Regardless of the James Inhofe's in our Congress who try to make this a politically partisan issue to demean its importance or even those on the Democratic side who are going to use these events to push their own agenda, this is not a partisan issue and we will alienate Republicans and Democrats alike who care for this planet the longer we continue to use this crisis as a political football. I know Republicans who care for this planet as well, and they also agree with what Al Gore and others are doing in working to wake people up to the facts of this and want to take action themselves.
The melting glaciers in the Arctic and elsewhere in this world do not distinquish between political parties, nor do droughts, wildfires, hurricanes or rising seas. The time to act is now, and it is time to heal the political divide that is slowing progress on this crisis. I am going to be carrying a banner this Saturday in my community to alert people to this crisis and I won't be concerned about anyone's political standing when I do. The only way to make people see the urgency of what we now face and will leave for our children is to get beyond political rhetoric to the moral imperative. Hopefully this Saturday can be the start that should have taken place years ago.
~~~
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PERSPECTIVE/OP-ED
Citizens must step up to stop global warming
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
BY TED GLICK
Last Friday, scientists from throughout the world re leased the second of four reports this year on the issue of global warming. Scientists, 2,500 of them from more than 130 countries and organized since 1989 as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, are reporting on the latest worldwide consensus of scientists and governments on this urgent issue.
"Increased deaths, disease and injury due to heat waves, floods, storms, fires and droughts" are some of the expected impacts, according to the report. "Coasts are very likely to be exposed to increasing risks due to climate change and sea level rise ... Many of the world's regions that are already vulnerable to climate and coastal hazards are likely to see the biggest effects from additional changes driven by the buildup of greenhouse gases." But all is not negative. The good news is that all over the United States, including here in New Jersey, people and institutions are coming alive, speaking up and taking action.
In New Jersey, Assemblywoman Linda Stender (D-Union) and Sen. Barbara Buono (D-Middlesex) took the initiative earlier this year to introduce the Global Warming Response Act. So far, 35 Assembly members and nine senators have signed on. This legislation would require that New Jersey reduce its heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent by 2020. This is similar to legislation passed several months ago in California and under consideration in other states. Legislators, business leaders, university officials, students and other citizens are getting active on this issue for many reasons.
We know that global warming is dangerous. We were blessed with a good Earth that supports us well. But the scientific consensus, reflected in one report after another, is clear: More heat will mean more evaporation and hence more drought; it will mean more melt and hence higher seas; it will mean warmer oceans and hence bigger storms. We know that causing global warming -- and Americans represent 4 percent of the world's population but produce a quarter of the world's carbon dioxide -- endangers first and foremost the poorest and most vulnerable people on Earth. The United Nations predicts the possibility of hundreds of millions of environmental refugees. That's one reason that religious Americans, increasingly led by evangelical congregations, are rising up to demand change.
snip
In New Jersey, from Friday to Monday, hundreds if not thou sands will be participating in all or one part of the New Jersey Climate March. It will begin with a noon time rally Friday at Rutgers University in New Brunswick and conclude with a noontime rally Monday in front of the Statehouse. In between, we'll be at Princeton on Saturday and the College of New Jersey on Sunday. Will the Step It Up actions on the 14th and the New Jersey Cli mate March be political? Yes, they will be because Trenton and Washington are where some of the necessary decisions must be made.
But they won't be partisan. There's no liberal atmosphere and conservative atmosphere, no Democratic or Republican climate, no independent weather. We're all in this together, and it's past time for action. Ted Glick is a founder of the Cli mate Crisis Coalition, coordinator of the Essex Greens Clean Energy Campaign and a primary organizer of the New Jersey Climate March. He may be reached at
http://www.njclimatemarch.org. 
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