NOLA: Party to stop global warming
Cross-posted from Gulf Coast Reconstruction Watch
Darryl Malek-Wiley, a long-time Louisiana organizer, sends along this announcement about a party happening this Saturday. Looks like a bunch of French Quarter establishments and Abita Brewery (maker of TurboDog, one of my favorite beers) are behind the cause, this could be a good time:
Darryl Malek-Wiley, a long-time Louisiana organizer, sends along this announcement about a party happening this Saturday. Looks like a bunch of French Quarter establishments and Abita Brewery (maker of TurboDog, one of my favorite beers) are behind the cause, this could be a good time:
For immediate release:November 30, 2005
Contact:Micah Walker Parkin 504-258-1247 or
Casey Demoss Roberts: 504-982-0468
The Party to Save New Orleans
November 30, 2005, New Orleans - Here in Louisiana, and especially in New Orleans, we’re known for partying. We party for all kinds of reasons. This Saturday, Dec. 3rd, we’re going to party for one of the most important reasons of all: to save our city and region. After two disastrous hurricanes this year, and amid concerns about increasing global warming and its effect on hurricane size and intensity and sea levels, we’re partying to send a message.
The New Orleans Group of the Sierra Club and the Alliance for Affordable Energy are organizing one of over 60 events taking place worldwide on Dec. 3rd, an “International Day of Action" to bring the world's attention to international global warming discussions taking place in Montreal, Canada, and show support for the U.S. to do its part to reduce global warming pollution.
For the first time ever, the Kyoto Protocol ongoing discussions are taking place in North America. From Nov. 28-Dec.9 world leaders are gathering in Montreal (11th Conference of the Parties) to discuss implementation plans for the Kyoto Protocol in order to meet the first phase of a 5% greenhouse gas reduction between 2008-2012 and to set goals beyond.
So far there has been a lack of constructive participation by the United States, with the Bush Administration refusing to sign onto the Kyoto Protocol citing economic concerns. Nevertheless, the Protocol went into effect last year when Russia signed on.
However, many fear that without the United States on board, possibilities for future agreements to reduce global warming pollution could collapse. Other countries may begin to waiver in their commitment to the agreement if the largest contributor to global warming (25%) refuses to participate.
“We are committed to action in addressing our nation’s global warming pollution and encourage our city, state and national leaders to take a stand,” said Micah Walker Parkin, Program Director of the Alliance for Affordable Energy.
The Alliance and Sierra Club promote energy efficiency, renewable energy technologies, alternative fuel and transportation choices, and smart growth to reduce U.S. dependence on the fossil fuels contributing to global warming and to save people money.
These groups and several others are sending letters encouraging Governor Blanco, Mayors Ray Nagin of New Orleans and Kip Holden of Baton Rouge, and Senators Mary Landrieu and David Vitter to attend the Montreal conference and to be leaders in the effort to stop global warming, given Louisiana’s extreme vulnerabilities. They have been invited by the Canadian Government and organizers of events that will take place along side the conference for these leaders.
The "Save New Orleans, Stop Global Warming!" party is being sponsored by several French Quarter bar owners and the Abita Brewery. Participating bars for the “quarter crawl” include Razzoo’s, The Old Absinthe House, Bourbon Orleans Snooks, and The Original Johnny White’s. Crawlers will meet at 5pm at Razzoo’s and will complete their journey at Bourbon Orleans Snooks for a performance by New Orleans’ own “Country Fried”.
“If we save New Orleans, we’ll also help save our coast, wetlands, wildlife, communities, and one-third of Louisiana’s economic base – that’s a goal worth celebrating!” said Casey Demoss Roberts, Chair of the New Orleans Group of the Sierra Club.
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The Morning Read: He's on top of the world
Author Ethan Matsuda, 7, wants to save Earth?and Santa's home?from warming.
By ERIC CARPENTER
The Orange County Register
TELLING HIS STORY: "Our goal is to really give him the tools to nourish his education," Ethan Matsuda?s mother says. "We want him to discover dreams of his own."
KEVIN SULLIVAN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
YORBA LINDA - Ethan Matsuda, 7, is worried about the future of Santa Claus.
His eyes light up, his voice rises with urgency as he describes what he says is the "dilemma. That means problem," he clarifies.
The Yorba Linda second-grader isn't shy about talking to readers, reporters - even a congresswoman - about his children's book that he hopes will help save Santa's home.
It's called "The North Pole Is Sinking!"
Ethan is a science fan, an enthusiastic reader of National Geographic Kids.
He's been reading about global warming and concerns that pollution and reckless energy use could be warming the Earth's atmosphere.
And that, he concluded, could be threatening the ice around the North Pole.
"There's a lot we need to do," Ethan says. "People should be thinking about Santa."
Ethan's book, self-published and co-written by his dad, Michael Matsuda, began in August with a simple question.
Along with his subscription to a science magazine, Ethan received an inflatable globe.
His mom, Xuyen "Suzie" Dong-Matsuda, was on a business trip to Taiwan, so he blew it up to pinpoint where mom was traveling.
Then, he looked up at the top, near the blow-up nozzle that marks the North Pole.
"Why isn't there ice up here?" he asked his dad.
"I'm not sure," his dad responded. "Why do you think?"
Ethan scratched his head for a moment, then an idea came to him.
You think it's because of global warming? What about Santa?
Ethan was intrigued. The questions kept coming.
"I'm amazed at how Ethan is able to connect the dots for himself if you just keep the conversation going," says Michael Matsuda, a high school English teacher and teaching mentor for the Anaheim Union High School District.
"As teachers, we struggle to encourage kids to build bridges and think about issues on their own.
"As we talked through this issue, it became clear it would make a good story."
ROCKET SCIENCE
Ethan is an only child, born to a third generation Japanese-American father and a mother who immigrated to the U.S. from Vietnam at 17.
She is a mental-health therapist with the Orange County Health Care Agency. She considers herself Ethan's emotional support. Dad is more a playmate. They try to limit the amount of TV Ethan watches. But he's fixated by documentaries on the Discovery Channel and PBS.
In first grade at Raymond Elementary School in Fullerton, Ethan entered the science fair with a display on how to build a rocket. He asked his dad to print him up some business cards that read, "Ethan Matsuda, Rocket Scientist."
"Our goal is to really give him the tools to nourish his education," his mother says. "We don't want him to fulfill our dreams for him.
"We want him to discover dreams of his own."
LEADING 'THE LIFE'
It was that attitude that led to the idea for a book.
A few days after the initial conversation, Ethan and his dad headed north to meet Suzie at a Bay Area conference.
On the way, Ethan continued to ask questions about global warming. So dad would ask, "What do you think Santa would say?"
Pretty soon they were building a story.
Santa flies from the North Pole looking for help. Somewhere over Southern California, Santa and his reindeer hit a cloud of smog and crash onto the roof of a home occupied by a boy named Ethan.
The character - who the real Ethan excitedly admits was inspired by him - asks for help solving the problem from his teacher, "Mrs. Counts" - named after his aunt Jackie Counts, who teaches at South Junior High in Anaheim.
Ethan considered what the teacher might say to help. And he remembered reading about alternative energy sources and giant wind generators of Denmark in that month's National Geographic - the one for big people.
So Ethan incorporated that into the story, too, having students write letters advocating the use of clean energy to "Mrs. President."
"That's because there's never been a woman president," Ethan explains. "And there should be." (Mom insists he came up with that character twist on his own.)
Ethan's parents weren't worried about trying to explain both sides of the global-warming debate. This was Ethan's book and it should be his words, they say.
Inside a Monterey motel, Ethan dictated the story while dad took notes, asking more questions to fill in the dialog and any holes in the story.
Matsuda worried that sitting in a motel room far from the beach might not be a 7-year-old's ideal vacation. Until Ethan, snacking on a bag of Cheetos as he told his story, looked over and - out of the blue - said, "Dad, this is the life!" holding his hand up for a high five.
Once the story was complete, Ethan asked about sharing it with others.
So Matsuda hired an art student, Vanessa Lam, at UCLA to illustrate the story. And paid a Garden Grove publishing company to print 1,200 copies. In all, the family invested about $10,000.
They've sold about 400 copies and received e-mails from across the country as bloggers have discovered their Web site, thenorthpoleissinking.com.
Ethan this month held a book signing at Libreria Martinez bookstore in Santa Ana, where Rep. Loretta Sanchez, D-Garden Grove, interviewed him. He printed "Ethan 2005" on dozens of books.
"And kids in my class have been really nice to me too. I'm proud of myself and my dad," Ethan says.
He hopes children who read it will take the message to heart and write letters on Santa's behalf. But like any good writer, he's already thinking about his next project.
"I've got an idea that involves the Easter Bunny," Ethan says. "But that's next year."
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