http://maxistentialism.com/portfolio/

It’s Good to Laugh! My neighbors must have thought something was wrong, I was laughing so hard when I saw the bench! Perfect! The true approach to life! The Dalai Lama agrees! - Editor

You Don’t Need It!

Bus Stop Bench Project, 2006
http://antiadvertisingagency.com/project/bus-stop-bench-project/
http://antiadvertisingagency.com/

QUOTE
“We should thank [Stephen Duncombe leader in Artistic Activism]:
the progressive movement needs a lot more creative thinking if we’re to win over the country.”
Huffington Post, Chuck Klosterman
The School for Creative Activism
helps visionary activists to develop more effective organizing.
http://artisticactivism.org/school-of-creative-activism/

- Consumerism destroys our planet in so many ways. This new kind of advertising is great! Big thoughts can be put in simple terms. Can you get bus stops and everywhere in your town to promote a better world? Let’s get the Gore activists to work closely with the Artistic Activism people- we could evolve the entire movement! The Center for Artistic Activism has a variety of programs that if focused on climate change could make a big difference! Humor and fun can reach people! - Editor

Dream makes the case for a political strategy that embraces a new set of tools. Although fantasy and spectacle have become the lingua franca of our time, Duncombe points out that liberals continue to depend upon sober reason to guide them. Instead, they need to learn how to communicate in today’s spectacular vernacular- not merely as a tactic but as a new way of thinking about and acting out politics.
http://www.amazon.com/Dream-Re-imagining-Progressive-Politics-Fantasy/dp/1595580492
(There is supposed to be a free PDF download of this book, but the link did not work.)

“Increase sales or donations in 14 days” using a video they produced-  http://ampleearth.com/

QUOTE
“Inner wealth – human affection, human friendship, these are the most important.
Just to think of yourself, is foolish, selfish.
One company, one family, one individual who always consumes –
more greed, more greed more greed regardless of other consequences – this is a mistake.
Develop inner strength.
The person who develops inner peace –
that person develops a precious human life.
And
This is our home; we have to take care of it”
Dalai Lama

“We have a very, very urgent crisis right now just in terms of the atmosphere.
We elevate the economy above the very atmosphere that sustains us.
We’ve lost the sense of what are the really important things that keep us alive.”
Dr. David Suzuki

The Dalai Lama concluded his three-day Oregon trip by telling a sold-out crowd we need to focus more on the environment and less on the acquisition of material things.
http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/9f07077cd5784f37a45b38d530797e80/OR–Dalai-Lama-Oregon
and
http://ens-newswire.com/2013/05/13/dalai-lama-cultivate-inner-peace-to-save-the-planet/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ens-newswire%2FJZdj+%28ENS%29

QUOTE
“We have a vested interest in pessimism. If you believe that nothing serious can be done,
then you don’t have to do anything.
But Martin Luther King created a transformative movement with just ordinary people against huge odds when people said ‘I am going to do something.’

In the last 2 to 3 years, it’s not been like this before- something has happened.
Groups are popping up all over the country.
Big change coming out of difficulty is not at all unusual.
Pain levels are increasing.
Ecological problems are getting worse.
There’s more and more awareness that it isn’t going to get fixed in the usual way.
We are facing a systemic challenge (long trends over decades) not a political problem.

We must point to a different vision-
you can’t get off this hook.
It comes down to here and now and us.”

Gar Alperovitz’s keynote speech at “The Summit” at Appalachian State in Boone, NC.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kBW3gU8ogs- a 40 minute video worth watching!

-Gar Alperovitz looks at economic systems and unites those in economic pain with those who worry about something invisible like CO2 levels. Big big dollars control politics, resulting in outrageous government support for fossil fuels, expensive health care, toxic food, and far more. We don’t have the decades that he envisages to stop climate change, but his visions are important. - Editor

Get his book- What Then Must We Do

http://www.chelseagreen.com/bookstore/item/what_then_must_we_do:paperback
Another website worth visiting- http://www.community-wealth.org/

QUOTE
“We urge you to proclaim with clarity and purpose
that our nation will transition away
from carbon-based fossil fuels to job creating clean energy.
As challenging as this may be, the costs pale in comparison to
the human consequences of unchecked climate disruption.”
Excerpt from letter to Obama from major donors

In the latest show of force by opponents of the Keystone XL pipeline, a group of 150 major Democratic donors sent a letter Friday to President Obama, urging him to reject the controversial application from TransCanada for permission to send more than 800,000 barrels of tar sands oil a day from Alberta to the Texas Gulf Coast. The signatories comprise business leaders, philanthropists and celebrities
http://insideclimatenews.org/news/20130510/150-major-democratic-donors-urge-obama-reject-keystone-pipeline

- Are we in a hurry? Do we really need to change? Even 16 feet would make our global coasts and many countries unrecognizable as you float by on a boat. - Editor

As atmospheric carbon dioxide levels rise, scientists look back four million years for answers on what to expect from climate.
Recent estimates suggest CO2 levels reached as much as 415 parts per million (ppm) during the Pliocene. With that came global average temperatures that eventually reached 3 or 4 degrees C (5.4-7.2 degrees F) higher than today’s and as much as 10 degrees C (18 degrees F) warmer at the poles. Sea level ranged between five and 40 meters (16 to 131 feet) higher than today. The extreme speed at which carbon dioxide concentrations are increasing is unprecedented.
http://keelingcurve.ucsd.edu/what-does-400-ppm-look-like/
To check on a regular basis what the current CO2 levels are- http://keelingcurve.ucsd.edu/

- Slovakia has a new system for electric vans, clearly shown in the interesting video. Changing batteries takes no longer than pumping gas, and while the batteries take up space, freight is being easily moved with no fossil fuels. As the batteries get smaller, it will be easy to convert. In addition to freedom from fossil fuels (solar arrays and wind turbines are shown), cities that care about stinky unhealthy pollution and noise from delivery trucks need to pay attention to this! It’s now! - Editor

Battery swapping was once hailed as the miracle cure for short-range electric cars, but the trials and tribulations of Better Place have shown that isn’t necessarily the case. It’s not a bad idea though–it just needs the correct application.  A small fleet of Citroen vans has been converted to electric power, their batteries taking the shape of a conspicuously large black box taking up some of the load bay.
Cleverly, this large pack sits on a rail system. When stopping at one of the Project’s swap stations, the old battery can be disconnected (via a simple lever), slid onto a forklift, and another battery slid into place. (The company) GreenWay is heavily pushing the environmental aspect, but the ease of use and cost benefits too.
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1083945_electric-car-battery-swapping-slovakian-style-well-vans-anyway
For the interesting short YouTube video- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2V05qQClyI&feature=player_embedded
For the company website in English- http://www.greenway.sk/en/

- How many times have you heard that it is the batteries that are holding back electric cars? Yes, lighter batteries would be great, but let’s flip this coin. Today’s cars are just too dang heavy! Make the cars lighter and voila! The need for massive batteries decreases!  Amory Lovins has been saying this since the 1990’s!  Here is a Rocky Mountain Institute no-frills video for car-geeks. Sure wish folks would move faster- at the beginning of World War II, we totally changed the car industry into a plane industry in less than 6 months! Step it up, folks! Obama could make this happen ASAP! This would set the entire U.S. industry up as world leaders and take a chunk out of global warming! Get those auto and supplier execs into the Oval Office now! Why should a small non-profit be begging for money when this is so blanket blank obvious?  - Editor

Light weight vehicles will unlock up to 10 times the efficiency of today’s cars using carbon-fiber composites that give the same level of safety and functionality as steel. This makes a much better business case for electric cars- less weight requires a smaller battery pack, which offsets the higher cost of carbon composites. Oil-free transportation hinges on this. It will be like getting 250 miles per gallon today. We reach parity with steel right now!  It will take 5 years to get a real change, so by model year 2018.
http://blog.rmi.org/blog_2013_05_16_Google_Hangout_Oil_Free_Transportation_System

QUOTE
“You begin with what matters, and move from that space.
Our job is to turn the conversation to the solutions”

Maggie Fox, president of the Climate Reality Project, a U.S.-based effort to create new kinds of conversations about climate change

Why is climate change so difficult an issue to rally people around? Why have other thorny and politically sensitive issues - such as gay marriage - managed to eventually find traction while climate change has not?
It’s largely a problem not of science or politics, but of misjudged communication, climate experts argued at a Skoll World Forum session this week in Oxford, England. After decades, few people outside an existing tribe of the concerned have been persuaded that there is a need to act urgently to deal with climate change - or even that it particularly matters to them.
“We haven’t actually been able to build a narrative… and affect culture,” says Maggie Fox, president of the Climate Reality Project, a U.S.-based effort to create new kinds of conversations about climate change. “There’s a lot of us, and (we’re) still not producing anything of consequence. The cultural conversation is devastating.” “It shifts from ‘it’s not happening and I don’t have to pay attention’ to “it’s over, we’re doomed.” So how can that be changed?
Answers may be to reframe climate change as a much more personal problem for people, make taking action on it appealing, and engage the enemy - those most opposed to action today - to deliver the messages. “You begin with what matters, and move from that space. Our job is to turn the conversation to the solutions,” Fox says. That suggests that a better way to win over political opponents in the fight against climate change may be to quietly approach those who harbor some mixed feelings on the issue, and persuade them to lead the charge - and take the credit.
Leadership, inspiration and quiet diplomacy, participants suggested, may work where shame and confrontation has not.
http://www.trust.org/item/20130412085300-ut3q6/