It’s Getting Hot In Here

The Camp for Climate Action will be an inspiring five days of workshops and grassroots direct action aimed at stopping the expansion of the world’s biggest coal port in Newcastle, Australia. The Australian Climate Camp is one of seven being held around the world in July and early August 2008.

Climate change is the biggest threat to our future, and coal is the biggest cause of climate change, yet the Australian coal industry is still expanding. We need real action to keep fossil fuels in the ground - and we’re running out of time! One thing is certain, we can’t wait for Governments or the fossil fuel industry to solve the climate crisis. We must start to create the change we want to see ourselves.

The camp is a collaboration between environment groups, community organisations, student groups, and individuals.- hopefully now including you! Groups already involved include Friends of the Earth Australia, Rising Tide, the Australian Student Environment Network and individuals from local climate action groups.

Continue reading ‘Getting Excited about Climate Action Camp Newcastle July 10 – 15, 2008′

[Update - May 1st, 2008: "Burning the Future: Coal in America" will be airing again soon on the Sundance Channel, May 13th, 16th, and 18th. In addition, the DVD's will go on sale next week on the film's website: www.burningthefuture.com.]

Can coal ever be clean?

These guys are spending tens of millions trying to convince you, the American voter, that the future of America’s energy lies with “clean coal.”

A new documentary film, “Burning the Future: Coal in America” aims to clue Americans in on why “slightly less deadly coal” is probably a more accurate term for what the spooked coal industry is trying to push these days. Or maybe “laundered coal.” But “clean?” Well check out the trailer and see what you think:

Continue reading ‘Can Coal Ever Be Clean? Check Out “Burning the Future: Coal In America” to Find Out’

Here in Washington we’re feeling like pretty good leaders in the climate change movement what with all our great climate change legislation passing and all. But there’s always more to be done, key among them keeping a wary eye out for false solutions as we move ahead. One of those false solutions has tried rearing its ugly head here and we aim to stop it before it’s got a change to flourish. That would be “clean coal“, the only coal option in Washington thanks to our strict emissions limits. You can read all about the plant and it’s history here. It’s currently on hold due to concerns from the Port of Walla Walla, but they plan to try again in the Fall and we’ll be there to say no again.

So, the campaign: It began out of a Fossil Fools Day idea but grew much bigger and just wrapped up last week. The Cascade Climate Network and friends collected 795 photo petitions from eight different universities and colleges in Washington, all speaking out against coal and advocating clean solutions and green jobs. We’ll be sending the finished book to key players in the clean energy future of Washington as well as a few Washington Congressmen who have yet to sign onto the new Clean Water bill that would effectively end mountain top removal.

All in all a bitchin’ effort and a great example of what students can do if they unite across the state and region.

You can check out the finished photo petition, put together in a high school yearbook-style format, as well as a similar photo petition calling for No LNG in Oregon at www.CascadeClimate.org.

“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).

For the past year, thousands of activists across the country and organizations including Rainforest Action Network, Rising Tide North America, Coal River Mountain Watch, Appalachian Voices, Mountain Justice Summer, SEAC , Energy Justice Network, Blue Ridge Earth First!, and many more have joined together to pressure Bank of America to stop funding coal. From financing mountain-top removal minining, to investing in new coal-fired power plants, Bank of America is financing the destruction of our climate and communities - and no amount of green PR and marketing will change this fact.

From hundreds of rallies and protests at bank branches; guerilla theater closing ATM’s; shareholder resolutions, confronting bank executives, and direct action at their offices, Bank of America is feeling the pressure to rethink their investment policies! Come join us at Bank of America’s annual shareholder meeting this month - and make sure every one of their executives, board members, and shareholders hear our demands for a just, sustainable future!

Please help promote this call to action, and organize your community to join us in Charlotte April 23rd!

Fore more info, visit www.dirtymoney.org or contact mleonard@ran.org Continue reading ‘CALL TO ACTION – Protest Bank of America’s Shareholders meeting!’

The time has come to worship the black rocks beneath our soil. India needs approximately 160,000 megawatts of electricity in the coming decade to be able to sustain its phenomenal growth rate. Conveniently enough, we have one of the largest coal reserves in the world. Unfortunately Indian coal is not of good quality as it has a high ash content. Much of our coal fields are also under developed (perhaps we should be thankful for this as these resources lie beneath our dwindling forests and tiger habitats) which makes us import from places like South Africa and Australia. That aside we know that coal will continue to play a major role in India’s economic growth and development for the coming decades. And as the government tries to rapidly electrify the entire nation by 2012 (as currently 500 million people are without access to electricity in rural areas) the need for power supply expansion is obvious. Add to that the fact that every urban center experiences power outages affecting business and agriculture both it is not surprising that we are seeing the approval of finances for Tata’s 4,000 Megawatt “Ultra Mega” Power Project at Mundra port in Gujarat.

The estimated cost of this project is $4.2 billion and the International Finance Corporation, part of the financing wing of the World bank is footing $450 million of that (Rs. 1,800 crore). This in conjunction with the Asian Development Bank ($450 million), Korean ECA ($800 million), “local banks” ($1.5 billion), and “an equity component” of $1 billion. The beneficiaries are expected to be the industrial and agricultural users along with 1.6 crore domestic households. The juice will be zapped through power lines into five states in western and northern India. Just imagine the gap between demand and supply this will fill! Or will it? Perhaps demand will never meet up with supply as the Indian middle class grows along with their ambitions to own more ACs, refrigerators, and electronic gadgets. Never mind that people in villages are still struggling to have electricity to read. The truth is that there is a very serious climate injustice at play here. Can India continue to just justify the need for more power in the name of the 500 million without access when an “electrified village” equates to just 10% of the households in the village having access to the grid? Meanwhile the demand in the urban areas continues to soar…

Will the electricity really reach the rural poor? Will the poor even be able to afford electricity at time when we are seeing a restructuring of the power system to reduce transmission and distribution costs (which have been as high as 50% in many places and only now begun to come down in states like Rajasthan and a few others)?

It is said that super critical technology is being implemented in the construction of this power plant (the first of which will be operational by 2011 and the other units plugging into the grid in installments of every 4 months). This will make the coal power plants 40% more energy efficient at turning the black mineral into energy than the average power plant in India is currently able to manage. Also, it has already been estimated that the plant will emit 23 million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually. The IEA stated at a side event in Bali last December highlighting the importance of China and India in the emerging energy scenario that for serious cut backs on global green house gas emissions, by 2012 we could no longer build any more thermal power plants that emit any CO2. Everything from that point on would need to be zero-emission and from there on a gradual reduction in emission from overall power generation as the global economy transitioned into renewables. But does this leave enough time and space for rapidly emerging economies (not to mention the least developed countries LDCs) to get cheap energy to grow and bring millions out of poverty? Who will finance zero emission coal plants or the transition into a completely zero-carbon growth path?

Original post at “What’s with the Climate?“  Voice of the Indian Youth Climate Network.

Fossil Fools Day is making a splash around the world. We are following dozens and dozens of actions in the US, UK, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand! Here’s a brief update on some of the bigger actions thus far - but more are still to come! Solid media coverage on many of these actions on Reuters, BBC, Associated Press and beyond! For the latest news all day- check out FossilFoolsDay.org

8 Arrested as North Carolina, USA Residents Shut Down Construction at Cliffside Coal Plant

At 6:30 this morning, North Carolina residents locked themselves to bulldozers to stop the construction of Duke Energy’s massive Cliffside coal-fired power plant being built 50 miles west of Charlotte, NC. “In the face of catastrophic climate change, building a new coal plant is tantamount to signing a death sentence for our generation,” said local farmer Matt Wallace, while locked to a bulldozer. The concerned citizens also roped off the construction site with “Global Warming Crime Scene” tape and held banners that read “Coal Fuels Climate Change” and “Social Change, not Climate Change.” (more…)

We’re actively looking for donations to get people out of jail!

Continue reading ‘Fossil Fools Day Highlights From Around The Globe!’

Lunch time as usual was interrupted in the Capitol Building of West Virginia today when a spontaneous Fossil Fools Awards Ceremony began. The ceremony was held to celebrate West Virginia governor Joe Manchin and Coal Baron Don Blankenship receiving the prestigious award of Life Time Achievement in Fossil Foolery in Appalachia. Unfortunately, neither Manchin nor Blankenship were able to collect their awards in person, but news cameras from several local TV stations were there as stand-ins accepted the awards in their honor.

Unfortunately, Manchin and Blankenship were beat out by Bush and Cheney for the International Fossil Fools Lifetime Achievement Award. Because of their hard work, however, we decided to award them a special Appalachian Fossil Fools Award. Our own boys can certainly brag that they’ve done more than their share for a small state when it comes to advancing the cause of enhancing the profits of big coal at the expense of our economy, our mountains, and our future.

Activists showed up with 8 foot high model wind turbines and a functional mobile solar panel to show alternatives to fossil fuel use, advocating for a clean just energy transition away from the toxic coal industry that has crushed West Virginia’s economy. Several thousand green jobs in wind turbine and solar panel manufacturing are just across from the West Virginia border in Pennsylvania and Maryland. Governor Manchin’s insistence on being a fossil fool has not allowed industry like this to employ West Virginia workers.

Continue reading ‘Fossil Fools Award Ceremony in Charleston, WV’

Here in NYC with the Billionaires for Dirty Energy–the ultimate Fossil Fools. Over 30 of them blockaded and locked down on Citi’s HQ this afternoon decrying Citi’s investments in the RISKY business of coal and climate.

“Coal has lost its appeal as a predictable investment; it is fraught with uncertainty,” said Billionaire, Lauren “Bring Me My Car” Valle-t, prior to being arrested by NYPD. “Bottomline, CITI is mortgaging our future and compromising their own long-term competitiveness.”

Two were arrested after they chained themselves to the doors of Citi HQ.

Even the “money handlers at the temple” have decided that coal is too RISKY to invest their money in. They hope today’s action will spread to the investment banks at Citi who spend 200 times more on dirty energy than they do on renewable energy.

Pics here

At 6:30 this morning, North Carolina residents, including former Energy Action Coalition fellow and organizer, Christine Irvine, locked themselves to bulldozers to stop the construction of Duke Energy’s massive Cliffside coal-fired power plant being built 50 miles west of Charlotte, NC. “In the face of catastrophic climate change, building a new coal plant is tantamount to signing a death sentence for our generation,” said local farmer Matt Wallace, while locked to a bulldozer. The concerned citizens also roped off the construction site with “Global Warming Crime Scene” tape and held banners that read “Coal Fuels Climate Change” and “Social Change, not Climate Change.”

We’re actively looking for donations to get people out of jail!

Continue reading ‘NC Youth Stop Coal Plant Construction: 8 arrested!’