Merkel Greeted On U.S. Trip by Dancing Green Hard Hats Demanding Strong Climate Action

onJun 25, 2009 @ 17:08 PDT

While most climate activists are focused solely on the Waxman-Markey legislation that is due to be voted on by the US Congress any time now, a group of youth climate activists are taking the time to make sure that President Obama and Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel know that the youth movement demands strong action at the upcoming G8 summit and December’s Copenhagen climate summit as well.

The youth, who are working with international advocacy group Avaaz.org, staged an action today in front of the German Embassy in Washington to welcome Merkel in their giant, six-foot wide green hard hats, dancing and chanting for green jobs and strong action to fight global warming.

Here’s the video:

The activists are calling for the two world leaders to commit to limiting global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, a position supported by Merkel. If temperatures rise beyond this mark, tropical island states like the Marshall Islands and the Maldives will be under water. Youth activists are encouraging Obama and Merkel to champion the bold transition to clean energy that will provide green jobs and economic prosperity for future generations.

Today’s action was just the warm up, though. The youth activists are staging another rally in front of the White House tomorrow morning (Friday) at 11 a.m. Look for the giant green hard hats, you can’t miss them!

Check out a video of the dancing green hard hats at It’s Getting Hot In Here.

By Kevin Grandia

Kevin is a contributor and strategic adviser to DeSmog. He runs the digital marketing agency Spake Media House. Named a “Green Hero” by Rolling Stone Magazine and one of the “Top 50 Tweeters” on climate change and environment issues, Kevin has appeared in major news media outlets around the world for his work on digital campaigning. Kevin has been involved in the public policy arena in both the United States and Canada for more than a decade. For five years he was the managing editor of DeSmogBlog.com. In this role, Kevin’s research into the “climate denial industry” and the right-wing think tank networks was featured in news media articles around the world. He is most well known for his ground-breaking research into David and Charles Koch’s massive financial investments in the Republican and tea party networks. Kevin is the first person to be designated a “Certified Expert” on the political and community organizing platform NationBuilder. Prior to DeSmog, Kevin worked in various political and government roles. He was Senior Advisor to the Minister of State for Multiculturalism and a Special Assistant to the Minister of State for Asia Pacific, Foreign Affairs for the Government of Canada. Kevin also worked in various roles in the British Columbia provincial government in the Office of the Premier and the Ministry of Health. In 2008 Kevin co-founded a groundbreaking new online election tool called Vote for Environment which was later nominated for a World Summit Award in recognition of the world’s best e-Content and innovative ICT applications. Kevin moved to Washington, DC in 2010 where he worked for two years as the Director of Online Strategy for Greenpeace USA and has since returned to his hometown of Vancouver, Canada.