About XRNC (and XR)

XR NORTH CAROLINA

XRNC is a network of everyday North Carolinians who have decided to take action to protect their loved ones, their communities, and Planet Earth by addressing the climate emergency head on. Many of us have not been activists before, but we are drawn to this movement because we realize that it is up to people like us to secure a stable planet for the future.

We have children. Or, we are children. We are young people who've been told a bright future stretches before us, but we know this to be a lie. We have grandchildren, and friends, and partners, and parents. And we love the world. So much. We love the land and the rivers and the sky and the sounds of the night. And we have come to realize that leaders who do not do everything in their power to address the climate emergency are essentially trying to kill our children and the planet. And we will not let them.

OUR THEORY OF CHANGE: HOW WE WIN

Extinction Rebellion uses nonviolent civil disobedience and mass organizing to achieve radical change, with the goal of minimizing the risk of human extinction and ecological collapse. We seek to help create a cultural shift that (a) enables people to face up to the realities of climate change and (b) puts enough pressure on government to bring about meaningful policy changes.

These policy changes must:

include robust, grounded, and powerful mechanisms for engaging the wisdom of regular citizens.
immediately address and reverse the root causes of human-caused climate change.
build resilience to the effects of climate change that we already cannot avoid.
do so in just, equitable, and regenerative ways.

So who's in charge of making this happen? All of us. Each chapter agrees to a core set of principles and strategies, but each local group is free to act on those principles and strategies in their own ways. We strive to work together with love, compassion, honor, resilience, and peace, using nonviolent civil disobedience in the spirit of all those who fought for our freedoms before us.

We call on every one of you, regardless of your political beliefs, to join us in fighting for the survival of life on earth.

XR DEMANDS

These demands only represent XR US. They are still in the process of development.

1	That the Government must tell the truth about the climate and wider ecological emergency, it must reverse all policies not in alignment with that position and must work alongside the media to communicate the urgency for change including what individuals, communities and businesses need to do.

The Government must enact legally-binding policies to reduce carbon emissions to net zero by 2025 and take further action to remove the excess of atmospheric greenhouse gases. It must cooperate internationally so that the global economy runs on no more than half a planet’s worth of resources per year.

We do not trust our Government to make the bold, swift and long-term changes necessary to achieve these changes and we do not intend to hand further power to our politicians. Instead we demand a Citizens’ Assembly to oversee the changes, as we rise from the wreckage, creating a democracy fit for purpose.

We demand a just transition that prioritizes the most vulnerable people and indigenous sovereignty; establishes reparations and remediation led by and for Black people, Indigenous people, people of color and poor communities for years of environmental injustice, establishes legal rights for ecosystems to thrive and regenerate in perpetuity, and repairs the effects of ongoing ecocide to prevent extinction of human and all species, in order to maintain a livable, just planet for all.

XR PRINCIPLES

1	WE HAVE A SHARED VISION OF CHANGE Creating a world that is fit for generations to come.

2	WE SET OUR MISSION ON WHAT IS NECESSARY Mobilising 3.5% of the population to achieve system change – using ideas such as “Momentum-driven organizing” to achieve this.

3	WE NEED A REGENERATIVE CULTURE Creating a culture which is healthy, resilient and adaptable.

4	WE OPENLY CHALLENGE OURSELVES AND THIS TOXIC SYSTEM Leaving our comfort zones to take action for change.

5	WE VALUE REFLECTING AND LEARNING Following a cycle of action, reflection, learning, and planning for more action. Learning from other movements and contexts as well as our own experiences.

6	WE WELCOME EVERYONE AND EVERY PART OF EVERYONE Working actively to create safer and more accessible spaces.

7	WE ACTIVELY MITIGATE FOR POWER Breaking down hierarchies of power for more equitable participation.

8	WE AVOID BLAMING AND SHAMING We live in a toxic system, but no one individual is to blame.

9	WE ARE A NON-VIOLENT NETWORK Using non-violent strategy and tactics as the most effective way to bring about change.

10	WE ARE BASED ON AUTONOMY AND DECENTRALIZATION We collectively create the structures we need to challenge power. Anyone who follows these core principles and values can take action in the name of Extinction Rebellion.

NORTH CAROLINIANS, CLIMATE CHANGE IS HERE

Because climate change is not something that will happen to our children or grandchildren. It is already transforming our state's shoreline, forests, and farms. We are witnessing more severe storms, more frequent flooding, and more difficult conditions for agriculture. Rains come not at all or in great bursts, growing seasons are shifting, migratory patterns changing.

All this with warming of 1° Celsius. We are not on track to meet the carbon reductions agreed to in the Paris Accords, and even if we were, scientists estimate that our planet would still warm by 3.0 to 3.5° C by 2100. The consequences of continued warming and ensuing climate change will be catastrophic, affecting everything from rainfall, daily temperatures, the duration and intensity of storms, food production, transportation, sea level rise and the fundamental habitability many regions around the globe, causing mass human migrations.

If a foreign power began disrupting our society, natural resources and children's futures like this, I would like to believe we would respond with great unity and determination to secure the stability of our planet.

But, we collectively seem to be sleepwalking towards this existential threat.

This is our last chance to act to prevent catastrophic climate change that threatens humanity and biodiversity worldwide. Like Greta Thunberg said at Davos, "I want you to act as you would in a crisis. I want you to act as if our house is on fire. Because it is."

Extinction Rebellion is part of the climate emergency movement, which includes organizations such as the School Strikers, Sunrise and Zero Hour. We seek to force emergency government action to address the climate catastrophe. Much of thinking behind the climate emergency movement was developed by The Climate Mobilization, which advocates for a WWII scale Climate Mobilization to eliminate emissions in 10 years or less, along with a massive drawdown program to remove excess carbon from the atmosphere.