It’s Getting Hot In Here

Last night Oregonians of all ages confronted coal-dependent utility Portland General Electric, to oppose PGE’s plan to operate the Boardman Coal Plant until at least 2020 and possibly much longer.  At a public hearing in Portland called by the Oregon Public Utilities Commission, over 400 people packed the Portland Building auditorium and an overflow room.  Around 300 came to demand a coal-free future for Oregon.  And, consistent with a pattern well established in the last several months, youth activists had a large and visible presence.  Between 40 and 50 students and youth attended the hearing to ask that the Boardman Coal Plant be retired by 2014 at the latest.

The outpouring of support for a coal-free Oregon at last night’s hearing was the culmination of months of effort on the part of the Oregon Sierra Club and other organizations working to move beyond coal in this state.  It was also a great moment for many youth climate activists; Northwest youth have been organizing on their campuses and in their communities for months, gathering support for the Boardman Plant’s 2014 retirement.  At the hearing, we formally presented the Public Utilities Commission with a list of ten educational institutions in Oregon whose student governments have passed resolutions urging Boardman’s closure on a timescale significantly quicker than proposed by PGE.  Collectively these student governments represent the elected voices of over 107,600 Oregon students. 

The Oregon Public Utilities Commission (OPUC) is now considering PGE’s “2020 plan” for the Boardman Coal Plant.  Though touted by PGE as an early closure option for Boardman, the 2020 plan only guarantees PGE would operate the coal plant until at least 2020, and potentially until 2040 and beyond (more about the 2020 plan here).   If the OPUC rejects PGE’s 2020, the utility will have to consider an earlier closure date, like 2014. 

Continue reading ‘Oregon Rallies for a Coal-Free Future at Public Utilities Commission Hearing’

Merriam-Webster defines opportunity as: a favorable juncture of circumstances; a good chance for advancement or progress.

Few things seem to be going right in the this country at the moment: the economy is still weak, the oil spill continues to devastate communities along the Gulf, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq continue to drain our country’s resources without much progress, the social fabric of this country feels frayed and divided.  It would seem that our only shining bright moment was Landon Donovan’s goal in the World Cup yesterday.

It would seem that way if you simply focus on the headlines. Amidst the bad news is an underlying narrative that the current trajectory is not working.  And when something is not working, it is time for a change.

The pessimistic conventional wisdom would tell a story like this: Eventually the oil spill will be stopped, tighter safety regulation on the oil and coal industries may pass to appease public outrage, but we will continue to throw billions of dollars overseas each year for oil, we will continue to drill and mine and frack our communities for the energy beneath them, while energy companies continue to make record profits.   Superficial changes will be politically popular but will do little to change our dysfunctional energy system.  Then the next energy crisis will hit.

Here in Utah, it would seem that this story is playing out. Continue reading ‘The Meaning of Opportunity’

When we normally imagine hydroelectric energy, we think of huge dams, big lakes, and dry rivers. The state of Nevada – not normally known for its water – is trying to promote something different. Their new HydroGenerations initiative offers incentives for individuals on agricultural property that will help offset the cost of purchasing hydroelectric technology.

This small-scale technology can be placed in streams where they draw energy through a small Stream Engine. This sort of technology certainly is not new, but this government program promoting its expansion is innovative, and most things that help offset carbon emissions tend to be positive.

As a recent article from the Reno Gazette-Journal reports, the HydroGenerations program is already being successfully put into place on private farms. With water being more difficult to come by in Nevada, the amount of energy required to irrigate farms can be large. The Young Brothers Ranch in Big Smoky Valley pays as much as $25,000 dollars a month in energy bills.With their hydroelectric power unit installed, they expect to save anywhere from $5,00 to $7,000 dollars monthly.
Continue reading ‘Hydro Power With an Individual Approach’

Send your résumé to Congress and tell them we need clean energy jobs

Graduation is a time of transition and new challenges. For many of us who recently graduated, or will in the coming years, it is also a moment of deep uncertainty. We face both the immediate challenge of surging youth unemployment, and the long-term threat of a world plagued by catastrophic climate change.

Our future hinges on another transition: America’s shift to a new clean energy economy.

Our generation was hit disproportionately hard by the recession. A Pew Research study showed that fully 37% of young people aged 18-29 were unemployed or involuntarily out of the workforce in 2009. Unfortunately, 2010 isn’t looking much better.

While no one piece of legislation will solve both our economic and environmental crises, passing a comprehensive clean energy and climate bill will have a dramatic impact on both issues.

A 21st century clean energy economy has the potential to create millions of new jobs that can’t be shipped overseas. It has the potential to create a sustainable future powered by clean, efficient, renewable energy sources.

Continue reading ‘Our Generation Needs Clean Energy Jobs’

As a Canadian climate activist, I know that I am constantly demanding things of the Canadian government. The usual “Come up with carbon emission reduction targets that would prevent more than 2 degrees warming!” or “Pass the Climate Change Accountability Act,” or, “Stop going to international negotiations unwilling to negotiate!”

But I have a different demand of the G8 and G20 leaders who are meeting in my city this weekend: “Stop thinking that you are a legitimate forum to be discussing global issues like climate change.”

I just got off the phone with a reporter for the CBC who asked me if climate change was on the G20 agenda. I said that it was but in limited form. Then he asked, “then what’s the problem?”

What is the problem?! Where do I even begin?

What does he expect me to say? There is NO problem with letting a group of 20 finance ministers and bank governors talk about how to bring justice to those most impacted by the climate crisis in only LIMTED form. You are right. I will stop protesting.

But before I even had time to say that he followed his question with “What are you asking for if they are talking about climate change.”

I am not asking the G20 to talk about climate change. I am saying that they are an illegitimate body and an inappropriate forum to be discussing global issues. Why would anyone trust finance ministers and bank governors to make decisions for the entire planet, and what makes them suitable to be speaking about environmental issues? Especially if you know their track record.

The G20 Climate Agenda (Image credit: Cam Fenton, full article and image http://toronto.mediacoop.ca/photo/3708 )

Only two of the 20 G20 countries (Mexico and Argentina) are en route to meeting their Kyoto agreements. Many of the G20 countries were involved in undemocratically writing up the empty and flawed Copenhagen Accord. And the G20 countries have already put about 200 billion dollars into the oil and gas industry.

The G20 are heavily involved in dictating IMF and World Bank policies which have caused environmental and social crisis in many of the countries it has “aimed” at helping. They do this in the form of Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs) and to that I say: “adjust this” (and then I point to my crooked hat.” Wink!

So why would I demand anything of the G20. They have already proven they are incompetent, why would I trust them with anything else.

So I have one demand of the G20…cancel your summits! Stop spending your time and my money (oh taxes for social services…) on meetings where you accomplish nothing. A group of finance ministers do not represent me…in fact, they only represent themselves.

Chester PA has a right to clean air. Ocean City Maryland needs to reinstate their recycling program instead of dumping more trash to be burned in a city that has an overwhelming number of incinerators already. We have a right to clean air just like Ocean City. Sign the petition and say NO to trashing dumping on Chester!

PETITION: http://environment.change.org/petitions/view/no_more_oceans_of_trash_dumped_on_chester_city_2

Research: http://www.ejnet.org/chester

2 minutes in English. Quick explanation summary of how the G8/G20 can address climate change at the upcoming Toronto G8 & G20 summits.

2 minutes en francais. J’explique comment les dirigeants peuvent aborder le suject des changements climatiques pendant les sommets de G8 & G20 a Toronto.

(English) (Francais)

Cross posted from the ACE Blog

Just in time for the longest day of the year – this glorious summer solstice – EARTH AMPLIFIED, the new full-length album by ACE Educator AshEl Seasunz + J. Bless is out now and AVAILABLE HERE!

If recycling launched the environmental conscience of a generation in the 70s, perhaps upcycling can launch the next. From TerraCycle‘s incredible model of reclaiming waste and turning it into beautiful products to waste paper bead necklaces being made in Kenya and Nigeria, from Haathi Chaap making poo paper from elephant, camel and rhino dung to the newspaper bags, earrings, and paper baskets being woven and folded in India, the beauty of upcycling is self-evident. In India, organizations like Conserve, Thunk and Green the Gap are creating art from value-less waste, including plastic bags, Mother Dairy milk packets, and poly-al chip packages.

While innovative, upcycling is not new. The idea of “kabaad se jugaad” (making good from waste, or best out of waste, depending on how you translate it) is common practice in India. Whether making roofs from tarps or vinyl advertisements or turning every piece of valuable waste into a recycling commodity with every street’s kabaadi-wallahs (waste collectors, recyclables’ purchasers), India has long known how to convert waste into gold.

Composting, making khadh, is common in villages, where all waste is biodegradable, or at least, until a few years ago (or a few months from now). The process of plastic integration into these communities is not a question of if it will enter but when it will enter (sadly), and waste can no longer be managed in khadh piles in village corners. Yet, kabaad se jugaad can still apply for food waste – if we open our eyes to the value in every banana peel. The organizations that are looking into urban and rural composting and biogas generation from food waste are actively attempting to transform the perception that food scraps are waste into the understanding that these scraps are just raw compost!

Last Sunday, in the center of urban consumerism in Delhi, Khan Market, Manzil launched its composting system. With a street play in Hindi, bollywood songs with compost-focused rewritten lyrics, and great dancing, the compost party was the first step to young people feeling that waste was something to be discussed, even celebrated. Using Daily Dump units, Manzil has begun a small step towards sustainability for the market — one we’re working towards replicating on a much larger scale.

But why share it on IGHIH, a climate blog? Because every kilo of food waste composted is one kilo not transported for 15 kilometers to the landfill. It’s one kilo that doesn’t decompose creating methane emissions. And it’s one kilo that creates organic fertilizer to replace energy intensive and environmentally damaging chemical fertilizers.

And, most importantly, it’s one kilo of change. Change is addictive. Waste is a way for us to transform communities that allows them to see ways to change the even more challenging problems: of energy resources, of water recycling, and of our consumption patterns.

Plus, it’s one step closer to us living kabaad se jugaad — to take the wastes we are given and to turn it into value — whether an inherited energy system, governmental failures to regulate industry, or physical “wastes” and find a way to create transformation. Are you ready? Kabaad se Jugaad.

   I’m writing to ask you to take a step today that can help develop new and healthier economies in the Southern West Virginia coalfield communities. By a few simple, digital steps, and your vote, you can help jump start the grass roots “Build It Up, West Virginia! Summer Program” which is a Program where young West Virginians are coming together and reclaiming our state ourselves. Heard enough? Great. Go here and vote for the “Build It Up! West Virginia Summer Program”.

From Growing Gardens & Local Foods in Fayette County

The deadline for voting is June 21st and we have to have the most votes in order to win the grant – we need you to vote & spread the word now!

Here’s how you can help:

1) VOTE 3x
2) RSVP TO OUR EVENT & INVITE YOUR FRIENDS TO THIS FACEBOOK PAGE

For years, communities in Central Appalachia, in parts of Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee, have been standing up to defend their quality of life, the quality of their environment and the prospects for a brighter and better tomorrow for their children and grandchildren. For over a century, the coal industry has maintained a mono-economic stranglehold on many places in Appalachia, a stranglehold that has held the coalfields captive to the destructive whims of King Coal.

Continue reading ‘Vote Online to Build Clean Energy Economies in the Southern WV Coalfields!’