Pope Francis will be visiting the United States
From 9/22-9/27. He will be speaking to Congress on Thurs 9/24. The Moral Mobilization will occur this Fall, from the beginning of Francis' visit on Sep. 22 to the end of the Paris climate talks on Dec. 11.
Event hosts will choose their own date and time during
that range.
For WEEKDAY events: Host outside of your local congressperson’s office (And invite your Congressional Representative to join!).
For WEEKEND events, choose a civic site or notable public space.
We will be holding Public
Pledge to Mobilize Ceremonies
These events will consist
of:
1) Reading Selections aloud from the Encyclical
2) Giving the Pledge to
Mobilize to Community Leaders. (Politicians and candidates, religious leaders, leaders in business, the academy, civil
society, or other notable, respected figures)
For an example: See this Video of San Francisco
Mayoral Candidate Amy Farah Weiss taking the Pledge in a public ceremony.
3) Community Leaders giving
speeches about the need for Climate Mobilization!
4) Community Leaders offering the Pledge to
Mobilize to anyone in the crowd.
Pope Francis’ message is entirely compatible with the Pledge to Mobilize. In essence, Pope Francis is calling for climate mobilization—a restructuring of our economy and society that drastically reduces emissions “in the next few years,” in order to protect civilization and the natural world. We believe that his speech to Congress on 9/24 will be forceful and magnetic. In the weeks and months after his departure, we want to send a message that we, the people, are answering his call for ecological conversion and active citizenship! We also think this is a terrific opportunity to:
1) Enlist community leaders from Across the US to The Climate Mobilization
2) Get our message into the national press.
In "Laudato Si," Pope Francis calls for an urgent "ecological conversion" of civilization and a "drastic" reduction of emissions in "the next few years." Meanwhile, The Pledge to Mobilize calls for a WWII-scale mobilization in response to climate change that drives U.S. greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2025 and global greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2030.
The fact that historians describe the World War II home front mobilization as a tremendously fast "conversion" of industry from peacetime to wartime production confirms our feeling that a Climate Mobilization and an Ecological Conversion are practically identical concepts.
Unfortunately, just because our demands are in line with the Pope's doesn't mean that people will be automatically persuaded that we are right. Here are some key resources to help you persuade people that we need a WWII-scale ecological conversion that eliminates net greenhouse gas emissions as quickly as humanly possible, removes excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and restores a safe climate.
1. An Open Letter to Barack Obama: The Moment of Truth for Your Climate Legacy
This open letter, issued on Sep. 2 and signed by a distinguished group of scientists and environmental, faith,
civic and cultural leaders, challenges President Obama to champion a courageous U.S. goal of net zero
greenhouse gas emissions by 2025 at the upcoming climate talks in Paris. Notable signers include authors Lester Brown and Terry Tempest Williams; actors Mark
Ruffalo and Ed Begley, Jr.; environmentalists David Suzuki, Winona LaDuke, Tim
DeChristopher and Yeb Saño; filmmaker Josh Fox; musician Moby; and scientist Ove Hoegh-Guldberg,
a coordinating lead author for the IPCC’s 5th Assessment Report, and scientist George Woodwell, the Founder of the Woods Hole Research Center.
2. Recount: It's Time to 'Do the Math' Again, by David Spratt
This devastating report by a leading Australian climate policy analyst makes clear that we face a global climate emergency, that "we have no carbon budget left to
divide up," and "big tipping-point events irreversible on human time scales and large-scale positive
feedbacks are already occurring at less than 1°C of warming." Spratt concludes that "action is necessary at a faster pace than most policy makers conceive is possible. Decades of procrastination mean there is no longer sufficient time for an incremental and non-disruptive reduction in emissions."
3. Striking Targets, by Philip Sutton
This report, also written by a leading Australian climate policy analyst, shows that the climate goals being negotiated in the upcoming Paris talks are leading the world toward catastrophe. To save civilization, we must push for much faster action, Sutton concludes. "The
struggle till now has been to get climate on the
action agenda for every country in the world. This
will be achieved at the Paris conference. But the
commitments that will be made will still leave
the earth on a fast path to over 3°C of warming –
which is environmentally and socially disastrous...Effective protection will depend on the
creation of a safe-climate-restoring
economy globally before 2030.
It is now time to match our climate goals
with climate reality – both our goals for the
restoration of the earth system and our goals for
climate campaigning.
There is still a huge gap between what the
world needs for the climate and where we are
heading."
4. The Case for Climate Mobilization, by Ezra Silk, with Margaret Klein Salamon
Written by the directors of The Climate Mobilization, this long document makes the social, economic, and scientific case for the specific demands in the Pledge to Mobilize.
Also, see our illustrated manifesto on the importance of speaking honestly about the climate catastrophe, see The Transformative Power of Climate Truth, by Margaret Klein Salamon.
The point of the Moral Mobilization is to take a stand with Pope Francis and call on Congress to protect Creation with a WWII-scale ecological conversion. There are a number of ways you and your community can deliver this message to Congress and the American people:
I. TABLE IN PUBLIC FOR ECOLOGICAL CONVERSION
- For more information on tabling and the materials you will need, see our tabling guide.
II. ASK A RELIGIOUS LEADER TO DELIVER A SERMON FOR ECOLOGICAL CONVERSION
- Details forthcoming.
III. HOLD A PUBLIC PLEDGE-SIGNING CEREMONY
- Check out our comprehensive guide that explains how to hold a public pledge-signing ceremony.
IV. GIVE A PUBLIC ADDRESS FOR ECOLOGICAL CONVERSION.
- See our comprehensive guide on how to give a public speech calling for a Climate Mobilization.
V. ORGANIZE A RALLY FOR ECOLOGICAL CONVERSION
- See our comprehensive guide on how to hold a rally for a Climate Mobilization.
VI. ORGANIZE A DIRECT ACTION FOR ECOLOGICAL CONVERSION
- Details forthcoming.
Here is an abbreviated list of materials you will likely need for your event. We are designing Moral Mobilization-themed posters, event flyers, and T-shirts, and will post them here shortly:
1. Banner
2. Blown-up Poster Version of the Pledge to Mobilize (2' x 3' for Printing on Vinyl)
3. Portable Sound System/Mic
4. Tabling Posters
5. TCM Shirts
6. Pledge to Mobilize (For 8" x 11" Printer Paper)
7. Pledge Sign-Up Forms
For a comprehensive list of materials - including small, printable copies of the Pledge, and Pledge sign-up forms - see the Mobilization Materials page.
We hold a call to share resources and best practices with hosts every Thursday. Attend the next call.
Listen to previous week's calls for useful tips.
The Climate Mobilization is a social movement calling on governments to immediately initiate a massive, World War II-scale conversion of our economy and society to save civilization and the natural world from climate change. We believe our strategy — embodied in a one page-document called The Pledge to Mobilize — is profoundly compatible with the Pope’s encyclical.
