Dear Folks: I haven't written in a while - in case you hadn't noticed. Some of you may have been wondering if I was behind bars or recovering from pepper-spray. No, no. Nothing that memorable ;)
On Tuesday, after arriving at the Climate Generations space, I was asked to take a picture of 3 guys. "No prob..." One of them was Mark Jacobson - Professor Jacobson - the "Solutions Project" man. Some words about him:
"In 2009, he coauthored a plan, featured on the cover of Scientific American, to power the world for all purposes with wind, water, and sunlight (WWS). In 2010, he appeared in a TED debate rated as the sixth all-time science and technology TED talk. In 2011, he cofounded The Solutions Project, a group that combines science, business, and culture to develop and implement science based clean-energy plans for states and countries. In 2013, his group developed individual WWS energy plans for each of the 50 United States."
Well - this will seem a bit teenager-ish - but, I had to have Mark sign something! Like, he's a hero! The handiest thing to have him sign was my shirt, while I was wearing it - so now I have Mark's signature on my 350NJ shirt! [Since then, Sandra Steingraber has added hers to the shirt as well :) ]
Also on Tuesday there was a procession in the public space. At the head of march were posters marked "What are we going to do about the United States?" That was direct. I didn't ask about the background; one is left to imagine...
Lack of Voice: Poster-vigiling isn't allowed outside the NGO and delegate spaces; we learned that a few days ago. Today, the French police outside the US Embassy were even quicker to react "protectively." Even the Tuileries Garden bicycle-mounted security eventually interrupted the poster-vigiling. [The offending poster from today is pictured in the attachment.] We had an anti-fracking rally today in front of the NGO space - while encircled by many policemen. We did some chanting and yelling - that felt good - and appropriate. We had found some voice.
On the shuttle, I chatted with a French woman named Christine. She reflected on the possibility that the impossible - a miracle - could happen. The Pope's encyclical might be the foundation for some change of heart; personal engagements with people directly affected by climate disasters might change some hearts; prayer, as well, might operate to change hearts. She had been in Germany at the time that the Berlin wall fell; just months before that happened, it would have seemed inconceivable that that would happen. We offered thanks and blessings to each other on parting.
The attached meme exhibits the tension which is in the air: i) will we be able to do a "happy dance in the end zone" this Friday; or, ii) is that wholly wishful thinking? Or, iii) will it still be imperative that WE remain vigilant and active to assure that enough is ultimately done? I'm feeling that option iii will remain the prudent choice for civil society.
Of increasing interest now is how the masses will react to whatever outcome emerges in the coming days... Could energetic protests arise? Will the foment be effectively curtailed? Will some "miracle" intervene?
God Blesses. jerome
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