It’s Getting Hot In Here

With just 2 weeks to go until we hit the streets of Charlotte, NC todemand that Duke Energy cancel the Cliffside coal plant, renowned climate scientist James Hansen has endorsed the Cliffside Climate Action that will take place April 20.  In his words, ” Stopping Cliffside is the best thing North Carolina can do to stop global warming.”

We couldn’t agree more. But this is more than a fight for North Carolina, this is a national and indeed global fight against dirty energy and for climate justice. Thats why folks from as far as California, DC, the coalfields of Appalachia, and Florida are coming to Charlotte to fight this “climate change time bomb.” Please come to Charlotte April 20th to support us in our struggle to defeat the dirty cliffside coal plant.

We will be hosting nonviolent direct action trainings during the day April 19th in Charlotte followed by action briefings and speakers that evening. Then we’ll hit the streets on April 20th. Housing is available.

RSVP for the action at: www.stopcliffside.org

Check out the new CCA video! Continue reading ‘Dr. James Hansen endorses Cliffside Climate Action! 2 weeks until we take direct action against Duke Energy’

This is an outrage. Tim DeChristopher was hailed as a hero for derailing Bush’s last minute illegitimate public land auctions. He introduced a new form of civil disobedience, but by his account – signed in legitimately, was handed a paddle, and bid. The new Justice Department should realize that these punitive measures only have a chilling effect and show the disproportionate power these extractive industries have over our political and judicial system.

Student is charged with obstructing Utah land auction – Los Angeles Times.

A college student was charged with two federal felonies Wednesday for what he contends were acts of civil disobedience — making false bids to run up auction prices on oil and gas parcels on public land near Utah’s national parks….A grand jury charged [Tim] DeChristopher with one count of interfering with a federal auction and one count of making false representations at an auction, Tolman said. The penalty could range from no punishment to a combined sentence of up to 10 years in prison and a $750,000 fine.”

You want to know who should be arrested? The corrupt staff of the US Mineral Management Service at the Department of Interior. Read what the New York Times found out about that:

“[T]he Interior Department agency that collects oil and gas royalties has been caught up in a wide-ranging ethics scandal — including allegations of financial self-dealing, accepting gifts from energy companies, cocaine use and sexual misconduct.”
Sex, Drug Use and Graft Cited in Interior Department – NYTimes.com.

Guess who was auctioning off our land to private mining and oil interests? The Bureau of Land Management, of the Department of Interior. So who really should be facing felony charges? It sure as hell isn’t Tim DeChristopher.

Read more about this story at the late JohnnyRook’s diary at SolveClimate.

Note: This was written by my friend John Cronan who originally posted this on his blog at ZNet.

In recent weeks, the battle has intensified over the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). Its passage would greatly increase workers’ rights to organize and strengthen collective bargaining; because of this, organized labor has made its passage one of its top priorities, and in early February, thousands of workers marched on the Capitol.

No wonder why the largest opposition has come from big business and its mouthpieces, like the Wall Street Journal. The latter has been persistently spreading the lie that EFCA would eliminate employees’ right to a secret ball election to determine union representation; what it really does is leave the choice up to the workers whether they want an election or pursue card check—in fact, increasing workplace democracy. Additionally, as Dean Baker recently reported, arguments are being promoted that higher unionization rates—an expected outcome if EFCA passes—lead to higher unemployment, which in these tough economic times no one wants. Luckily, this is argument also holds no water.

Contrary to those opposing the act, EFCA would strengthen the bargaining power of the American working class, which would, if taken advantage of correctly, lead to many positive developments for the economy as a whole and the environment.

Higher unionization will increase workers’ bargaining power and ability to take collective action. This will mostly likely result in higher wages and benefits, greatly increasing the standard of living for many workers and their families. Besides being desirable on its own, this will serve as a stimulus to the economy, opting for a “high road,” wage-led growth instead of “low road,” profit-led growth. EFCA will also increase workers’ political clout for the same reasons it will increase wages—together we are what we cannot be alone. Just as we’ve seen labor mobilize to pass EFCA, the same can be done for legislation around single-payer health-care and others, but with an even stronger impact.

Continue reading ‘Employee Free Choice and the Green Economy’

I am sitting in yet another climate conference in New Delhi, speaking about the exciting climate solutions being developed in the lighting industry in India, but the most revolutionary conversation I have had is with a gentleman from Nagaland – a small Northeastern state of India home to 15 different tribes – who is working with young people in that state filled with unrest to find employment solutions. He attests that the major problem facing Nagaland and causing the violent tribal interactions taking place is that there are thousands of unemployed young people who are very highly educated. He says, “Educated unemployment is the major cause of political and social unrest. It is the highly educated unemployed who are the most dangerous.” These people are frustruated by the lack of opportunity within their borders. Those who can, leave their state behind. Those who stay, increase their dissatisfaction.

Inspired by many of the climate solutions I have shown him, gathered on our Climate Solutions Road Tour, he is creating teams of educated “technocrats” to implement and replicate some of these small scale industries, from biogas installation to energy auditing to crafts like the bags made from recycled plastic bags. In our short conversation, it is clear that solutions to climate change that create employment can truly be solutions to conflict.

That a boy Earl!

Congressman Earl Blumenauer of Oregon went on the offensive on the House floor yesterday, calling out the outright lies House and Senate Republicans have been repeating about the costs to consumers of potential climate legislation.

Senators Mitch McConnell (R-KY and the Senate Minority Leader) and John Thune (R-SD), as well as House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) have repeatedly made the false assertion that climate legislation would cost the average American $3,100 in additional energy costs. That number it turns out, is entirely fabricated, a “canard,” as Rep. Blumenauer calls it, that comes from a blatant and outright incorrect misinterpretation of the MIT study it is supposedly based on.

All this prompted Rep. Blumenauer to give the Republicans a direct dose of richly deserved truth on the House floor yesterday:

Continue reading ‘Rep. Earl Blumenauer Smacks Down Republican Lies on Climate Bill’

You may have seen this photo, on the left, from the Bonn meeting of the UN Climate Negotiations. It seems simple enough, two men sitting at a table with a framed photograph perched in front of the microphone. Yet, it shows how everything has started to change on the fight to create a global agreement in Copenhagen this December. Why? It demonstrates how everything is in our hands now.

First, lets start with the framed photograph itself. You probably can’t see it too clearly, so lets take a look at the original. Floating above a sea of signs, Ethan Nuss of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network is speaking to the Power Shift 09 Lobby Day Rally in front of the US Capitol building. He is wearing a suit, but he is holding a megaphone. It is wicked cold out, due to a freak snowstorm. Ethan is an incredible speaker and despite the crowd noise is inspiring all the young people in the crowd, who are vigorously waving their signs, and fired up to go lobby Congress.

What does this have to do with Yvo de Boer, the UN’s top climate official and the Executive Secretary (think Secretary of State, not your dentist’s secretary) of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change – the body charged with creating a global agreement on climate change, and why did he put this framed photo up? In Poznan, Poland – there was an intergenerational inquiry on the role of youth and the UN climate process. There, I recorded Yvo de Boer state that, ” I think that civil society loses its power, when NGOs put down their banners and put on suits.” He spoke on how young people need to provide the passion, the activism, and not lose sight of their goals in policy thickets. He also called for governments to live up to their promises to include youth representation. See Unicef’s reporting on it, here.

At Power Shift 09, there was an incredible effort to document the conference and tell our own story. Our New Media Warroom, filled with bloggers, photographers, and videographers hailing from the Obama campaign, youth climate organizations, and Fired Up Media – recorded the incredible gathering.

Robert vanWaarden, the leading international youth climate photographer, came with Fired Up Media to shoot the conference. He captured some of the most stunning images you will see of Power Shift, showing the importance and vitality of the youth climate movement. He took this photo of Ethan and the Power Shift rally. Two days after the rally, Yvo de Boer came to Washington DC to speak at the Brooking Institute, a thinktank, where a lineup of speakers talked about political ‘realities’ that will force compromising on Capitol Hill. You can read a bit about it, here. Robert and I printed out the photo, met with Yvo and told him, “We may have put on suits, but we are never putting down our signs.” Continue reading ‘The Story of One Photo Shows How the World Has Changed’

It has been long two last days here in London reporting back from the G 20 as part of the G 20 Voice project. 50 bloggers got accreditation to get into the media area of the ExCel centre where G 20 leaders were meeting today.

The meetings just finished and Brown, Obama and co are now giving press briefings to present to the world their great plan to deal with the as PM Brown calls it international economical hurricane that came over us. But what is about the real hurricanes that will threaten countries far more often than usual due to climate change? And what’s about the rising threat of droughts, floods, food crisis etc? There was lots of talk about global problems needing global solutions  but in the final press statement there was just a quick mentioning of support for a green recovery and green jobs as well as the agreement of G 20 leaders to try to agree on a global climate deal in Copenhagen this December.

This is not enough. First of all it is questionable how likely the achievement of an fair and equitable agreement in Copenhagen will be when the parties most affected by the impacts of climate change, e.g. AOSIS states, LDCs, Indigenous peoples etc. are not sitting on the same negotiation table as G 20 leaders. Any commitment of the G 20 states to constructively engage in the process of reaching a global climate deal is useful and a step in the right direction but without embedding these talks into the framework of the UNFCCC  this is just another talking shop where e.g. nearly 90% of African people are sitting again on the sidelines.                    Continue reading ‘Nothing new for the climate at G 20 summit’

by Jennie Hatch, who is attending the UN climate negotiations in Bonn

I cannot tell you how many times I have been told that we are at a turning point in history.  I am sure you have heard it too.

I thought that this sentence was meant to inspire and motivate, to create that turning point and keep us from going on the path of business as usual.

What I realized today was that there is no such thing as business as usual anymore.  I have heard that sentiment before, intellectually processed it, accepted the actions that we need to take in order to veer away from this “business as usual” direction.  But today I saw business as usual for what it was, and this is the paradox; it is nowhere near business as usual.  With the carbon that already exists in the atmosphere, we are facing 1.4 degrees C warming, even if all emissions ceased today.  We are already beyond the point where action is an option.  Action is mandated whether we welcome hundreds of thousands of climate refugees into our countries or deeply cut our emissions.  Take your pick, we still have to act.

Continue reading ‘The Paradox of Now’

Reposted from allies in Wise County, VA

Yesterday, April 1, 2009, several concerned citizens gathered just off Dominion Power’s property located in Wise County, Virginia for “APRIL FOOLISH FUELS DAY.”

Pics here

Construction is in progress there for a 585 megawatt coal-fired power plant. Dominion Power has said that this plant will burn only Virginia coal but already about 30% of wise County has been devastated by MTR (mountain top removal).
While giant trucks and excavators plow into this once beautiful valley in east Wise County to construct this monster plant, the mountains in the west end of the county are blown up daily to extract coal. The mountain top is then scraped off into the valleys below and the streams are forever buried.

I call that FOOLISH FUEL. Continue reading ‘April Foolish Fuels Day in Wise, VA’

Our intervention during the Bonn climate meeting leading up to the Copenhagen negotiations in December. We were very well recieved by all the delegates.

Kirsty rocked!