Time for the Big Time

Hosting a strategy meeting tonight for "Context News: The Next Chapter."  Lots of invites and not so lots of confirmations.  We'll have to go with the "quality not quantity" angle on this one.  Then it's time to get serious about getting a new batch of acquaintances.  With one or both qualities: rich and connected.

UN Climate Summit - Deforestation and Climate Change

UN Climate Summit - Deforestation and Climate Change                                                                           September 23, 2014                                                                                               

by Laughlin Artz

Today, the UN Climate Summit hosted a special session on deforestation.  A series of panels, focusing on topics such as “The Role of the Private Sector – Market Disruption, Investments, Political Cover for Reforms”” and “Indigenous Peoples and their Territories – Fundamental to Climate Change Solutions” gave over 30 panelists the opportunity to voice their concerns, commitments and perspectives on the current and future state of affairs of our forests.

Over and over, it was stated that the time to act is now.  Deforestation accounts for 11% of CO2 emissions, and every minute we destroy forest acreage the size of fifty soccer fields.

The New York Declaration of Forests was lauded by several panelsits as the most comprehensive and binding commitment to reverse the trend of deforestation.  The Declaration calls for reducing deforestation levels by 50% by 2020 and ending deforestation entirely by 2030.  This plan is consistent with keeping overall climate warming to a 2 degree C increase.  

Our Examination of the Michael Brown Shooting

Today we released our segment on the Michael Brown shooting.  The question we begin with is "With all the law enforcement-related fatalities that happen daily in the US, what is it about the death of Michael Brown that incited two weeks of rioting?"  

We offer the opportunity to consider that the riots were not in response to the event, but rather were the actions consistent with how the event was "seen," and that how it was "seen" was as racist.  And to consider that there was nothing in the event itself that was inherently racist, but that racism was the context in which the event occurred, thereby shaping the ensuing activities.