But on Thursday, Harvard University President Drew Gilpin Faust released a long and reasoned explanation of why the school will not remove fossil fuel investments from its portfolio. Her arguments were mostly macroeconomic (why disinvest when society still buys the companies’ products?) and financial (the endowment supports school operations, scholarships and much more), although she also wrote that an endowment shift “would appear to position the University as a political actor rather than an academic institution.”
“Last Hours” is the first in a series of short films that explore the perils of climate change and the solutions to avert climate disaster. Each subsequent film will highlight fact-based challenges facing the human race, and offer solutions to ameliorate these crises. The initial short film series will culminate in a feature film to be presented prior to COP21, the 2015 UN Conference on Climate Change in Paris.
An asset for the climate change movement, “Last Hours” will be disseminated globally to awaken modern culture worldwide about the various dangers associated with climate change.
“Last Hours” describes a science-based climate scenario where a tipping point to runaway climate change is triggered by massive releases of frozen methane. Methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, has already started to percolate into the open seas and atmosphere from methane hydrate deposits beneath melting arctic ice, from the warming northern-hemisphere tundra, and from worldwide continental-shelf undersea methane clathrate pools.
Burning fossil fuels release carbon that, principally through greenhouse effect, heat the atmosphere and the seas. This is happening most rapidly at the polar extremes, and this heating has already begun the process of releasing methane. If we do not begin to significantly curtail the use of carbon-based fossil fuels, this freed methane threatens to radically accelerate the speed of global warming, potentially producing a disaster beyond the ability of the human species to adapt.
This first video is designed to awaken people to the fact that the earth has experienced five major extinctions in the deep geologic past — times when more than half of all life on earth vanished — and that we are now entering a sixth extinction. Industrial civilization with its production of greenhouse gases has the ability to trigger a mass extinction; in the extreme, it could threaten not just human civilization, but the very existence of human life on this planet.
The world community and global citizens urgently need to chart a path forward that greatly reduces green house gas emissions. To take action and follow the pathway to solutions to the climate crisis, you can explore this website and you can also sign-up for future updates. Thank you.
“Last Hours” is presented and narrated by Thom Hartmann and directed by Leila Conners. Executive Producers are George DiCaprio and Earl Katz. Last Hours is produced by Mathew Schmid of Tree Media Foundation, and was written by Thom Hartmann, Sam Sacks, and Leila Conners. Music is composed and performed by Francesco Lupica.
Nearly all life on earth could go extinct due to man-made climate change. That’s the main thrust of a new Internet documentary “Last Hours,” directed by Leila Conners, who also co-wrote the short film with RT’s Thom Hartmann and Sam Sacks. The host of RT’s “The Big Picture” talks to Meghan Lopez about the Permian Mass Extinction.
Welcome to the Resilient Cities 2014 Call for Contributions page! Here you will find information about the submission and selection process. Please read all of the guidelines below before filling out the submission form.
Submission guidelines for contributions
We recommend contributors to prepare their submission in advance. The submission process does not permit the saving of drafts unless an account is created. Please prepare:
A summary of maximum 100 words or 600 characters
An abstract of maximum 1000 words or 6000 characters
Outcomes of maximum 75 words or 500 characters
For panels and workshops, a methodology of maximum 150 words or 1000 characters
If your contribution is selected, main and second contributors are expected to become speakers at the congress (Note: the second contributor is a second speaker for the same contribution). Therefore, please ensure your availability on the dates of the congress before submitting. The congress is tentatively scheduled for 1-3 June 2014.
Too often there’s a lack of collaboration between the anti-poverty activists aiming to lift the floor and the environmental activists trying to build a sustainable economy. When we understand that a transformative movement must be a cross-class and multiracial movement, we’re motivated to learn the skills needed to collaborate with people from very different classes than ourselves. In this webinar, Program Director of Class Action (www.classism.org),
Betsy Leondar-Wright, author of “Class Matters: Cross-class Alliance Building for Middle-Class Activists,” will share stories, insights and tips for reaching across the class divide to promote social justice.
“It is clear that the United States and the world are on an unsustainable course. The sooner we have available clear, feasible options, the more likely we will be able to change course. New Economy Week will help to move us toward needed change and reform. ”
-Timothy E. Wirth, Former US Senator and Vice Chair of the UN Foundation
New Economy Week is a national week of celebration designed to shine a light on the movement to build a new economy – an economy that is restorative to people, place, and the planet. From October 12-18, we will be highlighting events, actions, reports, works of art, and other projects that promote the principles of democracy, justice, and sustainability. Learn more and add your event to the map today!
On October 15th starting at 4pm EST, distinguished author, political-economist, and co-founder of the Democracy Collaborative, Gar Alperovitz will take to the popular website reddit.com for an “Ask Me Anything” online interview. For two hours, Gar will answer questions from users of the site about everything from his latest book “What Then Must We Do?” to how he envisions moving America beyond capitalism.
The exact URL will be posted about a half-hour before the interview. If you would like to participate, you will need to create a free account on reddit.com.
Interview with Michael L. Weinstein, President and Founder of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation and author of “With God on Our Side: One Man’s War Against an Evangelical Coup in America’s Military”
In this eye-opening, equitable documentary, filmmakers Kate Davis, David Heilbroner and Franco Sacchi explore the lives of evangelical Christians who believe that Armageddon is imminent and that Israel will be the site of Christ’s second coming. The film follows evangelicals as they prepare for the apocalypse and examines how their beliefs have influenced the U.S. government’s relationships with Israel and the Muslim world.
Welcome to Transition Studies. To prosper for very much longer on the changing Earth humankind will need to move beyond its current fossil-fueled civilization toward one that is sustained on recycled materials and renewable energy. This is not a trivial shift. It will require a major transition in all aspects of our lives.
This weblog explores the transition to a sustainable future on our finite planet. It provides links to current news, key documents from government sources and non-governmental organizations, as well as video documentaries about climate change, environmental ethics and environmental justice concerns.
The links are listed here to be used in whatever manner they may be helpful in public information campaigns, course preparation, teaching, letter-writing, lectures, class presentations, policy discussions, article writing, civic or Congressional hearings and citizen action campaigns, etc. For further information on this blog see: About this weblog. and How to use this weblog.
Calendar – Click on Date for links entered on that Day
Transition Studies 