Latinos, Technology and the Environment: Digital Week Session on Climate Justice

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Washington, DC
June 10, 2010
                                 

Latinos, Technology and the Environment

(Washington, D.C.) -  As intergovernmental negotiators in Bonn are yet again, finding it impossible to reach a mutual agreement on Climate Change, digital savvy Latino-environmentalists are using technological innovation within and across borders to unite new and legacy media through organizing for climate justice.  Join us for our panel during Digital Capital Week in Washington, D.C., on June 13th from 3 to 5pm, at the Energy Action Coalition to find out more.  The panel 'Latinos, Technology and the Environment,' examines the opportunity presented by the digital sphere as it relates to Latinos and the environment.  We will discuss our participation in the recent World's People Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth in Cochabamba, Bolivia and explore the role of technology in organizing the grassroots movement for the next annual meeting of intergovernmental climate negotiators in Cancun scheduled for November.  

At 49.7million, Latinos are the fastest growing and largest 'minority' population in the United States. In a recent poll commissioned by the National Resource Defense Council (NRDC), 66 percent of Hispanics (Latinos) said tackling climate change should be a “high” or “very high” priority with 41 percent supporting the regulation of carbon emissions.” The National Latino Coalition on Climate Change (NLCCC) and the Commission to Engage African Americans on Climate Change (CEAACC), conducted a joint study in swing States across the U.S. that backs these findings.  An overwhelming majority of Latino voters in Florida (80%), Nevada (67%) and Colorado (58%) say they are more likely to vote for a U.S. Senate candidate that supports proposals for fighting global warming.  

The concern for climate action amongst Latinos in the United States is directly linked to the fact that they live or work in the most environmentally degraded areas, are amongst the most climate vulnerable in the United States and come from countries across Latin America where climate change has already wreaked havoc and caused hardship for their families and friends.  Mainstream environmental organizations have yet to engage the Latino community online although, their presence as a group within social media networks is more engaged across the board than non-Latinos.   The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) reports that 59.5% of Latinos are online, while a March 2010 report by Forester shows them growing most in the creator, critic and collector spectrum of the “Social Technographics Ladder.”

The few mainstream organizations that have taken the leap, such as the NRDC with Voces Verdes, the Earth Action Network, and the Sierra Club are yet to channel mobilizing online with face to face creative space. Greater opportunities to explore the roots US Latinos have to Latin America for environmental action are only beginning to get cultivated by grassroots organizations. Conferences such as the World People's Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth in Bolivia, Digital Capital Week coming up in Washington, D.C., and the US Social Forum in Detroit, do away with the bureaucracy and ego of traditional conferences and create the space to organically grow common visions in a big way.

The integration of Web 2.0 technology into these creative spaces has facilitated diverse environmental and social justice groups to stay connected and develop common strategies that sustain time and cross sectors as well as, borders.    Angela Adrar, an environmental new media communicator and Latino activist says that “Latinos in the US are growing weary of organizations that do not respond to their needs. They are sharing their experiences using bilingual communication and community muscle to change the narrative of power through social media and succeeding.”  The rise of the digital activist has been a long time coming but the effectiveness, tools and ability to create real world impact is exponentially increasing as more communities of color come of age online enabling them to generate their own stories and offer their own solutions.

Kety Esquivel, Interim Executive Director of Latism, the largest organization of Latinos in Social Media and Angela Adrar, Environmental Communicator with La Trenza Leadership Eco-Hermanas will be spearheading the panel.

Kety Esquivel (410) 500-8340 kety.esquivel@gmail.com Twitter: @KetyE Blog: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kety-esquivel

Angela Adrar (202) 439-7724 dancingsparrow@gmail.com Twitter: @DancingSparrow Blog: http://citizeninspired.blogspot.com/2010/01/protest-poetry-and-power-of-voice.html

Latinos, Technology and the Environment - This Sunday

This Sunday I will be co-facilitating a session at Digital Capital Week from 3-5pm.  The session is graciously hosted by the Energy Action Coalition.  The topic is Latinos, technology and the environment.  If you are in DC for Digital Capital Week or in the beltway for any other reason this week-end, please join us!  Remember to RSVP, as space is limited.

Sunday, June 13
3:00pm - 5:00pm	N	Latinos, Technology and the Environment << less at Energy Action Coalition 1850 M St NW, Washington, District of Columbia 20036
Click here About According to a Sierra Club National Survey, 66% of Latino(a)s in the United States, work and live close to toxic sites, add to that, the African Americans and Asians that live in highly polluted urban neighborhoods, the farmer migrants that are exposed to pesticides when picking US food and the Indigenous peoples that are having their lands mined and degraded and we have a big hot mess that makes the US majority generally and environmentally disadvantaged. This panel will examine the opportunity presented by the digital sphere as it relates to Latinos and the environment. We will discuss our participation in the recent World's People Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth in Cochabamba, Bolivia as well as the next annual meeting of environmental ministers in Cancun in November. Speaker/Artist(s) Angela Adrar Kety Esquivel Host Organization(s) Energy Action Coalition Limited Capacity Max. 30 attendees Audience Technologists, Govies, Entrepreneurs, Communicators

Impressions from Bolivia and the People's World Conference for Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth

On the last night of the People's World Conference for Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth a group of us sat together in a circle singing, dancing and reflecting on the successes of the last few days.  The fact that the People's World Conference for Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth ended on Earth Day was lost on none of us.  Was the conference successful?  Did it accomplish its goals?

I think that the answers to both of those questions will depend on the metrics that we are using to measure its success.

If we go back to the purpose with which the delegation came, I think we have succeeded.  Here are the expectations with which we came-

I'd like to be a part of resurrecting the ideas and stories of the past, passed down from our ancestors regarding how to live. 

We are here to further the education and connectivity to Latinos and to bring more awareness to our communities on how to benefit mother earth.

After Haiti, after Chile, after China we are in a state of emergency. We all have to work under urgent organizational co-ordination to save our earth.

We come together as one people to share, strategize, walk away with sustainable realistic approach 2address humanity's mst sever crisis yet.

We are here to inspire hope for the next seven generations "si se puede!" 

We are here to find a viable solution to the mass extinction of everything on this planet. 

We are here to make connections with each other and mother earth that will transform. 

We are here to support the cause because Climate Change is something we are all feeling on earth.  We need to protect mother earth. 

Have we met the expectations that we declared above?  I think we did.  Did we move the conversation forward?  In some ways I think we did, in others we have not.

The conference was a first on many fronts.  It was a conference which included a focus on the indigenous and on the community.  The focus was distinct in that it centered around conversations about Pachamama. People of color were involved in record numbers.  Moreover, it was undeniably Latin American led.  The conference was far from perfect.  As amazing as it was, there were many opportunities.  My next blog post on this topic will discuss where we go from here.  For many of us, this conference is only the beginning.  We had to start somewhere and on many levels for many of us, this was a mighty fine start positioning us in a powerful way for the next conversation in Cancun.