You’ve reached the activism portion of today’s show. Now that you’re informed and angry, here’s what you can do about it. Today’s activism: Leap Year Manifesto: Mobilize Towards New Economic & Energy Systems.
Naomi Klein’s latest project is bold. At a two-day meeting this past spring in Toronto attended by representatives from Canada’s Indigenous rights, social and food justice, environmental, faith-based and labor movements, a manifesto was created to advance economic and climate justice. The Leap Year Manifesto has over 32,000 signatories including organizations like 350.org, Sierra Club Canada and Black Lives Matter - Toronto.
The Leap Year Manifesto states:
"The time for energy democracy has come: we believe not just in changes to our energy sources, but that wherever possible communities should collectively control these new energy systems.”
As they decided that “small steps are no longer enough,” the team at This Changes Everything have gone international with the goal of gathering people to mobilize towards new economic and energy systems. Today, Klein and 350.org’s Bill McKibben participated in a Google Hangout you can watch at ThisChangesEverything.org to get more information on the world-wide effort: Leap Year 2016.
In a piece at The Guardian, Klein lays out what the campaign means and why she’s hopeful. Among the 15 demands in the manifesto, she’s advocating for a rapid shift to 100% renewable electricity that’s democratically controlled to be paid for by ending fossil fuel subsidies, imposing high royalty rates on fossil fuel extraction and implementing cuts to military spending.
Leap Year 2016 would not just address climate change, it could create equity for long-suffering groups who have dealt with discrimination and multi-generational health issues from pollution, reduce economic and gender disparities, and initiate a boom of stable, well-paying jobs. At LeapManifesto.org, you can join or host an upcoming event such as teach-ins, community discussions, screenings of This Changes Everything, and more.
Klein is optimistic that this is all possible thanks to recent victories against Keystone and Shell’s Arctic drilling. She closes her Guardian article with words of motivation and encouragement:
“[T]ake a minute or two to think about the extra day at the end of this month. It’s a reminder that people can indeed come together to change a failing set of rules. The laws of nature, not so much. Then let’s make 2016 the year we started to bridge the chasm between what is, and what must be. Let’s make it the year we started to leap.”
TAKE ACTION:
JOIN/Host: #LeapYear Event, Feb-March 2016 via
WATCH: "Leap Year 2016 - Hangout with Naomi Klein, Bill McKibben, and more”
hosted by This Changes Everything
Canadians can SIGN: The Leap Year Manifest
Sources/further reading:
"Let’s make this a real ‘leap’ year, and go fossil fuel-free” by Naomi Klein
Hear the segment in context:
Episode #988 "When climate science meets faith-based economics"
Written by BOTL social media/activism director Katie Klabusich
