Written by Natasha Fast
At Energy Justice Georgia Summer Retreat last weekend in Sandersville Georgia, 20 youth from seven state colleges and universities from around the state came together to discuss and strategize how to approach dirty energy issues in the southeast. In addition to the 850 MW coal-fired power plant proposed for Sandersville and the fight against Dynegy’s Plant LongLeaf in Blackley, Georgia youth also discussed the Electircal Membership Cooperatives (EMC) involvement with coal, the continued disregard of customer rights as members, and the false solution of nuclear as the discussion of the future of Georgia’s energy continues.
Youth also took a tour of Plant Branch Branch, Milledgeville’s coal-fired power plant, to discuss with Ga Power representatives the affect of burning coal on local communities and issues that youth are concerned with as the proposal of Plant Washington still lay on the table. Youth engaged Georgia Power executives for two and a half hours on the need to move toward renewable energy solutions as the movement gains victories to push for a clean energy future. They also discussed issues such as Mercury, CO2 emissions, the amount of coal used by this facility and it’s source being Mountain Top Removal sites.
After being notified of the Southern Companies newly launched “Clean Coal” Public relations campaign called “Common Sense“, organizers sent open and direct invitations to some of Georgia Powers management to join them in a tour of one of Appalachians 500 Mountain Top Removal sites
The Fulton County Superior Court Ruling last week against the EPD (Georgia’s branch of the Environmental Protection Agency), which regulated CO2 emissions from plants such as Dynegy’s Long Leaf proposal, is one such victory that illustrates how our collective efforts for energy justice are on the right track! Youth also engaged in listening projects within the community to identify concerns and connect with community members.
As the movement continues on all fronts to get big industry to seriously consider and implement renewable energy technologies such as wind and solar instead of proposing obsolete forms of energy production such as coal and nuclear, youth in the south recognize the uphill fight that we are all engaged in and are still pushing strong!
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It’s good to see this. We have somewhat similar things going on in Ohio.
How can we really get to these corporations? I’m very interested in using non-violent resistance in a way that is mutually transformative. I want to engage with powerful folks making bad decisions in a way that enlightens everyone involved.
But how do we do that under such great power dynamics, where the people in power don’t even have to acknowledge that we exist (and maybe wish we didn’t)? We’ve taken action three times in Ohio to engage in dialogue with American Municipal Power about their proposed coal plant, but they simply aren’t interested in talking…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satyagraha