It’s Getting Hot In Here

Cross-posted from WeArePowerShift.org

Washington, D.C., for better or worse, always feels like a losing battle.  I am educated enough to know that our politics are polluted by corporate money.  I have lobbied enough to know that even congressional allies will say the political climate “isn’t right” for climate legislation.  I have even been arrested enough to know that 100 people committing civil disobedience in front of the White House isn’t enough to move leaders on a moral issue. So what gives?

Though I am often discouraged by my time in D.C., I still made the trek to Power Shift 2011 if only to meet with other youth equally confused about the direction of our movement.  It is clear to me, at least on the national political stage, that we are not winning.  The EPA is under attack, climate legislation is off the agenda until 2013, and mountaintop removal mining is still legal in the U.S. court of law.  So we have a lot to reflect on as a movement.  This time I went to Power Shift not with any definitive strategies or answers, but with many questions about what’s next for young people willing to dedicate their lives to confronting the climate crisis.  The main question that guided me throughout the weekend was this: In the face of all these challenges, how can I be most effective?

I spent some time in the Clean Economy Track, where I have a personal connection with Grand Aspirations, a youth-led organization that is building the clean economy from the ground up.  I am one of three Chicago Program Leaders for the Summer of Solutions, a Grand Aspirations leadership-training program running in 15 cities this summer.  Solution-based work like this is a major component of my answer to the question of how to be most effective. We need to draw the line in the sand as a movement and say “no” to the polluters, but we also need to offer our society the “yeses” that build the clean and just future we are demanding.  The Summer of Solutions is just one of several summer programs that are offering those “yeses”. Continue reading ‘Why Going to Jail for Climate Justice is More than a Responsibility: A Closer Look at Our Movement’s Tactics’

On October 22nd, four RAN Chicago activists exposed the Canadian tar sands climate disaster by interrupting a luncheon featuring Canadian Ambassador Gary Doer. Ambassador Doer came to Chicago to present on U.S. energy security and cooperative efforts to develop sustainable climate and energy policies. The fact that these two topics surfaced in the same sentence is telling of the Canadian government’s efforts to greenwash the tar sands. This lecture was nothing else than a talk on Canada’s attempt to use energy security scare tactics to push the dirtiest oil on earth into the veins of the American heartland.

As a lifelong resident of Illinois, I refuse to let the Canadian government pave the way for private corporations to bring destruction to my home. Not only is the extraction process of tar sands appalling, the reality of pipeline spills makes it a no-brainer to keep additional pipelines out of our communities. Instead of expanding production of this “difficult to extract” oil, we should be focusing on the obvious transition to a sustainable, clean energy economy.

Continue reading ‘Chicago Activists Tell Canadian Ambassador, “Energy Security Shouldn’t Cost Lives”’

At 9 o’clock this morning, 13 young people entered the Department of Interior office building to demand that Secretary Ken Salazar bring an end to the Office of Surface Mining’s approval of mountaintop removal mining permits. Carrying a banner reading, “Appalachia is Rising, End Mountaintop Removal”, the 13 activists staged a sit-in in the building lobby and are currently refusing to leave until their demands are met.

Youth stage a sit-in at Department of Interior to hold Mr. Salazar to his word.

Among their demands, the youth are asking Secretary Salazar to:

1. Research, review and revoke all existing and pending mountaintop removal mine permits through the Office of Surface Mining

2. Deny all future mountaintop removal mine permits requests that cross his desk

3. Approve land reclamation permits that require the seeding of native Appalachian plant life to begin the bioremediation process on all MTR sites currently undergoing reclamation. This will accomplish the pressing issue of restoring the region to its original state.

4. Work with mining companies and the Office of Surface Mining to secure employment for local residents in these reclamation efforts.

The action is being conducted in solidarity with Appalachia Rising, a mass mobilization to end mountaintop removal taking place in D.C. today.

PLEASE SUPPORT THIS ACTION NOW by calling Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar, 202 208 7351, and demanding that he hold true to his words spoken last Wednesday that “Every American deserves a healthy environment in which they can live, learn and play” and bring an end to mountaintop removal mining today.

There’s something afoot in Chicago’s City Hall and it’s not the politics you would expect in Illinois.

On April 14, Alderman Joe Moore introduced an ordinance to City Council that, if passed, would make Chicago the first U.S. city to regulate emissions from coal-fired power plants. In the absence of federal climate legislation that takes serious action on the public health effects of coal pollution, this could be Chicago’s chance to shine.

While the proposed legislation wouldn’t shut down the fossil fuel behemoths, its passage would send a strong message to the state and federal government. Where the two legislatures have failed to act, Chicago is asserting its right to protect its citizens from harmful pollution while looking forward to the economic benefits of a clean energy economy.

In its current state, the Chicago Clean Power Ordinance (CPO) aims to reduce emissions from the Fisk and Crawford Power Plants in three major categories:

• PM/PM10 limit of .015 lb/MMBtu: This is a 90% reduction over the current PM/PM10 limit and
  equivalent to the standard that is widely set for new coal fired power plants.
• PM2.5 limit of .010 lb/MMBtu: The plants have no PM2.5 limit now; this PM2.5 limit is critical because fine particle pollution poses a very serious threat to the health (especially respiratory health) of local residents.
• CO2 limit of 120.36 lbs/MMBtu: This is equivalent to that of a natural gas plant. Continue reading ‘Where the Federal Government Has Not Acted, Chicago Will — Announcing the Chicago Clean Power Ordinance’