Believe! - Earth Day 2007

It’s amazing to be here today in Victoria. It’s marvelous to celebrate with so many like minded people who care about the planet.

I’m sure will hear some great speeches, some fabulous music here today. It will exciting, uplifting.

But in a few hours after the celebration we’ll all have to go home When we wake up on Monday morning we’ll have to go back to Deadlines that are hard to meet; Payrolls that are hard to meet; Some of us - like me - will have to face policy makers that are REALLY hard to meet.

And tomorrow, or the next day or the day after, You may wake up feeling overwhelmed. Thinking that the problems are so huge, People are so scattered and our opponents seems so big and entrenched.

You may wonder: is it possible, can we change fast enough?  You may despair…There are so many urgent issues…and we have so little time. ARE WE GOING TO GET ANYWHERE?

I just want to tell you all -  NO I want to remind you - that when you get that feeling, think back.  Think back to just 15 months ago. Remember what you felt like back in January 2006.

Recall – Weren’t we worried about most anti-environmental Prime Minister IN MEMORY? Weren’t we facing the 5^th year of Gordon Campbell perhaps the brownest Premiere in BC history?

How fast things can change!

If  I had stood up before you then and said that in just 15 months - that in a little more than a year - our political parties would be climbing over each other to appear greenest…You would have laughed!

If I had predicted Gordon Campbell would go from being a global warming denier, to seeking a legacy as a climate change leader. If I had said that Stephan Dion would be the new leader of the federal liberals. That he would make the environment the main plank in his campaign.  If I had said that the Grits would build an alliance with the Green Party.  You would have called the medics in the white suits.

Just 15 months ago, you wouldn’t have believed that the BC government would:

·        promise to reduce GHG by 33%;

·        effectively cancel two coal fired power plants;

·        commit to finally HELPING PAY FOR treating Victoria’s sewage.  

You would have scoffed

But it happened! And it happened fast.

So now I’m here to tell you -   to predict – that we have just begun. The next two years will be the tipping point for a new climate justice movement.  Believe me, I‘m telling you the truth

I’m telling you the truth, when I say our movement will seek nothing less than transforming how we live. That we will redesign how people relate to the earth. How people relate to the economy… and to each other

We are just getting started. Our movement is just building

In next two years we will get stronger.

We are going to force our political leaders to:

• Set hard caps on GHG emissions;
• Impose carbon taxes; and
• Stop giving Billions of Dollars in subsidies to oil and gas companies.

In the next two year we are going to succeed in:

-        Reigning in out of control tar sands development;

-        Rewriting building codes to require energy efficiency; and

-        Stopping 6 tanker/pipeline projects that threaten BC north coast

This may be ambitious, but look at what you have already accomplished.

When I say we did it… I’m not talking about people you don’t know. When I say we pushed global warming to the top of the agenda…I’m not talking about someone else.

It was you, your friends, and your colleagues. It was the groups whose tables line the lawn of the legislature today.

We have accomplished a lot, but much more awaits us.

Believe folks! We are on a wave

While the verdict remains out about whether our leaders are sincere.  Or will follow through.  Remember it is the people, folks like you who have put climate change on the map.  And it is people like us that will keep it there!

We can not no longer be ignored.

We are the people that are going to do whatever is necessary to make sure that Oil tankers are not allowed on BC coast.

 We are the people that will not allow an Exxon Valdez like spill to pollute our precious waters.

We are the people are going to hold Stephen Harper & Garry Lunn responsible for ignoring the moratorium on oil tankers imposed in 1972 -  a moratorium that 8 prime minister respected, but that Harper began violating immediately after assuming power

And this is just one of the issues we will win.

But are we prepared for our own success?

What does our dream look like?         

What does the world we are fighting for feel like? Taste like?

Can we write that story?

Tough questions need to be addressed.

Will the transition to a sustainable economy be inclusive?  Does it include the poor? First Nations? Developing countries? How can we stop our governments from fast-tracking fossil fuel exploration when they are addicted to the revenue it produces?

Answering these questions will be hard.

It is much easier to point out the problems we face. But remember Martin Luther King Jr didn’t get famous for a speech called “I have a complaint.” He didn’t say,  “I have a long set of issues to discuss.” He talked about his dream.

A dream of mountaintops and promised lands. A dream of little black and white children holding hands.

We too have dreams. Hopeful dreams. Beautiful dreams. Dreams about a country, a world that is just, equitable and a model of sustainability.

We must imagine - no believe - that we can lead the world in clean and green. We must believe we can figure out new ways to build cities, Figure out new ways to move people, grow food and resolve racial injustices.

I have high expectations for myself. I have big dreams for the Dogwood Initiative. And I believe in the power of this growing climate justice movement.

I don’t have all the answers. No one does. No one person, or one organization is going to lead us to the promised land.  It will be a collective effort.

BUT ONE THING I DO KNOW is when you leave here today… Remember that you are not alone. Remind yourself that you a part of something huge and growing.

Remember, that our unstoppable movement faces the biggest challenge we have ever faced.. Transforming how we live.  

There is no time to waste. So get active, Go join the BC Sustainable Energy Association.             Volunteer an evening, join another protest, vote for change, give money to good groups, go sign Dogwood Initiative petition against tankers. Make a difference!

I believe that we can do it... That each and every one of you has a role to play.

I know it will not be easy.  Sacrifices will have to be made. But in my heart of hearts I know we are up to the task.

I know we have the creativity…the fortitude …the humility.  And the Power, to make our collective dream a reality                                

Thank you

Special Thanks to Van Jones for some of the concepts in this speech.