Pagans & Politics: The Power of Pagan Activism

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Take action on US involvement in the Paris Climate Accord

Posted by on in Culture Blogs

President Trump’s administration has given mixed signals on the United States’ participation in the Paris Climate Accord. For those who don’t know, "The Paris Agreement (French: Accord de Paris), Paris climate accord or Paris climate agreement, is an agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) dealing with greenhouse gas emissions mitigation, adaptation and finance starting in the year 2020.

"The language of the agreement was negotiated by representatives of 196 parties at the 21st Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC in Paris and adopted by consensus on 12 December 2015. As of September 2017, 195 UNFCCC members have signed the agreement, 162 of which have ratified it." (Thank you, Wikipedia!)

At the United Nations, President Trump’s chief economic adviser Gary Cohn said Monday the U.S. would withdraw from the landmark 2015 Paris climate accord as planned. His comments came as U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said climate should be a top priority at this year’s General Assembly.

Secretary-General António Guterres: "We see the consequences daily. We count the costs in lives, livelihoods, damaged economies. And since 2008—and you know better than me—some 20 million people a year have been forcibly displaced by floods, storms, fires and extreme temperature. But many more are on the move due to the droughts and sea level rise, and climate change is not a distant problem for future generations. It is here, it is now, and we need to deal with it." (Democracy Now!)

Trump initially declared the United States would withdraw from this landmark achievement, a move which drew condemnation worldwide. He has since changed his stance repeatedly, sometimes saying he would renegotiate, sometimes that we would stay in, and most recently that he would withdraw. 

All this means we still have time to act. Contact President Trump and your Congressional representatives to urge them to stay in the Paris Climate Accord. Here is a sample letter, which emphasizes jobs because that’s one of the primary things politicians must deliver on:

Dear [  ]:

I am deeply concerned about the state of the environment, increasingly severe weather patterns, and the shrinking of green energy jobs in the United States, all of which can be ameliorated by our remaining in the Paris Climate Agreement. 

Climate change is real and we have a limited window of opportunity in which to act. We must stay in the Paris Agreement to reduce the impact of severe weather patterns such as Hurricanes Harvey and Irma and to build our economy through the growth of green energy jobs.

It has been widely reported that China intends to take the lead in developing green technology; it is completely unacceptable for the United States, long the world leader in innovation, to cede its place of importance to any other state. Additionally, our people are in desperate need of good-paying jobs and green technology is the economy of the future, bringing middle and working class Americans peace of mind and the ability to achieve the American dream.

I strongly urge you to use all your influence to ensure the United States remains in the Paris Climate Agreement.

Sincerely,

[Your name]

You can email this letter to the president and Congressional representatives through their websites via the wonder of copy and paste. For more of an impact, send it as a letter to their offices. You can get their addresses by googling “contact [title] [name].”

Many of us view the Earth as our sacred Mother. She is nurturing and warm-hearted. But there’s no way we can pave millions of miles of her surface, burn her rainforests, and belch toxins into the air without having an effect on Her relationship to us. Mama Earth feels no particular attachment to maintaining the human race at all costs. She will wipe us out if that will re-establish equilibrium. We have already seen severe climate incidences and each year is declared hotter than the last. This simply cannot go on.

Write your letter while invoking the Earth Mother. Feel Her power flow through you. If you are a Witch, “sign” your letter by drawing a pentacle above it with your finger. If you don’t identify as a Witch, use the elemental symbol for Earth, which is a circle with an equal-armed cross bisecting it.

Time is running out. Take action today!

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Cairril Adaire is a solitary Celtic Witch and lapsed Discordian. She is the founder of Our Freedom: A Coalition for Pagan Civil Rights. She is an entrepreneur and also a professional musician with the world music ensemble Kaia. She blogs at irishsparks.com.  

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