It’s Getting Hot In Here

From the desk of the Ohio Student Environmental Coalition, here is a compilation of recent stuff on the huge TVA coal ash spill in Eastern Tennessee:
http://energyjustice.net/Ohio/TVA-Special-1-8-09.pdf

Initial coverage, on the ground voices, resources, and action opportunities.

There is also a wealth of info at the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy and some really solid journalism and photos at AlterNet.

If the candidates and the public are still unclear on the dangers and the insecurities of nuclear power and “clean coal”, I invite you to the following:

The Energy Justice Network’s Fact Sheet on “Clean Coal”

The Energy Justice Network’s Fact Sheet on Nuclear Power

Top climate scientist James Hansen’s latest posting warning against the dangers of coal.

Real action: Power Vote, Mountain Justice Spring Break, Power Shift 2009, and the Ohio Student Environmental Coalition.

Chemical released by trees can help cool planet, scientists find
By David Adam at the Guardian, 10-31-08

Trees could be more important to the Earth’s climate than previously thought, according to a new study that reveals forests help to block out the sun.

Scientists in the UK and Germany have discovered that trees release a chemical that thickens clouds above them, which reflects more sunlight and so cools the Earth. The research suggests that chopping down forests could accelerate global warming more than was thought, and that protecting existing trees could be one of the best ways to tackle the problem.

Dominick Spracklen, of the Institute for Climate and Atmospheric Science at Leeds University, said: “We think this could have quite a significant effect. You can think of forests as climate air conditioners.”

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/oct/31/forests-climatechange

Over the past week, Ewan Oglethorpe, Kristen Arnold, and Andrew Riedy from The Ohio State University have braved the cold weather and the corporate suits to testify on American Electric Power’s proposed new electric rate plan.

AEP wants to raise rates 15% a year each of the next 3 years, for a total increase of over 52%! They want to do some good stuff, including investing $178 million in energy efficiency, but overall the plan is lacking. Students testified to demand:

• Third party administration of the new programs
• Spending across the service territory and customer classes so big business doesn’t get all the cuts, and
• Rate increases across customer classes so homeowners don’t get stuck with all the burden.

To get it straight, we oppose AEP’s plan. After recording record profits of over $1 billion last year and paying their CEO Michael Morris $19.7 million a year, they have no business asking for more. They’re also the world’s seventh largest greenhouse gas polluter, with plans to move on up.

IF their plan gets approved by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, it damn well better at least charge everyone, benefit everyone, and be administered by a transparent third party like they do in other states. Go Ewan, Kristen, and Andrew!

Over the past week I’ve had the privilege of doing intensive on-the-ground work with folks around Ohio. Lots and lots of tabling :0)

Of particular mention was some work I did Friday with the University of Dayton Sustainability Club. We were tabling in the Kennedy student center, gathering petition signatures to get Dr. Dan (President of UD) to join nearly 600 other schools in signing the President’s Climate Commitment.

In the process of getting over 80 petition signatures that day, President Dan happened to walk by our table. Sustainability Club President Ken Farrell, with his cat-like reflexes and movement-inspiring wisdom, was quick to engage the Dr. in a conversation with our petition sheets as a backdrop. And voila, the President wants to meet with us to discuss his interests in committing to a long-term sustainability plan.

Be like Ken and seize those moments. They’re few and they’re precious!

With nearly 53,000 students enrolled at the Columbus campus, fall quarter is finally about to start at The Ohio State University. The involvement fair was today, and Free the Planet! OSU was rocking it.

At the end of the day, we collected over 500 new contacts through our 3 campaigns:

Students for Food Sovereignty, which is starting an organic student-run farm on campus

The Dogwood Alliance’s No Free Refills campaign, which is targeting Columbus-based Wendy’s for their irresponsible packaging polices

and of course Power Vote, which is the fall outreach effort of our Climate Campaign (we got 223 pledges signed today!)

From Cleveland resident and Oberlin alum Lora DiFranco:

This past weekend was probably one of the best of my life. How can you top the combination of music, activism, and community? My friend Matt Scheuermann organized the weekend-long DIT Fest in Kent, Ohio because he wanted to exhibit how the “do-it-yourself” ethic can be a lot more effective and fun when we “do-it-together.”

While I’ve been a fan of punk since my early high school days, it was just last year that I was exposed to the DIY punk scene. The bands I’ve become friends with burn their own CDs and package them using recycled beer boxes. Concerts are held in musty basements where vegan cupcakes are a more widely accepted currency than cash. These bands realize that there’s more to their music than record sales, MTV, and money. In fact, it goes beyond music and into activism.

I learned a lot very quickly from this new community, and decided to try to apply the DIY ethic to my own life. I’m passionate about stopping the unnecessary waste that our civilization creates, so I decided to write about it (trust me, you wouldn’t want me to sing about it) and publish a zine called GreenLight with my friends. We’re currently working on our 4th issue, which is going to be all about food- local food, food desserts, climate impacts of food choices, etc.
Continue reading ‘Do-It-Together Fest’

Today I got 28 Power Vote pledge cards signed by a wide range of excited people from 13 different schools, including people from middle schoolers to overhearing parents. Yesterday Ohio Power Voters dropped a banner at McCain’s VP rally in Dayton, and today 3 of us canvassed the crowd at Obama and Biden’s tour stop here in Columbus.

Now we’ve got dozens more people to develop into leaders and invite to the 2nd annual Ohio Area Student Environmental Summit in 2 weeks.

Also, wearing a Power Vote shirt was very effective. People even came up and asked me about the campaign - that’s never happened to me before.

So that’s what I did for Power Vote today. What did you do?

I’m proud to unveil (and be done with!) the Ohio Student Environmental Coalition 07-08 wrap up video. It features stuff local to Ohio as well as collaborative efforts like Power Shift 07 and Mountain Justice Spring Break 08.

If you think this video is as good as it ought to be considering how much time I spent on it, donate here!

-> You can also grab the full quality (23MB) version which looks prettier.

‘Junk Mail Effect’ Equals Emissions of 9 Million Cars, 7 US States Combined
NASA Scientist and Gore Advisor Hansen urges support for Do Not Mail Registry
A report released today by ForestEthics pegs junk mail’s contribution to climate change at the equivalent of more than nine million cars, seven US states combined, or the emissions generated by heating nearly 13 million homes for the winter.

The group released the irreverently illustrated report as part of their campaign and petition for a Do Not Mail Registry to give Americans the choice to stop receiving junk mail.

Download the report here: http://forestethics.org/downloads/ClimateReport.pdf
Continue reading ‘Report Outlines Junk Mail’s Climate Impacts’