It’s Getting Hot In Here

Good news for the climate in 2009 came in the form of a host of local victories and unprecedented civil society coordination at the international climate negotiations, both of which demonstrated that across the U.S. and the world, the call for real climate action is alive and growing.  But in other obvious and important ways–stalled US climate legislation, an anti-climactic Copenhagen climate summit, a resurgence of climate skepticism in the media– it was not the 2009 many of us had hoped for.  So- What now?  What next?
Continue reading ‘If you want to know, just ask…’

In today’s “Chevron is a dirty liar” news: The oil giant pulls another dirty PR trick and lies to avoid paying $27 billion to clean up their toxic legacy in Ecuador.

For years, the people of Ecuador have been trying to get Chevron to clean up the billions of gallons of toxic waste and unlined oil pits that were left to poison their water, their land, and their community.

Chevron has used dirty tricks and tactics every step of the way during the decades-long legal challenge to force them to clean up Ecuador. They’ve hired dirty PR, legal, and lobby teams; forced the case to move around the globe; fabricated a story to discredit the original Judge; and filed endless motions that are eventually denied but nevertheless succeed in further draining the plaintiff’s resources and delaying a judgment. Continue reading ‘Chevron Lies, People Die’

Originally published by The Stanford Daily

Last week, the Obama administration introduced a proposal that every college student in the country should know about. It represents the nation’s first comprehensive federal program for clean energy education, and it is a critical step toward regaining American leadership in one of the most important industries of our time.

Over the past two years, a growing numbers of experts have called for federal programs to develop the country’s clean energy workforce. In April 2009, President Obama took up these calls by announcing the first nationwide initiative to inspire and train young Americans “to tackle the single most important challenge of their generation — the need to develop cheap, abundant, clean energy and accelerate the transition to a low carbon economy.”

The proposal, called RE-ENERGYSE (Regaining our Energy Science and Engineering Edge), is part of the administration’s 2011 budget request, which will be considered by Congress in the months ahead. With oversight by the Department of Energy and National Science Foundation, it would educate thousands of clean energy scientists and engineers, beginning with $74 million for energy-related programs at universities, community and technical colleges and K-12 schools.

“In order to make the leap in global energy technology leadership, the U.S. must also make the leap in energy education,” states the Department of Energy’s proposal (PDF). “This effort will help universities and community colleges develop cutting edge programs, with redesigned and new curricula to produce tens of thousands of other highly skilled U.S. workers who can sustain American excellence in clean energy in industry, trades, academia, the federal government and National Laboratories.”

Continue reading ‘Educating the Energy Generation’

From Clayton Thomas-Muller

We all know the Olympics are about more than fun and games but we need your action to help get the facts heard! The Olympics industry tries to promote that the 2010 Winter Games a re making a positive contribution for our ‘social, economic, and environmental benefit’, but in reality the Olympic Industry causes large-scale environmental destruction and negative social impacts – as do many of its corporate sponsors.

Right here in our backyard, we have the largest industrial project on the planet, the Tar Sands, and two of the top Tar Sands investors are lead sponsors with the Olympics – Royal Bank and Petro Canada/Suncor. The Royal Bank of Canada is the largest financier of Tar Sands expansions and Petro Canada/Suncor directly operates six Tar Sands projects, is a major supporter of the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline – a project set to devastate communities and land throughout Alberta, BC and the Northwest Territories – and is the main energy supplier to the Olympics.

This means the Olympics are being powered up by Tar Sands crude!

Continue reading ‘Feb 13th – Call out for solidarity actions across Canada against Olympic and Tar Sands green washing!’

The fossil fools ain’t no joke – but that doesn’t mean we can’t fight them with one!

The Fossil Fuel Empire is real and it’s here. The stakes couldn’t be higher: destabilization of the global climate, communities from Alaska to Appalachia being destroyed by dirty energy extraction and combustion, devastating super hurricanes, droughts, flooding, the list goes on…

Last December in Copenhagen, the politicians sold us out to the fossil fools, corporate lobbyists and big banks. Now we’re left with “green capitalism,” carbon market shenanigans and continued assaults on our communities and ecosystems. If we’re going to stop climate change, the only real solution is to keep fossil fuels in the ground.

This April, join Rising Tide North America as we pull some pranks that pack a punch. Use the simply subversive to the downright disruptive: office occupations, banner drops, road blockades, clownish parades, spoof product launches, sub-vertising, leaflets, street theater, lock-downs and laugh-ins. Whatever works for you and your group! Continue reading ‘Fossil Fools Day 2010: Pull a prank that packs a punch April 1′

More than I ever thought, businesses are serious about sustainability. And I’m not talking just small businesses – I’m talking about big corporations like Disney, ESPN, and Aspen Ski Company. I know this because I recently was at the 2010 Winter X Games in Aspen, seeing behind the scenes, meeting the people responsible for environmental projects, and generally witnessing first hand through observation and conversation how serious these companies are getting about environmental stewardship.

I journeyed to the X Games this year wearing two hats: I’m an Educator with ACE (Alliance for Climate Education) and also our new National Campaigns Manager. ACE was invited to bring our sweet climate change assembly and our new Do One Thing (DOT) campaign to Aspen to support some of ESPN’s environmental initiatives. This was an amazing experience for a number of reasons! It’s easier to illuminate the experience in video – so if you’re interested, check out a short clip of some of our live reporting last week:

Here’s the scoop on what the companies I mentioned at the start are doing to lower their carbon emissions and raise their voices for a future safe from climate change: Continue reading ‘X Games Opened My Eyes’

Cross-posted at The Leadership Campaign Blog

Today, An Act to Create a Repower Massachusetts Emergency Task Force — written by Students for a Just and Stable Future (SJSF) and others in The Leadership Campaign — was released from the Senate Ethics and Rules Committee during the 6th Day of Climate Court Hearings for the Boston Common Sleep-out.

Each day last week, citizen-activists marched from the Court House after paying their court fees to the State House to show legislators the depth and breadth of support for the bill.  Well over 100 people faced the courts last week for sleeping out on the Boston Common after the park had formally closed (a misdemeanor trespassing offense).

After scores of people visited his and other key legislator’s offices indicating their support, Senator Frederick Berry, Chair of the Senate Ethics & Rules Committee (and Senate Majority Leader) released the bill from his committee and moved it along to the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities, and Energy.

“We are extremely thankful to Senator Berry for releasing our bill from committee, opening debate to legislators across the state and allowing us to focus our energy on gathering the votes needed to pass it this spring,” said Martha Pskowski, Hampshire student and Western Massachusetts Legislative Coordinator for SJSF. Continue reading ‘MA Bill Leaves Committee as Climate Court Hearings Continue’

[The following was co-written by Naomi Klein, author of #1 international bestseller The Shock Doctrine, Terry Tempest Williams, world renowned wildlife author, Bill Mckibben, founder of 350.org and author of The End Of Nature, and Dr. James Hansen, author of Storms of my Grandchildren, and who is regarded as the world's leading climatologist. All recognize the trial of Tim DeChristopher to be a turning point in the climate movement. Please visit our resource page for more information]

Dear Friends,

The epic fight to ward off global warming and transform the energy system that is at the core of our planet’s economy takes many forms: huge global days of action, giant international conferences like the one that just failed in Copenhagen, small gestures in the homes of countless people.

But there are a few signal moments, and one comes next month, when the federal government puts Tim DeChristopher on trial in Salt Lake City. Tim—“Bidder 70”– pulled off one of the most creative protests against our runaway energy policy in years: he bid for the oil and gas leases on several parcels of federal land even though he had no money to pay for them, thus upending the auction. The government calls that “violating the Federal Onshore Oil and Gas Leasing Reform Act” and thinks he should spend ten years in jail for the crime; we call it a noble act, a profound gesture made on behalf of all of us and of the future. Continue reading ‘Call to action by Naomi Klein, Terry Tempest Williams, Bill McKibben, Dr. James Hansen and Peaceful Uprising’

As a tribute to the inspiring Climate Generation series, I thought I would re-publish this early history of Energy Action, originally written in December 2005.

A History of Energy Action

We each arrived on the scene from different beginnings. Billy Parish, Adi Nochur, and Meg Boyle were taking time in and out of school to pull together a powerful new climate coalition in the Northeast U.S.. Maureen Cane, Arthur Coulston, and Marcia Winslade were establishing their own sustainability network in California after a major clean energy victory at one of the nations’ largest university systems. Lindsay Telfer and Jeca Glor-Bell were spearheading an innovative sustainable campuses initiative in Canada as part of the Sierra Youth Coalition. Nick Algee and Liz Veazey were storming through the American Southeast shouting “Green Power” in the heart of coal country. Tricia Feeney and I were building a national student clean energy campaign with the Student Environmental Action Coalition. We were joined by networks, campaigns, and individuals from all corners of the US and Canada, all committed to bringing about a clean energy revolution. With relatively little national organizing experience and few of us over the age of 25, we set out to tackle the beasts of global warming and dirty energy by creating a North American youth and student clean energy and climate coalition rooted in unified action.

Thanks to the efforts of more than 20 environmental networks and organizations and more than 300 student campaigns for clean energy across the United States and Canada, the student and youth clean energy movement has become a powerful force for change locally, regionally, nationally, and globally. As is so often the case with important movements, our network grew out of several small, but forceful local examples initiated by students and young people. In the mid to late 1990s, Middlebury College, Tufts University, Northland College, and University of Vermont all made significant clean energy achievements. Students played an important role at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992 where the seeds were planted for a concerted international response to the problem of global warming. Between 1997 and 2001, University of Vermont, Tufts University, Cornell University, and Lewis and Clark College in Oregon had all committed to or achieved the greenhouse gas emission reduction levels called for in the Kyoto Protocol. By 2001, 55 colleges in New Jersey had committed to reducing greenhouse gas levels to 3.5% below 1990 levels. The student campaign, “Kyoto Now!” at Cornell was particularly important for the growth of the national movement.

Continue reading ‘Climate Generation: A History of Energy Action (2005)’

Area fire and ambulance crews arrive near the scene in Middletown, Conn., Sunday, Feb. 7, 2010. Multiple people have died in an explosion at a power plant in Connecticut and an unknown number of people are injured. (AP Photo/Richard Messina, Hartford Courant)

This morning, at 11:30 am, Middletown’s Kleen Energy Power Plant suffered a major explosion,  believed to be when a gas line caught fire during testing. Friends who work at the plant said that there were 50 – 100 construction workers, engineers, and plant managers who were inside. As of 12 pm, Middletown firefighters had only found 9 individuals. Since then, five* have been reported dead, with casualties and injuries expected to be many more. Firefighters from around the state came into the plant, with Hartford and Boston’s search-and-rescue teams both coming to Middletown to help clear the wreckage and free workers still stuck inside.

Workers at the plant were working long shifts, trying to finish the plant on a tight schedule. Matthew Lesser, Middletown’s representative to state government, said, “As I understand it, they were testing a gas line when the explosion took place but we’re not sure. Our first priority is making sure that everyone there is safe.” Continue reading ‘CT Gas Power Plant Explosion Reminds Fossil Fuels are Deadly’