A call to action: 350.org

What are you guys up to this weekend? For me, I’ll be participating in the International Day of Climate Action, this Saturday, October 24th. Basically, it’s a day for the global community to get together and show their commitment to doing their bit for the environment. This day comes six weeks before the UN Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen; by taking a stand and making ourselves heard we can be part of the grassroots action that might help influence the people at the top to make the right decisions for the world, too.

If you’d like to participate, or to simply to find out more about it, head on to the 350.org website where you can also search for activities happening near you this Saturday!

I’ve always been a firm believer of the power of music as a medium for social change, and I wanted to share this letter from 350.org and Rock ’n Renew, encouraging all you musicians out there to translate your passion into action, and to use your music to spread the word and do your bit to help save the world!

(Hit the “read more…” link to read the letter.)

Peace & peas,
Cui xxx

*

Dear musicians of the world,

We have a problem sitting literally right in front of our noses and we are totally missing it. No, it’s not this magazine – it’s the space between this page and your eyes. The problem is in the air. As you read this, we humans are relentlessly pumping millions of tons of CO2 into our thin atmosphere, and we are showing few signs of stopping. It’s time someone spoke up for the air, because it’s the same air that carries those sound waves from your guitar strings and into your heart. It’s the same air that bounced through Janis’ vocal chords or blasted through any horn you’ve ever heard.

CO2 levels are rising faster than a chromatic scale, and it looks like it’s planning on climbing octaves unless we do something now. In the last century alone, CO2 levels have risen by nearly a third, from 275 ppm (parts per million) to 389 ppm today, and they are going up by about 2 parts every year. We are on a fast track to somewhere we do not want to be. Humans are changing the atmosphere, and its time to make some noise about it.

We need to raise the volume of our call for climate action, and we don’t have a lot of time. This December, world leaders will meet in Copenhagen for the UN Climate Conference. They will draft legislation that will determine how our planet deals with Climate Change. This December will directly affect your future, and your kid’s future, and their kid’s future.

But there is hope. Scientists are now saying that if we can stay below 350 parts per million, we can avoid the worst affects of climate change. It make sense: glaciers are melting, drought is happening, hurricanes are getting stronger – we need to get ourselves back into the “safe zone” for our planet, back below 350 parts per million. So the problem isn’t with the people – we want a planet to live on; and its not with the scientists- they agree about where we need to be. The problem is our leaders aren’t listening to our call; so lets get loud.

Grab your trombone, your amplifier, your friends or your kazoo – because the planet needs your help! We are mobilizing, all across the planet, to get a safe, fair international treaty that will keep carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere below 350 parts per million. On October 24th, we will come together as a global community to make our voices heard, and our opinions known. All over the world, groups of people gather to engage in creative actions with a single focus: 350 ppm.

Getting involved is easy. You can organize a jam session in the local park, or book your band for a gig that night, or go big and put together an all day music festival. Register your action at 350.org, and get looped in to new ways to engage media, to publicize the event or to connect with volunteers, organizers and bands in your area that also want to stop the climate crisis. Next, make a sign that says 350, and snap a photo sometime during your action and upload it to 350.org. Join the thousands of other actions from all over the world that will be submitting photographs on October 24th to tell our leaders we want a fair climate treaty in Copenhagen. Then sit back and listen to the sound of change.

You don’t need to wait until October 24th to get involved. Heck, you can get started right now if you like. Write up a song about why we need to get below 350 parts per million, and submit it to 350.org’s art site: http://www.350.org/people/artists and you can have listeners from all over the planet hearing your message about climate change. We’ll help to get these songs on the radio, into concerts and tours, and maybe even bring someone over to Copenhagen to tell the world leaders, directly, why we need to get below 350 ppm. Already musicians have heard the call – 350 has already started receiving songs from around the world – a pop song from Hong Kong, a rap from Chicago, a bluegrass tune from Michigan, and this is just the beginning. Add your voice to the chorus – register an action today at www.350.org/en/oct24.

This movement is growing quick and is far too big to stay still: We are going on tour. This fall, Long Live Crime and Broken Halo Records, CBS Records, and ATN Management are joining with Rock ‘n Renew and 350.org to send the Eco-Lectric Tour nearly 10,000 miles (on bio- degradable fuel), reaching thousands of people and helping to plug them in to how they can take action to combat climate change.

This reaches far beyond sharing the music of change, it’s about creating change. Joining Jonny Lives are Will Dailey, Shotgun Honeymoon, and Wil Seabrook. Jonny Dubowsky of Jonny Lives, who will be performing nightly, adds: “In addition to raising awareness and encouraging participation in 350.org’s International Day of Climate Action, Rock ‘n Renew will be assisting communities to create sustainable projects that improve their local environment. On this tour, we will install 350 rain barrels in the 35 cities where the Eco- Lectric Tour 2009 plays and teach volunteers in each community how to build quick and easy food gardens that use the rain water collected in these barrels as their primary source for irrigation.” There are so many little steps we can all take to create big change. Tune in to www.EcolectricTour.com to link up with the tour and its positive actions.

We need a combination of solutions, when we blend political pressure with local solutions, we begin to harmonize the full scale of the change we so desperately need. We’ve got a few precious months to make some serious noise and to speak up for our ally the atmosphere. I cannot think of a better way to honor the air, and pay homage to its innumerable miraculous qualities, than through the international language of music. Let it resonate, and add your voice to the call.

With hope,
350.org and Rock’n’Renew

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