The U.N. Climate Conference in Copenhagen is critical for setting the world on a path that actually deals with climate change. Few would disagree, and consequently, civil society organizations from around the globe have brought staff and volunteers here to push for climate solutions, to keep an eye on negotiators and to prepare themselves for the follow-on struggles within individual nations. Any real solution will significantly redistribute wealth and power as we move away from centralized, fossil fuel-based power systems, industrial agriculture and a world economy based on long distance trade in cheap synthetic manufactured goods.

The ability of civil society groups to montor and p