Lotus Creek Bed and Breakfast

My speech tonight at Goldene Kamera in Berlin. There is no recording available without me dubbed into German yet... so here it is: I dedicate this award to th...e people fighting to protect the Hambach Forest. And to activists everywhere who are fighting to keep the fossil fuels in the ground. We live in a strange world. Where all the united science tells us that we are about 11 years away from setting off an irreversible chain reaction way beyond human control that will probably be the end of our civilization as we know it. We live in a strange world where children must sacrifice their own education in order to protest against the destruction of their future. Where the people who have contributed the least to this crisis are the ones who are going to be affected the most. Where politicians say it’s too expensive to save the world, while spending trillions of euros subsidizing fossil fuels. We live in a strange world where no one dares to look beyond our current political systems even though its clear that the answers we seek will not be found within the politics of today. Where some people seem to be more concerned about the presence in school of some children than the future of humankind. Where everyone can choose their own reality and buy their own truth. Where our survival is depending on a small, rapidly disappearing carbon budget. And hardly anyone even knows it exists. We live in a strange world. Where we think we can buy or build our way out of a crisis that has been created by buying and building things. Where a football game or a film gala gets more media attention than the biggest crisis humanity has ever faced. Where celebrities, film and pop-stars who have stood up against all injustices will not stand up for our environment and for climate justice because that would inflict on their right to fly around the world visiting their favorite restaurants, beaches and yoga retreats. Avoiding catastrophic climate breakdown is to do the seemingly impossible. And that is what we have to do. But here is the truth: we can’t do it without you in the audience here tonight. People see you celebrities as Gods. You influence billions of people. We need you. You can use your voice to raise awareness about this global crisis. You can help turn individuals into movements. You can help us wake up our leaders - and let them know that our house is on fire. We live in a strange world. But it’s the world that my generation has been handed. It’s the only world we’ve got. We are now standing at a crossroads in history. We are failing but we have not yet failed. We can still fix this. It's up to us.

Why targeting 1.5 degrees is urgent Another recent paper in Nature Climate Change makes the point vividly: Bumping ambition up from 2 to 1.5 degrees would preve...nt 150 million premature deaths through 2100, 90 million through reduced exposure to particulates, 60 million due to reduced ozone. 1) Radically increase energy efficiency IRENA’s scenario reduces global energy-related emissions 90 percent by 2050. Of that 90 percent, 40 comes from energy efficiency 2) Radically increase renewable energy All the scenarios envision renewables (primarily wind and solar) rapidly coming to dominate electricity. In the IRENA scenario, renewables grow sixfold faster than they are currently, supplying 85 percent of global electricity by 2050. 3) Electrify everything! Notably, all three scenarios heavily involve electrification of sectors and applications that currently run on fossil fuels. In the IRENA case, electricity rises from 21 percent of total global energy consumption today to 40 percent by 2050. An energy transition would also create millions of net jobs. But that doesn’t mean it will be easy. In the end, perhaps the most important conclusion in the Nature Climate Change paper is the simplest and the one that we already knew: a rapid transformation in energy consumption and land use is needed in all scenarios. At this point, whether it’s possible to hit various targets is almost beside the point. All the science and modeling are saying the same thing, which is that humanity faces serious danger and needs to reduce carbon emissions to zero as quickly as possible.

URGENT: The first bee species has been declared endangered and bee-killing neonicotinoid pesticides are putting even more critical pollinators at risk of exti...nction. We need 50,000 people to take action demanding the EPA restrict bee-killing pesticides, but you still haven’t signed the petition. Add your name today to help save bees!

Lotus Creek is running a $99.00 special thru the New Years. come and join us and help usher in the New Year in Style!!!