September 28, 2010
By Jamie Henn, 350.org Communications Coordinator

This summer, many of us have watched as images of ruined ecosystems and broken lives flood in from the Gulf of Mexico. For those of us in the U.S., the British Petroleum (BP) oil disaster is yet another devastating reminder of why we need to take action now to break our addiction to dirty energy, build a new clean energy economy, and solve the climate crisis.

This October 10th, we invite you to join the international climate campaign 350.org for the 10/10/10 Global Work Party, when thousands of communities across the globe will get to work on climate solutions and celebrate a clean energy future. Writer Bill McKibben and a group of seven college friends founded 350.org in 2008 to empower people around the world to help build a movement to stop climate change. Not your grandmother’s environmental campaign, MicKibben’s group smartly branded their iconic campaign after the safe upper limit of CO2 in our atmosphere—350 parts per million—proving that what’s in a name is both emotional and educational. Our planet is now at 390 ppm of CO2 in the atmosphere, and every day more carbon is poured from our already dangerous flow of pollution. And now this—critical levels of dangerous oil pumping into the Gulf of Mexico. For the moment most of that flow has been stemmed, but it doesn’t begin to solve the still-flowing problem of our crisis-level atmospheric levels of carbon-induced CO2, and now we’ve got to worry about what’s above our heads and below sea level.

Last year, 350.org grew into a global phenomenon through little more than a few laptops, some cell phones, and plenty of long hours. The 350.org campaign spread through entrusting local volunteers to lead the campaign themselves, building a planetary movement. On October 24, 2009 350.org coordinated an international day of climate action with over 5,200 events in more than 180 countries—what CNN called “the most widespread day of political action in the planet’s history.” In Mexico City, thousands of people formed an enormous sun to call for solar power. In Australia, people dove to the Great Barrier Reef to send a message from underwater. In the Maldives, thousands of children gathered on the beaches of their sinking island. In Iraq, a brave young woman held a banner on her own when her friends were too afraid to join her.

The campaign made a tremendous impact. While Big Polluters succeeded in blocking a new climate treaty at the United Nation climate talks in Copenhagen last December, over 118 countries adopted the 350 ppm target.

How can you help? This year, 350.org is working with hundreds of partner organizations and thousands of volunteer organizers to host the 10/10/10 Global Work Party. Together, we’ll send a clear message to our politicians: we’re getting to work solving the climate crisis, what about you? Go to 350.org and take a look at the different resources available to help you plan a 10/10/10 event, then think about how you can get to work in your community. Perhaps your neighborhood synagogue or school can install solar panels. Or you and your neighbors could plant an organic garden. Maybe you can get your Mayor to ride down a new bike lane in town? Why not sign up to cut your emissions 10% in 2010 with the 10:10 campaign? Once you’ve got an idea, make sure to register your event on the 350.org website, to share with others what you’re up to. And on 10/10/10, take action and send in your photos and videos from the day.

In the meantime, you can also help build the buzz for 10/10/10 by taking part in 350.org’s effort to get President Obama to put solar panels back on the White House, by visiting PutSolarOn.It. Or if you’re on campus, check out the Great Power Race, a clean energy competition between students in China, India, and the US.

This October 10th will be another day for the world to come together and take on perhaps the greatest challenge of our lifetime: stopping the climate crisis. With already over 2,500 events planned in more than 150 countries, we know, with your help, we can move mountains, and CO2 levels…

Let’s get to work!