See this morning’s Friends of the Earth press release or this Guardian story for more information.

CAN Letter CPH Access 16Dec09

Letter via Hill Heat.

Press release via Avaaz.

Majority supports a legally binding climate deal that peaks emissions by 2015

A new poll commissioned by global campaign network Avaaz.org in the middle of the Copenhagen climate negotiations shows widespread American support for the Obama administration to lead the world to a real climate deal in Copenhagen.

“This poll shows that the majority of Americans want a real deal — an ambitious and binding global climate treaty that peaks global emissions by 2015,” said Ricken Patel, Executive Director of Avaaz.org.

The poll showed a majority of Americans support a legally binding climate treaty that peaks emissions by 2015. By a two-to-one margin (61% in favor, 33% opposed), Americans want the US to sign a treaty in Copenhagen that peaks global emissions by 2015. Moreover, a majority (53%) want that treaty to be legally binding, with only 40% opposed.

“Americans know who the villains are in the fight against climate change. Sixty-four percent of Americans believe that oil and coal companies have too much influence over Congress”, said Patel.

The poll showed that 64% of Americans say that oil and coal companies have too much influence on Congress and decisions on climate change policies, with only 11% saying they have too little influence and 19% saying the right amount of influence. Obama’s base of strong Democrats feels that way even more strongly, with 74% saying too much influence — but over two-thirds of independents (68%) agree, and even a majority of strong Republicans (52%) agree.

“Americans are fully aware that political promises are not sufficient in the fight against climate change — only 6% of Americans trust world leaders fully to cut emissions without a legally binding treaty,” added Patel.

According to the poll, only 6% of Americans say they have “a lot” of trust in world leaders to reduce emissions without a legally binding climate treaty, and only an additional 20% say they have “some” trust — with fully 71% saying they have very little trust or none at all (26% saying “very little” and a stunning 45% saying “none at all”.

Press release via Avaaz.

Barcelona, Spain, November 4, 2009: At the halfway point of the UN climate talks in Barcelona this week, the USA was named as ‘Fossil of the Day’, with Canada coming in second, by a vote of the Climate Action Network International (CAN-I) – a global coalition of over 450 leading non-government organisations. The daily award is given to those nations judged to be the ‘best’ at blocking or stalling progress in the global climate negotiation that day.

The first-place ‘Fossil Award’ was given to the USA for delaying passage of domestic climate change legislation.

The US ratified the UN’s ‘Framework Convention on Climate Change’ in 1992, promising to reduce its greenouse gases emissions to 1990 levels by 2000. But it has failed to meet this promise. The US delegation to the international negotiations now says they will follow the lead of the Congress – so the delay in climate legislation hamstrings the US delegation’s negotiating ability.

Earlier this year, when the House of Representatives pushed forward climate legislation, it seemed likely that domestic legislation would be passed before the crucial Copenhagen climate summit this December. Recent delay tactics in the US Senate – boycotts and commissioning redundant economic analysis – leave the world wondering whether the US will get it done.

“Other countries – developed and developing alike – have moved forward, committing to emission reductions and advancing prospects of a global deal,” said Sara Svensson, a youth climate activist from Sweden.

“It is time for the US Administration and for those on Capitol Hill to get the job done. Their lack of action undermines international trust in the UN negotiations and endangers the prospects of reaching a global solution to climate change.”

Media Advisory from Avaaz.org via email.

Climate Leadership in Question at Harper-Obama Meeting
‘Carbon Bigfoot’ Harper and President Obama to Sip from Dirty Oil Sands Milkshake

Washington DC — During their meeting this Wednesday, President Obama, and ‘Carbon Bigfoot’ Harper will be sipping from a larger-than-life dirty oil sands milkshake. Harper will appear as a hairy and foolish Bigfoot character who has no qualms about his enormous carbon footprint.

The leaders plan to discuss commitments to climate change solutions ahead of the G20 Summit later this month. However, Harper’s climate policies make Canada one of the countries most impeding progress on the global climate treaty that countries will supposedly agree on this December. Carbon Bigfoot Harper is also a strong supporter of dirty oil sands, which contribute to global warming pollution and cause major local damage on indigenous lands in the borreal forest of Canada, where they are extracted. The US imports dirty oil sands from Canada, and recently approved the Alberta-Minnesota Clipper pipeline, which will promote more destruction and pollution in both the US and Canada.

On Wednesday, Harper, the climate offender, and his enormous carbon footprint will be exposed, making it clear that Canada is right now weak and irresponsible when it comes to international leadership on climate change.

EXCELLENT PHOTO OP: Climate Activists posing as ‘Carbon Bigfoot’ Harper and President Obama with Larger-than-Life Oil Sands Milkshake and calling for a fair, ambitious, and binding global climate treaty in Copenhagen this December

WHERE: Outside the White House northwest gate

WHEN: Wednesday, September 16th, 2009, during Obama and Harper’s meeting


WHO: Youth Climate Activists working with Avaaz.org to secure a fair, ambitious and binding global climate treaty this year

Via email from Action Factory DC. More photos available here.

Climate Advocates Call on the President to Reflect and Take Action on the Fourth Anniversary of Katrina

WASHINGTON, D.C. — International climate activists floated two roof tops in the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool early Thursday afternoon in anticipation of the fourth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. One of the roofs read, “HELP—The Water Is Rising.” The 30 ft. banner behind the roofs declared, “Prevent the Next Katrina, Restore the Gulf, Stop Global Warming.”

Saturday’s anniversary of Katrina’s landfall coincides with the 100-day countdown to the much anticipated Copenhagen climate negotiations.

“Needless to say, many New Orleanians have placed their hopes in Barack Obama. We see the effects of man-made disaster every day. Climate change is the number one long-term threat to life facing New Orleans.” said Esquizito, a New Orleans jazz and blues performer and Katrina survivor working with the climate advocates. “We’re all waiting for President Obama’s leadership,” he said.

Katrina made landfall in southeast Louisiana on August 29th, 2005. 80 percent of New Orleans was under water and at least 1,836 people lost their lives, making it one of the deadliest natural disasters in the history of the United States.

The group of concerned youth called attention to the anniversary of Katrina and the necessity of bold US leadership at the UN climate negotiations in Copenhagen this December to pass a fair, ambitious, and binding global treaty that will prevent environmental disasters of the catastrophic magnitude of Katrina in the future. According to the climate advocates, a fair, ambitious, and binding treaty includes full funding for international adaptation, so that vulnerable areas can adapt to climate threats.

A statement by the Pew Center for Global Climate Change further expresses the link between Katrina and global warming: “It would be scientifically unsound to conclude that Katrina was not intensified by global warming. A reasonable assessment of the science suggests that we will face similar events again and that powerful storms are likely to happen more often than we have been accustomed to in the past.”

When: Tuesday, August 3, 2009, 12:15 PM
Where: The White House, northwest gate
Who: Climate activists with Avaaz.org
What: Photo op with activists and giant Obama face in party hats holding giant plane ticket to Copenhagen, Denmark for UN Climate Change Negotiations

WASHINGTON, DC — Today climate advocates with Avaaz.org will celebrate President Obama’s Birthday dressed for the party. And don’t worry, they won’t forget the party hats and noise-makers. They will be delivering a giant plane ticket to Copenhagen, Denmark and will be eating (and distributing) danishes in order to encourage Mr. Obama to travel to the UN climate negotiations in Copenhagen this December, where they hope he will play a major role in negotiating an ambitious, fair, and binding climate change treaty.

President Obama will even be showing up at the party, or at least a giant Obama head, to receive the gift and celebrate with the other party-goers. The party organizers say it’s crucial that President Obama attends the negotiations in Copenhagen in order to ensure the treaty meets the scale of the problem, while jump-starting a new era of prosperity based on clean energy. “The clock is ticking for fighting climate change, and Copenhagen is the crucial moment for global action,” said Julie Erickson, one of the birthday party attendees. “If Obama goes, it will set a different tone, dramatically raise the stakes for other countries, and ultimately result in a better deal.” Obama the candidate pledged he would lead on climate change and would work with foreign allies to ensure this problem is handled with the urgency that the science demands.

One crucial sticking point at negotiations is the question of how much developing countries will commit to help poor and especially vulnerable countries cope with the impacts of climate change. At the G8 meeting last month, President Obama asked the G20 finance ministers to look into funding possibilities, and the party-goers say they hope that this effort will be fruitful in moving a global treaty forward. But they insist that the President’s presence in Copenhagen will be absolutely necessary for bringing hope, ambition, trust and fairness to the negotiating table.

The party-goers will be dancing, clapping, and celebrating while making sure that president Obama knows that he should use his birthday plane tickets (and the tickets for Michelle, Sasha, and Malia) wisely this coming December to show the world that the United States is truly serious about fighting global warming.

A burst of developments Monday considerably raised the profile of the latest attempt by polluting industries to thwart environmental legislation. This story has been moving quickly, so here is a quick timeline of how things have unfolded over the past few days. If I missed anything major, please let me know:

Friday

• The Charlottesville Daily Progress reported on a series of forged letters from community organizations, fraudulently sent by lobbyists to Congressman Tom Perriello of Virginia. The letters, written in opposition to the American Clean Energy and Security Act, failed to dissuade Congressman Perriello, who voted for the legislation.
• Representative Ed Markey immediately announced his plans to launch an investigation, calling the letters an “appalling abuse.”
• Senator John Kerry posted a rapid response diary on Daily Kos.
• The lobbying firm responsible for sending the letters, Bonner and Associates, blamed the incident on a temporary employee and tried to downplay the situation.
• Think Progress outlined Bonner and Associates’ long history of shady tactics.
• Avaaz.org took to K Street in protest of the naked fraud.

Over the weekend, more traditional outlets took notice, with stories from NYT, WaPO, WSJ, Politico and AP.

Monday

• Sierra Club announced a major beltway ad buy, and fired off a letter to Attorney General Holder urging investigations.
• Move On launched a position asking the DOJ to conduct “an investigation into whether the firm, Bonner & Associates, committed fraud, and how often they’ve done this.”
• Credo Mobile sent an email to their list petitioning A.G. Holder to “investigate and prosecute” dirty coal’s fraudulent tactics.”
• The American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, a front group for the coal industry, was exposed as the client Bonner and Associates sent the letters for.
• ACCCE released a statement, feigning ‘outrage’ and the ‘deception’. A. Siegel is outraged too.
• Sierra Club continued ratcheting up the pressure, again urging the DOJ to act.
• Pete Altman at NRDC reminded us of the difficulty ACCCE had getting all of their lobbying expenditures right last quarter.
• Representative Markey sent a harshly worded letter to Jack Bonner with 14 poignant questions. TPM notes that Markey’s Subcommittee has subpoena powers.

An ACCCE-produced Bonner and Associates Background Document, obtained late Monday by EnviroKnow, sheds additional new light on the extent of the fraud (emphasis mine):

Due to reported misconduct by a Bonner and Associates employee (who the firm states was subsequently fired), it appears that a total of twelve falsified letters were sent by that firm to the offices of Congresswoman Kathy Dahlkemper, Congressman Christopher Carney and Congressman Tom Perriello.

Six forged letters, all sent to Congressman Perriello, had been acknowledged previously. While Congressman Perriello remained unswayed by the letters, and voted in support of the legislation, Reps. Dahlkemper and Carney both did not. This raises the very real possibility that Members of Congress were influenced by fraudulent letters paid for by the coal industry, and voted against environmental regulation as a result of this influence. Given the razor thin margin and last-minute negotiations surrounding the House vote, this was a clear attempt by both Bonner and Associates and ACCCE to subvert the Democratic process. Now, we can’t say for with 100% certainty that fraudulent letters persuaded any particular Member of Congress to oppose the legislation, but that was certainly the intent. To make matters worse, the background document includes ACCCE’s less-than-inspiring “belief” that the fraudulent letters were limited to the three congressional districts mentioned previously:

Due to assurances that Bonner and Associates provided to Hawthorn, and Hawthorn subsequently communicated to ACCCE, we believe this matter to be limited to the three congressional districts mentioned above. However, we are in the process of verifying all contacts made by Bonner and Associates with respect to this project.

The folks who lied their way into this mess are not going to get to the bottom of it on their own. Chairman Markey has generously given Mr. Bonner nine days to respond to his questions. The Department of Justice should move forward in the meantime with separate investigations.

Kevin Grandia has the new ad from Avaaz.org:

Kevin writes:

As President Obama hosts the world’s 17 largest economies to discuss a new desperately-needed global binding treaty on climate change, the oil, coal and gas companies are in overdrive trying to undermine the process and maintain their profits.

And Avaaz.org is calling out the worst of the bunch, ExxonMobil Corp., in a new commercial they want to run on CNN.

Want to see that ad on TV? Give Avaaz $10.