It’s Getting Hot In Here

How’s the Site Doing is a monthly series to update the community on how this site is doing, share some how-to tips and create a space to talk about this site.

Over 100 people filled out our survey earlier this month, giving us a valuable window into how our community sees itself. As part of my monthly round-up of the site, I’ve included some of the graphs (thanks to Liz Veazy) and insights I found most interesting.

To start things off, we’re the best site on the web for some things, according to…. us!

The point of the survey was to help the editors guide the development of the site and the community. We’ve been putting together a proposal for a redesign, and getting a much better sense of how we want to include a lot more people in writing and reading here, and how to expand our editorial board.

Read on for a mock-up of how the site might look, more colorful graphs from the survey and of course the numbers.

Continue reading ‘How’s the Site Doing According to You? Open thread on what we should be’

High up in the trees near the summit of Coal River Mountain, two activists dangle in the air near a mountaintop removal mine site. Eric Blevins and Amber Nitchman are still preventing the expansion of mining on the summit of Coal River Mountain, a mountain that has the best wind energy (and therefore economic) potential in the area.

Eric and Amber didn’t just stroll through the woods and decide to climb some trees. Their action, like the dozens of others in the past year are a steady escalation of the Climate Ground Zero campaign.

I first visited Rock Creek, West Virginia in October. Mountain Justice, now in its 5th year, organized a fall weekend that drew 150 youth activists from all over the country to the Appalachians to see firsthand the destruction of mountaintop removal coal mining and learn what they could do about it. For me, it was partly a reunion with colleagues from various climate and activist organizations making the trek, and partly a recharge. Camping in the cold, eating group meals and hanging out with my mountain roaming friends is a great way to spend a weekend. It’s also a great way to build a movement.

Read on for new photos, a meeting with the governor and more. Continue reading ‘Tree Sits, Air Horns and Helicopters: The Fight to Save Coal River Mountain’

>>>Update: Read the live-blog of the event here<<<

>>>Update: Watch the debate live here.<<<

So, is coal part of West Virginia’s future? This Thursday evening at 6:30pm Robert F. Kennedy Jr will debate Don Blankenship on the future of coal, mountaintop removal and economic opportunities for Appalachia. Kennedy, chief litigator for the Waterkeeper’s Alliance and Blankenship, CEO of WV’s largest coal producer Massey energy, are both titans on this issue.

Convened by the University of Charleston president Ed Welch, the debate has already garnered significant attention from the media and people across coal country. With the bright spotlight focused on dirty coal, the debate will likely have a big impact on public opinion. We can help shape that public opinion. Watch Colbert’s brilliant segment on mountaintop removal last night, and then read on for how you can help. Continue reading ‘Kennedy and Blankenship to Debate Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining’

It all began when I found myself leading climate activism cheers and marching through the August heat of New Hampshire in 2007… No, let me back up. It began when I signed my campus group up on the Campus Climate Challenge website because we’d been running the campaign but no one had bothered to tell anyone outside our campus. No, not quite, it really began when Billy Parish spoke on an Earthday panel at my school in the spring of 2006.  Well, it really began…

For the Climate Generation series, as we look at how the climate crisis shapes and unites our generation, I want to start with what got me really excited about being part of the movement to stop climate change.  Hopefully this can offer some insight into how we organize ourselves at a generational level and win.

In Sierra Student Coalition trainings like I attended, participants all share what makes them tick. Its called green fire, a reference to an Aldo Leopold essay on the love of wilderness and the spark that makes us fight to protect what we love. He saw the green fire in a wolf’s eyes as it heaved its last breaths. He saw the fierce determination of a mother to protect her domain, to defend her young, and he linked that to his love for the rugged land, vowing to defend it to his last breath.

Listening to Billy talk about the Campus Climate Challenge, I started to get a little fire in my eyes. It felt like someone had let the sunlight in to my little corner where I was busily doing my part, sorting bottles and trying to use both sides of printer paper. His 10 minute slide-show contained a big idea that I’d never heard be: that there was this whole network of people doing important, real things, like reducing the emissions from entire campuses, all over the country. Continue reading ‘Climate Generation: What Makes Us All Tick’

Hello intrepid readers and writers of ItsGettingHotInHere.org. The blog is 5 years old, started during the Montreal COP11 conference, and in that time we have all contributed to making this a huge communal resource.  Can you help us grow more by doing the site a 5 minute favor?

Our movement benefits from the breadth and quality of stories and opinions shared here. Activists in Oregon can benefit from action ideas from Australia. On-the-ground activists fighting coal in West Virginia engage in discussion with San Francisco think tanks.  Climate activists share stories from around the world. We help the movement grow by broadcasting amazing victories, like the Green Job/Green New York Act and stopping a 1000 MW coal plant in Meigs Co Ohio.

In 5 years, these efforts created a blog that has huge authority on the web, and is read by everyone from journalists to activists to policy makers.  As we upgrade to a new decade, we’re upgrading the this site based on your feedback.

The IGHIH editors have put together a survey to collect input from readers, writers and partner organizations so we can better serve you and the climate movement. Thank you so much for your feedback!

Take the 5 min Survey

Monthly page views since May '07 when we moved to wordpress.com. Stats calculated by wordpress.

The global youth movement came to a bit of a peak this month, and IGHIH not only reflected it, we wrote it as it was happening.  Just take a look at our monthly traffic over the past 3 years.  December was the biggest month by far, topping 100,000 views. An epic youth climate sit-in at the Bella Center in Copenhagen (live-blogged by Whit Jones), but it was by no means the only amazing instance of activists telling the story in their own words, and the world listening.

For commentary on the decade and the 5 year history of this site, other people will need to do step in, since I’ve only been involved here for 2 years.  But you’re in luck! In January, over a dozen veteran youth climate activists who’ve been involved here for longer than me will post as part of the “Climate Generation” series – stay tuned for updates.

Also in January, there will be a bit of an overhaul process.  We’ll start with a survey on how the site works for readers, writers and partner organizations.  That feedback will go into a proposal to make changes to how this whole thing works, which should start to be implemented by the end of the month.  We’ll be revamping the ‘events and opportunities’ page to make it easier to post and also overhauling the list of contributors and authors.  Lastly, the editorial board needs some fresh blood, and recruitment will start at the end of the month.  Like to promote the voices of the youth climate movement?  Lets talk.

Now to really geek out, here are this month’s most viewed posts, referring sites, web searches and outgoing links.  Hold your breath, hold it, hold it, here it is…. Continue reading ‘How’s the Blog Doing? (Holy Crap!)’

There are more people to blame for failure in Copenhagen than… sensational cliches to start blog posts with.  Obama probably negotiated his ass off during his 9 hours in Denmark, but he didn’t do enough legwork beforehand to set himself up for success.  China blocked any sort of requirement, goal, target or accountability mechanism, even though it is and will remain the largest greenhouse polluter.  The US Senate didn’t pass a climate bill in time.  The list goes on.

Yet some guilty parties are actively trying to mess the process up instead of just not doing enough: powerful fossil fuel and business interests are working against the interests of the people in the struggle for a senate bill and in the negotiations for a treaty. As Ricken Patel from Avaaz said about Copenhagen: “one group was cracking open the champagne – the polluting industry lobbyists.”

Even before the dust had settled or the last negotiations had stopped, the DC Action Factory used its last few hours as a group to deliver Climate Cover-Up: The Crusade to Deny Global Warming to every single senate office and Roland Burris (D-IL) in person. Maybe we didn’t do enough to expose the dirty energy campaign to hijack the senate, but hopefully final hours as an Action Factory are a sign of big things to come.

Continue reading ‘People vs. Polluters’

The sit-in has concluded.  The protesters were ‘detained’ and removed from the hall, and made to sit in a small holding room.  Then they were given the option to leave, or stay and get arrested.  Since no press was on hand, and no one was there to witness the arrests, they left the building.

Activists read off names of 11 million+ global citizens calling for real climate action

Keep planning more actions in solidarity.  We’re brainstorming!

Previous live-blog comments below…

Continue reading ‘Live Blog: Sit-In at the US State Department, Reading names of 11 Million Petition Signers’

Following the heroic sit-in by international youth delegates in Copenhagen on Wednesday, waves of similar actions organized in the following days put immediate pressure on world leaders to enact a real, fair and binding climate deal.

I’d like to see that story written tomorrow and Friday by mainstream media.  As Andrew Munn called for earlier, solidarity protests are a huge way to increase the pressure on developed countries, notably the United States.

I’ve been up late planning an action in DC for tomorrow (Thursday) because the Action Factory was hugely inspired by the work that everyone in Copenhagen has been doing.  And we’ve been super impressed with the way you’ve been able to tell the story.

If others have solidarity actions planned, this useful tool is a good way to share what’s going on.  http://crowdable.net/ We’ve been successful at building this movement because we’re all working on the same thing, and when we do things together, we tell a unified story and make them big.

Posted on behalf of Sasha Macko and the Williams College Climate Justice Fast team.

I haven’t eaten for seven days.  To walk up stairs is like climbing Everest and I have almost forgotten what food tastes like. However, while this week has been a challenge to my daily routine, I woke up reeling with a combination of sleep deprivation and dizziness this morning knowing that this day marked an important moment for my future. This is the day that I have been waiting for, December 7^th, the start of the international climate talks in Copenhagen.

I am accompanied in my hunger strike by about fifty Williams College students and faculty, and countless others, who are fasting in solidarity with the Climate Justice Fast! team in an effort to make a strong impact on leaders in Copenhagen at the COP15. We are hoping to convey the extreme significance of climate change and the critical need for progressive action internationally. Officially starting on November 6^th and running until the end of the negotiations on December 18^th or longer, the Climate Justice Fasters will consume (or have consumed) only water for periods ranging from 24 hours to 42+ days.

Continue reading ‘Climate Justice Fast: One Small College’s Efforts’