If you’re still checking this blog, THANKS! You are awesome, as I’ve no doubt told you at some point or another. If this is your first visit to the page, welcome! Please feel free to look around! Since I’ve been home, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about the Voyage program and what the next steps should be for me in relation to the global climate movement. First off, I’ve been in touch with the spectacular folks at 350.org about trying to collaborate with us at the WWF’s Voyage for the Future program in terms of spreading the movement of The Green Finger Project, which I hope you’ve heard about. We’ll be doing a lot of work on Green Finger in the days and weeks to come, so stay tuned. I’ve also been doing a lot of prep work involved in how to help shake up the existing climate movement and I’m ALMOST ready to make what I hope to be a big splash, so keep a heads up!
Not surprisingly, I’m not the only one who’s been keeping busy. Eunice and the rest of the WWF-US crew has successfully created the most spectacular web-page dedicated to the Voyage for the Future on the WWF-US site. You should check it out! if you click on my name, which is towards the top of the page, you can see all my video-blog entries that I made on the trip which haven’t been up on the internet yet. I like to think their goofy and fun, but also provide good insight into the Voyage. The site also includes the infamous “Aspen Group” video, which will be shown to a group of influential leaders who are going to be in the Arctic, including Former Pres. Jimmy Carter, former Sec. of State Madeline Albright, Former Sen. Tom Daschle, Prince Albert of Monaco, founder of Google Larry Paige, the CEO of Shell-US, the CEO of Chevron, many representatives of international NGOs, and LOADS of other cool people. I hope you watch the video – I know the crew at icentials, WWF, and Flashstudio worked REALLY hard on it! Also, Casper and Soli teamed up to make this cool Green Finger video at Futerra. Check it out and then MAKE YOUR OWN. Post it as a response to the YouTube Green Finger video we made on the Voyage for the Future (it’s further down on this blog…under Sunday, June 22nd.
In addition many others, especially WWF-Norway and WWF-Russia, are doing a GREAT JOB spreading the Green Finger. Check out THIS poster from Norway featuring the lovely Maria Waag: plakat_22
Hopefully, I’ll be able to post some more concrete information up here in the next week, but for now, I’m checking out! Thanks! P
I’ve decided to keep the “day” count in titles of my posts because our work surely isn’t over, and neither is our “voyage”. Yes, we’ve all returned home (well, except for Evanne who’s in Uganda…), but we haven’t stopped our fight against climate change.
In the US, we’re starting to see a little bit of press about our Voyage for the Future. Cloe Shasha, a friend of mine from Middlebury, just published an article entitled “What I Did on My Summer Vacation: Fought Global Warming” on ABCNews.com. You can read it here. Also, I did an interview for Voice of America on Friday at WWF’s offices in DC, and that should be up on the web in a couple of weeks, I’ll look for the URL when it’s been published.
Much more important, however, are all our bold and broad plans. We continue to discuss the Green Finger project and how to best use it to grow the climate movement. Internationally, Voyage participant have been SUPER busy. Casper and Emma just announced that they’ve created a new organization, the UK Youth Climate Coalition (YCC), which seems to be the British version of the Energy Action Coalition or the Sierra Student Coalition. This is VERY COOL!!! Emma is also in the running to appear on the BBC’s top political program, entitled “Question Time.” She is in the top 10 and YOU can help her get on the show by going to http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/question_time/schools_question_time/7460834.stm and write a comment that you think EMMA deserves to be on the show!! Sven in Sweden is at the Tallberg Forum in Sweden, where such important dignitaries as the Swedish Prime Minister, NASA climatologist James Hansen, and Middlebury’s own Bill McKibben are present and speaking. Maria and Karl Oskar are pushing climate awareness at summer music and sports festivals in Norway. Everyone is working as hard as possible to further the cause!
Tune in later for more updates and pix! Here’s a little video that you may or may not have seen:
Just a quick note – if any of you haven’t seen 350.org’s new website (www.350.org) just click on the link on the right hand side of this page, it’s awesome. Here’s their newest video/animation:
What a wonderful and terrible feeling to be back home again. I can’t believe that our trip is over but I do really think that this is just the beginning of our whole journey.
After returning to Oslo on Friday evening, the group headed to the WWF-Norway and WWF International Arctic Programme (those crazy Brits and their spelling) office on Saturday morning. Oslo is a beautiful European city situated on a fjord and complete with fashionable Scandinavians, open park space, and cobbled streets. The WWF office looks exactly as I imagined it would, complete with IKEA furniture and motivated thirtysomethings behind desks adorned with photos of coral reefs, polar bears, and tropical rainforests. After being introduced to some of the staff, we headed to a meeting room and got down to business.
We’ve got incredibly high goals and I think that’s important. But if the whole world is dreamers and targets, nothing gets changed. So, very rationally but still tinged with our trademark optimism and goofiness, we sat around a table and talked. When it comes down to it, where will we be most effective? What can we do, as 18 motivated youth who have witnessed the beauty of the place feeling the affects of anthropogenic climate change in the most extreme and destructive ways on the planet? What concrete target are we striving for and how do we use our enthusiasm to further progess towards that goal? Naturally, there is no way we could answer all those questions in two hours, but we did get a good jump start on them.
Here is what we decided (with the help of Neil and a book that he was reading): If you see a fire, you do not network with your neighbors, explain how sparks, ignition, or oxidation work, address the economic and social issues associated with this fire, educate the decision makers about the fire and its potential affects on GDP, and wait for consensus about fire safety bylaws in committee. Instead, you raise the alarm, get to safety with your family, and call the fire brigade. We need to raise awareness, engage with others, and take action.
So now we know we need to solve this fiery crisis on our planet, but it is too true that if you don’t have something to strive for, you will fail. We can’t just say “Stop climate change” and hope it gets done. We must declare missions, objectives, programs, projects, and action plans. It sounds like some bad training guide for office management, but in reality all those boring-sounding steps are rungs on the ladder of change.
Our mission is a safe future for our planet and ourselves. Our mission is a world with less conflict and more equality. Our mission is to combat climate change. Our mission is to make sure that when the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change meets in Copenhagen, Denmark in December 2009, they will emerge with a robust and implementable international treaty that will halt climate change in favor of a clean, safe, and fun world.
We’re still trying to figure out the best way to achieve our missions, but I think we all believe that in order for Copenhagen to be a huge success, we’ve got to build a global climate movement that can mobilize millions in the interest of not only a safe future, but also a safe present. We need to let politicians, business leaders, and social leaders know that this is the defining issue of our time and that both our physical and historical legacy is dependent on how we rise to this challenge. They must know that failure is not an option because it results in a fundamentally altered world, inhospitable in terms of climate, political problems, economic collapse, and social outrage. On the other hand, these leaders must see that rising to the occasion and recognizing that tackling the climate crisis is an opportunity to save human lives, save ourselves some money and strife, and save the beautiful planet that we take for granted. This is no burden. This is an opportunity that we can’t afford to waste.
Well, after all that rhetoric, we are still left with the problem of how to mobilize millions of people the world over. And that is the stage we are at now. We are eighteen powerful people. We have eighteen moths before Copenhagen. We have no boundaries but our own imaginations. We have no obtuse political constraints. We have no sense of duty to the status quo. We have only energy, power, and the truth on our side.
With that said, I have immense faith that a transformation is coming, and that the ambassadors for change that have been shaped and molded on board the Aleksey Maryshev and the Voyage for the Future will help lead the charge. So keep a look out for us, we’ll be around.
We made a green finger video on our trip and I just posted it on YouTube. Hopefully, it will successfully post into my blog right above this sentence. Watch it if you have the time. This is something that we think can go viral and be a part of gathering the movement together.
I think I’ll keep writing on this blog for a little while at least, so feel free to keep reading it if you feel the need, I have heard from some of you, but my family informs me that many more are reading. THANK YOU! This is so cool to me and I am unbelievably humbled by the fact that you think my bizarre ramblings are deserving of your time. I know that every one of you has the power to change the world and has the urge to protect something in your lives from the dangers of many political, economic, and social challenges. I truly believe that we need as many informed and active people changing the behaviors and their ways of thinking before we can guarantee a world free from the grasp of incredible and terrible climate changes. If you have time, make a Green Finger video yourself, or take a green finger picture. Post it on YouTube, on Facebook, on your bedroom wall, above your toilet, anywhere. Know that there is something out there that you think is deserving of protection, and know that you have the power to protect it. Thank you! Peace!
At the Mary-Ann Polarriggen Hotel, Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Norway
You know you’ve formed a community when you start to develop your own slang. Thus, I am proud today to say “Sad Panda,’ meaning, of course, that today is a rueful day as we left the Aleksey Maryshev and came back to Longyearbyen. Our farewell with the crew was sad and I think Troels, our boat’s expedition leader, said it best when he noted, “It’s hard to find this much enthusiasm on one ship.”
Once back on solid ground, we headed over to UNIS (the University of Svalbard, in so many words) and caught a cool lecture by Jack Kohler, an American glaciologist who is evidently the greatest thing since ice cubes in his field. He was a forceful and engaging lecturer and we were able to get lots of great information from him in regards to how glaciers are feeling the affects of a warmer climate. We learned a lot from Jack and his answers to our questions will definitely be invaluable when having to deal with climate skeptics and picky detractors.
After Jack’s talk, it was time for us to say goodbye to Soli Townsend, which was definitely the hardest part of the day. Soli has been such an amazing force for this trip from the moment she stepped on board the ship and I really think that her information has been incredibly valuable for me as an activist. There are so many things I wish I had talked to her about while I had the opportunity, but hopefully her work and my work will collide sometime in the near future. It was “with open arms” that Soli welcomed us into the global climate movement, and I think that we’re all ready to play a big part in this international push to guarantee a sustainable future for all people on earth.
I can’t stress enough how high the ceiling seems right now. There is so much optimism and enthusiasm bubbling around this group of individuals that it’s hard not to feel it too. Although I’m aware we face an uphill climb, especially in the US, where politicians, business, and the public are all decades behind the rest of the developed world, I am so confident that we can view this challenge as an opportunity. An opportunity to take on political challenges, economic challenges, development challenges, and human rights challenges. An opportunity to take on poverty challenges, joblessness challenges, hunger challenges, and inequality challenges. It sounds broad and lofty and preposterous and ridiculous, but I really think that in fifty years we can look back on this time as one of transformation and renewal, rather than stubbornness and greed. It is so cool to me that I might be a part of this transformation. It sounds dumb, I know, but big things are happening and bigger ones are on the horizon.
The bulk of today was spent on a secret mission that I can’t write about in the blogosphere yet, butt let me tell you that it was one of the highpoints of this “long, strange trip” we’re on. I’ll try and post tomorrow, but I really do hope to continue writing even after I return home, for no other reason than to order my own ramblings. Thanks for keeping in touch! Peace!
Only time for a short post before I pass out. Today was another fun day in the Arctic, chilly but not too bad. This morning we headed over to a Polish research station here on the west coast of Spitsbergen. They showed off their cool research equipment and talked about what it’s like to spend two years in Svalbard without any women. Needless to say, I admire them immensely and can’t imagine having a job like theirs. Soli and Keith geeked out like the Sci-Fi nerds they are as they realized that the station’s satellite dish points down to get reception because we are so far north. Needless to say, this place holds more and more surprises everyday.
This afternoon we went on a Zodiac cruise through some amazing sea ice scenery and checked out a couple cool glaciers. A couple seals came and said hello to us and we spotted another polar bear (our second), albeit from a couple of kilometers away. This place is just too cool to describe.
It is with a heavy heart that I write that tonight is our last night aboard this amazing ship. To think that it was only seven days ago that I first stepped on the deck is absolutely mind-blowing to me. I can’t imagine ever getting another opportunity like this. But, as everybody’s been saying, “Our journey isn’t over, it’s just beginning.” I’m going to do my best to make sure that statement stays a reality.
If I were more awake, this is where I’d try to be inspirational and urge everyone to take bold action on climate change now, but frankly, I’m exhausted. But stay tuned and I’ll inspire you tomorrow! Peace!
Sorry I didn’t post a blog entry last night. I hope tonight’s comments will make up for it.
More and more I am beginning to realize the true value of this trip. I think initially, I applied to be an “Ambassador for Change” because it would force me to talk about climate change for 10 days and I would get to go the Arctic. In my typically cocky and confident manner, I didn’t recognize how much this trip isn’t about me doing anything; it’s about us. I thought that I would come and have the same old conversations about activism and climate policy etc. etc. etc. Thank goodness that hasn’t been the case.
Every single person on this boat has a part to play in this voyage, just as every person on the planet has some responsibility as “a crewmember on Spaceship Earth.” (Thank you “Wet Hot American Summer”) I’m not quite sure what part I’m playing on this journey, and I think that’s a good thing, but I’m sure having a lot of fun playing it. We have grown together as a unit unbelievably quickly. I am amazed by every person here – and not just in the cheesy way that that sounds.
I’ll start my requisite chronology of the day’s events with yesterday morning, when we docked in Longyearbyen to admit some new passengers and drop of some others. Sadly, we said goodbye to goofy geologist Appy Sluijs, WWF-Japan employee Yumiko, and members of the Japanese and Norwegian press, as well as a reporter from the Associated Press. Thankfully, they were replaced by new friends! Solitaire Townsend, who wins the award for best Bond girl name impression, is the founder and CEO of Futerra – a ridiculously successful communications consulting firm dealing with issues of sustainability and climate change. Along with “Soli,” members of the Dutch and German press have joined us for the remainder of our boat trip. With all these people running around the boat and coast, shouting in so many languages, it feels like a playground at the United Nations.
After a morning of relaxation and much deserved mellow downtime, we had a lecture from Dr. Michael Roleda, a marine biologist from the University of Kiel in Kiel, Germany. His talk, which touched on the impacts of climate change on various plants of the Arctic Ocean, was packed with information and important results which contribute to the conclusion that we are rapidly all coming to – this place is really under attack and it won’t see any relief until we stop selfishly spoiling our natural environment.
After Dr. Roleda left us and we raised anchor and sped out of the Longyearbyen harbor dominated by a huge cruise ship, we were blessed with the most spectacular scenery of the trip so far. Alpine peaks dot the coastline like suburban houses in Northern Virginia, separated by glaciers and ice flows instead of shrubs and picket fences. While that similie is incredibly forced, it’s true that this landscape has become second nature to my sight. I now expect to see jagged rocks and snow-covered plains, and am somewhat unimpressed by sights which would normally knock me senseless. We had the opportunity yesterday to go on a magnificent hike, which included my boot getting stuck in a chest-high snow drift and a massive extraction effort to finally free it from the frozen depths as well as a bearded seal spotting and my first excursion onto sea ice on my own two feet. After all that excitement, we decided that we better “cool” our selves off with a little dip in the Arctic Ocean. I gotta say, Lake Dunmore in Vermont is cold but it’s got nothing on the water at 78º N. These little excursions that we have almost everyday do a great job capturing the unique nature of this corner of the world. I’m not sure I’ll ever have an opportunity to be in a landscape quite like this one ever again, so I’m trying to soak in as much of this one as I can. We finished the night yesterday with the recording of a Green Finger video, which I think went really well and will post on YouTube when I return home. I’ll have to check it with the folks at Step It Up/350.org, but maybe this video will appear on the WWF website someday soon.
This morning, after sleeping through breakfast, I stumbled downstairs for the requisite three cups of coffee and had the good fortune of securing a prime viewing for Soli’s morning presentation. I swear, I’ve learned more about messaging this movement and my personal role in halting climate change from this woman in one day than I have in the past six months. Soli has this magnetism about her that draws in your eyes and ears and makes you eager for her to resume distributing wisdom when she pauses for a breath. I kid you not, this woman is a genius. Together, the group (with Soli) discussed the most effective ways to discuss climate change with others, depending on your audience. I feel that I have been plagued with the impossible question of “How do you make people care?” for years, and in maybe a few days with Soli, I hope to be able to come up with a concise and polite response to that question of all questions. Her help will prove invaluable to the global climate movement and I can already tell any UK citizens reading this that she sure looks like a good replacement for Gordon Brown.
Later today we headed out for another excursion and were able to trek across huge scree piles and steep slopes of snow-covered ice onto a glacier measuring three kilometers in breadth. The sheer whiteness of the glacier was shocking enough, but the piercing blue of the sky and gray of the water behind it helped make this an absolutely iconic image in my mind. I find it hard to believe that I will ever forget this sight. We stumbled through the waist-deep snow admiring our surroundings before surrendering to the cold and heading back to the ship, where another activity with Soli awaited us, as well as a barbeque and dance party held in our honor by the crew of the Aleksey Maryshev. As if all that wasn’t enough, we found out earlier tonight that we’ll be meeting with the Crown Princess of Norway at her private cabin in Svalbard on Wednesday to discuss her leadership role in the climate movement.
I can’t remember feeling so productive and goofy at the same time as I did today, and it is an amazing feeling. I am beginning to regret leaving, but am also excited to start on the next step of my climate journey. That’s all for now – Thanks!
Today was an exhausting day – hence I am writing it at this ungodly time of night (or morning if you want to be picky about it.). The nice thing is, however, that with 24 hours of daylight, one doesn’t get nearly as tired at night as at home.
Briefly, I can tell you that today we had a lecture on paleoclimatology, watched some good WWF commercials from around the world, went on an excursion to a glacier where we spotted auks, puffins, and an arctic fox, and had some more motivational powwow action concerning taking action and creating change. All in all, it was just another wonderful day in paradise.
As we reach the halfway point on this journey, it is nice to think about all I am getting out of it. While the lectures, expeditions, and structured events have all been incredible, the most influential part has definitely been the conversations I have had here. People here are so motivated and unique in their approaches to the climate crisis that I can hear different takes on problems and solutions I’ve been having for the past three years. It is really just awesome.
I leave you with a copy of the letter that we wrote and sent to the Prime Minister of Norway, requesting a meeting with him. Hopefully, there is a YouTube video on this blog page as well (I just write the stuff, I don’t do all the dirty web/tech work) which we sent to “Jens” as well.
“Dear Jens Stoltenberg,
We are the students of WWF’s Voyage for the Future, a 10-day boat voyage in Svalbard, Norway. We represent nine countries with vested interests in the Arctic. We have come together because we are concerned about the many issues regarding the Arctic region, including climate change. On our trip, we have come face to face with these problems and discussed many potential solutions that we would like to share with you.
You take a break for summer. Climate change does not. This summer, Arctic sea ice levels are predicted to be the lowest in history by far. Youth in every corner of the world consider climate change to be the defining issue of our time. Thank you so much for your help so far in tackling the climate crisis, particularly your pledge of 15 billion NOK to end deforestation. We propose a meeting with you to discuss your continued role in a sustainable future on Friday, June 20th, before we return home to our respective countries. Would you prefer a meeting for breakfast or lunch? Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
The WWF Voyage for the Future:
Maria Waag – Norway
Karl Oskar Teien – Norway
Evanne Nowak – Holland
Michiel Jansen – Holland
Greta Hamann – Germany
Johannes Barthelmess – Germany
Emma Bierman – United Kingdom
Casper ter Kuile – United Kingdom
Jeremy Brammer – Canada
Jayme Collins – Canada
Sven Heijbel – Sweden
Nanny-Maja Anderback –Sweden
Ekatarina Levitskaya – Russia
Dmitry Vladimirov – Russia
Yuriko Murakami – Japan
Shunta Takagi – Japan
Ben Wessel – United States
John Monaghan – United States”
To start things out, Dr. Neil Hamilton, the head of the WWF International Arctic Programme, gave a great talk about other issues that the Arctic will face as pack ice melts due to climate change. Oil and gas exploration, increased fishing, international shipping, territorial disputes, and many other concerns arise when the ice melts. Neil has been one of the most influential people in making this trip the success it has been so far, at least for me. Coming from a place of high prestige (he has been one of the key scientists in all modeling of climate change), Neil has never stopped stressing how much faith he has in us and in our ability to make a difference. At dinner tonight, Neil and I (along with Alix from WWF-UK and Eunice from WWF-US) had a half hour long chat about tactics, strategies, and messaging in the international climate movement. For anyone who knows me even the slightest bit at home, they know that this is probably my favorite thing to talk about. Not only did Neil humor me by listening to what I had to say, he actually complimented some of my thoughts! Maybe it’s just my ego talking, but I feel more and more confident every day I’m here.
Today was also important in that it was POLAR BEAR day. Yes, that’s right, today we all saw the most amazing young male polar bear walking on the sea ice. We were all standing at the ship’s bow, watching the Aleksey Maryshev break through the ice packs when Sindre, one of our favorite Norwegian photographers on board, shouts “Bear!” and points off in the distance. After much scrambling, squinting, and pointing, the yellowish creature finally came into sight. We kept getting closer and closer to the ice until it seemed our boat would crush the ice the bear was on. Filled with curiosity, the bear inched closer and closer to the edge of the iceberg and posed for our pictures for almost half an hour. It was probably the only time that our whole boat has been totally silent the entire voyage.
While excitedly laughing and pointing, we were also sobered by our bear spotting. These are truly amazing creatures and their habitat is disappearing more than thirty years faster than the most aggressive models predicted. We cannot point fingers and blame others for the fate of their plight. This is a problem that we created as a human race and one that we must fix. It’s not fair that we allow species to die out of our laziness and greed. I am a full supporter of WWF’s belief in stopping climate change for “people, places, and species”. We must take bold action to stop this injustice.
Also today, we had another great brainstorming session based on how we, the participants of Voyage for the Future, want to have an impact and what the lasting projects that come out of this trip will be. Just letting you know in advance, you’ll be hearing a lot from us in the future. Hope to write more tomorrow! Peace!
Today, more than any day we have spent up here so far, I realized that the Arctic is a little slice of heaven and we are so incredibly fortunate to have this amazing opportunity. Also, today made me appreciate how fast this oasis of ice is disappearing and will continue to disappear in years to come.
The day started out with a lecture by our resident ecosystem ecologist and specialist in Arctic carbon cycles Martin Sommerkorn. Also known by the affectionate nickname “The Big, White, Fluffy One” aboard our boat, Martin is one of the most engaging and funny participants on this wonderful trip of ours. His lecture was entitled “Climate Change in the Arctic” and detailed why the Arctic is the most vulnerable region on earth in respect to the climate crisis and how predictions of warming made by scientists so far are being shattered by an even more extreme reality. The science Martin provided us with will surely be beneficial in our argument to elected officials and businesspeople that this is an urgent problem that is happening now!
After Martin’s talk we headed to Ny-Ålesund, the northernmost settlement in the world. Mostly a collection of scientific researchers, this town provided a perfect place to perfect our knowledge of the science of climate change in discussion with the brilliant scientists that are a part of our team. We then proceeded to buy some gifts for our family at the northernmost shop in the world and head back to the boat.
This afternoon we headed to Blomstand Halvoya, a failed marble mine for a hike and some wildlife spotting. Among other animals, we gawked and pointed at a mother reindeer and her nursing cub, the rare long-tailed skua, and a seal pup checking us out on the beach from a distance of about 10 meters (again, metric proves to be the language of the world!) Our hike allowed us to really explore the beauty of this fast-disappearing area. Many of us agreed that this hike caused us to become even more connected to this land, and even more committed to protect it from destruction.
The most productive part of the day, however, was a meeting all the student participants here on the Voyage for the Future held after dinner atop the bridge deck. While admiring glaciers that defy any sort of description in their immensity and awesome power, all eighteen students voiced our true dedication to this issue and discussed strategy on how to best make an impact on our world. Inspired by the unbelievable sights we witnessed today, we talked for over an hour on how to best tackle the world and encourage others into taking action. It was this discussion, and all the subsequent ones that we will have, that will stay with me for the rest of my life. The Arctic scenery brought out such passion and such a need for action that we often struggled not to overlap in our voices due to our excitement and multitude of ideas. This is why I was so excited to come on this trip, and this is why I can say with confidence: Together, we will solve the climate crisis!
I leave with one picture just as proof to my mother that, yes, I am alive and well. More tomorrow! Thanks!
Posted by Ben Wessel 
Posted by Ben Wessel 
Posted by Ben Wessel 
