This is what participants in the climate march said on Friday, in which about a thousand people participated, from Dizingoff Center to the promenade - in front of the US Embassy
Climate marches were held in a hundred cities around the world this past weekend and the one before it, which, in addition to the Earth Day that was celebrated last week, took on a dimension of urgency at the XNUMXth anniversary of the presidency of US President Donald Trump, who set himself a clear goal of stopping what he calls the war on coal and oil. In this context, it is possible to name the cancellation of the decree issued by his predecessor Barack Obama which was supposed to prohibit the dumping of coal waste into water bodies adjacent to the power plants, a sharp reduction in the size of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), while canceling research in the field of climate, cancellation of satellite missions to explore the Earth at NASA and -NOAA and besides the environment, other areas were also affected, such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the National Science Foundation - whose budget was cut and they were only given a limited list of areas in which it can award research grants.
Tel Aviv also joined the operation when about a thousand people marched on Friday, including scientists and even ambassadors from many European countries as well as activists of environmental organizations from all over the country from Dizingoff Center to the promenade in front of the US Embassy building. Among the activists who marched - organizations such as Green Trend, the Israel Ecology Association, Greenpeace, activists against air pollution in Haifa Bay, bodies working for public transportation, renewable energy, and more.
In a conversation on the ground with the Hidan site, Prof. Yoav Yair, dean of the School of Sustainability at the Interdisciplinary Center, says: We are marching because President Trump's climate policy is dangerous to the entire world and to Israel in particular because our region is a very sensitive region to climate change and we feel it very well. The Trump administration's attempts to withdraw from the Paris Agreement and go back on the United States' commitments to reduce greenhouse gases is a dangerous and even deadly decision, and therefore we are protesting against this policy which is blindness, selfishness, not to mention stupidity.
Prof. Avital Gazit from the Porter School of Environmental Studies at Tel Aviv University: "To add a local aspect to this, beyond what Yoav said, the intention is also to arouse the Israeli public, in that even though we apparently do not play an important role in these changes because we are a country small and our positive and negative impact is not very noticeable but we need to be an example to others and we also have a role in developing environmentally friendly technologies, environmentally friendly behavior. We need to be a light to the Gentiles in this matter as well, therefore participating in the parade is important both in the international aspect and the local aspect."
On the stage of the rally that preceded the procession, Mor Gilboa, CEO of Green Movement, one of the organizers of the march in Tel Aviv, said: "The climate crisis is not only the most tangible danger to humanity in our generation, it is also a first-rate security threat to the safety and security of the State of Israel and the entire world.
"100 frightening and worrying days have passed since the beginning of Trump's term as US president. Since being appointed president, Trump has demonstrated ignorance and irresponsibility regarding the climate crisis. Trump denies the crisis that has already been proven, by more than 95% of the world's climate scientists, to be the most serious crisis facing humanity today.
"Scientists of the world believe with absolute certainty that the crisis is a direct result of hundreds of years of industrialization and the burning of coal and fossil fuels. It is sad to see that the president of the most polluting power in the world works to deny the catastrophe and gives a green light, which is not green at all, to the gas and oil tycoons to continue polluting the earth and harming the security of billions all over the world.
"Trump can declare himself a friend of Israel, but for us he is neither a friend nor the leader of the free world, but a friend of the gas and oil corporations who are looking for quick profits and continue to accumulate their wealth while harming the lives and health of billions of Earth's inhabitants. Most of the world's leaders have already recognized the climate crisis and pledged to take emergency operative measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote renewable energies.
"Today, more than ever, Israel must be a light to the Gentiles and put pressure on the administration in Washington to take care of the safety and well-being of the citizens of Israel and the entire world and not to withdraw from the commitments of the administration in Washington in the Paris Agreement."
The ambassadors of France, Lithuania, Germany, Norway, Finland, Belgium, Latvia, Ethiopia and the European Union delegation also participated in the parade.
French Ambassador to Israel Hélène de Gaulle: "I am happy to be here and to be invited to say a few things. I say these things on behalf of all the ambassadors who are here with us today."
"I am here wearing two hats, firstly because France is the one that led to the signing of the climate agreement in Paris in December 2016, which so far has been signed by 143 countries. The second hat is that protecting the environment is a matter of everyday actions. We turned the ambassador's residence into a green building, and he received a standard certificate confirming this from the Tel Aviv municipality. This is the only ambassador's residence in Israel that has passed such a standard.
As for COP 21 - the countries that participated in the convention and signed the convention are obliged to carry out their obligations according to the convention and to reduce the level of greenhouse gas emissions. Israel also had ambitious promises and commitments from the government and we all say - let's keep the promises and take the necessary actions. In France, too, we do everything required by the treaty."
"Not only governments are committed to the climate but also civil society: people, cities, non-profits, can do a lot for the improvement. ” concluded de Gaulle.
The rally ended with an appeal to Trump in English to reconsider his position, and to listen to scientists.
More of the topic in Hayadan:
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Haha or Yafet
Don't fool yourself, and don't fool others. The warming is real and is a result of human actions.
Our biggest problem is that we don't understand much about climate. For example, today I read great articles from 2014 about the changes in the jet stream due to the warming, only that these changes that were observed at the time and were a reinforcement of the impending disaster upon us due to the warming disappeared in the years that followed instead of intensifying.
Another subject that has changed in recent years shows how little we understand is hurricanes. Until a few years ago, the theory was that the heat of the ocean water leads to the feeding of storms, therefore with an increase in the temperature of the sea and the atmosphere in general, it was expected that hurricanes would increase and a high price would be paid by the east coast of the USA only in recent years We are really witnessing the warming of the sea but a decrease in the amount and intensity of hurricanes. So in the meantime the scholarly explanations that could be read at the Hurricane Prediction Center about the causes of hurricanes disappeared and changed to express the lack of understanding, but until 4 years ago they were very adamant that their explanations and their understanding is very, very good and accurate. In short, a science that has such low predictability needs to at least develop humility.
And completely coincidentally on the exact same day when there is a demonstration in Tel Aviv about global warming. Not far from this demonstration, tons of sewage flow into Nahal Yarakon and thousands of dead fish float there...
http://www.maariv.co.il/news/israel/Article-582874
The United States opposed the Kyoto agreement from the beginning, Obama did announce a change in emissions reduction policy but in practice did nothing.
As far as I know, none of the countries that did sign the Kyoto agreement is meeting its commitment to reduce emissions, and the worst thing they have come up with is paying poor countries to reduce emissions instead.
What Trump says is simply the truth. And the truth is that the United States does not want to reduce the use of oil because it is one of the largest producers of oil.
Let's say it's an excuse to ignore the local pollution, what have they done until now, for example in all eight years of Obama, has anyone fought the pollution or just pretended and winked at the era of Ofer?
What endangers Israel more than global warming is the political problem of the support of Europeans and the support of academics in Israel for anti-Israeli propaganda and boycotts of Israel.
In addition, what endangers Israel in terms of environmental pollution much more than any global problem, is the lack of cooperation of the Palestinians on issues of pure environmental quality, sewage and garbage, and many other issues such as air pollution and the Kishon river and the sea in Haifa Bay, air pollution from the power plants in Hadera, water pollution The abyss in Tefan and the Negev, the failures at the site in Ramat Hovav, the failed management of the water sector in Israel, and more.
Therefore, in my opinion, this demonstration (just or unjust) is an unnecessary demonstration, which diverts the focus from the real and critical problems to problems unrelated to Israel, and its purpose is only political and its existence in Israel is only a political confrontation of the right-wing government in Israel that supports the American president.