It’s Getting Hot In Here

A few weeks ago over a hundred people gathered outside a convenience store below my apartment here in San Francisco with the goal of buying everything inside. In return, the store agreed to invest 22% of the day’s profits into improving its energy efficiency by replacing outdated refrigerators, light-bulbs, and more. This was the first action of “Carrotmob,” a small group with a compelling idea they think could change consumer advocacy and, well, redefine capitalism in the process.

It’s the anti-boycott: organize groups of consumers to agree to reward companies who make environmentally friendly choices.

Check out the video above to learn more about Carrotmob’s inaugural action and some of the thinking behind the project.

Continue reading ‘Carrotmob: The New Anti-Boycott?’

“Solving Climate Change Saves Billions.” That’s the sub-title for Architecture 2030’s new blueprint for how to tackle the climate crisis here in the United States. Not bad, huh? The report is worth a read, both for the innovative solutions that are offered, but also for the tone and approach.

The graph above should be in the board room of every investment firm in the country - certainly all the banks, like Bank of America and Citi, who are still dumping money into the coal industry. Here’s a sample from the report that drives the point home:

Many times, complex problems require the simplest of solutions. One of the most important questions facing those attempting to solve the climate change crisis is, “How do we reduce CO2 emissions dramatically and immediately?” The simplest answer is, “Turn off the coal plants.”

Click here to download the complete report (pdf).

Hey all, below is a post I’ve been excited about for a long time. When IGHIH started, its goal was to provide a voice for a global youth climate movement. That movement is there - it’s up to all of us to listen for it, find those who can tell its story, and help bring it together. The following is from John Romankiewicz, a Fulbright Scholar in China, who is doing incredible work with his Chinese partners:

China’s Green Beat is a video podcast that informs people about current environment solutions and what they can do to take action. It was founded by an American John Romankiewicz and a Chinese Zhao Xiangyu, and the podcast is delivered in mandarin Chinese with English subtitles. Most recently, Canadian Rene Ng, a professional actor and writer in Beijing, has joined the team as producer. Our videos are divided up into three categories: comedy (episode 4), documentary (episode 5), and instructional (upcoming episode 6) so that we can reach different audiences in different ways. The videos are meant to be fun, informative, and engaging. www.chinasgreenbeat.com is the portal through which all videos can be accessed, each video pinned on a map of China to the location where it was filmed.

Latest Video: Wind Power in China:

I’ll speak first person here: The inspiration to make optimistic, solutions-based videos came from my own personal reaction to negative foreign media on China, pieces like the New York Times series “Choking on Growth.” While extremely informative and very well reported, after reading such articles, it seems as if there is no hope, why would anyone even try and help China’s environment. In Chinese “mei you banfa 没有办法”. In fact, there are good things going on, and in my view, the best way to inspire and encourage people (from citizens to businesses to governments) to lead greener lives and make greener investments is through smart, fun, and optimistic media.

Continue reading ‘China’s Green Beat’

A quick interruption to the Fossil Fools Day revelry - Van Jones is going to be on the Colbert Report Tonight. No joke. Verify for yourself and check it out tonight as you’re wrapping up your Fossil Fools Action:

http://www.comedycentral.com/colbertreport/index.jhtml

So if you’re like me, you probably aren’t usually all that excited about Earth Day. When Earth Day first came onto the scene in 1970, it was a radical day of action: nearly 20 million people took to the street and helped birth the new environmental movement, taking conservationism out of the wilderness, retooling it with a good dose of ecology and Vietnam-era protest politics, and taking it to the streets. Since then, Earth Day has mellowed out considerably: marches replaced with trash pickups, revolution replaced with recycling.*

This year is going to be different. Earth Day Network, the appointed carriers of the holiday’s torch, have teamed up with the increasingly hard-hitting Architecture 2030 to launch a full assault on King Coal for this year’s April 22 festivities. Their idea? Get millions of people across the country to wear blue on Earth Day to signify a vote for “No Coal.”

Read more to find out about BYOBlue and how you can get involved. It’s time to reclaim Earth Day as the revolution it was meant to be.

Continue reading ‘Got the Blues?’

With all the attention to Obama’s wavering on coal issues, have we been letting Clinton off the hook? In an interview this morning with West Virginia Public Radio, Clinton wavered on the issue of mountaintop removal, making a false dichotomy between profits and environmental protection. You can listen to the broadcast here or read the quote below:

I am concerned about it for all the reasons people state, but I think its a difficult question because of the conflict between the economic and environmental trade-off that you have here. I’m not an expert. I don’t know enough to have an independent opinion, but I sure would like people who could be objective, understanding both the economic necessities and environmental damage to come up with some approach that would enable us to retrieve the coal but would enable us to do it in a way that wouldn’t damage the living standards and the other important qualities associated with people living both under the mountaintop and people who are along the streams. You know, maybe there is a way to recover those mountaintops once they have been stripped of the coal. You know, I think we’ve got to look at this from a practical perspective.

There is so much wrong with this response. We need to find ways to retrieve the coal? Here’s a better idea: stop burning it in the first place. And I’m sorry, but since when was it “practical” to blow the tops of mountains, destroy communities, threaten people’s lives, and subvert the political process so that corporations could make an extra buck for bribing judges and politicians with?

Continue reading ‘Clinton: “Maybe there’s a way to recover those mountaintops . . .”’

There have been a number of amazing posts lately about the growing youth movement against coal. Mattie writes about upcoming Mountain Justice Spring Break in Virginia, Dana reports on what was perhaps the largest rally against mountaintop removal ever down in Kentucky and tells the story of a grandmother’s fight against Big Coal, Leo describes his first direct action protesting coal in Ohio, Morgan takes on the industry in Kansas, and Tom updates us on the fight in Virginia.

This is starting to feel like a movement. Of course, there’s been a national movement against coal for quite a while. Rainforest Action Network has been going after the banks, Sierra Club has assembled a database of fights around the country, and countless community groups have been struggling on the front-lines, sometimes for decades. But something new is in the air if this blog is any indicator. I’ve been dutifully reading IGHIH since it got going in Montreal and I’ve never seen so many posts (and so many actions around the country) taking on coal.

So, the question comes up: what would a national, youth-lead campaign against coal look like?

Continue reading ‘A National Coal Campaign?’

And just when you thought the economy was looking good again! Oil just jumped across another milestone today, closing at above $100 a barrel for the first time. Rising demand, combined with a general loss in production and general tremors due to violence in Nigeria, an explosion at a Texas oil refinery, and Chavez’s recent threats to limit supply, combined in the perfect storm to push the price above the triple-digit mark.

So far, not much discussion in the media of this as yet another reminder of the need to transition away from oil. We’ll see if any of the presidential candidates or other politicians issue some statements. No matter what, now is a good opportunity to crank out another LTE to your favorite newspaper about renewable energy.

What’s next, $4 a gallon gas at the pump? Well, actually, maybe. According to Tom Kloza, an analyst with Oil Price Information Service, it’s looking like gas may reach $3.50 - $3.75 as early as April or May. At this rate, we could be shelling out $4 a gallon by the middle of the summer. I was in Detroit when gas hit $3 a gallon in 2005 and, while a hit to the pocket book, the high prices were a tremendous tool in talking with people about the need to develop more fuel efficient cars. We should be thinking of ways to do education about $4 a gallon this summer. Ideas?

A few days ago, Phil wrote about the confrontation between student activists and Big Coal lobbyists in the S.C. primary. Check a video we put together to show the action first hand. Living in a Feb. 5th primary state? Big Coal might be coming to your town, as well. Keep your eyes open. Enjoy:

With all the attention paid to the Democratic presidential candidates’ positions on climate change, blogs and commentators are perhaps missing out on the most interesting and nuanced climate-story of the election: the up and down candidacy of Republican Senator John McCain.

Most climate activists dismiss McCain as nothing but a middle of the road Republican who is, if anything, confusing the issue by laying out moderate solutions to a crisis that demands bold action. But to Republicans, McCain is pushing the envelope. Just look at the recent statements from the hack-conservative American Environmental Coalition who blasted McCain in the Michigan primary for his “climate change treachery.” Or an even more recent article by Dean Barnett in the conservative Weekly Standard. Barnett criticizes McCain for his opposition to drilling in ANWR, arguing that he is way out of line with the standard Republican position:

The Grand Canyon is a national treasure, while ANWR is a frozen chunk of ice in one of the world’s most remote spots. Nevertheless, McCain’s message is clear: Only a Philistine would consider violating the Grand Canyon. Because ANWR is the equivalent of the Grand Canyon, only Philistines would support its despoliation for something so quotidian as the tapping of oil resources. The problem with this line of thinking is that the vast majority of Republicans find themselves on the Philistine side of this debate.

Continue reading ‘John McCain and Climate Change - Dispatch from SC’