Resource Guide for Climate Action
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The Winter 2010 issue of YES! Magazine looks at how we can mobilize and take action to create the necessary shift in time to save the planet.
We don’t have to tell you to switch your light bulbs and carry a cloth bag to the grocery store: You already do. But saving the planet is going to take more than a reusable mug. So how do you take your beliefs from private home to public square?
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Tell Your Friends
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DIY: Change the Way You Live
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Take Direct Action: Amplify Your Voice and get involved
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Tracking Progress
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Research and Data
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Climate Action Library (books and films)
Tell your friends.
Your neighbors. The guy next to you on the bus. Talking to others about climate change may feel awkward (“So, how do you feel about greenhouse gases?”), but it helps spread the word that climate change is real, and that we can still do something about it. Talk about how you’re giving up your car, or how you’ve been writing your congressperson.
The Story of Stuff is Annie Leonard's fun and fact-filled look at our production and consumption patterns. Watch the video here and find more info at www.storyofstuff.org
350.org is an international
campaign dedicated to building a movement to unite the world around
solutions to the climate crisis. The site has many creative ideas on how to spread the word. www.350.org
A Climate for Change is a news and social networking website similar to Facebook. You can join a fun and active community centered on climate action and discussion. www.aclimateforchange.org
World Wide Views on Global Warming conducted a worldwide deliberative survey with surprising results. Check out what people think and find compact information on climate change at wwviews.org
DIY: Change the Way You Live
Join the No Impact Project (noimpactproject.org) or organize your
neighbors around the Transition Towns movement (transitionus.org). When
you change the way you live, and help others change the way they live,
momentum builds for legislative change. 
The No Impact Project, founded by Colin Beavan, offers a one week experiment in impact-free living and the chance to connect to others along the way. www.noimpactproject.org
Center for a New American Dream offers guides and resources to help Americans consume more responsibly and to protect the environment, enhance quality of life, and promote social justice. www.newdream.org
Co-op America is a great resource for environmentally and socially responsible consumers, with information on sustainable products, companies, and investments. Their Take Action page features causes and easy suggestions of what you can do. www.coopamerica.org
Climate Counts is a collaborative effort to bring consumers and companies together in the fight against global climate change. They score the world's largest companies on their climate impact. www.climatecounts.org
GreenerChoices.org is a Web-based initiative to inform, engage, and empower consumers about environmentally friendly products and practices. www.greenerchoices.org
Brighter Planet is a website where you can measure your carbon footprint, discover simple ways to reduce it, track your progress, and share your experiences.
www.brighterplanet.com
The Transition Network helps towns and neighborhoods to lower their climate impact by adopting and implementing a transition model. The Transition Network offers materials, training courses, events, tools, and resources for your community. www.transitiontowns.org
The Personal Climate Change Calculator helps you measure your climate-affecting carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. www.americanforests.org/resources/ccc/
The Regeneration Project is a religious response to climate change. The Interfaith Power and Light program helps congregations promote renewable energy, energy efficiency, and conservation. interfaithpowerandlight.org
Take Direct Action: Amplify Your Voice and Get Involved
Send letters to the editor, work for climate-friendly policies (bike lanes, public transit), and join up with others to amplify your voice. Plug in to action-oriented organizations. Then donate, and demonstrate.
Greenpeace USA (Greenpeace, Inc.) is dedicated to protecting the environment through research, advocacy and lobbying. www.greenpeace.org
1Sky
is a major initiative to unite climate change activists into a
collective movement calling for green jobs, emissions reductions,
renewable energy, and an end to coal plants. Mobilizes people around the country to push elected officials for climate-change legislation. www.1sky.org
TckTckTck is a global alliance made up
of leading international, national, and local
organizations, faith-based groups, youth groups trade unions, and
individuals. The campaign calls for a fair and
binding climate change agreement in December 2009 in Copenhagen. www.tcktcktck.org
The
Ruckus Society trains and assists activists in the use of nonviolent
direct action. Their website provides links to more information on what
they do, upcoming events, blogs, and resources for activists. www.ruckus.org
The WE Campaign is a place where thousands
come together online to voice their concern over climate change and to
call for bold action. It's an opportunity to participate in the
climate movement in a new way that takes us beyond ourselves
as individuals. www.wecansolveit.org
The
Climate Project focuses on educating the public about climate change, featuring personal trainings by Al Gore. www.theclimateproject.org
Focus the Nation is a national
nonprofit organization dedicated to a clean energy future. Their
programs support young people through climate education, engagement,
and action. www.focusthenation.org
Stop Global Warming is a
virtual march of hundreds of thousands of citizens calling on political
leaders to put freezes on greenhouse gas emissions.
www.stopglobalwarming.org
Earth First! is an international
movement based on environmental action and the belief that life comes
first. Their website offers links to other resources, blogs, and ideas
to help you take action for the planet. www.earthfirst.org
Rainforest
Action Network campaigns for the forests, their inhabitants and the
natural systems that sustain life by transforming the global
marketplace through education, grassroots organizing, and non-violent
direct action www.ran.org
Green for All works to establish green jobs and a green economy, aimed especially at disadvantaged communities. www.greenforall.org
Live
Earth seeks to leverage the power of entertainment through integrated
events, media, and the live experience to ignite a global movement
aimed at solving the most critical environmental issues of our time. www.liveearth.org
Climate
Solutions works to accelerate action on climate change by generating
investments and political movement in the region.
www.climatesolutions.org
The Energy Action Coalition is a youth effort of some 50 environmental and social justice organizations, organizing around climate change. energyactioncoalition.org
The Indigenous Environmental Network is empowering Indigenous Nations and communities towards sustainable livelihoods, and taking action for environmental justice. www.ienearth.org
Beyond Talk invites you to take the Climate Pledge of Resistance and participate in actions this fall leading up to November 30 and beyond. www.beyondtalk.net
The Mobilization for Climate Justice is preparing for the November 30 Day of Action to send a clear signal to elected officials in advance of the Copenhagen Climate Negotiations. www.actforclimatejustice.org
Tracking Progress
The websites below can keep you up to date on developments in climate legislation and
will closely track the climate negotiations in Copenhagen. 
The Natural Resources
Defense Council is one of the nation's most effective environmental action
group, combining the grassroots power of 1.3 million members and online
activists with the courtroom clout and expertise of more than 350
lawyers, scientists and other professionals. www.nrdc.org
Bioneers holds workshops and
conferences focusing on biological and cultural diversity, as well as
ecology, sustainability, traditional farming, community-building, and
social justice. www.bioneers.org
Climate
Progress provides links to blogs, articles, and websites by climate
experts offering a variety of progressive views on climate solutions
and policy. www.climateprogress.org
The Copenhagen Climate
Council is a global collaboration to create awareness of the importance
of the U.N. Climate Change Conference, COP15, in Copenhagen and to
ensure support and assistance to global decision-makers when agreeing
on a new climate treaty.
COP15 is the official site of the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen. Includes calendar, facts, blog, forum, and more. cop15.dk
Desmogblog provides up-to-date
discussions on climate change and policy. www.desmogblog.com
The
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration works to keep citizens
informed about environmental change. Their website provides news,
links, and blogs about the latest environmental changes. www.noaa.gov/climate.html
CoolPlanet2009.org is part of
the U.N.-led Seal the Deal Campaign that aims to galvanize political will
and public support for reaching a comprehensive global climate
agreement in Copenhagen in December. www.coolplanet2009.org
The World View of Global Warming Project documents climate change through science photography from the Arctic to Antarctica, from glaciers to oceans, across all climate zones. www.worldviewofglobalwarming.org
Current TV offers independent coverage of climate actions and negotiations as well as practical green living tips. current.com/green
Legal Planet, a collaboration between the UC Berkeley School of Law and UCLA School of Law, provides insight and analysis on energy and environmental law and policy. Their blogs respond the global challenge of climate change and seek out solutions. www.legalplanet.wordpress.com
EcoEquity is focused on developing and promoting climate solutions that are just enough to actually work. www.ecoequity.org
Economics for Equity and the Environment: E3 Network is a network of economists who are developing and applying economic arguments for active protection of human health and the natural environment. www.e3network.org
Research and Data
Resources that will take you through some of the more in-depth research and science on climate change. 
The U.S. Global Change Research Program coordinates and integrates federal research on changes in the global environment and their implications for society www.globalchange.gov
The Climate Change Resource Center is a reference website for resource managers and decision makers who need information and tools to address climate change in planning and project implementation. www.fs.fed.us/ccrc/
Post Carbon Institute is a megaphone for some of the world's best thinking on the 21st century's global sustainability crisis. www.postcarbon.org
The World Resources Institute encourages people to live in a way that protects the earth. Our environmental challenges are complex and therefore require well-thought solutions. To this end, the institute organizes its work to answer these challenges and help people create their own solutions by offering environmental news and links to additional resources. www.wri.org
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the nobel Peace Prize winning body for the assessment of climate change, established by the United Nations Environment Programme and the World Meteorological Organization, provides a clear scientific view on the current state of climate change and its potential environmental and socio-economic consequences. www.ipcc.ch
The American Wind Energy Association works to promote wind power through advocacy, communication, and education. The association's website provides information on wind energy policy, legislation, news, and ways to educate yourself in this area. www.awea.org
EPA Climate Change offers comprehensive information on climate change in a way that is accessible and meaningful to all communities, individuals, businesses, and governments. www.epa.gov/climatechange
The Climate Ark is an Internet search tool that provides access to climate change and renewable energy conservation news, information retrieval tools, and original analysis and action opportunities. www.climateark.org
The Climate Institute website offers basic information on climate change, rising sea levels, and human health impacts. www.climate.org
The US Climate Emergency Council is a nonprofit organization dedicated to stopping climate change. The council provides information, links, and resources for global warming activists. www.climateemergency.org
The Hadley Centre is the most prominent research center on climate change in the U.K. and is part of the U.K. Meteorological Office. Their website maintains a guide with facts on climate change and the effect it has on our lives and our planet. www.metoffice.gov.uk/climatechange/science/hadleycentre
The Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory is one of the leading institutes studying climate change. Their website links to studies, discussions, and articles on climate change. www.ldeo.columbia.edu
EnergyBoom is a global leader in news information about the renewable energy sector, 
offering expert analysis to keep readers on the cutting edge of the renewable energy world. www.energyboom.com
Climate Action Library
The Age of Stupid: a climate change film from Franny Armstrong. www.ageofstupid.net
An Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It by Al Gore (St. Martin's Press, 2006) ties into the documentary film of the same name, which rallied public interest in climate change. Here, Gore presents evidence that climate change is not question and outlines the possible outcomes of climate change if we sit idle and fail to act.
Carbon Detox: Your Step-by-Step Guide to Getting Real About Climate Change by George Marshall (Gaia Books, 2007). A psychologist offers a provocative and entertaining approach to climate change, and looks at why we find it so hard to believe that climate change is real.
Carbon-Free and Nuclear-Free by Arjun Makhijani and in partnership with the Nuclear Policy Research Institute and the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (IEER Press and RDR Books, 2007), is a road map for an energy policy that will lead the U.S. away from climate disaster and toward a sustainable future.
The Climate Challenge: 101 Solutions to Global Warming by Guy Dauncey (New Society Publishers, 2009) draws on working solutions from around the world, and lays out the best actions for students and scientists, musicians and mayors, policy-makers and presidents, showing how it is possible to reduce our carbon footprint to almost zero by 2040.
Climate Cover-Up: The Crusade to Deny Global Warming by James Hoggan (Greystone Books, 2009) indicts climate change deniers and parses out the confusion over climate change created by deniers and media coverage of climate change.
Down to the Wire: Confronting Climate Collapse by David W. Orr (Oxford University Press, 2009) calls for a change in our deepest values and from there describes what we need to change and that we need to do so now.
High Tide: The Truth About Our Climate Crisis by Mark Lynas (Picador 2004) underlines the importance of America's role in taking decisive climate change action.
Less is More: Embracing Simplicity for a Healthy Planet, a Caring Economy and Lasting Happiness by Cecile Andrews (New Society Publishers 2009) presents a new version of happiness that is based on human connections and relationships rather than the consumption of material goods. Andrews explains what simplicity means, then looks to solutions and policies that work toward embracing simplicity.
Local Action, by Tommy Linstroth and Ryan Bell (University of Vermont Press, 2007) looks at the power of small, local actions in addressing global warming and bringing about positive change.
Meeting Environmental Challenges: The Role of Human Identity by Tom Crompton and Tim Kasser (Green Books, 2009) is a publication of WWF-UK’s Strategies for Change Project that intends to stimulate wide and critical debate--not just among the environmental movement, but more generally.
No Impact Man: The Adventures of a Guilty Liberal Who Attempts to Save the Planet, and the Discoveries He Makes About Himself and Our Way of Life in the Process by Colin Beavan (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2009) takes you through a family's one year experiment of living impact-free in an apartment in New York.
Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis by Al Gore (Rodale Books, 2009) follows up on the film An Inconvenient Truth gathers the most effective solutions to the climate crisis.
Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet by Mark Lynas (National Geographic, 2008) compiles global-warming information from an array of authoritative scientists and describes his findings in six chapters representing the consequences of a one- to six-degree shift in temperature rise.
The Story of Stuff: How Our Obsession with Stuff Is Trashing the Planet, Our Communities, and Our Health-and a Vision for Change is a 20-minute film by Annie Leonard that transforms how we think about our lives and our relationship to the planet and offers hope that change is within reach. The film is available online at www.storyofstuff.com
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