A Lower High Tide at Percival landing, on Thursday the 15th of November 2012, at a little before 5:30 pm. This was a 15.1 foot tide, according to one source. Tomorrow morning at about 7:45 AM is predicted to be a 16.3 foot tide.

This tide-level, pictured in this photo, and predicted to be 15.1 feet, looked mighty darn close to some of the 17+ foot predicted higher high tides last year.

It was a full house at the Olympia Center for the City of Olympia and Olympia Climate Action sponsored Imagine Olympia comprehensive planning event.

Andy Haub presented information about the future prospects for downtown Olympia in regard to climate change caused sea level rise. And Keith Stahley presented information about the comprehensive planning process, and about how citizens who care about climate change and sea level rise in relation to the future of Olympia can make sure that considerations about sea level rise are made part of the updated Comprehensive Plan.

Andy explained how the City is paying attention to information from the UW Climate Impacts Group, which indicates, first and foremost, that sea level rise is not a phenomenon of the future, but instead that sea level rise is actually a present day reality. During high tide events, water can already be seen rising up through some storm drains in low lying areas.

A statewide assessment put out by the UW group says that "Adaption is necessary because impacts will be large." So there is a real urgency to figure out what to do about it now. The other aspect of this is that no one knows, even the most qualified expert climatologists/oceanologists, when the waters will rise high enough to cause serious problems, nor how high the waters will rise.

From Olympia Climate Action: Imagine Olympia, Climate 2030

Time: Monday, January 11, 2010 from 7pm to 9pm
Location: Olympia Center
Street: 222 Columbia St. NW
City/Town: Downtown Olympia
Organized By: Olympia Climate Action, and
City of Olympia: Imagine Olympia

SEA LEVEL RISE: WHAT CAN WE EXPECT?
Andy Haub, City of Olympia, Public Utilities

An overview of recently completed work on the various scenarios and potential impacts of sea level rise on downtown Olympia, as well as the projected effects of climate disruption throughout the state.

PUTTING the CLIMATE in the COMP PLAN
Keith Staley, City of Olympia, Planning Department

An opportunity to have a meaningful and informed dialogue with the City and discuss the changes needed in the Comprehensive Plan to address the anticipated impacts of climate disruption.

The Comprehensive Plan will be the vehicle that ultimately determines what gets attention and what doesn't over the next 20 years. If we take the time to identify climate change as being significant, then it will get addressed through the comp plan. If we don’t . . .

Sponsors:
Olympia Climate Action
City of Olympia: Imagine Olympia

Bring your own mug to enjoy a cup of coffee or tea along with other refreshments.

Save the Date! On Monday, January 4, 2010, there will be an event at at Percival Landing (near The Kiss statue) to mark what is predicted to be one of the year's highest tides.

There will be speakers, including from the Olympia City Council and the Thurston County Commission.

Hope to see you there!

Date and Time: Monday, January 4, 2010, starting at 8:15 AM

Location: Percival Landing, intersection of 4th Avenue and Water Street, near The Kiss statue

More information about this event coming soon.

Ongoing coverage from Democracy Now! of the climate summit in Copenhagen, Denmark:

link to an mp3 of the show: Democracy Now! from Copenhagen, Monday, December 14, 2009

Amy Goodman is in the middle of two weeks of Democracy Now broadcasts from the climate conference in Copenhagen. The information is invaluable, as she seeks to give voice to the disadvantaged and under-represented at the conference. Her coverage never fails to point out the idiosyncrasies in the ways of "business as usual."

I was struck by the following excellent interview with Kumi Naidoo, the director of Greenpeace International, who has some truly brilliant thoughts about the conference, climate debt, about the role and participation of the USA, his background as an anti-apartheid activist in South Africa, as well as President Obama's Nobel Peace Prize.

Here's a link to, and an excerpt from, the segment. Important coverage, from Democracy Now:

Kumi Naidoo of Greenpeace on Obama’s Peace Prize, Obama’s War, Copenhagen and Climate Debt

AMY GOODMAN: It’s very good to have you with us. As you sat here watching President Obama’s Nobel acceptance speech, actually just about 300 miles away in another Scandinavian capital, in Oslo, Norway, your thoughts?

KUMI NAIDOO: Well, firstly, we congratulate President Obama on his achievement. We welcome his statements on working for nuclear disarmament. But overall, I think the speech spent too much of time on justifying war, too little time looking at the root causes of war, and, in fact, the one—just only one passing reference to climate change and, in fact, this big summit taking place here.

• 
• 
• Google Plus One
• Facebook Like

Amy Goodman is broadcasting Democracy Now from Copenhagen, and has some great coverage of the Climate Conference. It's really great. Important news and perspective that you probably won't get from the mainstream press...

Here's a striking excerpt from today's program. The Delegate from Sudan:

“This Text Is an Extremely Dangerous Document for Developing Countries”: G77 Chief Condemns Secret US-Danish Climate Deal

LUMUMBA STANISLAUS DI-APING: …is that this text, the Danish text, is an extremely dangerous document for developing countries. It is a total violation of the principles of transparency and openness. It is a rejection of the fact that the UNFCCC is the only legitimate forum for conducting negotiations by parties to the convention. And in terms of substance, it is a fundamental rejection and reworking of the [UNFCCC] balance of obligations between developing and developed countries.

Not only that, it’s our humble view it’s equally an insult to the elected president of COP15. This text comes from the office of the Prime Minister of Denmark. It’s overreaching. The strategic goal is to destroy the balance of obligations between developing and developed, industrialized Western countries. And this is done by and with a zealous rejection of the notion of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities. And further, it denies the fact that developed countries have a historical responsibility for damaging the atmospheric space, which is something started and has been continuing for the last—over last 200 years.

A couple articles to share relating the problem of human caused environmental degradation. One is from The Guardian about James Hansen's opposition to cap and trade. Hansen is director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York. He opposes cap and trade, and instead favors a more simple approach of taxing the carbon economy.

The second article is about how some researchers are expecting climate change to have ever more serious impact on peoples' mental health (as if it isn't already having serious impacts.)

Here are excerpts and links:

Sponsored by BRICK (Building Revolution by Increasing Community Knowledge).

VANDANA SHIVA TO SPEAK IN OLYMPIA--SPSCC
Date: Thursday, October 15, 2009
Time: 6:30PM - 9:30PM PDT
Location: Minnaert Center at SPSCC
2011 Mottman Rd SW
Olympia, WA 98512

Information provided by the TC ProNet Calendar

via email:

Reminder - Cooling a fevered planet talk is this Thursday. ...

Cooling a fevered planet: the politics & economics of solving the climate crisis.

We know the danger. We have the technology. So what's stopping us?

Presented by Gar W. Lipow & Dr. Zoltan Grossman on behalf of “the Olympia Movement for Justice & Peace”.
Thursday, September 3rd 7:00 P.M
Traditions Café
300 5th Ave SW
Olympia, WA 98501

When big corporations thwart democracy they also thwart sustainability.
When resources are poured into unnecessary wars rather than peaceful solutions, this also drains investment from needed green infrastructure.
How corporate power, militarization are linked to the climate crisis, and how we can fight back.
###