[MCN] Cause for cheer, reason for hope

[Lance Olsen]

For Immediate Release
Tuesday, August 27, 2019
Organization Profile: 
350.org <https://www.commondreams.org/organization/350org>
Contact: 
Thanu Yakupitiyage, U.S. Communications Director, 350.org <http://350.org/>, thanu at 350.org 

Businesses Join Climate Strike
Ben & Jerry’s, Lush Cosmetics, Seventh Generation, Patagonia Among Companies to Join Strikes

WASHINGTON - Ahead of the September 20th Climate Strikes  <http://link.350.org/f/a/fI3PNoZifquewV9AM-XzWw~~/AAJ4uAA~/RgRfRsdrP0ROaHR0cHM6Ly9jcm0uMzUwLm9yZy9zaXRlcy9hbGwvbW9kdWxlcy9jaXZpY3JtL2V4dGVybi91cmwucGhwP3U9OTQ5NyZxaWQ9NTM0MDQ2VwNzcGNCCgAA65NlXdISQ5BSFGpvbkBjb21tb25kcmVhbXMub3JnWAQAAAAD>and the week of action from September 24th to 28th, major businesses including Ben & Jerry’s, Lush Cosmetics, Seventh Generation and Patagonia will join the Global Climate Strikes led by youth climate activists across the world. 

In the U.S., youth and adults are working together in an intergenerational and multiracial effort to demand bold climate action, including the immediate phase out of all fossil fuels. Large turnouts are expected in New York, Washington D.C., San Diego, Denver, Duluth, Los Angeles, Boston, Miami, Seattle, and more. 

Coordinated by Future Coalition, the U.S. youth-led strikes includes Earth Uprising, Fridays for Future USA, Extinction Rebellion-Youth, Sunrise and Zero Hour. The Youth Climate Strike Coalition is steering the national campaign, with active support, participation and collaboration from an Adult Climate Strike Coalition, which includes leading national organizations such as 350.org <http://350.org/>, Greenpeace, SEIU and March On. Youth and adults, institutional and grassroots organizations, climate-focused and social justice groups, are coming together as a unified front to demand transformative action on climate. 

In their support of the strikes, these four companies have committed to using their platforms to raise awareness and highlight the urgent need for action on climate. 

In response, 350.org <http://350.org/>’s North America Director Tamara Toles O’Laughlin said, “We are enormously grateful to the support of Ben & Jerry’s, Lush Cosmetics, Patagonia, and Seventh Generation. Each of these socially conscious companies will uplift the demands of the youth and communities at the frontlines of the climate crisis during the Climate Strikes this September. We know that it’s going to take all of us to make the changes necessary to preserve our future. The willingness to disrupt the norm is an indicator that the time has come for everyone, especially global leaders, to get out of their comfort zones to ensure that communities around the world can thrive with clean air, water, and are safe from the worst of the climate crisis.” 

Quote Sheet:

“My generation will be judged harshly for not acting in the face of a clear, scientific consensus around the crisis of climate change,” said Matthew McCarthy, CEO of Ben & Jerry’s. “We adults must now follow the lead of youth activists who are demanding a safe and sustainable future. I am inspired by the energy and determination of this youth-led movement and I am committed to helping them succeed.”

“As a business that’s long fought for the environment, we are acutely aware of the climate crisis and recognize both the indisputable science behind it, and the need for strong, tangible action to address it,” said Mark Wolverton, CEO of Lush Cosmetics North America. “We are committed to disruptive, transformative change. That means a break in ‘business as usual’, holding our global leaders accountable and answering the call of the youth activists to join them on the streets this September.”

“Future generations are inheriting the consequences caused by this generation’s failure to act on the climate crisis,” said Joey Bergstein, CEO of Seventh Generation. “They have every right to be fed up and worried for their future. We share the concerns of the youth climate activists, admire their determination and are here to lift their voices. The time to act on climate is now.”

“The climate crisis is a human issue - affecting all of us. We are inspired by the youth activists who have led a global movement, and Patagonia is calling for urgent and decisive action for people and our home planet,” said Rose Marcario, President & CEO, Patagonia. “On Friday, September 20th, we will be walking out of our stores, striking with the youth activists and calling for our government to take action.  There is no room in government for climate deniers and their inaction is killing us. We invite the business community and all those concerned about the fate of our planet and humankind to answer with action and join us” 

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“Full of recent references and statistics, Harvesting the Biosphere adds to the growing chorus of warnings about 
the current trajectory of human activity on a finite planet, of which climate change is only one dimension. 

“One can quibble with with some assumptions or tweak Smil's calculations, but the bottom line will not change, 
only the time it may take humanity to reach a crisis point.”

Stephen Running. “Approaching the Limits” Science 15 March 2013.

Book review. Harvesting the Biosphere: What we have taken from Nature. by Vaclav Smil .  
MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 2012. 315 pp. $29, £19.95. ISBN 9780262018562.

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