It’s Getting Hot In Here

UPDATE:  After 32 hours activists came down of their own free will.  No arrests.  The EPA is definitely getting the message (see below).

Cross-posted on the Understory

By Amanda Starbuck

RAN activists have spent two days locked-down to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), demanding justice for the people of Appalachia by enforcing the Clean Water Act and ending mountaintop removal mining (MTR).

Specifically we requested that EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson visit Appalachia to witness this American tragedy firsthand by taking a citizen-guided flyover of a mountaintop removal mine site.

While the EPA has not committed to taking the flyover, we are encouraged by their positive comments.

Almost every person who passed through our ‘Purple Mountain’s Majesty’ and underneath the banner “EPA: Pledge to End Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining in 2010” has been incredibly encouraging of our action. EPA employees, tourists and DC residents all demonstrated their support on the issue.

In addition to the many comments from EPA employees that “we are doing a great job” and “please keep doing what you’re doing”, Lisa Jackson personally tweeted her response. Administrator Jackson said in her tweet: “People are here today expressing views on MTM, a critical issue to our country. They’re concerned abt human health & water quality & so am I.”

Continue reading ‘Two days locked-down to the EPA campaigning to end mountaintop removal’

On Friday, March 12th, students and faculty from across New Mexico had the opportunity to speak with Jonathan Black, a staffer from the office of Senator Jeff Bingaman, and Andrew Wallace, staffer for Senator Tom Udall, about clean energy, nuclear power in New Mexico, and the legislative process in passing an energy or cap-and-trade bill.  This conference call was a continuation of the series sponsored by the Bard Center for Environmental Policy.

Senator Tom Udall (D-New Mexico)     Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-New Mexico)

Students at University of New Mexico, who hosted the call, were especially concerned about why the development of alternative energy in New Mexico has not occurred at a faster rate – especially since New Mexico is a prime location for development of utility-scale solar electric or solar thermal plants.  Wallace pointed out that there are plenty of federal and state incentives in place – the stumbling block is transmission, especially for a utility scale plant.  Any transmission lines built will have to cross thousands of miles of land to connect to the grid in the West – and it’s important to build the grid in the right way with minimal disruption to the land through which it will pass.  Wallace also cited a bit of a chicken and the egg problem with solar and other alternative energies — people don’t want to invest in solar until the price per unit comes down, but the price per unit won’t come down until people start investing in order to drive the market towards innovation and investment. Continue reading ‘Let’s Talk: New Mexico’

Today Boston Mayor Thomas “Mumbles” Menino announced a $63 million investment to retrofit 4300 public housing units. The plan trumps Chicago’s $43 million project as the nation’s largest energy efficiency investment in public housing.

Mayor Menino’s announcement comes after Massachusetts finalized a three-year plan to triple utility investments in energy efficiency. Boston and the State of Massachusetts are moving toward a clean energy future. But will it be enough?

An emerging coalition of faith, business, environmental, and workforce development groups are joining The Leadership Campaign in challenging the Massachusetts State Legislature to double-down on recent clean energy and energy efficiency investments by creating a task force to achieve 100% clean electricity by 2020. The campaign – The Commonwealth Challenge, launched on March 4th – is not your typical political initiative.

Continue reading ‘Commonwealth Challenge: Will Massachusetts Lead the Next American Revolution?’

Reposted from the Understory

by Nell Greenberg

At 7:00 am this morning, a dozen brave activists released a 25-foot banner on the lawn of the EPA headquarters in Washington, DC. The message on the banner calls on the EPA to pledge to end mountaintop removal coal mining in 2010. But there’s a catch—the banner and two of its holders are suspended from two freestanding tripods 20-feet above the air, and after seven hours they are still hanging there with no sign of coming down.

Today’s protest is an attempt to further pressure EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to enforce the Clean Water Act and halt mountaintop removal coal mining (MTR). Called the worst of the worst strip mining, the practice blows the tops off of whole mountains and contaminates drinking water all for a tiny amount of coal. Activists in today’s protest say they won’t leave unless Administrator Jackson commits to a flyover visit of the Appalachian Mountains and MTR sites, which, shockingly, she has never done before.

After seven hours, Administrator Jackson has made no such commitment. However, a few hours ago she tweeted her response to the protest gathering attention outside her window. As Administrator Jackson said in her tweet: “People are here today expressing views on MTM, a critical issue to our country. They’re concerned abt human health & water quality & so am I.”

It is very clear that the EPA is listening to the message being brought to their doorstep. However, at this point in the battle to end mountaintop removal coal mining, the question isn’t about whether Administrator Jackson is concerned about the issue. The question is what is her agency going to really do about it? Continue reading ‘Lisa Jackson’s Reaction To Mountaintop Removal Activist Lock Down At EPA’

A good friend (and talented organizer) recently told me that direct action wasn’t going to accomplish change on the scale that we need.  The point is that if we want national (and global) change, solutions need to be applied across the country, not in a piecemeal fashion.  For example, it’s a lot more efficient to fight for national vehicle mileage or emissions standards than trying to do the same thing state by state.  A national renewable standard would build on the successes of over half of the states in the US and apply to those states that for various reasons lack a renewable standard, creating market certainty for the growing but tenuous renewable energy sector.

Much can be accomplished through policy venues.  But we should not delude ourselves that policy alone will solve the problem.  Good policy is nothing without good implementation.  But what happens when implementation fails, when the structures we have created are broken?  What recourse do we have?  As far as I can see we have two options: 1) reform/transform political structures through further policy change and 2) take direct action to stop those failures.

These options are not and should not be exclusive; they are both necessary.

Continue reading ‘Direct Action in Our Movement’

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” These powerful words were penned in a prison cell in 1963, by one of the best-known advocates of equal rights – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Keep reading + Scroll down for Action Form!

Two environmental activists appeared in court today accused of terrorism-related offences during the Copenhagen climate summit in December.

Natasha Verco, an Australian honours student, and Noah Weiss, an American citizen who lives in Denmark, will face similar charges in a trial which is due to last all week.

Verco, who has organised non-violent direct action in her native country and who has been part of the Climate Justice Action (CJA) network in the lead-up to the summit in Copenhagen, has been charged with organising violence, organising public disorder, significant damage to property, and organising disorder during the international talks on climate change which took place in Copenhagen last year. If found guilty, Verco faces a maximum of twelve and a half years in prison.

Continue reading ‘Action Alert! Copenhagen Climate activists accused of terrorism, your urgent help needed’

UPDATE: Friday March 19–After 30 hours activists are still locked down in front of the EPA headquarters in Washington, DC demanding justice for the people of Appalachia and protection for our historic mountains and precious water resources.

Hi Res Pictures

Want to help? Here’s some ways:

• Follow @RANactions on Twitter for updates
• Tweet:Dear @LisaPJackson, Over 470 American mountains are gone forever. How many more will it take for @EPAgov to ban #MTR #coal? #GoToAppalachia!
• Facebook:Comment on the Lisa Jackson’s Facebook fan page, and ask her to “Please go to Appalachia and see for yourself, it’s time to end MTR!” Facebook.com/lisapjackson

Activists Risk Arrest with Elaborate Protest at EPA HQ; Demand Immediate Action to Stop Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining

Group Erects Purple Mountain Majesty At EPA; Say “If Administrator Lisa Jackson Won’t Visit the Appalachian Mountains, They Will Bring The Mountains to Her”

WASHINGTON— In an attempt to further pressure EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to enforce the Clean Water Act and halt mountaintop removal coal mining (MTR), activists early this morning erected two 20-foot-tall, purple tripod structures in front of the agency’s headquarters. A pair of activists perched at the top of the tripods have strung a 25-foot sign in front of the EPA’s door that reads, “EPA: pledge to end mountaintop removal in 2010.” Six people are locked to the tripods and say they won’t leave unless Administrator Jackson commits to a flyover visit of the Appalachian Mountains and MTR sites, which she has never done before.

This is the latest in a series of actions and activities aimed at pressuring the EPA to take more decisive action on mountaintop removal coal mining. Today’s tactic is modeled on the multi-day tree-sits that have been happening in West Virginia to protect mountains from coal companies’ imminent blasting. Called the worst of the worst strip mining, the practice blows the tops off of whole mountains to scoop out the small seams of coal that lie beneath. Continue reading ‘Breaking: Anti-MTR Activists Risk Arrest at EPA HQ with Elaborate Protest’

Originally published by Clean Edge

In the aftermath of the Great Recession, the United States faces serious questions about the future of its economy and jobs market. Where will the good jobs of the future come from, how do we prepare the American workforce, and what is our strategy to maintain economic leadership in an increasingly competitive world?

A growing consensus suggests that clean tech will be one of our generation’s largest growth sectors. The global clean-tech market is expected to surpass $1 trillion in value within the next few years, and a perfect storm of factors – from the inevitability of a carbon-constrained world, to skyrocketing global energy demand, to long-term oil price hikes – will drive global demand for clean-energy technologies.

That is why the national debate about global clean-tech competitiveness is so important, sparked by the rapid entry of China and other nations. My colleagues and I recently contributed to the discussion with “Rising Tigers, Sleeping Giant,” a large report providing the first comprehensive analysis of competitive positions among the U.S. and key Asian challengers. In order to compete, we found, “U.S. energy policy must include large, direct and coordinated investments in clean-technology R&D, manufacturing, deployment, and infrastructure.”

But even if the United States adopts a real industrial policy for clean energy, there is little evidence that our workforce is skilled enough to compete. Unfortunately, according to the Department of Energy, “The U.S. ranks behind other major nations in making the transitions required to educate students for emerging energy trades, research efforts and other professions to support the future energy technology mix.”

Continue reading ‘Racing for Clean-Tech Jobs: Why America Needs an Energy Education Strategy’

Montana’s governor Brian Schweitzer loves coal.  He once described the state as the Saudi Arabia of coal and, while half heartedly championing wind power, continues to push coal forward in Montana. I know there’s been

a lot of focus on the incredibly destructive mountain top removal practices in Appalachia, but I wanted to remind folks that Montana (and Wyoming) coal is also a huge player in the national coal scene.

Just yesterday, Arch coal, a St Louis company with mines in Appalachia, Wyoming and elsewhere, bid $86 million for  572 million tons of state-owned coal in southeastern Montana’s Otter Creek Valley. (Arch coal already bought up a privately owned piece of Otter Creek, bringing the new total to 1.3 billion tons of coal).  Back in December, after years of speculation, the Montana land board voted to open up the public land to mining, but set a high price on the coal at 25 cents/ton, roughly twice what Arch coal was willing to pay.  The decision was seen as a minor victory…for about a month, until Arch coal complained and no other companies bid on the coal and the board simply reduced the cost to 15 cents/ton which Arch coal promptly agreed to pay.

The decision was hotly contested by environmental groups, including a high school group from Big Sky high school in Missoula who protested at the hearing and staged a walk out from school.  Hoping to placate students, the land board directed the money from the Arch coal’s bonus bid towards school funding, but admitted that, “The directive is not binding on the Legislature.”

Continue reading ‘Montana Pushes Forward with Coal: Tries to Bribe Student Protesters’

In Grand County, Utah, people are thirsty. Utah is a desert state; it’s a thirsty place. What we love about Utah is its unique, gorgeous, otherworldly geography, which keeps us coming back or sticking around. So explain this logic to me: a horrifying and unprecedented project could put Utah’s Canyonlands National Park and Glen Canyon Recreation Area at serious risk, while at the same time thrusting a new source of water-depleting, CO2-billowing, filthy, and geographically destructive (but pseudoprofitable!) business into the equation.

I’m talking about the first ever bona fide tar sands extraction project in the United States of America–right here, in my own backyard!

You might have heard about the tar sands extraction happening in Canada. This nightmarish debacle has transformed countless acres of priceless Canadian biodiversity into a sticky black cesspool, for primarily America consumption. Don’t take my word for it; do a simple Google image search for “Canadian Tar Sands.” After you’ve done that, imagine the effect these proposed tar pits would have on the land immediately adjacent to the sites. Now picture that land as Canyonlands National Park. I’m not making this up. Continue reading ‘First US Tar Sands to Break Ground in Utah’