What Are You Doing This Weekend? You Can Help Protest the Banksters and Join in a Global Day of Action on Climate Change

As part of our new Bankster campaign on economic justice, the Center for Media and Democracy is highlighting the "Showdown in Chicago," October 25 through 27. If you can make it to Chicago, I hope you'll join Mary Bottari and "thousands of Americans - retirees, farmers, workers, homeowners, renters, students, clergy, and small business owners - coming together on the streets of Chicago to demand a banking system that puts the American people first and a Congress that makes it happen!" On Monday, the 26th, the protests will be focusing on the annual convention of the American Bankers Association (ABA), which has been lobbying hard against new protections for American consumers in the aftermath of the banking meltdown. As you know, CMD's Real Economy Project recently gave the ABA's lead lobbyist, Edward Yingling our first "Golden Throne Award."

Similarly, as you know, CMD as been working hard to highlight critically important environmental issues, including climate change. So I wanted to help spread the word about some ways you can take action this Saturday as part of a global day of action on global warming. All around the world on October 24, 2009, ordinary people like you and I will be taking steps to highlight the need to unite around solutions to the climate crisis. Click here for an interactive world map that can help you search for activities you can take in your local area.

In the narrow interests of public interest organizations, groups don't often promote other group's work, but just as CMD encourages organizations to break out of their silos and promote their investigative reports using the Google-juice of our online encyclopedia, SourceWatch, we'll be highlighting more campaigns of others that might be of interest to you. So, this Saturday, you can join in global efforts to demonstrate that ordinary people everywhere want action on global warming in advance of the world conference on climate change in Copenhagen in December at "COP15," which CMD has been highlighting through our Climate Portal. Please click read or scroll down more to learn more about the major issues under discussion.

Some of the major issues under discussion in the international negotiations are what greenhouse gas emission reduction targets will be adopted and whether the rapidly rising greenhouse gas emissions from the international maritime industry and aviation industry will be effectively countered. Powerful industries are hoping to use the climate negotiations to promote their preferred 'solutions' to global warming. Energy companies with large coal-fired power stations are hoping to see the as yet unproven Carbon Capture and Storage technology included in the controversial market-based Clean Development Mechanism. (See Clean Development Mechanism and Carbon Capture and Storage for more details). The nuclear industry is also hoping that nuclear power will be included in the Clean Development Mechanism.

In the months ahead, we'll be highlighting actions you can take through CMD and through other organizations that share our vision for making the world a better place. We know no one has a monopoly on truth or justice, and we want to support worthy efforts to advance both and in doing so help build movements that can help achieve real changes.

Lisa Graves is the Executive Director of the Center for Media and Democracy based in Madison, Wisconsin.