It’s Getting Hot In Here

Greetings from Lebanon,

I guess it has been a while since my last post to the wonderful itsgettinghotinhere, but thats not for good reason.  I moved my life to the roots that have built who I am today, my homeland, Lebanon.   I’ve finally committed myself to a semester of school and instead of taking off time to organize, I’ve taken time off organizing to study and be with family.  Although, media-wise I am still an avid participant.  For instance, YES! Magazine, which focuses on social-change through justice, sustainability, and compassion, has just released their Spring Edition. 

That’s right, it’s all about climate and the solutions that are needed.  You’re probably wondering who the features are, and you’ll be pleased to know that it’s all of you!  The youth climate movement, rocks it out in YES! Magazine, so check it out and subscribe for a trial issue.

Ellen Choy is at it again!

Read below about EJCC’s participation in they Youth Caucus.

12-11-07:

Today was a big day for the youth caucus, as they completed the final statement they will be reading to the high-level plenary on Friday as their official statement as the youth representatives. And Tony and I were able to fully, and loudly, participate. Having now been widely exposed to the activity here at the conference, it is clear that these statements will be some of the most important opportunities, if not the most important, to influence anything politically and legislatively substantial that is happening behind closed doors. The youth caucus’s statement acts as a demand for action amongst the government delegates to push for stringent policies on climate change. Therefore, given the invitation to participate in the small working group drafting the statement, both Tony and I quickly jumped to make this the focus of our work today.

It was clear that our input was needed. The youth caucus consists of over 200 delegates from many countries, largely dominated by delegations from Canada, the US and Australia (surprise, surprise). Furthermore, only a handful of those delegates are people of color, narrowing the actual representation of communities of color from both the North and South overall to maybe 10% of the total youth caucus. I almost felt uncomfortable noticing the intrigued response from the room when Tony and I entered as youth specifically representing communities of color in the US. But, the sense of community in the room as the youth caucus was sufficiently unifying, and other representatives, such as groups from Japan and Indonesia, were refreshingly not shy to show face and at least participate.

Continue reading ‘Making Moves in the Youth Caucus- Reporting from EJCC’

The posts are rolling in from EJCC and I’m posting as fast as I can! Again, I’m sorry for the back log but below is a compelling read

Ellen Choy Reporting from Bali:

12-10-07:
Our first day at the conference was a little overwhelming, despite the two hours it took standing in Blainese heat and humidity to finally get ourselves registered and walking through the doors of the Bali International Convention Centre. The level of activity was more than expected, but we clumsily got our bearings and headed into the side events and caucus meetings our first-day agenda channeled us to.

Most of what my post-registration day consisted of was attending a special Lieberman-Warner side event, presenting the bill and a panel of speakers who were directly involved in the bill’s crafting. Tony and I attended, entering a small room filled to the brim with observers and note-takers, amongst which we soon learned were scattered multiple US congressional staff representatives as well as other high-profile delegates, many from the European Union. The spotlight was shared by Chelsea Maxwell and David McIntosh, chief climate aides to Senator Lieberman and Senator Warner, respectively. As this was the very first experience participating in the conference for both Tony and I, this event provided a rude awakening to the struggle we, as climate justice advocates, will be facing in the coming week. As the only debate open to NGO participation on the leading climate legislation in the US, there was a complete lack of conversations around equity or justice. It was critical to engage ourselves in the discussion, but clear that the politics and special interests in the room fostered an environment where a CJ voice seemed unwelcome.

Continue reading ‘Lieberman-Warner Talks in Bali: A Rude Awakening!’

Hey All,

As many of you know I used to work as the National Campaign Coordinator for the Environmental Justice and Climate Change Initiative. I am still on their Youth Committee and am an active supporter of all the work that they are doing. As such, I am receiving blog posts from them to post on itsgettinghotinhere.org. EJCC works with communities and students of color on issues of Environmental Justice and Environmental Racism. This voice is very important.

Below is the first post from Ellen Choy, EJCC’s Program Associate, that she wrote on December 7th, 2007. Sorry for the late posting but I am just receiving the posts now. More updates to follow.

Ellen Choy, EJCC Rep:

Flying from Atlanta, Georgia, Flagstaff, Arizona and Oakland, California – thousands of miles and 3 plane meals later – we, the representatives of EJCC, official delagates to the UNFCCC, have officially begun our time and work here in Bali! As soon as we touched down at Bali’s international air terminal in in Denpasar we were slapped in the face with Indonesia’s 85-degree, 90% humidity wet season climate – a rude awakening to the physical acclimation we would be enduring in the next ten days. Nevertheless, coming from plunging winter temperatures back at home, I think we are all smiling at the anticipation of living a short, tropical December. In our car ride to the hotel we experienced left-sided steering and more motorcycles than we could imagine filling the streets, which provided us the other element to our welcoming into Bali. Quickly reminding us of the reason we had come to Indonesia, UNFCCC paraphernalia is decorating all major streets and passageways within a 20-minute radius of the conference. From large bright orange UNFCCC banners hanging from every other tree to gigantic billboards displaying messages on climate change (my favorite: a “Climate Change…Protect the Vulnerable” billboard sponsored by the Indonesian government), it is clear that this conference has caused the world, for two-weeks, to turn its attention to this small, but beautiful island. And yes, EJCC is here, ready and excited to jump in head-first.

Continue reading ‘EJCC at the UN Climate Negotiations in Bali’

So as I sit at a desk in San Francisco CA, about 3,000 miles away and almost a year out after the expert panel I participated in on Oil, Security, and Climate Change, I have reflected on my experience and figured in light of recent events in Virginia, namely the “handing off” of the State Climatologist Title, it was now time to publish this draft that has been collecting virtual moths in my account.

Now, the people that know me, can attest to my procrastination; I’ve refined it over the years and only empowered it more after reading that one of my great hero’s, David Brower, was also a hard-working procrastinator. But something was a little different a year ago, because this was serious, I was going to be on a panel with Patrick Michaels.

Recently, Patrick Michaels, who was a Professor at UVA and deemed State Climatologist, was actually stripped of his title because of his views around global warming; the issue and office became too politicized. You’ll see why below… thanks for reading.

Michaels is a well known climate skeptic, well at least not anymore, his argument, like most skeptics, has shifted over the years. However, he was mentioned on CBC’s “Denial Machine,” a news-cast on skeptics, their views, and their wallets, as most of these “scientist” are covered with Big Oil and Big Coal money.

I sat on the train, lap-top out, research files strewn across my lap, coffee resting on the tray in front of me. I look out the window to the right of me and notice the trees as they dance by the train. Back to work…. I pull together my last couple slides on corruption and smile nervously to myself. I just wanted to slip in subtly where Michaels finds his support.

Rush through the next couple hours and it’s time for the panel. I feel the coffee coursing through my veins as I step up on stage and realized I am the only woman, young person, and person of color on the panel. I take in a few deep breaths and the panel begins.

Continue reading ‘Procrastinating Patrick Michaels- Finally Stripped of his “title”’

So, after much hard work over the weekend, I think it’s pretty safe to say, the slide show for Year One of the Campus Climate Challenge is finally complete. I like to remember, this is a movement we are creating, but she was only born because there was no other way, that the timing was just at the breaking point…and here we are a few years later, a few more wrinkles and dark circles, and what have we learned…I’d say a whole lot, more I can ever explain. What will we learn this year? Sexy slide shows make the world seem like a better place, and the movement seem perfect- it’s not but we are past some of our growing pains and this year I think we are ready… are you ready?

This slide show is a representation of all the behind the scenes staff work on The Challenge. So sit back, relax, and enjoy. Much love to all,

EJCC steering committee member, Robert Bullard, interviewed with CNN this past Tuesday, around the issue of environmental racism and the fight for environmental justice. Bullard says, and I very much agree that, “Just because you’re poor, just because you live physically on the wrong ’side of the track’ doesn’t mean that you should be dumped on.”

It is time that we dismantle this racism starting with ourselves, starting with our campaigns that we so passionately pour our hearts into, starting with the candidates and legislation that we push for. Everything starts at home and moves outward.

To read this article click here…

Today, Arthur Coulston of Energy Action and I rushed to the corner of Louisana and D St in Washington DC before heading to the office for work. Today was a good day, a little cold from the night rain before but the sun was shining and of course what was even better- we were on our way to a press conference against the liquidation of coal and mountain top removal. In short: No Coal.

All the speakers stood around the podium and were surrounded by buckets of coal. The messages were all powerful and unique in their own ways, some focusing on the local voice of Appalachia, some purely political, some more movement oriented, and then there was me. I was nervous as I stepped to the podium with my ripped piece of paper and with my scrawling all over it. I felt like some punk kid and wondered a little bit why I was about to speak on behalf of our movement, the youth climate movement. But at that podium, I found my voice and this is what came out…

Continue reading ‘No Coal’

So get ready, because this June 23rd- June 26th EJCC is putting on the first Climate Justice Summit of the Climate Movement. We will be flying 40 students of color from all across the country to Atlanta, Georgia for four days, to learn how to empower our communities on and off-campus in the fight for Climate Justice.

This will be a space for student of color to come together and learn from one another about our different experiences, gain some concrete campaign skills, and build a movement. These 4 days are packed with exciting trainings, a day out in the community doing some great work, and an event to kick off the summer and get us thinking forward into our own future and the future of this planet and our people.

If any students of color are interested in attending please contact me directly to get more information about how/if that is possible. We have limited spots available so email me asap!!

Details to follow as they get squared away!

shadia.fayne@gmail.com

Apply today to become a Brower Youth Awardee!!

Go here: Brower Youth Awards

Our annual Brower Youth Awards honor six young people for their outstanding activism and achievements in the fields of environmental and social justice advocacy. Each winner is awarded $3000 and brought to San Francisco for the award week and a backcountry camping trip.