It’s Getting Hot In Here

Growing up as a child in East Oakland, CA, poverty and pollution were the backdrops of my day-to-day life. A major freeway poured exhaust fumes onto my elementary school grounds, and the creek in my backyard ran thick with waste. We were just kids, chasing tadpoles despite the stench. But I grew up fast. I lost my mother to the streets when I was only six. Soon after, I lost my father to prison.

Despite losing my mom, the draw of the money that I saw young men making selling drugs was strong. I decided I’d get mine too. In January of 2005, I was arrested for possession with intent to sell crack cocaine and marijuana.
It’s a familiar tale, right? My story, though, turns out differently than too many of the people I grew up with.
Given the choice of jail or school, I chose to enroll at a community college. While there, I learned about the legacy of the Civil Rights Movement. I decided I needed to build something lasting for my community. I began the journey that would lead me to Dr. King’s alma mater, Morehouse College.

Continue reading ‘The power of Dr. King’s dream changed my life’

How’s the Site Doing is a monthly series to update the community on how this site is doing, share some how-to tips and create a space to talk about this site.

Over 100 people filled out our survey earlier this month, giving us a valuable window into how our community sees itself. As part of my monthly round-up of the site, I’ve included some of the graphs (thanks to Liz Veazy) and insights I found most interesting.

To start things off, we’re the best site on the web for some things, according to…. us!

The point of the survey was to help the editors guide the development of the site and the community. We’ve been putting together a proposal for a redesign, and getting a much better sense of how we want to include a lot more people in writing and reading here, and how to expand our editorial board.

Read on for a mock-up of how the site might look, more colorful graphs from the survey and of course the numbers.

Continue reading ‘How’s the Site Doing According to You? Open thread on what we should be’

Amtrak's Acela High Speed Train photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons

The U.S. youth climate movement has rightfully been dissecting Obama’s State of the Union speech and its aftermath – the good, the bad, the really? – and taking action of our own.

But this week, Obama did more than just talk, he acted, putting a big down payment on a high speed rail network that will cut pollution, save energy, and provide good jobs in the clean energy economy.

On Thursday, President Obama and U.S. Transportation Secretary (and former Illinois Republican congressman) Ray LaHood announced $8 billion in economic recovery money dedicated to building high speed rail and otherwise improving rail transportation across much of the country.

That’s good for cutting climate change and improving air quality, since rail transportation is more energy efficient and overall less polluting than cars or planes. That’s assuming people actually use it, though, and long travel times compared to flying have hurt Amtrak’s public acceptance, even as it’s fastest routes grew their ridership (page 6). Continue reading ‘High Speed Rail – Actions Speak Louder than State of the Union Words’

Minnesota is moving to encourage renewable energy by slapping a tariff on coal energy produced in North Dakota, and challenging the global economic order in the process.

And so opens another front in a much larger battle for the legal and policy space to enact common sense public interest regulations and curb the corporate profit crusade. It’s a fight that’s vital to the creation of a economic model that averts climate catastrophe and provides dignified living for workers.

Penalizing unsustainable or unethical products, or supporting sustainable and
ethical ones, is seen by public interest groups across the globe as a key tool for improving labor conditions and environmental standards. But free-market fundamentalists have long insisted that ‘similar’ products, in this case electricity, must be treated ‘similarly’.

Disgracefully, substantial differences in the ways a product is made are purposefully erased for policy-makers so corporations can hunt for cheaper inputs and thus higher profits. A toy made by a toxic-pollution dumping factory vs. a clean factory? Same. Clothes made with slave labor vs. union labor? Same. Energy generated in a way that fuels climate change vs. renewable energy? Its all the same under corporate free-market logic.

Correction: the original post said South Dakota, when it should have been North Dakota – changed above. Continue reading ‘Minnesota: New Front For Climate Policy Space, Eh?!’

Friday, DC Students for a Democratic Society and DC Rising Tide led a direct action parade against the Fossil Hawks. The War on Terror and the Corporate War on the Earth are one in the same. The same corporations that lead the world in CO2 pollution are the main lobbying force behind the Resource Terror Wars on Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Palestine. The Fossil Hawks are growing ever wealthier off the war while military recruiters feast on 50% youth unemployment like vultures.

“Young people are turning up the pressure because we are not convinced by Obama’s promises to draw back from war and support a clean energy-driven economic recovery,” says Brian Menifee, Howard University student activist.

video from dc.indymedia.org

Stay tuned for more footage from the parade, including our Green Jobs Not War action at the Armed Forces Recruiting Center.

From the press release…

Continue reading ‘Funk the Warming Takes DC Fossil Hawks by Storm’

Amber Nitchman and Eric Blevins descended from their trees on Coal River Mountain Friday at noon in the face of an oncoming winter storm. The action brought attention from Governor Manchin, the Washington Post, and stopped the destruction for nine days. But our work is far from over.

Nitchman, Blevins, David Aaron Smith, David Baghdadi, Benard Fiorillo, Josh Graupera and Isabelle Rozendaal stopped a blast site on Coal River Mountain for nine days, and their total bail amounts to $9,625.00. Nitchman and Blevins are still in jail, held for a combined cash-only total of $5,000. Bail is paid to the state of West Virginia to release people who have been arrested. The state then returns it in full when the person goes to trial. A donation to the legal fund stays in the campaign and enables us to expand the campaign of civil resistance.

Please donate to the Mountain Justice legal defense fund: Paypal, or another method.

Continue reading ‘Coal River Mountain Tree Sit Ends, Civil Resistance Campaign Continues’

{UPDATE: We are only 100 away!! We can do this folks! Keep on spreading the word!}
We are 120 votes away from being the most voted ‘Energy and Environment’ question about the State of the Union address on CitizenTube.

On Monday President Obama will be answering questions about his State of the Union address, how would you like for that question to be one submitted by young climate activists?

Right now, the most voted question is from someone promoting alternative fuels. Not clean energy. Not just energy. Not renewable energy. But alternative energy, and you know what that means right? If this question is still #1 by tomorrow, President Obama will have an open window to reiterate his support for dirty coal, nuclear, and offshore oil drilling and ignore the true solutions to our energy, national security, and climate crises.

Go to CitizenTube and upvote this question from Energy Action. We are only 120 votes away from the top, so every vote counts. Please spread the word and RT this:

RT @energyaction: Vote up youth leader question to #Obama! Why dirty energy when clean is smarter & creates more jobs? http://bit.ly/bGNR8R

Bin Laden has attacked the US and industrialized nations for their greenhouse gas emissions and climate change, and calls for the wheels of the American economy to be brought to a halt to stop global warming.

This month is getting even better as it draws to a close!

As soon as I saw this, I figured the conservatives were going to have a field day, and it turns out they’ve stooped low enough to go beyond the usual absurdity of loose guilt by character association, to guilt by issue association. Apparently, if you believe that rising greenhouse gas emissions are causing dangerous global warming and must be reduced, then you’re in the same camp as a madman terrorist who shoots off rants in the form of tape recordings about all sorts of things. This is supposed to de-legitimize the argument that we should reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

A couple of points. Continue reading ‘Bin Laden joins the Climate Debate, Deniers Rejoice’

Osama bin Laden is quite probably the most hated and vilified figure in the American consciousness.  And rightly so.

The man has said that he wants to destroy the America’s global economic dominance.  As Casper wrote, today he took aim at the United States’ failure to curb carbon emissions.

To stop global warming, he called for the “wheels of the American economy” to be brought to a halt. “This is possible … if the peoples of the world stop consuming American goods.”

First off, even if the American economy came to a halt, emissions would still rise, global consumption would rise and the US would be deprived of its capacity to transition to clean energy.  If he really wanted to help the “tens of millions [driven] into poverty and unemployment” he would not seek to tear down the markets required to produce clean energy.  Continue reading ‘bin Laden Hates Global Warming, Global Warming Hates Him’

I wrote this poem on new years and thought I would share it:

The morning that followed
Our message was echoed.
A failure! A failure!
My heart in despair.

The science lost, funding tossed,
No commitment in sight.
A stench of injustice,
The result: A failed plight.

“What more did you expect?”
Accusing voices chimed,
“Your efforts are a waste
Of carbon, cash and time”.

Continue reading ‘Poem: How will we remember Copenhagen?’