{"id":519,"date":"2012-08-24T02:47:30","date_gmt":"2012-08-24T02:47:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nipspeersupport.org\/?page_id=519"},"modified":"2012-08-24T02:47:30","modified_gmt":"2012-08-24T02:47:30","slug":"invitation-to-join-the-climate-corps","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/nipspeersupport.org\/?page_id=519","title":{"rendered":"Invitation to Join the Climate Corps"},"content":{"rendered":"

Climate Corps: Looking for a Few Good Humans to Save our Climate<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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A Draft Invitation, August 23, 2012<\/p>\n

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A project of the National Institute for Peer Support (\u201cNIPS\u201d)<\/p>\n

4151 E. Boulder Springs Way, Tucson, AZ 85712, 520-250-0509,<\/p>\n

www.NIPSPeerSupport.org<\/a>, JimDriscoll@NIPSPeerSuppor.org<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If you are reading this, you probably do not have to be convinced that the human species and all living things are threatened by global warming. What you may not realize is that the way we go about solving this problem may be preventing us from solving it. Building (or expanding) one or more big, well-funded, professionally-staffed organizations in Washington, DC, albeit with crackerjack staff and dynamite social networking, many think, is exactly the WRONG approach. Instead, we need a few good humans in every community who are willing to devote their lives to building and supporting the local climate change movement, NOT earning their living directly from doing this work, but from other sustainable \u201cbread\u201d labor. Such a \u201cClimate Corps\u201d would recruit lots of new members one-on-one, help them work together effectively, support each other emotionally and provide models for sustainable and collective living. Our species and our planet needs a \u201cClimate Corps!\u201d Will you join us?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The crucial elements of such a local, national and global \u201cClimate Corps\u201d include:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

1. CUTTING-EDGE CLIMATE TACTICS COVERING ALL PHASES OF SOCIAL CHANGE AND USING BEST MOVEMENT PRACTICES: At of this writing in the United States, these include, beginning with the tactics requiring the deepest changes:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A. BUILDING ALTERNATIVE INSTITUTIONS: TRANSITION TOWNS to encourage sustainable living by individuals, groups and communities (www.<\/cite>transition<\/cite>us.org<\/cite>).<\/p>\n

B. NONVIOLENT DIRECT ACTION: 350.ORG\u2014such as the Tar Sands Action and Solidarity Summer to oppose extreme extraction of fossil fuels (www.350.org).<\/p>\n

C. ELECTIONS: LEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS\u2014to elect \u201cleast worst\u201d candidates while retaining local control of lists of names and donors for ongoing work (www.LCV.org).<\/p>\n

D. LOBBYING: CITIZENS CLIMATE LOBBY\u2014to legislate a revenue-neutral, carbon-fee-and-dividend system, putting a fee on each ton of carbon at the mine, wellhead or port of import, with revenues equally distributed to all taxpayers. (www.CitizensClimateLobby.org).<\/p>\n

EDUCATION; SIERRA CLUB\u2014education and action programs like \u201cBeyond Coal\u201d (www.SierraClub.org.)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Climate Corps would ensure that each of these programs and others would have a local CLIMATE CORPS (\u201cCC\u201d) ACTION GROUP following movement best practices. In nested, local, regional and national CC SPOKES COUNCILS, accountable SPOKES (PEOPLE) from each ACTION GROUP or COUNCIL would update each other regularly on their progress and plans and make collective decisions as needed, either face-to-face or electronically, but always open to the public for observation.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2. PEER SUPPORT. Activism is stressful. Activists will do more, last longer and enjoy life more if they have regular and systematic peer support through the Climate Corps (www.NIPSPeerSuppor.org<\/a>). In each local area, this includes occasional day-long and residential weekend workshops, regular (at least monthly) support groups (both general and for specific constituencies such young adults or Latino), classes and a network of activists for one-on-one listening turns, as needed, either in person or by phone.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

3. INFRASTRUCTURE<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A. CLIMATE CORPS WORKERS (CCWs) live intentionally in every local community as prefigurative models for the world which may be necessary to save our climate. CCWs live as sustainably as possible (like many peer support networks, the Climate Corps believes in \u201cprogress not perfection\u201d and never puts people down for their efforts.) CCWs live as collectively as possible to reduce their carbon footprint and reduce their costs of living. CCWs cap their annual income at $15,000 or lower to approximate the global per capita income. The climate will not survive if most people live at the U.S. level about $40,000, nor can we build a transnational movement, if we earn 10 times more than those with whom we would work. CCWs earn their living in sustainable industries, usually working 30 hours or less to allow time for climate work. CCWs also systematically explore alternatives to the current norms of crushing student loans, universal parenthood in nuclear families and individual retirement plans. NIPS is seeking funds to offer \u201cClimate Corps Scholarships\u201d up to $15,000 for one year to support a beginning Climate Corps Worker in as many local communities as possible. We are also seeking CCWs applicants and local living and\/or working situations to support CCWs across the U.S.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

B. CLIMATE CORP VOLUNTEERS (CCVs) raise money for local CC Scholarships to get Climate Corps Workers started, offer or find living arrangements or sustainable jobs for CCWs and organize an ACTION GROUP to support and advise local CCWs\u2014in addition to their work in other CC ACTION GROUPS. We are looking for CCVs!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

C. NIPS raises funds for scholarships for CCWs and to hold local CC WORKSHOPS across the country to introduce CC the community. NIPS trains and supports CCWs. NIPS trainings cover peer support, sustainable and collective living and the mechanics of running ACTION GROUPS and SPOKESCOUNCILS .<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Climate Corps: Looking for a Few Good Humans to Save our Climate A Draft Invitation, August 23, 2012 A project of the National Institute for Peer Support (\u201cNIPS\u201d) 4151 E. Boulder Springs Way, Tucson, AZ 85712, 520-250-0509, www.NIPSPeerSupport.org, JimDriscoll@NIPSPeerSuppor.org   If you are reading this, you probably do not have to be convinced that the … <\/p>\n

Read more “Invitation to Join the Climate Corps”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-519","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nipspeersupport.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/519","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nipspeersupport.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nipspeersupport.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nipspeersupport.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nipspeersupport.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=519"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nipspeersupport.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/519\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":520,"href":"https:\/\/nipspeersupport.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/519\/revisions\/520"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nipspeersupport.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}