It’s Getting Hot In Here

The potential disastrous effects of a chemical plant accident are well known. How much should we be worried about potential security and safety risks for our chemical plants? An April 6th article from the Seattle PI highlights these issues.

A recent and tragic accident at a refinery in Anacortes, Washington makes these concerns all too real. An explosion killed 5 people and critically injured two more and many speculate it was due to poor safety regulations.

Tesoro Refinery in Anacortes, Washington (from Flickr.com)

Adding worry to the issue is the fact that these plants are what Barack Obama called in 2006, “stationary weapons of mass destruction”. The Seattle PI Article claims there are approximately 6,000 plants in need of special security provisions, yet only 12 are currently under inspection. Furthermore, many federal programs are full of delay that keeps us from being much further along than we should be. Continue reading ‘Security and Safety Concerns for Chemical Plants’

US tracker Josh Riese explains the stakes of US Senate Legislation and how it shapes the post-COP15 world, from adoptanegotiator.org.

The most profound difference between my experience here in Bonn and my experience at all the other negotiations I’ve attended in the last year is the massive downward shift in people’s ambition and sense of possibility. I find it difficult to understand how we’ve gone from an unrelenting & furious global push for a fair, ambitious, binding DECEMBER deal to address climate change; only four months later, to what’s being described by most as a minimum of 2 additional years of negotiations to achieve the same outcome.

It’s so confusing. In just four months, what changed?

Continue reading ‘A Big F**cking Deal’

Bill C-311, the Climate Change Accountability Act is the closest thing to effective climate legislation in Canada, and it needs to move to the third reading before it can be law (i.e. legally binding emission reduction targets).  A surprise motion in the House of Commons has made April 14th a crucial date for the bill, and on Wednesday there will be a vote as to whether or not it should move to the Third and final reading.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Canadian politics, here are some of the basics:

• There are five parties in government (listed in order of decreasing number of seats in the House of Commons):
  • The Conservative Party (Stephen Harper is the leader)
  • The Liberal Party (Michael Ignatieff is the leader)
  • The Bloc Quebecois (Gilles Duceppe)
  • The New Democratic Party (Jack Layton is the leader)
• The Conservative party has typically voted unanimously AGAINST the Climate Change Accountability Act
• The NDP, Bloc, and Greens have typically voted unanimously FOR the Climate Change Accountability Act
• The Liberals have wavering support (it depends on who is being paid off by the oil companies…my bias)

So what are we gonna do? Target those swinging Liberals!

Folks are calling their Liberal MPs (and Liberal MPs who are not their MPs) and telling them that they need to go to parliament on the 14^th and vote to move Bill C-311 to its third reading.  The bill would commit Canada to legally-binding emission reduction targets:  25% below 1990 levels by the year 2020 (which is the lower end of the range that the IPCC is asking for), and long term targets of 80% below 1990 levels by the year 2050. Continue reading ‘Don’t Kill Bill – Save the Climate Change Accountability Act!’

Posted on behalf of Allison Lawrence, a student at Big Sky High School

We are SSEEJ: Students for Social Economic and Environmental Justice, based in Missoula, MT. We began as an Environmental Club two years earlier, but soon realized justice should not be exclusive to just the environment. In the fight for justice, you cannot neglect the economic and social aspects. SSEEJ is working to expose the active injustices in our community and in our world. Our past campaigns have included: working to convince our school’s coffee cart to sell only one-hundred percent organic and fairly traded coffee, made by JustCoffee, and planting a salsa garden in hopes of providing Big Sky students with healthy lunches.

Currently we are taking the Montana State Land Board to task regarding their decision to mine for coal deposits in Otter Creek in Eastern MT. These tracts of land are on Northern Cheyenne tribal land, and for the first time ever the tribal government is pro coal. The State Land Board, at their December 2009 meeting, voted to begin the bidding process for this land. The money from the sale would go to funding for the public school system, but as students who would directly benefit from this money, we say no to this coal powered money.

[Editors note]  Check out video of Big Sky High School students staging a walk out to protest the Otter Creek Coal deal.



I wanted to share this great story from fellow 350.org organizer Will Bates — with all the tough news lately (coal mine disasters, oil drilling, world bank loans for dirty energy) I found it completely inspiring. Let’s get to work!

Do you remember last year’s extraordinarily inspirational October 24th photo of the solo, young woman from Babylon, Iraq?

I just had the great joy of getting to speak with Ola Al-Yaseen on the phone, and it made my day to hear that she’s Getting to Work organizing for 10/10 … this year, with friends!

Iraq is no easy place to be a climate change organizer.  Ola and I had exchanged a few emails in the lead-up to 24 October last year, and she had been in close touch with Ali and our friends at IndyACT in Lebanon.  She was having a dreadfully tough time getting anyone in her area to join in for a 350 action during last year’s global day of action.  Not only are there the physical dangers of organizing out in public in Iraq — in an oil-rich country there are strong cultural challenges to face when advocating for action on climate change.

Continue reading ‘Organizing Alone in Iraq’

On April 14th, 2009 at 9:30 AM, coal barons are finally testifying in front of Congress about the “The Role of Coal in a New Energy Age.”

Coal is the single most dangerous form of energy and, despite many claims by industry spokespeople, is not clean and cannot be cleaned. While industry front groups are spending millions of dollars convincing Americans that CO2 emissions from coal can be tucked away safely, all evidence shows the contrary, that doing so is technically dubious, extremely expensive, and environmentally disastrous.

Young people will welcome these criminals that deal in coal, the most deadly weapon of mass destruction! We will let them and anyone watching know that young people don’t want coal to have a role in the New Energy Age, that we demand fair worker transition programs for coal miners, clean energy for the nation, and stable climate for future generations!

If you live in the D.C. area, sign up here to help organize the welcoming reception. If you’d like to walk around and sign people up with some old school tabling or canvassing, you can find a handy sign-up form here.

Cross-posted from adoptanegotiator.org.  Joanna reviews the importance of climate finance in Bonn, and the motto “get to work” as it applies back home.

Canada’s hot ticket to winning the UN climate meetings this weekend in Bonn is through ambitious climate finance.  Any decision on climate financing will follow straight from the Copenhagen fast-track climate financing decision.  Canada has not yet announced how much it will contribute to this funding, or if this money will be additional to our official development assistance.  The fast-track financing contributes a total of 30 billion dollars for mitigation and adaptation programs in developing countries.  In a report published by the Pembina Institute, Canada’s fair share of the total amount is 3 to 4% (roughly $300 to $400 million dollars per year by the year 2010).  In a February 1st speech, Environment Minister Jim Prentice said:

In his speech, Minister Prentice articulates the equity principles that underline these entire negotiations – it is the idea that wealthy countries have the capacity to finance climate solutions more than poor countries.  The equity principle is not just an ethical concern but is central to the negotiations and any tenable agreement.   The strong reference to climate change equity made by Minister Prentice gives us reason to hope that Canada has the will to do it’s fair share.

Keep Up the Pressure!

Continue reading ‘Canada’s hot ticket for Bonn, and the new spirit of Canadian leadership’

Cross-posted from 350.org:

After a string of bad news about fossil fuel companies shirking responsibility and our politicians following suit, it’s hard to believe that it’s happened again. Today, over the objections of tens of thousands of community members and over 190+ civil society groups, the World Bank board of directors voted to approve a $3.75 billion loan to South African national utility Eskom for a massive 4800 MW coal-fired power plant. it’s the largest loan of the kind made in history, and it didn’t come without a fight.

Yesterday, dozens of activists in Washington DC joined with tens of thousands of concerned people around the world calling on the World Bank to reject the dirty loan, and to prevent catastrophic climate change while dealing ensuring decent lives for the poor of South Africa. Here’s a video from the event:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: info@leadenergy.org
April 08, 2010 | Washington, DC

Calling Young Leaders: Apply for Policy Fellowship with Americans for Energy Leadership

Americans for Energy Leadership, a new project of Scientists & Engineers for America, is now accepting applications for the position of Policy Fellow, seeking the nation’s brightest young adults to perform high-level research, development, reporting, and advocacy on energy and innovation policy.  Full-time and part-time positions are available in Washington, DC and across the country.

The position is paid and designed especially for college students, graduate students, recent graduates, and young professionals, including a full-time summer track and a non-resident, part-time track. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis until May 2nd for the summer track, and May 23rd for the non-resident track. See http://www.leadenergy.org/our-team/positions for more information (also posted below), and for upcoming information on open positions.

Continue reading ‘Calling Young Leaders: Apply for Policy Fellowship with Americans for Energy Leadership’

This Friday, the United Nations international climate negotiations will gear up again in Bonn, Germany. The meeting — and the announcements and news that will surround it — will be an important gauge of whether the international climate process still shows signs of life. Early indicators seem to suggest that there’s at least a pulse.

It’s been just over 4 months since the Copenhagen climate talks ended in confusion and disorder, failing to deliver the international climate treaty many of us had hoped (and worked) for. Copenhagen left the UN metaphorically bruised and battered (the adjectives were literal for many protesters outside the conference) and in the final hours of the talks and weeks to follow, many doubted that the international climate process would continue at all. For one particularly insightful postmortem with an emphasis on implications for the climate justice movement, click here.

In the last few weeks, the climate talks have shown a few signs of life. Continue reading ‘UN Climate Talks Gear Up Again’