Today is the mighty Libra equinox, the first in which the Sun is exactly square Pluto in Capricorn, with both points precisely aspecting the Aries Point. Apropos of this astrology, leaders of more than 100 countries are convening at the United Nations today for a summit on climate change. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon convened the summit to focus heads of state and government on the need for urgent action, and to mobilize the highest level of political will needed to reach a fair, effective, and scientifically ambitious global climate deal at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen this December.
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International Herald Tribune cover from Saturday, Feb. 3, 2007, acknowledging climate change and Earth changes for the first time. The Bush administration issued a statement saying it would refuse to act on the problem. The administration is also seeking a quarter of a trillion dollars to fight the Iraq war for the next 18 months. Photo by Eric Francis.
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There, it is hoped that governments around the world will agree to the first major climate treaty since Kyoto, which expires in 2012, and to which the United States under the Bush administration) refused to adhere. The December conference will occur under the influence of Saturn in Libra square Pluto, which is likely to highlight a sense of crisis and urgency for action (please see below for discussion of that aspect).
Time is running out for world leaders to take action on the issue of carbon emissions, which trap heat in the atmosphere. Events including the Asian tsunami of 2004 and hurricanes Rita and Katrina in 2005 helped tip public opinion in favor of understanding that climate change is real. In early 2007, a major report concluded that the damage we are doing to the environment could last more than a thousand years, which seems fairly short, given what is happening. Many kinds of extreme weather conditions, including a nonstop litany of news about droughts, flooding and unseasonable rains, are reminding us that the environment’s condition is fragile and it is indeed changing.
Currently, the issue faces a serious challenge: global temperatures have been stable for nearly a decade. Yet according to today’s New York Times, “Scientists say the last decade of climate stability — which follows a precipitous rise in average global temperatures in the 1990s — is a result of cyclical variations in ocean conditions and has no bearing on the long-term warming effects of greenhouse gases building up in the atmosphere. But trying to communicate such scientific nuances to the public — and to policy makers — can be frustrating, they say.”
The debate is mired in things like the the carbon emissions В trading market, which turns pollution control into a for-profit enterprise but doesn’t really solve the problem. And of course, developing nations generally find it most convenient to use gas and coal. Coal alone accounts for 40% of all carbon emissions. If you want to know how reckless existing industry is, see a film called Who Killed the Electric Car?
The world leaders meeting at the UN today really do have the power to make a difference. They can, if they are inspired to, set political and business interests aside and consider the fate of the Earth and its inhabitants — though often it seems like the minds of people who rise to power are not capable of that kind of thought. Their awareness can respond to our own. We are again poised at the moment when choice is possible.
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Dear Friend and Reader:
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As of Sept. 29, Mercury will be direct after its retrograde in Libra and Virgo, but now something more momentous is happening involving those two signs. Saturn comes into the spotlight. This truly significant planet ingresses Libra at the end of the month, aligning precisely with Pluto in Capricorn as it does so, for the first time since the stunning opposition of 2001/2002. This is a get-serious turning point. It would seem we have some growing up to do; some reassessment of our relationship to one another, to society and moreover to ourselves. We are the ones who are ultimately faced with the responsibility of structuring our lives. Yet there is something larger going on, which is our relationship to our community, on any level you want to define that term. It is people who design the society we live in, and while we may feel we have exceedingly little influence over the course of events, it’s also true that most people exert little of the influence we actually do have. As the events of late October and November unfold, we will be faced with a choice: do we respond with fear or with a sense of mission? Do we retreat in the face of a challenge, or do we advance and commit ourselves to progress? How we respond is a test of what we truly believe — something that can authentically be described as a spiritual test.
Yours & truly,
