FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: KATHI PETERSEN
– KP Communications
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WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA JOINS
GLOBAL DAY OF CLIMATE ACTION;
GATHERING IN ASHEVILLE ONE OF
MORE THAN 2,250 SIMULTANEOUS EVENTS
IN OVER 150 COUNTRIES
(Asheville,
N.C. – October 12): On Oct. 24,
churches around the world will ring their bells 350 times. Mountain climbers
will wave banners depicting the number 350 on the world’s highest peaks.
There’ll be rallies in cities large and small, with participants chanting “350”
in every language.
And
in downtown Asheville, citizens of all ages will join in the same worldwide
movement to focus attention on the number 350. It’s all part of the
International Day of Climate Action, the most widespread day of grassroots
environmental action in the planet’s history. Covering almost every country on
earth, the 350 project is about citizens joining together to urge world leaders
to take bold and immediate steps to address climate change and reduce carbon
emissions.
The
efforts are aimed at the number 350 because scientists say that 350 parts per
million (ppm) is the most carbon dioxide we can safely have in the atmosphere.
The current CO2 concentration is approaching 390 ppm.
The
Asheville 350 gathering, 2 – 4 p.m., in the new park in front of Asheville City
Hall, will be one of nearly 2,300 simultaneous events in more than 150
countries taking place on Oct. 24. The family-friendly afternoon will include
speakers and activities for children and adults, and a group photo that will
depict the number 350, to be taken at 3:50 p.m.
That
photo and thousands from around the world will be posted on the international
350.org Web site and displayed on the 30-foot tall screens on Times Square in
the heart of New York City. Then, on the Monday after Oct. 24, the 350.org team
will visit United Nations headquarters to hand-deliver the photos as something
of a “visual petition” to diplomats and delegates the world over.
(MORE)
These
global actions come six weeks before the world’s nations convene in Copenhagen
for the UN Climate Change Conference to draw up a new climate treaty. Eighty-nine
countries have already endorsed the 350 target, as have the chairman of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Rajendra Pachauri; the world’s
foremost climate economist, Sir Nicholas Stern; and Nobel prize-winner Al Gore.
Among
those attending the conference in Denmark will be 22-year-old Ellie Johnston, a
UNC Asheville student and delegate to the Copenhagen meeting through the
organization SustainUS. Johnston will speak at the Asheville 350 gathering on
Oct. 24, alongside Mayor Terry Bellamy and one of the area’s most dynamic
speakers on climate issues, Andrew Jones.
A
senior biology major, Johnston is active with Southern Energy Network, an
organization that works to build and facilitate an inclusive student- and
youth-led movement in the Southeast promoting a clean, just, safe and
sustainable energy future. Her activities at UNC Asheville have included
co-chairing Active Students for a Healthy Environment and serving as the
university’s 2008-2009 student government executive of sustainability.
Jones
is program director of the Sustainability Institute, a nonprofit organization
founded in 1996 that applies systems thinking, system dynamics modeling, and
organizational learning to economic, environmental and social challenges.
Working out of the Institute’s southeast office in Asheville, Jones contributes
to breakthroughs in climate change strategy internationally and within the U.S.
The
Asheville gathering is sponsored by the grassroots environmental organization,
Western North Carolina Alliance. It is among several local activities – so far,
more than any other community in North Carolina – associated with the
international 350 project. Others in the area include the Wild and Scenic
Environmental Film Festival, Oct. 23 at UNC Asheville, a low-income household
weatherization service project on Oct. 24, organized by North Carolina
Interfaith Power & Light and involving numerous organizations, and a
performance by Playback Theatre, “Our Dance with Sustainability,” on the
evening of Oct. 24 at AB Tech.
Asheville
350 is organized by a steering committee co-chaired by volunteers Tracy Kunkler
and Jim Barton. Kunkler, of West Asheville, is director of grant writing and
communications for Sims and Steele Consulting and a member of Western North Carolina
Alliance. Her background includes positions with the Region A Partnership for
Children and Land-of-Sky Regional Council. As the mother of a 10-year-old son,
for Kunkler, the need for climate action is particularly compelling.
“I’m
not sure people realize how urgent this issue is. I think people believe we
have a decade, or a couple of decades, to work on this problem,” said Kunkler.
“But we need to peak in our carbon emissions by 2015, which means turning
around the trends of the industrial age in the next five years to keep from
hitting tipping points that would create runaway climate change. We’re already
over 350; we’re already over what’s safe for us.”
(MORE)
“Climate
change is the biggest issue we face,” said Barton, a technical writer in West Asheville.
“Everyone who cares about the next generation should take a step toward a
healthy climate. This is a critical moment in human history.”
Kunkler
uses the analogy of a person with high blood pressure to express the urgency:
“Someone who has extremely high, untreated blood pressure may be walking around
and seem fine. They’re not dead yet, but may be very soon. When I talk to
people they don’t realize how urgent and how close we are.”
For
more information on Asheville 350, visit www.asheville350.org. For more on the international efforts,
visit www.350.org. That site
also features fact sheets on the science behind 350, a list of actions taking
place worldwide, and a 90-second video, “Because the World Needs To Know,” that
succinctly explains the problems and solutions addressed through the 350
movement.
###
Details about Asheville 350 on Oct. 24 in
front of Asheville City Hall
2 – 3 p.m. – Activities
include:
·
Children’s
activities, such as creating noisemakers out of recycled items (plastic
beverage bottles and paper towel rolls, for example)
·
Opportunity for
attendees to get information about how to make a difference
·
Opportunity to add
thoughts to a traveling mural, “Changing our Way of Life for Global Climate
Stability—What Makes It Worth It For You?” This mural will hang in
various locations in the Asheville area after Oct. 24, starting with UNC
Asheville and Warren Wilson College.
3 – 3:30 p.m. –
Speakers include:
·
Asheville Mayor Terry
Bellamy
·
Andrew Jones, Program
Director for the Sustainability Institute [See Drew’s bio here: http://www.sustainer.org/?page_id=121.
See video of a presentation by Drew at Tedx Asheville here, on the
Sustainability Institute’s blog: http://climateinteractive.wordpress.com/
]
·
Ellie Johnston, UNC
Asheville student going to Copenhagen. [See info about student delegation to
Copenhagen at http://sustainus.org/
]
3:30 – 3:50 p.m. –
Photo:
Assemble for 350 group
photo to be displayed in Times Square and then sent to world leaders convening
in Copenhagen for the United Nations Climate Change Conference in December.
###
