It’s Getting Hot In Here

Power Past Coal…not just words on a placard.  Hundreds joined together for strategy sessions during Powershift to talk about how they can take action in their community to Power Past Coal — a grassroots effort to have more than 100 actions against coal and for a better future during the first 100 Days of the Obama administration — and on into the future.

So about those signs you held on Monday. The ones you had to grip so hard that your knuckles went stiff and numb in the cold. The ones with the sunburst, a young Rosie-the-riveter, and the words “Power Past Coal” boldly stenciled across the top. Those words you saw hovering above the thousands that gathered for the Capitol Climate Action are more than just a sweet phrase. They evoke a feeling of power – the power of the people – to take bold action in a positive direction, away from coal.

The words Power Past Coal describe a movement. It’s a movement that’s been building in all corners of this country for years, maybe even decades.  On the morning after Obama’s inauguration, over forty organizations and thousands of citizens launched 100 Days of Action to Power Past Coal, to unite and add value to the work in which hundreds of coal communities and organizations are already engaged.

In over forty days we’ve had nearly seventy actions — citizens have packed courtrooms and flooded the streets to stop new strip mines and coal plants, while others have arranged community lobby trips to their statehouses and to Washington.

Many have chosen civil disobedience as their tactic – the Capitol Climate Action marked day 42 of Power Past Coal. But we’re not even halfway there. We have neighbors to mobilize, congressmen to lobby, and a President to convince.

And we have fifty-six days of action to fill. Go to www.powerpastcoal.org to help us pack the calendar.

Resist the urge to go home and tack that placard to your wall. We know it looks cool, but it’ll look cooler in the streets, in front of that coal plant that’s making your family sick, outside the courtroom on the day of your hearing, or even in front of those wind turbines just built on your reservation. Don’t stop in DC. Be part of the movement. Go to www.powerpastcoal.org. Spread the words: Power Past Coal Posted for Sierra Murdoch.