climate change

I'm Patsy. Since 1978, I have lived in the shadow of a 100-year-old bridge and canal separating my Holy Cross neighborhood from the rest of New Orleans. During Hurricane Katrina, I had decided to stay on the second floor of my house along with my pets - cats, dogs, birds and turtles - when the canal wall broke, causing 10-feet of water to surge from two directions through the streets. I looked at a framed poster of Noah’s Ark and I thought: "40 days and 40 nights.” My son took our pirogue and rescued animals that had been stranded when owners evacuated. When we realized city services were nonexistent, we drove out with the animals, staying in Michigan for three months before being allowed to return. That’s when my health problems began. Fourteen years later, after so much struggle, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is announcing a plan to enlarge the canal and lock, putting our homes at risk again. The 13-year, $1 billion project would only benefit shipping companies. By moving the lock 12 blocks further into the neighborhood, the higher water table from the Mississippi River would put tremendous pressure on the levee walls beside private homes. The historic bridge will be destroyed and its massive concrete base dynamited. Constant pounding to install pilings will shatter the foundations of nearby Victorian-era shotgun homes. New bridge ramps will extend further into the neighborhood, homes will be seized and torn down through eminent domain. Toxic sediment lying at the bottom of the Industrial Canal will be unearthed, not far from a brand new public high school. A 1997 McKnight study proved there are carcinogenic materials remaining from World War I era that would be disturbed without a safe disposal plan, raising public health risks.  Needless to say, commercial investment in our neighborhood will come to a complete stop. Property values will plunge and traffic to and from New Orleans will be permanently stalled. Both bridges will be up for longer periods, simultaneously. Fifty thousand people who live east of the canal who need to travel over the bridges will require at least an extra 20-30 minutes each direction. Traffic will be backed up for blocks. All this dislocation so that two barges can travel through the canal at the same time! The Corps refuses to consider other sites in more rural areas where there is less traffic and human habitation. To add insult to injury, if the walls were to burst again, the government would not  be liable for damages; homeowners bear all the risk.  A billion dollars is a lot of money, especially in Louisiana, where we could use those badly needed funds to rebuild our eroding coast. Residents of the Lower Ninth Ward and Bywater want Congress to defund the lock expansion. project in the Lower Ninth Ward to save our lives and community.    

Time is running out for our planet. And as the Amazon “the lungs of our planet” burn before our eyes, we must act now to fight climate change or doom this and future generations into an age of extinction.  The next generation may never see the Amazon rainforest, coral reefs, or a polar bear.  But the spectacular biodiversity existing on our planet, our home, is more than just beautiful, it is what keeps us alive. Our destruction of ecological life support systems will literally kill us all. My name is Cynthia Leung and I am a high school student from Brooklyn. I first started getting involved with the movement during the UN's High-Level Political Forum when I learned about the linkages that climate change can have with multiple important topics. Having the Climate Change Summit in the New York UN Headquarters is extremely important for the American climate action movement. In fact, since the summit will be in New York, we need to utilize our voices to make sure our message is heard loud and clear by world leaders in September. Being one of many youth climate activists proves that young people will continue to advocate and protest until we have definite plans for climate change because our futures are at risk.  My generation and millions of young people from all over the world, are skipping school, university or work, taking to the streets and protesting your inaction on climate change. The time to act is now and we have one month to add our voices to call for strong, unified climate action from our government.   Add your voice today if you want to hear our world leaders’ plans to mitigate emissions by 2020, and dramatically reduce emissions to reach net-zero emissions by mid-century! This September, world leaders will unite in NYC for the UN Climate Change Summit. And young climate leaders from around the globe will be there to deliver the world’s biggest call-to-action! We demand that they come up with bold, ambitious, definite and effective climate and environmental action plans. Great-Britain and Ireland have already headed our call and declared a climate emergency. We urgently need more countries to stand up to protect their people, animals, and OUR planet.   Let’s face the truth. Radical transformational change is imperative in safeguarding our future and future generations. IPCC’s 2018 report emphasizes that we need major transformation, especially since we are now off track in limiting climate change to 1.5 degrees celsius. And global political and business leaders hold the key to the transformational change we urgently need. We, the youth of today, are holding them accountable through direct action and we expect the powerful to take responsibility to deliver a sustainable future for all. World leaders should no longer ignore tens of thousands on the streets. In the moments leading up to September and the meeting of the powerful, we’ll mobilize internationally to get world leaders to take climate action! When leaders of the world unite in New York City in September, we will be there and we will deliver, the world’s most signed call-to-action! Until then, we are watching them carefully. We will not go down without a fight. We will keep rising until governments will act. And when September comes, we will be there! This petition is part of an international campaign. You find all petitions here: www.change.org/allinforclimateaction Please support our campaign and join us!  Sign this, if you are also #AllinforClimateAction! Please follow us on  Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/allinforclimateaction/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/allinforclimateaction/

On September 20th, 2019 from 11:00 AM - 2:15 PM a Global Climate Strike will occur. This is our time to make known the issue and seriousness of climate change to all. We are running out of time and the time to act is now. We are asking the University of Michigan to please dismiss all students, faculty, staff, employees, and all other associated personnel during this time so that all who wish to participate may without fear of punishment or consequence. This includes punishment and/or consequences including but not limited to academics, terms of employment, and all other areas. Please sign to make sure all are able to participate and for the future of our planet. Also please email University of Michigan President Schlissel at presoff@umich.edu with this template: Dear President Schlissel, On September 20th, 2019 from 11:00 AM - 2:15 PM a Global Climate Strike will occur. This is our time to make known the issue and seriousness of climate change to all. We are running out of time and the time to act is now. We are asking the University of Michigan to please dismiss all students, faculty, staff, employees, and all other associated personnel during this time so that all who wish to participate may without fear of punishment or consequence. This includes punishment and/or consequences including but not limited to academics, terms of employment, and all other areas. Please hear our call, our world depends on it. Sincerely, (Your name here)    

On September 20, three days before the UN Climate Summit in NYC, we will strike all across the US and world to demand transformative action be taken to address the climate crisis. Millions of us will take the streets to demand a right to a future. Allowing this to be an excused absence, following the lead of the New York Public School system who has excused 1.1 million of their students to strike, would show that you support our endeavors in protecting our future. Be one of the schools that takes our right to march in consideration.  This march is shaping up to be the largest climate strike in history. As government officials continue to mindlessly jeopardize our future, this is our moment to make our voices heard. This isn't something that can be done "later". If we don't curb carbon emissions by 2030, we will be at a point where the impacts of climate change will be irreversible. We are not the types of students that want to sit around and wait for other people to fix this for us. We want to get out of our seats and act. Please support this cause.