It\’s Getting Hot In Here

Guest post from Mark Kimbrell

What happens when you get 12,000 dedicated climate activists in one convention center for one very special weekend? The answer: powerful growth in the movement for climate justice.

The importance of Power shift 09 is truly in the name. Together we learned and practiced political empowerment and received the skills necessary to engage our elected officials.  Knowledge and ideas were passed from individual to individual, university to university, and community to community. Skills we all can take home to utilize in our community organizing. We “power shifted” each other into better climate activists.

Following lobby day, the Capital Climate Action against the congress’s symbolic dirty coal plant provided an essential component of our movement that must continue. The action showed that we will not stop simply at political engagement and political asks.  Every avenue to transform our nation’s unjust and unsustainable habits will be utilized.  There will be repercussions for the lack of political will shown by our elected leadership.  If they won’t shut the dirty industries of the past down, than we will! Continue reading ‘The Power Shift Continues: Building the Climate Movement in 2009′

Originally posted at WattHead – Energy News and Commentary

Democracy Now interviewed students from around the nation (and the world) at Power Shift 2009, asking what brought them to the historic convergence in Washington D.C.  Students share their stories about the injustices and impacts of our current dirty energy system and the need for a shift to a clean, just energy economy.

La delegacion de Democracia USA para PowerShift 09 ha pasado los ultimos 3 dias aprendiendo sobre el medio ambiente y organizando para protejerlo en Washington D.C. Ha sido una experiencia maravillosa e inriquezedora para todos los que estuvimos aqui, desde el mas joven hasta el mas “experimentado.” Y es que vinimos a aprender del medio ambiente y de los trabajos verdes y nos vamos con toda esa informacion pero tambien con el corazon pesado. Pesado porque sentimos todos un gran sentimiento de orgullo, responsabilidad y tristeza mezclada con esperanza.

Estos jovenes demostraron con su participacion y con su comportamiento que estan dispuesto a hacer lo que sea necesario para hechar pa’ lante y ayudar a sus comunidades. Escuche a gritos que quieren y nesecitan tener oportunidades como estas donde son expuestos a ver situaciones y probabilidades que en su diario vivir parecen inexistentes y remotas. Continue reading ‘Pa’ lante!’

Jack Hidary at HuffingtonPost grabbed an excellent video interview with Congressman Ed Markey (D-Mass.), the chair of the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming and the point person in the House, along with Henry Waxman for energy and climate policy.

“I think the course of history is so dramatically different now,” Markey said, calling for an ambitious agenda on climate and energy. “I don’t think we should be anything less than really ambitious on the high goals we set,” Markey said, speaking about a renewable electricity standard the House and Senate are set to debate.

Here’s Hidary’s introduction to the video…

We interviewed Congressman Markey at Powershift09 which took place in DC with over 12,000 students from across the US advocating for cleaner energy and climate change action.

Markey gave a rousing speech to the students — probably one of the most dynamic speeches a congressman has given – and got them on their feet holding up their cell phones as symbols of all the new solar panels and wind turbines that will come in the next few years [Editor's note: you can watch that speech here].

Here is the interview:

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. Continue reading ‘Powering Past Coal’

“Dude, I just want to pass some bold national climate legislation,” said Jake Brewer, Internet Director for the Energy Action Coalition.  This was 2 days before Power Shift 09 began.  The office was a blur of people banging away on laptops and juggling phones.   Thousands of students were already in transit to Washington DC, and a hundred people like me had come to help out in the final months, weeks or days to make the weekend a success, because it needed to be a success.

We are the youth climate movement, the moral leadership of our country, and we are going to stop climate change.  We face the most complicated challenge in history while working in the context of wars and terrorism, a plunging stock market and a turning point in America’s history.  And through all this, we really need to reduce our green house gas emissions to build a just, sustainable and prosperous society. Continue reading ‘The Climate Campaign’

Yesterday thousands of people converged on the Capitol Power Plant to engage in mass civil disobedience, shutting it down for the afternoon to demand clean energy solutions to our economic and climate crises.

Check out the recent media coverage in Associated Press (AP), TIME Magazine, CNN, Huffington Post, The Hill, Alternet, The Nation, and USA Today.

See lots of pictures here and a neat little slideshow here.

There is already a lot being written about how this action achieved our goals in building outside pressure, political will, and urgency to change the national conversation around the climate crisis and get bold policy in 2009. The announcement three days prior to our action that the Capitol Power Plant would be switched off coal validates the power of mass pressure and people power, as we push on to fight for truly clean energy. The amazing media (over 400 stories) we have already gotten have helped shape the national conversation.

I want to talk about another goal we had: movement building - and how we can make the most of it.

Continue reading ‘IN CONTEXT – capitol climate action victory’

Wow!  Yesterday’s Capitol Climate Action was amazing: shutting down the gates to the coal plant for 4 hours with no arrests!  There were more than 2500 people from around the United States and even the world participating including Dr. James Hansen, Vandana Shiva, Robert Kennedy Jr., and members from a variety of organizations fighting for clean energy and against coal extraction and new coal plants around the country!  Folks affected most by coal extraction were at front of the march including folks from Black Mesa Water Coalition, Coal River Wind, Coal River Mountain Watch, Ketuckians for the Commonwealth and more!  Many were excited by the announcement last week by Pelosi & Reid to switch the plant from coal to natural gas as a first step, but we know natural gas isn’t clean and we need to switch away from fossil fuels entirely.  As we marched, many chanted: “Let’s organize: no gas, no coal, no compromise!”
The story’s been covered by USA Today, Democracy Now!, Fox News, Huffington Post & more!
See lots of pictures and find out more about the action here

Thank You Everyone.

Power Shift gathered the leaders of today and of tomorrow. It was a powerful experience to gather in DC, and now it’s time to take that energy to congressional districts across America this spring.

One could easily be awestruck by the cast of experienced leaders who were in DC this weekend for Power Shift ’09 and the Capitol Climate Action. Renowned author and activist Bill McKibben of 350, Eco-Justice visionary Van Jones of Green for All, Environmental Lawyer extraordinaire Gus Speth, Climatology expert James Hansen, Environmental Economist and author Jon Isham, Sustainable South Bronx founder Majora Carter, the legendary author Wendell Berry, Chair of the House Select Committee on Global Warming and Energy Independence Ed Markey, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, EPA Director Lisa Jackson, Congresswoman Donna Edwards, international democracy visionary Vandana Shiva, Bobby Kennedy,the list goes on and on and on.

Despite all the climate rock-stars present at the conference, an even more impressive group was gathered. 12,000 of tomorrow’s clean energy leaders came together this weekend to look back at where the movement has come and where it needs to go. 12,000 clean energy leaders are now headed back to their congressional districts to take a vision of a clean energy future home. Focus the Nation is ready to support the efforts of tomorrow’s leaders, and we have all the tools you need right here.

If you’re ready to knock 2009 out of the park and see America take a big step forward into the clean energy future, contact your regional organizer, check out the resources and get cranking on your community’s energy town hall this April.