It’s Getting Hot In Here

There are massive differences between how young people in the United States and around the world have organized in response to the climate crisis and the traditional environmental and political organizations focused on energy and environmental challenges. These include the elevation of unity as a goal, as well as a means to accomplishing political action on climate. The Energy Action Coalition is a testament to this mentality, with 50 organizations ranging from traditional environmental youth groups to environmental justice groups to political empowerment organizations all banding together in a joint campaign – including joint fundraising and targeting. This is something that no-one is expecting from any of the major environmental organizations, to submit to a consensus based, joint funding effort with all organizations from all political angles pitching in together.

Online, It’s Getting Hot in Here is another testament to the diversity of the youth climate movement, bringing together voices from all across the political spectrum, from radical direct action activists who don’t really like infrastructure, to young policy wonks able to bring expertise to exact provisions of the 1,400+ Waxman-Markey Bill. This blog features youth leaders from organizations even further flung, including the Indian Youth Climate Network, the Australian Youth Climate Coalition, and newer organizations like Grand Aspirations or the Alliance for Climate Education. We together pool our opinions, our voices, our analysis through one outlet, this site, to reach our audience – the youth climate movement. We don’t agree with each other, a lot, but we work together because together we are the largest youth blog on any social issue in the world. That is our strength. It may also be our weakness, or at least Joe Romm thinks so.

Joe Romm is a blogger that Rolling Stone called “America’s fiercest climate-change activist-blogger“. He writes the largest climate blog in the world and he is a sharp analyst that has written posts that have been invaluable to me as I desperately try and track the legislation, studies, and incessant lobbying that swirls around the climate policy world. However, he just wrote a piece attacking our “otherwise fine blog” as serving as a platform for The Breakthrough Institute’s anti-climate disinformation. Particularly, he singled out Jesse Jenkins, one of our most prolific bloggers and contributing editors.

Continue reading ‘Unity over Divisiveness: Generational Approaches to the Climate Crisis’

The great state of Texas is embarking on a political maelstrom like few things the state has ever seen.  In 2010, long time US Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison will be leaving her post in Congress and running for Governor.  

That leaves a great big US Senate seat open in one of the largest, richest, and most dirty-energy dominated states in the country, and ReEnergize Texas has decided to start putting climate and energy at the center of the race from the very beginning. We’ve interviewed the two top contenders to emerge for the Senate spot so far – Democrat Bill White (Houston’s Mayor), and Republican Michael Williams (Chairman of the Texas Railroad Commission which primarily regulates oil, gas, coal, and uranium).

Here’s the first part of our interview with Bill White:

Continue reading ‘The Road to the Senate Goes Through Us!’

Cultivate your inspiration. Become a Focus Roots Fellow and win $10,000 to create a clean energy project in your community.

Hey YOU.  Yeah, you – with the passion for kickin’ our dirty coal habit and the drive to do what ever it’ll take.  You with the creative and brilliant ideas.  That’s right: YOU.  You know you that only have a few days left, right? A few more to get some serious cash to turn that awesome idea for bringing the clean energy future to your town into a real, kick-ass well-funded project.  Wait, you don’t know about the Focus Roots Fellowships?

Ok, we’ll fill you in.  Here’s the deal:  submit an application by July 15th and you could be one of two young climate leaders between the ages of 18 and 29 to receive $10,000 to create your very own amazing, community-changing clean energy project.  This is the Focus Roots Fellowship, coming to you by the fun folks at Focus the Nation.

This year’s Fellowships will harness the power of Sports and Art to get you bringing clean energy and climate justice to the place you live.   That ain’t all – you will also get a free trip out to Portland, OR for training, free participation in Climate Ride (that means biking from NYC to DC and lobbying Congress on climate legislation), and finally – the real kicker – all expenses paid attendance at the COP15 Climate Talks in Copenhagen in December.  Basically, Focus Roots is your climate leadership dream come true.

So stop reading this blog post and send us your application!  Get all the deets at www.focusthenation.org/roots.

Hello!

I just graduated from college with degrees in English and Environmental Studies. As one of my writing projects, I’m working on compiling a book of interviews with young environmental activists (age 22 or below). The book will contain interviews with one youth from each state.

As an activist, I have found that the single thing that most inspires me to take action is hearing about other youth who have been successful in fighting for the issues that matter to them. I’ve also learned that, outside of the amazing networks I’ve been privileged to become connected with, there is a sad lack of knowledge throughout the general public of the amazing work youth across the nation are doing.
Continue reading ‘Environmental Activists: Would You Like to be Interviewed?’

The New York Action Network has joined RAN’s campaign to force Wall Street’s biggest bank out of Appalachia.

Right now, JP Morgan Chase (JPMC) is the biggest financier of coal companies destroying our Appalachian Mountains.

Check out the video they made after they visited Chase branches all over Manhattan on Friday and Saturday.

Continue reading 'NYC Campaign to Stop JP Morgan Chase from Funding Mountaintop Removal'

…a jam-packed day of climate science, public speaking training, and networking that is!

Check out some sweet highlights from ACE’s (not ACES… the climate bill!) student presenter training.  On June 16, 20 high school students descended upon the newly opened (and LEED-fabulous) David Brower Center in downtown Berkeley, CA.

A big thank you to the SSC for joining us and providing our students with powerful training and skill building!

If you want in for our next training, August 11th 2009, email Ashlee Jensen as soon as possible.  You won’t want to miss it!  (that’s ashlee.jensen@climateeducation.org)  Below the fold is a bit more about what our training covers.

You can also watch many more videos from ACE at: www.youtube.com/climateed Continue reading ‘High School Students Get Served…’

This year’s 2nd annual Brita Climate Ride and “climate conference on wheels” will see 200 cyclists pedal 300 miles from New York City to the US Capitol in Washington DC to raise money and awareness to fight climate change. The ride takes place from September 26 to 30, 2009, and benefits critical projects at three climate and bike-related organizations: Rails-To-Trails Conservancy, Focus the Nation, and Clean Air – Cool Planet. The ride is an unforgettable experience and a unique opportunity to be part of the movement. The picture below shows Climate Riders biking into Washington DC during last September’s Brita Climate Ride.

Continue reading ‘Brita Climate Ride – Space Still Available – Sept 26 to 30′

Cross-posted from: here

In my first post on the coming climate legislation battle in the Senate, I focused on a myriad of suggestions on how both the politicians pushing legislation as well as environmental activists and organizations could work to get a stronger bill. Despite the monumental challenge of getting to 60 votes in the Senate, as I said in the first post which I won’t repeat in depth here, there are advantages in terms of how to increase the pressure on Senators that we didn’t have in the House. However that isn’t the focus of this post. This post basically shows that absent a much stronger and smarter mobilization in the Senate, there will need to be wheeling and dealing done by President Obama, Barbara Boxer and Harry Reid, along with top Democrats.

As a disclaimer I will say that the “pick your poison” scenario I lay out at the end is not one that I would like to see. It is simply a look at what it’s going to take to get 60. Another disclaimer is this is a long post, so bring a snack. Continue reading ‘Navigating a Minefield Part 2′

Photo Credit: Christine Irvine

This week the bell sounded for round 2 in the US climate change saga with the opening hearing of Sen Boxer’s Environment and Public Works Committee. Over 100 youth organized by the Avaaz Climate Action Factory DC were there, in senators faces, showing them how to get a strong climate bill. Kanye West and Daft Punk provided the inspiration for the week with the theme: Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger.

Harder – oversight on coal plants.
Better – Renewable Portfolio Standard and investments in international adaptation.
Faster – emissions reductions targets.
STRONGER – leadership in the Senate and a stronger bill!

Continue reading ‘Avaaz Action Factory helps Senators pump it up and make a STRONG climate bill’

According to The Center for Public Integrity, more than 770 companies and interest groups hired an estimated 2,340 lobbyists to influence federal climate policy in 2008.  That means every day, 2,340 briefcase-holding and business card-carrying bodies walk through the halls of Congress with the sole aim of either strengthening or weakening the policies that will help spark a clean energy revolution and combat the climate crisis. From Chevron to Chevrolet, from Alcoa to Xerox, everybody is funding somebody to argue their case. This Washington insider game is what’s determining the climate policies that make it out of Congress.

When you think of it though, why should these inside-the-beltway lobbyists have all the clout? Our future as individual human beings is at stake along with the future of major corporations and utility districts! How can the everyday citizen get on the same playing field as these lobbyists? These questions encouraged us, two college students who are part of the youth climate movement, to set out writing a guide to climate policy that would help every American understand the policy details and political context around the climate debate in Congress. The result is “The Citizen’s Guide to Climate Policy,” a short booklet that will prepare you to become a lobbyist for change. The only way we’re going to get the strong climate policy we need is if a group of impassioned citizens engage their elected officials , and are so well versed on the implications of specific policies that we can battle on the same ground as the industry lobbyists who are walking the halls of Congress. Continue reading ‘Introducing “The Citizen’s Guide to Climate Policy”’