In addition to heaps of praise and words of encouragement, we’ve been getting a lot of flak from people who were upset that we would deface a national monument. My response to them is twofold: First, there are already climbing leads established on the rock, which the park employees use to clean the monument. Our climbers used those leads and were extremely cautious not to do any harm to the monument, and in the end they did not do any damage.
Second, all of the sanctimonious claims about our disrespect for what Mount Rushmore represents are completely baseless. We have utmost respect for the accomplishments of the great leaders who built this country, that’s why we chose it as the site for issuing our challenge to President Obama to be a leader on global warming. But Mount Rushmore was built on a mountain stolen from Native Americans. Adding insult to injury, we then carved a bunch of white people’s faces into it. So you gotta ask yourself: What does Mount Rushmore really represent?
For the record, a member of the local Oglala Sioux tribe has published an op-ed praising our action.
And our larger point still stands: If President Obama wants to be considered equal to the pantheon of great American leaders depicted on Mount Rushmore, he needs to start providing real leadership on global warming, the greatest challenge of our time.
The pesident is currently meeting with the rest of the G8 leaders in L’Aquila, Italy. Yesterday they held a press conference to announce that they were setting a target of limiting global warming to 2 degrees Celsius. But that is not what real leadership looks like – that target had already been endorsed by 109 nations even before the G8 announcement.
Plus, as worthy as this long-term goal is, the truly critical issue is that President Obama and the rest of the world’s leaders still have not laid out an adequate roadmap for how we’re going to get there. In other words, they haven’t set short-term goals that are ambitious enough to get us to the long term goal of keeping global temperature rise below 2 degrees Celsius. Scientists have clearly stated that the United States and other industrialized countries must cut their emissions by 25-40 percent below 1990 levels by 2020. But the Obama Administration, like Congress, continues to promote short-term emissions reductions targets that fall far short of what science demands.
We can’t continue to put off for tomorrow what science tells us we need to do today. While the 2 degree commitment would appear to recognize the severity of the crisis we're facing, the Obama Administration and the G8 have failed to provide any plan for staying below this critical threshold. Sign our petition now and ask Obama to be a leader on global warming, not just here in America but for the world as well.In addition to heaps of praise and words of encouragement, we’ve been getting a lot... more
GRENOBLE, France (AFP) – Two British climbers, including the youngest Briton to conquer Everest, fell hundreds of metres to their deaths on Mont Blanc, French police said Sunday.
The two men, Rob Gauntlett and James Atkinson, both 21, were found under the Gervasutti route up Tacul, a 4,360-metre peak in the Mont Blanc massif of the French Alps, after Saturday's fatal fall, police told AFP.
On May 17, 2006, Gauntlett became the first British teenager to reach the highest point in the world, the 8,848 metre peak of Everest in the Nepalese Himalayas.
He celebrated his 19th birthday at Everest base camp, joined by his school friend James Hooper, also 19.
They were also named National Geographic Adventure magazine's Adventurers of the Year in 2008 for travelling from the North Geomagnetic Pole, starting in Greenland, to the South Magnetic Pole using only human and natural power -- skis, bikes and boats.
The pair were both on holiday in the Alps this weekend when tragedy struck, and both Gauntlett and Atkinson died.
Speaking to Britain's Press Association news agency from Chamonix, Hooper said of Gauntlett: "I'm obviously devastated but I'm just trying to remember the fact that he was a wonderful person and he inspired me and others in so many different ways."
The youngest climber to ever ascend Everest was a 15-year-old Nepalese Sherpa called Temba Tsheri, who succeeded in May 2001 despite having lost five fingers to frostbite on a previous attempt.GRENOBLE, France (AFP) – Two British climbers, including the youngest Briton to... more
Italy-based organizers say two countrymen whose fellow climber perished on a Himalayan peak are believed to be heading to their base camp.
The organizers said Sunday the survivors used their satellite phone to say they are safe on Pakistan's Nanga Parbat at roughly 23,000 feet (7,000 meters).
Last week, one of Italy's most famous climbers, Karl Unterkircher, died after falling into a ravine on the peak, one of the world's deadliest.
Agostino da Polenza, from the expedition's organization, told Sky TG24 TV the survivors have a tent, water and food.
He said they were expected to use "their own two feet" to reach base camp, likely on Monday.
A rescue party had been sent from Italy to Pakistan.Italy-based organizers say two countrymen whose fellow climber perished on a Himalayan... more
