It’s Getting Hot In Here

By Scott Gast, Orion magazine:

It’s been a bold few months for citizen climate action.

In March, University of Utah graduate student Tim DeChristopher was convicted for derailing an oil and gas auction that would have sold off a huge chunk of Utah’s public land. And in February, thirteen Kentuckians, including farmer and writer Wendell Berry, walked into their governor’s office and refused to leave until they got what they wanted: a promise from the governor to pay attention, finally, to the havoc wreaked on Kentucky by mountaintop-removal coal mining.

Not going to Powershift? Or looking for an extra dose of inspiration before trekking to DC next weekend? Here’s a chance to hear from the activists themselves:

On April 12, at 7 pm Eastern, 4 pm Pacific, Orion magazine will host Tim DeChristopher, Wendell Berry, and Teri Blanton (Teri joined Wendell for the Kentucky Rising sit-in in February) for a free, live web discussion.

The group will discuss how climate activism is changing, what can be learned from the peaceful uprisings in Wisconsin and the Middle East, and take audience questions.

Register for this free web event, here: http://bit.ly/gKIZXF

Tim, Wendell, and the members of Kentucky Rising are reminders of the real challenge in front of each of us: matching belief with action. With all the bold activism we’ve seen recently, is there a better time to stand up and speak for the future?

Fellow Americans,

“With, or Without You.”  This will be the chant echoing across the country as we begin to understand that no one other than us is responsible for constructing the change we all so desperately seek.  No longer will we impatiently wait for others to offer us the necessary conditions to live in a just, equitable society.  The society we resurrect will be based on our ability to carry the fire of ingenuity, innovation and creativity, simmering in each one of us.

We are at a time of significant opportunity.  Yet, opportunities alone are not enough. We need the skills to make use of them.  Ten days from now, at the crossroads of hard skills and collective empowerment will be a new future for each one of us.  PowerShift 2011 is the time to commit to finding a vocation consistent with the change you seek.  It’s about jobs. It’s about production.  It’s on you.

This PowerShift, you can learn the skills to tell the story, or, you can become the story.

Commit yourself to learning the skills to take hold of your own destiny.  Sign up for the weekend long Clean Economy Track at PowerShift 2011:  http://www.powershift2011.org/conference/clean-economy

We will do this, with or without you.

via RAN

Going to Powershift?

Want to stop Big Coal and Big Oil?

Aren’t you tired of how Wall Street literally gets away with murder?

Then put a little “action” in your life with Rainforest Action Network (it’s our middle name.)

Please join Rainforest Action Network and friends on Saturday April 16^th at 1pm outside the DC Convention Center. We’ll lead a “Tour of Shame” through the surrounding business district and take creative direct action against the financiers of companies like Arch Coal, Peabody Energy, Exxonmobil and the coal companies responsible for the destruction of Appalachia’s mountains.

If you are on Facebook, you can RSVP here.

Just recently, Portland Rising Tide and 100 Powershift students did the same thing at Bank of America and Wells Fargo branches in downtown Portland.

Looks like fun, doesn’t it? Continue reading ‘Join the Dirty Banks “Tour of Shame” at Powershift; Saturday, April 16th at 1pm’

I just got back from a trip to North Carolina.  I met up with some rockstar student activists in Forest City, NC – where the construction site of Facebook’s newest data center is located.  In November 2010, Facebook disclosed its plans to invest $450 million in the 300,000 sq. ft. facility and to power the center using dirty coal power.

North Carolina students bear witness at Facebook's Data Center.

Emma Wicker, one of the activists, grew up 10 minutes away from the construction site. Emma is stoked to have Facebook bring some much needed jobs to the area, she just wants those jobs to drive an energy revolution, not increase demand for dirty coal power. Duke Energy, the local electric utility, relies on coal for over 50% of its generation mix and is currently building another large 800MW coal plant just 10 miles away in Cliffside, North Carolina.

The action didn’t just happen in North Carolina on Friday. Students across the country stood up to demand more from Facebook. In Austin, Texas, students gathered outside Facebook offices in an effort to talk with employees about the campaign. The students were denied access to the building, but they were able to deliver a letter for Mark Zuckerberg to the security guard that works on Facebook’s floor, and get the attention of Facebook staff passing by.

Carson Chavana delivers a letter for Mark Zuckerberg.

As the student activists in Austin said on Friday, “Facebook is in a relationship with coal? Dislike!” Join us in asking Facebook to Unfriend Coal by Earth Day 2011.

Cross-posted from RAN’s Understory

by Nell Greenberg

Mountaintop removal is an American tragedy. Plain and simple.

The practice destroys hundreds of Appalachian mountains, contaminates drinking water and sacrifices America’s communities for small seams of coal.

That’s exactly what actress and RAN ally Susan Sarandon has to say in our new video on mountaintop removal coal mining:

Continue reading ‘VIDEO: Mountaintop Removal is an American Tragedy.’

It is that time of year and many of our readers on campus are looking towards graduation or the end of the semester with trepidation. What are you going to do? Your parents may be bugging you for your summer plans and balancing exams with cover letters and resumes.

Well, we are here to help. It is a tough economy and jobs are scarce. Jobs that allow you to continue doing groundbreaking work on solutions to the climate crisis are even scarcer.

However, we are debuting a new section of It’s Getting Hot in Here to provide you with a one-stop shop to find many of those jobs, or at least where you can go to start looking. Climate Careers hosts the EAC jobs board widget, which streams headlines of the most recent jobs sent to the list. Sign up to get jobs in your inbox. Recent jobs listed are:

Executive Director of the Southern Energy Network (Athens, GA)
Campaign Director at Corporate Accountability International
…and for the more technically-minded: Application Engineer_Utility SCADA systems – SmartGridCareers

That isn’t all. We are also providing links to jobs boards at leading websites and environmental and climate organizations. Instead of Googling through a host of nonprofit websites, check it out and use it for a homebase when you are looking for the next internship or that job out of college. Even if you are an experienced campaigner, it is a good place to start looking for the next green job.

If you are looking to hire some of the top talent coming out of the youth climate movement, send your job description here: eac-jobs-board@googlegroups.com

Please, let’s makes this a resource for both job seekers and those looking to hire all you smart, capable It’s Getting Hot in Here readers, so tell me if I am missing jobs boards or what resources you would like to see in the Climate Careers section .

Today members of Portland Rising Tide and participants in a training for Power Shift 2011 set out to let major banks in Portland know it’s time to pull investments from dirty fossil fuel infrastructure.  About fifty people visited local branches of Wells Fargo and Bank of America, letting customers know the banks have been “Closed for climate crimes.”  While some participants staged a die-in on the sidewalks, others used mud to stick “dirty money” to the walls and windows.  The group drew interested looks from people on the sidewalks and bank customers using the ATMs, and activists were happy to fill in passers-by on how these banks came to deserve their dirty reputations.

A good time was had by all, and it was great to see so much energy channeled into shining a light on the companies financing some of the world’s most destructive fossil fuel infrastructure.  Yet while actions like this are designed to be both educational and fun, there’s nothing amusing about funding activities that destroy the very livability of the planet.  When Bank of America and Wells Fargo customers arrive tomorrow at the branches targeted by today’s action, they’ll learn about the dirty dealings with fossil fuel companies these Wall Street players ordinarily try to cover up. Continue reading ‘Wells Fargo, Bank of America Closed for Climate Crimes’