What we’re about
This is a Victoria, B.C.-based environmental activism group aimed at ACTION-ORIENTED community leaders and other concerned citizens with leadership qualities in the Capital Regional District (CRD) who have a passionate commitment to deal with CLIMATE CATASTROPHE. The entire focus of this group will be to hold various political leaders (at local, regional, provincial, and federal levels) and business leaders to account for producing TANGIBLE, MEASURABLE RESULTS in mitigating and adapting to CLIMATE CATASTROPHE.
To-date, apart from overly-consumptive individual behaviour, politicians and government bureaucrats around the world have been "mostly all talk and little action" on the CLIMATE CATASTROPHE front. In fact, in many cases, most politicians continue to enable, support, and financially-subsidize the worst of corporate polluting practices...with very few legal repercussions or adverse financial impacts.
To get the job done in dealing with CLIMATE CATASTROPHE we intend to maximize the impact (or "return-on-time invested" for activism efforts) with a sense of urgency and results. To accomplish this, we need more than unbridled optimism and "good intentions". Therefore, the desired collective skills sets for members who decide to become part of the CLIMATE CATASTROPHE ACTION TASK FORCE (or CCAT) include any combination of the following:
• A solid understanding of how government and its bureaucrats function (including forestalling and/or confronting any obstructionism, stonewalling, or duplicity).
• A solid understanding of the basic science underpinning anthropogenic climate change.
• A scientific and technical literacy to dissect/analyse scientific studies and technical reports.
• Media literacy and expertise in media relations, developing/implementing media campaigns, and developing social networking strategy (including viral marketing) as well as public relations.
• Expertise in making presentations, usually with a technical bent.
• Expertise in preparing briefing notes on and responses to government stances or replies.
• A comfort with tactics which necessarily involve conflict and confrontation, where relevant/applicable (This is not a group for "white gloves", tepid, "testing-the-waters' individuals. Beneficial and tangible results in dealing with CLIMATE CATASTROPHE are the only raison d'etre for this group.
• Strong and captivating (that is, to the public-at-large) writing skills and powerful and metaphorical "stories to tell" to energize mindful politicians and the public-at-large.
• Exemplary project management skills, focussing on a careful rationale for each project chosen (including the development of precise metrics to gauge the success of or adjustment during implementation), expediency, and, most importantly, RESULTS.
• A strong financial analytical ability, to describe the financial implications and costs-benefits of any course of action.
• Skills in "making change happen", including the latest research around the effectiveness of various tactics and change models to be used.
Again to stress, no individual will necessarily possess all these skills. A careful mix of members will ensure each of these skill areas is covered off.
"Meetings" in our Task Force will simply be a means to an end. This is NOT a social group...the entire purpose is to get things done....by identifying and carrying out a series of impactful projects! Members should also be comfortable with subtle and not-so-subtle tactics used as well as, potentially, civil disobedience (These "lines in the sand" to be discussed further, once the first group meeting is held...when we reach a minimum of at least 8 members). Civil discourse with other parties will be emphasized wherever applicable and practical: otherwise, confrontation and isolation of individual politicians and bureaucrats will be the objective. Thus, individual members need to be comfortable with such tactics, if they are required. It should be stressed that violence toward other people will not be tolerated and will be grounds for automatic expulsion from this group.
This Meetup site has been set up and will continue for up to four months to gauge the interest of other like-minded individuals in the Victoria, British Columbia area to "get things done" regarding CLIMATE CATASTROPHE.
Membership dues: $50 per year.
