Copenhagen Out of the Frying Pan, Part 8
Publisher's Note: I asked our guest blogger, Alex Carlin, to send along a wrap-up blog reflecting on his experience at COP15, and looking ahead to COP16 later this year. He graciously agreed, and here are his reflections on the conference and climate change. --Lisa Graves, Executive Director

Copenhagen, Out of the Frying Pan, Pt. 7 On my way to the final day of the COP15 Conference I stopped off at an exhibit called the Climate Maze. If you ever wanted to get lost in a labyrinth of hedges this is pretty close, but the walls are covered with pieces of canvas, each piece having one person's signature--multitudes of missives were delivered from every region of the globe. The signers all urge this Conference to get it done and "Seal the Deal." Sean Fields, who was caretaking the labyrinth, told me it was produced by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Copenhagen, Out of the Frying Pan, Pt. 6 I stopped in on an event moderated by George Monbiot (the fine columnist from UK's "The Guardian" newspaper ) at Klimaforum dealing with how things are going and how we should proceed. He was taking comments from the large audience--a major hall filled to near capacity. Missing were heads of state.

Copenhagen, Out of the Frying Pan, Pt. 5

I walked into the Klimaforum hall and saw a group of newly arrived Bolivians organizing themselves near the entrance. I had just read some great quotes from South American leaders--Venezuela's Hugo Chavez saying if the climate crisis was a banking problem it would be already solved, and Bolivia's Evo Morales calling "shame" on America, as he compared the 687 billion dollar defense budget of the U.S. to the 10 billion America is offering to finance the third world climate budget being negotiated now at the Conference.

Copenhagen, Out of the Frying Pan, Part 4

Allow me to apologize for the delay in filing this report, but as we were walking back to our base in Christiania, we were blocked by shoulder to shoulder police and their vans. Christiania was again under seige, and I haven't been able to get to an internet access until now. My next blog will have some general information about this amazing phenomena called "Christiania", this city within the city. Tonight, I'll play a concert there and see how things have settled since the rather large battle last night.

Copenhagen Out of the Frying Pan, Part 3
Walking to the starting point of the demonstration and march we felt lucky that for the 12th of December it was a pretty nice day. It seems quite important now to show big numbers on the streets and exert some of that "people power" that we will need to break the inertia on global climate action. Walking over the giant canal on an arching bridge we can see the big Greenpeace ship sitting right there--what a great parking place--those guys really must have some good juice in this city to get that!

Copenhagen Out of the Frying Pan, Part 2

I walked into the alternative to the Climate Conference, ”Klimaforum09,” with a specific question I wanted answered: "In what practical way can the activists here be successful in the effort to avoid catastrophic climate change?" I had heard plenty of general declarations about how bad our plight is, and about the necessity for clean energy to happen fast – but I wanted to know what was being done to get from Point A to Point B.

Copenhagen Out of the Frying Pan, Part 1

I am pleased to welcome Alex Carlin, the Director of The Leo J. and Celia Carlin Fund and organizer of 100 Miles of Mirrors, who is guest-blogging for the Center for Media and Democracy from the UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen. This is the first in a series of reports of his observations from COP15. Thanks, Alex! Lisa Graves

The morning of June 20, 2006, an email message circulated amongst U.S. Defense Department officials.

"Jed Babbin, one of our military analysts, is hosting the Michael Medved nationally syndicated radio show this afternoon. He would like to see if General [George W.] Casey would be available for a phone interview," the Pentagon staffer wrote. "This would be a softball interview and the show is 8th or 9th in the nation."

Why would the Pentagon help set up a radio interview? And how did they know that the interview would be "softball"?

From early 2002 to April 2008, the Defense Department offered talking points, organized trips to places such as Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, and gave private briefings to a legion of retired military officers working as media pundits. The Pentagon's military analyst program, a covert effort to promote a positive image of the Bush administration's wartime performance, was a multi-level campaign involving quite a few colorful characters.

Flipping through the over 8,000 pages of documents released in connection with the program, one Pentagon pundit arguably steals the spotlight: Jed Babbin.

In the 1980s, a new form of marketing was born: Cause-Related Marketing (CRM), a hybrid of product advertising and corporate public relations. CRM aims to link corporate identities with nonprofit organizations and good causes. As a tax-deductible expense for business, this form of brand leveraging seeks to connect with the consuming public beyond the traditional point of purchase and to form long-lasting and emotional ties with consumers. However, what might seem like a fair exchange between corporations in search of goodwill and non-profits in search of funds also raises a range of troubling social, political and ethical questions.

CRM is, first and foremost, a market-driven system. Therefore, a non-profit organization’s chance of obtaining CRM funding hinges on its ability to complement sales messages. However, it is often the case that vital social issues are only -- or are best -- addressed by “edgy” groups or by using controversial tactics.