Ben West was juggling VIFF movie screenings when asked to speak to the Georgia Straight, so he didn’t beat around the bush regarding the upcoming International Climate Day of Action this Saturday (October 24).

“What separates this event from other events of its kind?” West asked, before adopting an intense glare. “It’s the largest international day of action for an environmental issue in the history of the planet.”

West—the Wilderness Committee healthy-communities coordinator—has been working on the Vancouver event, which plugs into the international power of the movement 350.org, created by American environmentalist Bill McKibben. West said there will be about 2,000 events in more than 150 countries thanks to the movement, with more added each day at www.350.org/. The number 350—called “the most important number in the world” on the site—is what some scientists say is a desirable upper limit for carbon dioxide concentration (measured in parts per million) in the atmosphere. The current level is 389 ppm.

Along with Kevin Washbrook, cofounder of local group Voters Taking Action on Climate Change, West has cobbled together a coalition of the willing that has received endorsements from Vancouver rabbi David Mivasair, Vancouver Quadra Liberal MP Joyce Murray, and Vancouver–West End NDP MLA Spencer Herbert, among others. West hopes this momentum will carry into the climate talks in Copenhagen this December.

“They are not all the size and scale of the Vancouver event,” West added. “The plan is for this to be a return to creative flash-mob demos. It’s a real demonstration of citizen power. People around the world are not willing to wait for politicians to lead. Citizens worldwide are organizing according to nontraditional organizing methods.”

On the policy front, Washbrook told the Straight, “The climate talks in December in Copenhagen are crucial.”

If Canada’s representative at the talks fails to hammer out an agreement on our behalf “we’re adrift at the international level,” he added.

“I think, actually, we should be hyping expectations as much as we can [ahead of Copenhagen],” Washbrook said. “If there’s a failure, we should be furious about it, because there’s no time to waste on this. We don’t have time for follow-up discussions and ‘Maybe we’ll have principles and then we’ll have a discussion later and maybe there will be a treaty at some point.’ ”

West said he was inspired to help after realizing the threat of what he calls “the Gateways”—federal and provincial infrastructure programs that seek to expand port and road capacity, and add car lanes.

“When I was at the All Nations Energy Summit, it just really drove home for me the reality of how the Gateway project is all one big project, that the pipeline in the North is just as much a part of this plan to expand trade with the Asia Pacific region as the highways are in Delta and Surrey,” West said.

West calls the Albertan tar sands a “maddening project” that he wants to raise awareness of because he believes B.C. is at a juncture where it will become either “a gateway to Gateway or a gateway to a role as gatekeeper”.

Washbrook said he didn’t want to organize just another rally where speaker after speaker lines up and listeners wait passively for someone to inspire them.

“This has got to be fun and it’s got to be cool and it’s got to be exciting,” he said. “People aren’t turned on by angry protests. I just don’t want to go to those things anymore—shouting into the megaphones and stuff.”

At noon, a banner will be dropped off the east side of the Cambie Street Bridge, so it’s visible from Science World. From there the parade will head north, with cyclists leading a procession along Pacific Boulevard to Science World. There, an afternoon of entertainment is scheduled from 1 to 4 p.m. There are five live acts, including Earth Dance Bhangra at 3 p.m.

“I’d like to see people talking about this on Monday, going: ‘You know, there were people from the Downtown Eastside, and there were people from the Punjabi community and the Chinese community, and there were kids’ soccer teams, and I never expected that there would be this kind of diverse crowd at an event like this, and it was amazing and everyone is concerned about this,” Washbrook said. “That would, for me, be the big buzz: that this is about all of us and not just a few activists or a narrow issue.”