." Below are excerpts...

Scientists say that global carbon dioxide levels must be brought back down below 350 parts per million.

And we can see why.

We have already overshot the safe landing space.

In consequence the ice caps are melting.

The rainforests are threatened.

And the world’s coral reefs are in imminent danger.

Members of the G8 rich countries have pledged to halt temperature rises to two degrees Celsius.

Yet they have refused to commit to the carbon targets, which would deliver even this modest goal.

At two degrees we would lose the coral reefs.

At two degrees we would melt Greenland.

At two degrees my country would not survive.

As a president I cannot accept this.

As a person I cannot accept this.

I refuse to believe that it is too late, and that we cannot do any about it.

Copenhagen is our date with destiny.

....After all, it is not carbon we want, but development.

It is not coal we want, but electricity.

It is not oil we want, but transport.

Low-carbon technologies now exist, to deliver all the goods and services we need.

Let us make the goal of using them.

Mike Vernetti wrote a song about global warming and the need for climate action after he watched the movie, "An Inconvenient Truth."

He performed his song, "Not Welcome Here," at our candle vigil.

His song warns...

"We can no longer wait for just the right time...Life won't be the same when we're not welcome here."

We heard Mike's beautiful voice and words. We want our voices heard as well.

Global warming is a stark reality for all of us... and for many... it is a reality of great peril and loss of their homes and lives.

We want our nations' leaders to sign a "fair and binding" climate agreement that will help bring our planet back from the brink of global warming disaster and on to the safe path for 350.

Mama gnome urges each and every one of you to make your voice heard as well.

Please speak out loud and Go Green.


(c) Mike Vernetti "Not Welcome Here"

(c)2009 Jenaelha, Friendly Gnome's Blog

I Warm You Globally...Let Me Count The Ways....

Mama gnome loves to read poetry sometimes.

And one of her favorite poems is, "How Do I love thee? Let Me Count the Ways" by Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

Mama gnome thought in honor of the ongoing COP15, the United Nations Climate Change Conference,

she presents a poem showing the severity and gravity of not love...but of Global Warming.


"How Do I Globally Warm You? Let Me Count The Ways..."

I globally warm you to the depths of your oceans and the heights of your atmosphere

My carbon dioxide parts per million can reach, when feeling out of breath

For I sought to end the being of fresh air and ideal blue skies.

I globally warm you for every mile the humans drive

Most earnestly in their clunkers and SUV's.

I warm you copiously, as men dig for more oil

I warm you hideously as men mountain cut and burn more coal.

I warm you with the oil slicks that cover ocean waters

I warm you even more with each melting ice sheet

In my old global warming ways and with your petroleum companies' faith

I globally warm your Earth with greenhouse emissions

I seem to gain every day---

I globally warm you with every tree, coal and fossil fuels you continue to burn- and, if You choose...

I shall globally warm your Earth better after death.


No it's not supposed to be a lovely poem. It's horrific. Just like Global Warming.

Here is a picture taken by NASA dated 2007 showing the amount of Arctic Sea Ice that has been lost because of Global Warming.


NASA, http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17800


Please show how many ways you love Earth and let us count the ways...

Go Green.

(c)2009 Jenaelha, Friendly Gnome's Blog

Copenhagen in December :Be there or be square...

Copenhagen...A magical place, a wondrous place...

It is Denmark's capital and ranks as one of the most ecofriendly cities in the world with "36% of its citizens bicycling to work every day for a total of 1.1 million km. Copenhagen's water in the inner harbor is so clean it can be used for swimming."

Mama gnome agrees 'tis quite a magical place and even more so for this December, Copenhagen's Bella Center will be the hub for the United Nations Climate Change Conference December 7-18, 2009(COP15 2009).

photo from Froztbyte

Mama gnome dreams about going.

She will swim through the clean waters of the inner harbor, bike down the paths lined with trees, trudge down to Bella Center as fast as her short legs can take her, go up the stage and call attendance!

United Kingdom?

Lovely to see you.

Japan?

Oh, wonderful.

India?

Thank you so much for coming.

Indonesia?

Mama gnome is very happy to count you in.

China?

Wow, you made it too? Mama gnome is impressed.

United States?

Umm...United States? U.SA.? Sent-first-man-to-the-moon-United- States-but-can't-commit-to-Copenhagen-United States?

Silence.

Cue the crickets....

Mama gnome's daydreaming ends abruptly. She finds herself pacing in front of her aga stove, with arms crossed and tsk...tsk...tsks...

Will the knot in her stomach ever go away? The waiting and not knowing will maim her if the knot doesn't.

Will December 7 be known as tremendous day of heaping disappointment for Mama gnome if the United States does not do its part in Copenhagen?

Mama gnome and the rest of the world will wait with bated breath for December 7, 2009,

She hopes United States, China and all countries participate and pledge significant changes to current policies addressing the need for sustainable green energy and significant reductions in greenhouse emissions.

Here's an insightful video explaining the significance of Copenhagen in December.


video from RealClimateNews

Connie Hedegaard, Danish Minister for Climate and Energy and incoming COP15 president stated in an interview for cop15.dk,

“If the whole world comes to Copenhagen and leaves without making the needed political agreement, then I think it’s a failure that is not just about climate. Then it’s the whole global democratic system not being able to deliver results in one of the defining challenges of our century. And that is and should not be a possibility. It’s not an option.”

Here is a short video featuring former United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan, addressing the Global Editors' Forum at a conference in Denmark and Jose Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission.



video from EUXTV

Mama gnome is quite aware of the financial difficulties all countries are going through now...but a bigger problem looms over every single person and living thing on this planet,

GLOBAL WARMING

It doesn't matter how much money you have in your bank account if the bank is underwater, literally underwater.

Mama gnome calls on developed countries and developing countries who produce significant emissions that worsen global warming to fess up, buckle up and commit to repairing the damage, halt further injury and save the planet.

"There is no plan B as we don't have a Planet B."

Copenhagen in December...Be there or be square...

(c) 2009 Jenaelha, Friendly Gnome's Blog