On Tuesday, February 19, 2008, Environmental Justice (EJ) advocates gathered at 5 locations across California
for a teleconference to discuss the release of The California Environmental Justice Movement's Declaration
Against Use of Carbon Trading Schemes to Address Climate Change. The Declaration details the environmental
justice community’s opposition to the use of carbon trading and offsets because of their failure to achieve actual
emissions reductions, the irreconcilable problems with trading experiments and offset use, and because of their
inability to cause a timely fundamental change in the way we make and use energy. Rather, EJ advocates are calling
for policies that focus on moving the state away from the fossil fuel infrastructure because such fuels are the
overwhelming contributor to climate change and have devastating impacts on poor, low-income and communities of color in
California and around the world. The coalition supports use of consistent carbon pricing mechanisms such as a carbon fee.
Internationally known environmental expert, Larry Lohman from the U.K., joined the call from Sacramento.
He is a founder of the international Durban Group and editor of Carbon Trading: A Critical Conversation on Climate
Change, Privatisation and Power, which documents the numerous failures of the EU's Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS)
and oppression in the Global South from the use of carbon offsets. Lohman stated, "“The experience from Europe’s
[Emissions Trading Scheme] has been a well-documented disaster. Emissions actually increased, the worst polluters
were given the largest windfall profits in record, energy costs for consumers increased, and the use of global ‘offsets’
funded oppressive projects the world over. The U.S. should really learn from Europe’s mistakes. Not copy them."
Please visit our "Media Page" for a full press packet about the event, and the "Resources" page for our factsheet,
The Cap and Trade Charade for Climate Change, further background information, and links to relevant articles
and websites.
Increasingly, people are speaking out against carbon trading--economists, politicians, businesses, and activists.
The Wall Street Journal published the opinion "it would make money for some very large corporations. But don't
believe for a minute that this charade would do much about global warming.”
Cap and trade is not inevitable. We have the power to help direct policies toward a genuine transition to a clean energy
economy. Environmental Justice, public health, human rights, and other community groups and individuals across California,
the United States, and the world are coming together in opposition to carbon trading and to achieve real solutions
to the climate change crisis.
Join us. Sign-on to our Declaration.
|
