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Pitch

Any true progress to combat Climate Change requires policy. We will address this issue by developing a community-based public policy center.


Description

Summary

United for Progress is intended to be a hub with the goal of shifting the international dialogue on public policy regarding climate change toward systemic change and promotion of circular economy.

While working to meet the needs of local communities we will work hand in hand with the public to educate people about how they can adopt ways of manufacturing to maximize efficiency by outright eliminating waste through pre-cycled arrangements, and turning the dialogue away from simply cutting back on fossil fuel emissions to focusing on solutions to eliminate existing concentrations of greenhouse gasses in our oceans and atmosphere.
  
This is intended to be a co-operative organization, maximizing individual freedom as much as possible through self-organizing principals. We are inviting everyone who is passionate about truly building a better world for ours and future generations to sit at the table and discuss our options for developing and implementing policy to drive us forward to a bright and better future.

We will begin our efforts with a small and dedicated group of individuals, in particular we want to invite first and foremost those individuals who have a passion for collaboration with others, and who possess a true global understanding of the dangers posed by Catastrophic Climate Change and the strength of spirit to face the uphill climb toward our target objectives.

The goal of the initial group will be to network with other small communities with similar attributes and goals, so that we can start to see a kind of truly progressive policy implemented on a smaller scale to catalyze wide-scale positive change.

We will begin with a media program that will host live debates and presentations so that we might truly challenge one another to strive for greatness, work to truly understand one another, and help each other bring people together, not divide them by class or political affiliation. So that we might repair our damaged planet and eventually move beyond the stars!


What actions do you propose?

We really want to find a balance between addressing local concerns in light of increasing climate instability, and addressing the way that large scale Climate Summits are failing to succeed.

We hope to do this by organizing on a smaller, local level, and connecting those relatively small communities together through our network and providing a way for those small communities and individuals to have better access to educational materials and if possible funding to introduce real solutions to fight climate change.

So we're not going to become a private group that introduces policy proposals and influences local legislation on the contrary this is more or less the creation of an ongoing dialogue and educational initiative, that will focus on bringing expertise to the table to create and implement working plans to solve anthropogenic climate change, by working this way we hope to finesse the overall process involved in developing public policy by helping individuals and groups to become activated and involved in direct democracy.

Our model for how to proceed is not based on previous examples. It is a democratically self managed system of co-operatives. It is intended to allow people to freely mingle in some fashion, though with a definitive founding group that will provide some direction. It's not about control. It's about balance, and it's about empowering people and bringing others together!

As such first and foremost we intend to begin by starting a non-profit organization that will act as a sort of catalyst to drive this effort forward. It is not our goal to bring everyone under a single banner, but rather to be like a blank canvass that will develop depending on member participation, and that will help support and develop what is already there to grow and flourish, while providing the tools necessary for other collaborative efforts to get a good head start.

More specifically we will use media to showcase our work and invite others into the conversation as part of an ongoing series which could potentially develop into the creation of a feature length documentary on these efforts, or help to develop an open-source studio of sorts that creates all sorts of educational materials to better assist communities that are struggling to grow and have a real measurable effect on protecting and improving our natural environment.

To give you a clear example, one thing we will definitely do is have an initial block party of sorts to kick things off with a solid start, including a local artist showcase with music and food and locally produced goods and so on. We will have a kiosk set up with a video camera so that participants can have a platform to address their concerns in their own words about climate change and pledge their assistance however they are able to or would like, in addition we intend to have a townhall meeting of sorts where a panel of experts will answer questions and discuss our ideas to help bring community together to simultaneously improve our economy and combat climate change.

On a side note, my company AirTrain Inc. (airtrainisthefuture.com) is developing a proposal to stimulate the public interest in STEM education and to bring manufacturing back the United States with the development of our first fully operational prototype which will be built primarily by utilizing retired airliners and used parts. To do this we will need a solid team of engineers and we hope that we can provide a way for the best and brightest of America's next generation of leaders in aviation and aerospace engineering to have a lot of fun building some really cool airplanes that will ultimately help us to address climate change in a very exciting way!

I also want to add that one of the main actions that we will be engaging on is presenting the public with an insiders look at the debate that goes on between real cutting scientists in regard to climate change. I think it's important for the public to see the more human side of science and what goes on in the laboratory and between experiments. I think this small little touch alone with go a long way to gaining more trust with the public and getting them more involved in the discussion of how to solve the problems presented by climate change and in general is something that will reinvigorate public interest in science.

And we will work hand in hand as much as possible with existing charities, sustainable businesses, non profits and so forth to help them succeed in their efforts.


Who will take these actions?

My self and anyone that's with me! By the way, right now I'm doing this mostly entirely on my own but I have a lot of great resources and wonderful people to bring to the table so I would really appreciate some collaboration!


What are the key challenges?

For the most part is really a matter cutting through the chatter and leaving behind doubt and uncertainty in order to bring people together. The real challenge is leaving our small self behind to be our bigger self, so we can put our selves confidently out there and in doing so truly work to uplift others as servant leaders.

The real challenge I see ahead at first is a matter of raising funds, so in order to do that what we really have to do is make fighting climate change a fun and eventful thing for the whole family and that is precisely what we intend to do.

Boulder is a small community but there is a lot of influence there, and there are great people and institutions there that can do a lot to bring other small communities together, I have faith in that.

If we do this correctly our largest challenge in the long run will of course be lobbying to actually implement policies on all scales, from neighborhoods to cities, municipalities and counties, to state and national governments. Our aims are quite large but with the right strategy and people involved anything is possible.

Overall as long as we can keep people engaged and productive that's half the battle won.


What are the key benefits?

United for Progress will provide our nation with a simple and concise way to bring communities together so that they can actually develop and implement public policy that works for them and that will have a real and lasting effect insofar as fighting climate change and improving our economy with that in mind. This isn't just a talk-a-thon, this will be developed as an essential organization for developing, promoting and driving forward sustainable production and manufacturing, supporting local business, and providing ease of access to educational materials and a way for individuals to network and collaborate with others to bring their passions to life.


What are the proposal’s costs?

I have not actually budgeted this out, but I am certain that much of this effort could be well under way for a few thousand dollars including filing fees and building some type of proper website or something so that the public has an easy way to connect and share and communicate with us.

Ultimately in the long run we are going to need facilities and so forth to continue our efforts so we're looking at within say the first 3-5 years at annual budgets that could fall anywhere from 20-50k a year all expenses included. But it is essential for this effort to gain momentum and flourish that we remain as flexible as possible and able to put the axe to the grindstone and apply a little elbow grease to get the ball rolling.

 


Time line

Our first year will focus on simply building a small and loyal team of people who are very passionate about fighting climate change and are very optimistic and ready to face the challenges ahead hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder, onward!

In that time we will work on finding an initial space to host our gatherings and to enable us to do our daily work and carry on, and we will allow work on building a strong media presence and reach out far beyond the Boulder CO community.

Within fives years we will have developed a strong and finessed organization that will continue carrying the torch forward and developing and working hand in hand with similar hubs around the country.

If we were to start all that I have spoken about here within the year, I can personally guarantee that within fives years we will have a strong coalition of Climate Rescue Public Policy Hubs in the greater Denver and Colorado Springs area, moving almost immediately on to building and working with existing communities in Las Vegas NV, Portland Or, Seattle WA, Austin TX and in the Bay Area.

If we are able to more than stay afloat but to flouring within 15 years, I would think that by that time we would see a pre-cycled manufacturing well on the rise in the United States, by this time and this is just a modest estimate we would see the beginning stages of a huge transformation in mass transit systems which would in a large way help us to get around in very stylish fashion in a much more sophisticated, environmentally friendly, and much faster way which we have dubbed the AirTrain.

Within 50 years, we hope these programs, methods and development procedures will be in regular use internationally, provided that people A) participate to their maximum potential and B) that these same people but in the extra effort to bring other people in and continue these efforts.

In 100 years we should have giant solar power stations on the moon and space mining should be a really huge industry, all one giant leap at a time!


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Engage with the Public and Be More Accessible to the Next Generation of Leaders

References

http://blindspot.org.uk/

http://www.airtrainisthefuture.com

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