I alsio really like this reaction to COpenhagen.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/cif-green/2009/dec/21/copenhagen-climate-change

Personally, I wasn’t there because I was angry, bitter of disappointed. Not one bit. Actually, I sort of expected all these results from Copenhagen. None of it was a surprise.

Instead, I was there at the vigil because I have great, great hope.

And not the sort of hope that comes because things look likely to change anytime soon, not the sort of hope that says ‘now is the time we can relax, everything will be ok’. My hope, instead, stems from the action, the effort, the passion and the integrity that I see around me every day, in all the people who are working hard to make the world a better place.

Hope can only come through action, and with effort to create change. Our hope can be vested only in ourselves, not in others. We can’t wait for other people (Obama?!) to save us.

So to those who are in despair and anger right now, my message is to use these emotions and direct them passionately into where they are most effective, because through action you can turn these emotions into hope, rather than depression.

Yes, we’ll need courage, moving forward, but more than that we’ll need rough knuckles and a willingness to do more than sign online petitions and hold candles aloft in Copenhagen (both of which I confess to doing).

From here on out, we’re making it personal. Our message and our demands are well-honed. We need only show elected officials that we’re serious. This isn’t really that hard to do. You see, we know where they live.

More on this to come….

In the meantime, keep fighting, AnnaC. Take heart – now we really know who we’re up against.