Arnold Is Right! Unite for Change Climate Change Quiz, Ecojustice, The Climate 50/100 Campaign Updates!

ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER IS RIGHT

Last week a large low-pressure system in the atmosphere above the North American continent drove smoke from the 430+ Canadian wildfires–caused by drought exacerbated by climate change–down and across at least the eastern third of the United States, as far south as the Carolinas. Thanks to all that smoke, we learned that Code Red is NOT the signal for the worst, most hazardous air quality. There’s Code Purple above that, and even above that—Code Maroon!

Wildfire smoke is a toxic soup of polluted air. It’s not just burning bark and trunks and leaves. It’s homes (which means insulation, metals and plastics and furniture. It’s car tires and car batteries. And when we breathe it, the particles are a fraction the size of a human hair are drawn deep into our lungs and then pass into our blood, where they can stay, and with constant exposure, sicken our bodies over time.

Welcome to climate change. A couple of weeks ago, while being interviewed about his new show FUBAR, Arnold Schwarzenegger was asked about his other passion—climate change. Arnold said that for years now, he’s been telling people that we need to reframe the message. Climate change is a pollution problem. And he’s right. Why?

If you light a fire in your fireplace and forget to first open the flue, all of the carbon smoke coming off those burning logs into your living room—no matter how pure those logs are—is polluting your indoor space. If your pilot light goes out on your stove, natural gas (which by the way is methane) will leak out, polluting your indoor air. The same holds true if you accidentally set fire to a plastic kitchen utensil handle that came too close to the flame on your stove once you re-light the pilot. You call it toxic, fossil-fuel based smoke polluting the air inside your home. So why is it when that same wood smoke, natural gas/aka methane leak, or plastic burn fumes escape into our atmosphere do we call it carbon, or CO2, or GHGs?

Arnold’s right. It’s time to call CO2, vaporized carbon and GHGs what they really are—air pollution. Air pollution is what’s causing climate change. And guess what the most effective way to absorb and filter air pollution on the planet is? You guessed it. Trees. A trillion trees. A hundred thousand forests.

Thanks to 33 of you, and our tree-planting partner, 1TreePlanted, we at The Climate have already begun planting our first 10,000 tree forest. Surf on over to theclimate.org and click on Feather River Restoration Project to see the work being done by 1TreePlanted.org to reforest that California forest. Help us plant our second 10,000 tree forest by donating to the 50/100 campaign. As of today, Monday, June 12, we only have 680 trees to go. Visit theclimate.org and at the top of the page, click on the words, “Climate Champions” and donate $50 or $100—and plant 45 or 90 trees. Become a climate champion today. Now that forests are burning, planting trees matters more than ever. Go to theclimate.org and at the top of the page, click on the words, “Climate Champions” and donate $50 or $100—and plant 45 or 90 trees. Become a climate champion today. And thanks.

DEEPER DIVE: WMO Report,  50/100 Campaign, Trillion Tree Project, Arnold’s SCI, Austrian World Summit

“UNITE FOR CHANGE” CLIMATE CHANGE QUIZ

You’re a regular listener to The Climate Daily, so you’ve got pretty good knowledge on climate change, and its impacts locally and globally, right? So be like us, and take Unite for Change’s quiz, testing your climate knowledge.  Go on, give it a whirl, click on the link in the Deeper Dive section of this story at theclimate.org/episodes. Unite for Change is a Canadian organization whose mission is to empower Canadians who want to make our world a better place – who want to learn about issues, spread the word, and fund change. 

Unite for Change is powered by CanadaHelps, a registered charity and social enterprise. For over 21 years CanadaHelps has been informing, inspiring, and connecting charities and donors, with the causes they care about, through technology. Two of the many funds Unite for Change supports include the Land and Food Justice Fund and the Protect the Environment Fund. The first has thus far over 165 donors who’ve raised over $29,000 CAD to help young farmers-to-be acquire farm land. The second, has over 260 donors who’ve given over $61,000 CAD to ensure the survival of the environment through conservation and preservation of Canadian watersheds, parks and forests.

Why does Unite for Change matter to us? Its work aggregating donations from thousands of folks, amplifying their dollars and funding important social and climate justice work. Their work breeds hope. And the quiz. It keeps us on our toes. 

DEEPER DIVE: CLIMATE CHANGE QUIZ, Unite for Change

MEET ECOJUSTICE

At Ecojustice, they use the law to protect life on Earth. Ecojustice is Canada’s largest environmental law charity. From coast to coast to coast, we have a proven history of winning key cases and securing environmental protections. Taking governments and polluters to court is in our roots. We started as the Sierra Legal Defence Fund back in 1990 as a direct response to the Exxon Valdez disaster — then the world’s worst oil spill. What began as two determined people working out of the back of a car, is now a leading Canadian charity led by lawyers, scientists, and subject matter experts.

For more than 30 years, Ecojustice lawyers have represented everyday people at every level of court— free of charge. Its mission is to use the law to defend nature, combat the climate crisis, and fight for a healthy environment for all. To achieve this, Ecojustice does three things: It goes to court. Ecojustice’s lawyers represent citizens, environmental organizations, First Nations, sustainable businesses, labor organizations, and any other groups that share our mission. It pushes for better laws. Its experts testify in front of committees and make recommendations to strengthen environmental legislation. The group engages the public. Their work highlights environmental issues and changes the conversation, forcing our leaders to sit up and listen.

Today, Ecojustice has 80+ staff working to save the only planet we’ve ever called home. If you think about it, we’re all living on Indigenous land, and we should be grateful for that recognition. 

DEEPER DIVE: Ecojustice