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Fw: Climate protesters occupy federal building. We need your help now

8 a.m. Monday, Oct. 23

Protesters Occupy Ledge Above Federal Agency
To Demand Action on Global Warming

Standoff with Police Occurs at NOAA Headquarters in Silver Spring, MD;

Protesters Block Main Entrance, Denounce Bush Climate Policies

See photos of the ongoing protest at www.climateemergency.org

If you live or work near Silver Spring, MD please come to the protest
site right now and show your support (see directions below). All
others, please send an email to Bush and your Congressman demanding
clean, efficient energy by clicking here. And please forward this
alert far and wide!!

Dear supporter:

As you read this, citizen activists have dramatically occupied the
entrance to a federal building in an act of civil disobedience meant
to parallel the great urgency of global warming.

With the impacts of climate change spiraling out of control in the
form of wildfires, heat waves, hurricanes, floods, and sea-level rise,
protesters gathered this morning at the headquarters of the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in Silver Spring, MD to
demand an immediate change in U.S. policy toward fossil fuels.

Two protesters peacefully occupied a ledge above the building’s front
entrance and unfurled a huge banner reading: “Bush: Let NOAA Tell the
Truth.” A half dozen more protesters on the ground blocked and
occupied the building’s main entrance.

With political influence from the White House, leaders at NOAA have
repeatedly ignored or actively suppressed agency science detailing the
threat of global warming. NOAA has also blocked journalists from
talking to agency scientists who warn about the climate danger. These
widely reported actions have drawn growing condemnation from the media
and Congressional leaders. ( See Greenpeace summary)

Today’s protest is part of an escalating campaign to draw attention to
the Bush Administration’s failed policies on global warming. Calling
George Bush the nation’s “Denier-in-Chief,” protesters associated with
the U.S. Climate Emergency Council and Chesapeake Climate Action
Network carried large photos showing climate chaos worldwide.

“Every day, wherever one looks in the world, there are accelerating
signs of climate danger,” said Mike Tidwell, director of the U.S. CEC
and one of the protesters on the scene. “From satellite imagery from
space to measurements deep in our oceans to the daily observations of
average Americans, weird and alarming climate impacts are now in plain
view. Yet NOAA, in blatant violation of its mission statement,
suppresses this truth. And George Bush does nothing. It’s time for
concerned citizens to stand up and demand action.”

Protesters called on the Bush Administration to “join reality and the
rest of the world” by re-entering the international Kyoto Protocol
process designed to cut fossil fuel use. A sensible first step would
be for Bush and Congress to drop the utterly failed policy
of “voluntary” greenhouse gas reductions and instead adopt a plan
similar to the one just signed by Republican California governor
Arnold Schwarzenegger. That plan calls for a mandatory 25% reduction
in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 in California. (read more).

A national effort must include dramatic but feasible improvements in
energy efficiency, including an average increase to 40 mpg in the
nation’s car and truck fleet. Huge investments in renewable energy,
like wind power and certain ethanol fuels, are also needed
immediately, the group says.

Protestors chose NOAA for their action because the agency’s
politically appointed leadership has failed to fulfill its official
mission to warn Americans about “dangerous weather” and “improve our
understanding and stewardship of the environment.” The NOAA leadership
blatantly ignores or denies the growing scientific evidence of climate
chaos, including studies from within NOAA itself.

For example, despite having the words “atmospheric” and “oceanic” in
its very name, NOAA’s website contains virtually no reference to the
seven major scientific studies in the last 14 months linking
atmospheric warming to an observed increase in hurricane intensity.
Indeed, according to NOAA scientist Ants Leetmaa, the agency refused
to release an internal review by NOAA scientists last May projecting
stronger future hurricanes due to global warming. ( See USA Today story)

And recent press reports in the Wall Street Journal, the Washington
Post, and elsewhere show how the NOAA leadership has tried to keep its
climate scientists from talking to journalists. In September, U.S.
Congressman Henry Waxman called on NOAA to release relevant agency
documents after an internal NOAA email showed media officials there
intentionally steering an MSNBC journalist away from a climate
scientist whose data shows climate impacts to be worsening, something
the White House clearly wants to keep from wide public scrutiny. (See
Waxman’s website and Salon.com story)

The U.S. CEC, as a result, is today calling for Lautenbacher’s
immediate resignation. Such a move would be a good-faith first step in
signaling the Bush Administration’s willingness, finally, to begin
protecting Americans from the economic, agricultural, environmental
and national-security harm global warming is beginning to cause.

What You Can Do Right Now
1. Travel to the Silver Spring protest site now and show your support
for the activists peacefully occupying the NOAA entrance

The protest is at 1305 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910 (
map) in the plaza near the “Wave Pool.” Use mapquest or walk one block
south along East-West Highway from the Silver Spring Metro.

The protest may last all day and into the early evening. Come and
simply observe/applaud. We’ll also have placards for you to hold or
leaflets to hand out.

2. Send an email to Bush and your Congressperson demanding they take
meaningful steps TODAY to address global warming

3. Forward this email to your friends and family

*************
Ted Glick
973-338-5398
indpol-AT-igc.org
P.O. Box 1132
Bloomfield, N.J. 07003

"How to bring into being a world that is not only sustainable,
functional and equitable but also deeply desirable is a question
of leadership and ethics and vision and courage, properties
not of computer models but of the human heart and soul."
Donella and Dennis Meadows and Jorgen Randers,
Limits to Growth: The 30-Year Update

The National Weather Service (NWS) with it's 120 offices statewide and
staff of 5,500 meteorologists and managers are part of NOAA ... but
don't expect help from anyone who's interest is in careerism with
NWS ... just the opposite - be aware that NWS intentions have not been
in the public interest concerning climate change for many many years
and is not likely to change anytime soon.

Pat Neuman
Removed NWS Hydrologist
Previously with:
NWS North Central River Forecast Center, Chanhassen MN



Director, NOAA's National Weather Service
-----------------------------------------
BGEN David L. Johnson, USAF (Ret.) NOAA Assistant Administrator for
Weather Services, and Director, NOAA's National Weather Service
www.nws.noaa.gov/johnson_bio.php

Brigadier General (USAF retired) John (Jack) J. Kelly, Jr. serves as
the deputy undersecretary for oceans and atmosphere, National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). He is responsible for the day-
to-day management of NOAA’s domestic and international operations. In
addition, General Kelly is the United States principal representative
with the World Meteorology Organization (WMO) and is responsible for
U.S. interactions with the WMO.

General Kelly served as senior advisor on weather services for the
Department of Commerce and conducted a bottom-up review of the NOAA
National Weather Service (NWS) operation, plus NOAA and NWS
management, planning, and budget policies and processes. He was NOAA’s
assistant administrator for the Weather Service from 1998 to January
2004.
www.noaa.gov/kelly.html

Dennis H. McCarthy, Director

The Office of Climate, Water, and Weather Services or Office of
Services (OS) is part of National Weather Service (NWS) Headquarters
in Silver Spring, MD. OS supports the NWS mission by striving for
operational excellence. It oversees delivery of hydrometeorological
and climate services and the design and implementation of future
products and services.
www.weather.gov/os/org.shtml


MISSION
" NOAA's National Weather Service provides weather, hydrologic, and
climate forecasts and warnings for the United States, its territories,
adjacent waters and ocean areas, for the protection of life and
property and the enhancement of the national economy. NWS data and
products form a national information database and infrastructure which
can be used by other governmental agencies, the private sector, the
public, and the global community.

www.nws.noaa.gov/hdqrtr.php