The people in charge of Manchester’s climate emergency response seem to be living in a parallel universe. The Council and the city are failing to take bold action to reduce our emissions and prepare for the enormous changes an overheating world will bring. For example, Manchester as a city has used a quarter of its science-based “carbon budget” for the rest of the 21st century in … the last two years.
You probably knew about this retreat from reality by our “leaders” before you started reading our posts, or within … (checks notes)… 30 seconds of seeing our site.
Some of will you know we have set up a petition calling for the creation of a scrutiny committee dedicated to climate change. Anybody who lives, works or studies within Manchester City Council’s boundaries can sign it. Absolutely anybody can share it with folks who are able to sign it…
A seventh scrutiny committee is NOT a magic bullet. It is however a necessary small part of getting us all back to where most of us reluctantly live – the real world, where there are consequences for actions and inactions.
This coming Monday, 3rd of August, CEM is holding an online meeting (50 minutes or so, certainly less than an hour). Email us on petition@climateemergencymanchester.net for the login. The purpose is to
- a) get loads of ideas and suggestions about collecting signatures online and on paper (but only if it can be done safely).
- b) get people introducing themselves to each other, since we need to build a big team of folks who can make a sustained push.
- c) get video footage from those willing so we can create a series of short video testimonials from folks- e.g. “I’m Charlie from Charleworth. I’ve signed the petition for a scrutiny committee about climate change because…”
We want to know about
- events coming up where we might be able to give a short pitch about the petition (if you can get us invited, even better)
- celebrities you know who might give us a shout out
- techniques that worked for you in previous signature collecting on petitions
- any other zany (but legal, not immoral) ideas you have.
If you have ideas but can’t come, please SEND US your ideas as soon as you can – petition@climateemergencymanchester.net
We’ve set up an event on Facebook too. Please share this post and that with anyone who is concerned about climate change and local action on it.