Japan Foreign Affairs Press Secretary, Kazuo Kodama tonight re-affirmed Japan’s concerns around climate change. “As we all know, the global community must address the issue of rising sea levels and rising temperatures. In order to address [climate change] there seems to be a consensus today …that we have to transform our society from carbon intensive one to a low carbon society.”
Archive for March, 2010
Japan Sets Climate Precedent for G8
Published by Zoë, March 30th, 2010 Asia , Canada , Climate Policy , Economics , G8 , global warming , Government , International Affairs , Reporting Team 2 CommentsU.S.A. and Norway Lead on Climate at Arctic Meeting
Published by Zoë, March 30th, 2010 Canada , Climate Policy , Economics , Events , G8 , Government , International Affairs , Interviews , Oceans , Politics , Reporting Team , United States ClosedMaritime shipping regulations, oil-spill cleanup capabilities and search and rescue capabilities topped the agenda at today’s Arctic Ocean’s Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Chelsea, Canada, held immediately before the opening of the G8 Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Gatineau, Canada.
While these top-line issues make headlines, at the core of all these emerging Arctic issues, is climate change. These meetings were based on the Ilulissat Declaration of 2008, which recognizes – and is largely based on – the quickly changing Arctic due to climate change. Today’s meetings showed us which international players are thinking and acting on issues of climate.
Continue reading ‘U.S.A. and Norway Lead on Climate at Arctic Meeting’
The Right Thing to Do
Published by Jonathan Rosenthal, March 29th, 2010 Direct Action , global warming , North East , Politics , Youth Leaders 3 CommentsPosted on behalf of Leila Quinn, Western Massachusetts Community Outreach Coordinator for Students for a Just and Stable Future and sophomore at Mt. Holyoke College
Aldo Leopold, the father of conservation biology, famously said, “A thing is right, when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise.”
Due to this simple yet powerful message, I have no doubt that the actions of the Leadership Campaign are headed in the right direction.
This past Sunday, March 28th, at our second state-wide sleep out of the semester, more than one hundred college, high school, and graduate students gathered in a peaceful direct action on the Cambridge Common.
In the early afternoon students and community members from across the Commonwealth rallied for the cause of 100% clean electricity by 2020, a step essential to getting us down to the safe level of 350 parts per million of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. And in the morning after sleeping-out, we headed to the Massachusetts State House and into the offices of Speaker of the House Robert DeLeo and Representative John Binienda, where we urged them to show real leadership on clean electricity.
On Our Way to Defining Our Decade – Hundreds of Communities, and Thousands of Leaders On Their Way to 100% Clean Electricity by 2020
Published by Whit Jones, March 29th, 2010 350 , Act Locally , Climate Challenge , Coal Campaign , Dirty Energy , global warming , Green Jobs , Political Participation , Visioning , Week of Action , Youth Leaders 8 Comments
The Leadership Campaign capped off the Weeks of Action w/ a sleepout and chants of "Nothing more than 350, nothing less than 100% clean electricity!"
In the past two weeks, hundreds of communities had discussions and took action to begin to define our decade with clean energy.
The votes are still being tallied, but over 6,000 people from across the country voted on the world we want to create, and not surprisingly, the results reflect our generation’s ambition! 83% of us voted to make 100% clean electricity by 2020 a priority. I’m not just excited about this because we now have thousands of petitions to deliver to our politicians (we do, and we will!). I’m excited about it because we’ve developed not only political demands, but things we can strive to collectively achieve. And although what we’ve settled on is very ambitious, when you look at the goals and plans that local, statewide, and regional groups drew up, you start to get a sense of “YES, we can actually make this happen!”
In the last few weeks, hundreds of groups either developed a local vision for their decade, brought more people into the discussion, or got to work creating it.
- Students in Florida, and the Southern Energy Network continued to build support around the Student Green Fund, and got over 1,500 new people on board!
- Dozens of campuses are committed to moving their campuses beyond coal – an incredibly important first step if we are to reach that goal of 100% clean electricity.
- The Southwest Workers Union continues to build support for a community-written Peoples Power Plan that will provide safety and prosperity for residents in San Antonio, TX.
Continue reading ‘On Our Way to Defining Our Decade – Hundreds of Communities, and Thousands of Leaders On Their Way to 100% Clean Electricity by 2020′
Summer of Solutions Hits the Streets in Cleveland, OH!
Published by abbieplouff, March 29th, 2010 Efficiency , Jobs , Summer of Solutions Closedx-posted from Solutionaries
As Communications facilitator of Summer of Solutions, I am featuring local programs to paint a picture of the diversity of solutions young people are building across the country.
The Summer of Solutions is a summer program designed to empower youth to create self sustaining community based solutions to environment and social injustice, climate change and economic insolvency. We work to build an inclusive, local community that connects across the country that will propel us into holistic, renewable energy economy.
This week, I had the pleasure of interviewing Tim Krueger and Nora Graubard, two of the program leaders for Cleveland SoS. The other program leaders are Erika Zarowin, Ben Shapiro, and Phoebe Flaherty.
Leaders of Cleveland Summer of Solutions focus on connecting participants and interns with the broad network of organizations in Cleveland already working on issues of community development and sustainability.
- Members of the OSEC at their most recent retreat.
- Summer of Solutions in Cleveland is a project of the Ohio Student Environmental Coalition (OSEC). This coalition is a statewide network of student groups that work together to create a clean, safe, and just future. Participants in this program will be hired as interns of the OSEC, and will participate in as many aspects of the summer as they choose.
- Continue reading ‘Summer of Solutions Hits the Streets in Cleveland, OH!’
Power Shift New York Summit Around the Corner, April 16-18
Published by akroop, March 29th, 2010 Act Locally , Climate Policy , Events , Extraction , global warming , Natural Gas , Oil , Political Participation , Power Shift , Visioning , Youth Leaders 1 CommentPower Shift New York’s first summit is less than 20 days away and picking up steam. Taking place in Buffalo, NY from April 16-18, the summit will be a chance for youth and students from upstate New York to meet, strategize, and take action!
We’ll open the summit with an action to raise awareness about the U.S. Energy Development Corp.’s plan to extend their old drilling into nearly Allegheny State Park. They’ve already been drilling across the border in Pennsylvania’s Allegheny National Forest, and despite having accumulated hundreds of violations are planning to expand their operations. We will NOT let that happen! The network here in upstate New York has narrowed in on this as an issue to focus on, we’ve got thousands of people in our Facebook group and are ready to hit the streets!
In addition to the rally, we’ve got great speakers, panels and workshops confirmed:
- Walter Simpson, who pretty much wrote the book on on-campus sustainability during his time at UB is one of our featured speakers.
- Lois Gibbs, famous for her work as a grassroots organizer fighting against Love Canal and for environmental justice in New York will share her story!
- And wrapping it up we’ve got State Senator Antoine Thompson, the Majority Whip and chair of the Environmental Conservation Committee!
These are only some of the big names! We continue to work towards our goal of education and empowerment by putting together student-led panels on issues such as Corporate Control of Water, Urban Planning issues, conservation, as well as numerous panels and workshops on leadership and organizing techniques. We are continuing to pull in student speakers of organizing techniques and sustainable issues.
It’s hard to believe that only 3 years after the first national Power Shift that the movement has grown enough in New York to be able to support a summit like this. That being said, it is only the beginning! We’ve got big legislative battles in front of us, and dirty energy to fight off. New York’s Senators are supportive of bold legislation, but we as youth are standing up and looking to make them not just supporters, but champions for a sustainable future.
To make sure the conference is just a starting point, we’ll be joining hundreds of communities across the country who have been asking themselves “how do we want to define our decade?” We’ll dig into this to identify what projects—both local and national—we can engage in for a clean energy future for all! We’ll build campaigns to take us through the upcoming election season and beyond. The new decade is upon us, and our stand to define it starts in Buffalo, NY on April 16th.
Working to make GREEN a primary color in Ohio
Published by erikazarowin, March 28th, 2010 Act Locally , Coal , global warming , Political Participation , Politics , Power Vote 7 Comments
Over the next six weeks, the Ohio Student Environmental Coalition and young people across the state of Ohio, will be working to “make green a primary color.” We are working to define our decade by putting energy and climate concerns in the middle of the political discussion, and by building support for a clean energy economy that can solve our economic and environmental crises.
May 4th is primary day, and there is a lot at stake; the path forward on energy is being discussed in local and state races across the state, and has been at the centerpiece of the race for Ohio’s Senate seat where Republican Rob Portman will run against the victor of the Democratic Primary: a hotly contested race between Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner and Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher. Continue reading ‘Working to make GREEN a primary color in Ohio’
EPA moves to block the largest MTR mine in West Virginia
Published by Sparki, March 26th, 2010 Coal Campaign , global warming , Politics 1 Comment
Re-posted from the Understory by Amanda Starbuck
We’re hearing some reassuring news from the EPA this morning.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today that it is moving to block the largest mountaintop removal mining permit in West Virginia history, at Spruce Mine, operated by Arch Coal in Logan County.
EPA Region 3 Administrator, Shawn Garvin, made the following statement:
Coal, and coal mining, is part of our nation’s energy future, and for that reason EPA has made repeated efforts to foster dialogue and find a responsible path forward.
But we must prevent the significant and irreversible damage that comes from mining pollution — and the damage from this project would be irreversible.
This recommendation is consistent with our broader Clean Water Act efforts in Central Appalachia. EPA has a duty under the law to protect water quality and safeguard the people who rely on these waters for drinking, fishing and swimming. Continue reading ‘EPA moves to block the largest MTR mine in West Virginia’
How Online Activists Have Got Nestlé on the Run
Published by nickengelfried, March 26th, 2010 Deforestation , global warming , News and Media , Online Organizing 5 Comments
As someone who thinks a lot about creative activism, I’ve been impressed with how effectively Greenpeace has utilized YouTube and Facebook to kick off this campaign. It seems to have started with the creation of a YouTube video (below) that Nestlé tried to censor, which links palm oil-containing products like the KitKat to destruction of rainforests and the last remaining areas of orangutan habitat in Indonesia. According to most reports, Nestlé’s attempt to suppress the video backfired, encouraging angry online activists to make the clip go viral on the Internet, comment on Nestlé’s Facebook page, and send over 100,000 complaints to the company through a Greenpeace email tool. Greenpeace reports Nestlé is now blocking their emails, but urges people to give the company a call and demand it sever ties with destructive palm oil.
Continue reading ‘How Online Activists Have Got Nestlé on the Run’
I Just Pledged to End Mountaintop Removal in 2010, Will You?
Published by Sparki, March 25th, 2010 global warming 1 Comment
Have you taken the Pledge to End Mountaintop Removal?
I spent last week in Wise Virginia with 100 Appalachian coalfield residents, students and youth from up and down the east coast, direct actionistas living in WV, TN, KY and VA and retired union coal miners at Mountain Justice Spring Break. The theme of the camp focused on mountaintop removal (MTR), coal, local communities and Appalachian culture and what we’re doing to turn around this highly destructive fossil fuel economy.
Last Thursday, my RAN comrades set up two tripods outside EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson’s window in Washington D.C. and occupied that space for over 32 hours calling for an end to MTR.
Last Sunday, Reverend Billy and the Church of Life After Shopping returned a mountaintop to a Chase bank in New York City.
Over the last year, over 140 people working with Climate Ground Zero have been arrested in the Coal River Valley of southern WV taking direct action to end mountaintop removal.
Over the past five years, Mountain Justice and a coalition of Appalachian groups have combined grassroots organizing and direct action to challenge the coal companies and end this horrible practice. Every month, coalfield residents and allies are going to Washington D.C. lobbying for legislation to abolish MTR.
This now a national issue. (Hell, Time magazine just did a feature piece on it last week.)
Over 500 mountains destroyed, thousands of miles of rivers and streams buried, millions of acres of forest clear cut and lots of Appalachian communities harmed or destroyed. Massive amounts of resistance has occurred across the country and in Applachia, yet it still exists. Greedy coal companies are still blowing the tops off of our Appalachian mountains. Continue reading ‘I Just Pledged to End Mountaintop Removal in 2010, Will You?’
