Category: climateaction

War in Europe, week ten

The war continues, with more atrocities coming to light every day.

I can only assume that the Tsar wants to reestablish the Iron Curtain and shutter his country off from the world.

There is slight movement from our government; we have agreed to send at least light tanks, and also, we no longer oppose a ban on oil imports. Having said this, a ban on gas imports is still not on the table.

Last week also was Take Our Kids to Work Day, so we decided to showcase the work that climate activists do – we had 30 pupils attending, and we covered several topics, such as organizing a rally or creating banners. We were pretty happy with the event and will do it again next year!

The Covid-19 incidence rate in Cologne is further down; it’s at 480.

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(Take our kids to work day, Alte Feuerwache, 4/28/22)

War in Europe, week nine

The war in Europe continues to ravage Ukraine, and our government is still not doing even remotely enough to support the people and fight the tsarist autocracy.

Same for the other two crises: If RWE gets to use all the lignite at the Garzweiler mine, we’ll be right on our path to 3 degrees warming. It’s not very likely that we as a species will survive that.

The Covid-19 incidence rate in Cologne is again slightly lower, at 530. By now, almost everybody I know has had Covid-19 at least once. And we do know that every infection depletes the immune system. Do the math.

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(Opening rally, Immenrath, 4/23/22)

Shutdown two, week sixty-eight

Omicron is diminishing slightly; the incidence is at 1285 in Cologne right now. These numbers do not reflect the new BA.2 variant, though.

There was some backlash against my last post, mostly from people far down the rabbit hole of conspiracy theories. Still, some people confuse acts of solidarity with infringement on personal liberties.

The only way to stop the pandemic is to prevent the spread of the virus.

Likewise, the only way to stop the impact of the climate emergency is to stop the proliferation of CO2 and other greenhouse gases.

So simple.

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(No-Schwurbel rally, Cologne, 2/14/22)

Shutdown two, week sixty-two

The incidence in Cologne is rising again with Omicron; it’s at 312 today.

So far, it’s been a slow week, with a fantastic hybrid protest against RWE yesterday, though.

In our new office, I’m in the process of connecting the KNX bus to Google Assistant, using a Thinka gateway. Sometimes IT knowledge helps when dealing with IoT devices, and sometimes it doesn’t.

Veganuary is also coming along nicely.

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(Veganuary, Cologne, 1/9/22)

Shutdown two, week sixty-one – New Year

There is no reliable reporting on the incidence rates between the years, so we do not know how much they have been going up.

The beginning of a new year is usually the time for resolutions, so here’s mine:

  • I’ll try again to change to an entirely plant-based diet while ensuring that I don’t gain weight

I wish you all the best for 2022!

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(Work from home setup, Cologne, 1/2/22)

Shutdown two, week fifty-three

One week into the second year, the incidence figures are going through the roof; Cologne is at 186 right now.

Similar lousy news from the COP – to speak with Greta, it’s time to stop the blah blah blah and get down to concrete action and reduce greenhouse gas emissions right now.

On the same subject, I am trying to change what we eat to plant-based only; unfortunately, I’m gaining weight again – back to calorie-counting. Sigh.

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(Vegan Santa, Cologne, 11/7/21)

Shutdown two, week fifty-two

One year later and the incidence figures are rising again, as predicted; Cologne is at 151 right now.

The people with the highest risk are our most important and, at the same time, most vulnerable group: Our children – our future.

Why do we not do more to protect them?

We are not only failing them with Covid-19, but we’re also failing them in dealing with global heating. COP26 does not seem to be the breakthrough our planet needs. Our leaders are talking about reaching a compromise – as if they could discuss with Physics. It’s so simple: To stop the global warming of our planet, we need to stop burning fossil fuels. Now.

One place where we try to defend our planet is Lützerath – come and join activists from all over the world!

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(1.5 degree limit, Lützerath, 10/31/21)

Shutdown two, week fifty-one

Not surprisingly, the incidence in Cologne has gone up again; it’s at 93 right now and rising. Are we officially in the fourth wave yet?

Last Friday, we had another global climate strike in Berlin. We wanted to increase the pressure on the coalition talks underway between the Social Democrats, the Greens, and the Liberals, to make sure they keep the climate emergency at the forefront of their negotiations. Also, COP26 is around the corner, and we need to focus on actions this time, not on another round of pledges.

The protest in Berlin was quite a success, with 20,000 people attending from all over the country.

The police, however, did not behave that well and used force against some protesters.

Also, the Social Democrats were quite upset at a social media post referencing one of their grave historical mistakes during the formation of the First Republic. Oh well.

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(Global Climate Strike, Berlin, 10/22/21)

Shutdown two, week forty-eight

The incidence in Cologne has slightly gone up; it’s at 61 right now.

Last week we had our general election; the Social Democrats won but won’t be able to form a government without the Greens and the Liberals. Negotiations are underway, and we are watching. At the same time, the former governing party, the Christian Democrats, is slowly disintegrating.

COP26 is around the corner, and the world governments are not doing enough to address the climate emergency, so we need to go back to the streets for another global climate strike on October 22.

To quote Greta, it’s time to stop the Bla Bla Bla and get down to serious action!

Local action is happening at ZAD Rheinland, where activists are defending the village of Lützerath against the commercial interests of RWE.

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(Election Night, Climate Justice Camp Cologne, 9/26/21)