It’s Getting Hot In Here

Today Boston Mayor Thomas “Mumbles” Menino announced a $63 million investment to retrofit 4300 public housing units. The plan trumps Chicago’s $43 million project as the nation’s largest energy efficiency investment in public housing.

Mayor Menino’s announcement comes after Massachusetts finalized a three-year plan to triple utility investments in energy efficiency. Boston and the State of Massachusetts are moving toward a clean energy future. But will it be enough?

An emerging coalition of faith, business, environmental, and workforce development groups are joining The Leadership Campaign in challenging the Massachusetts State Legislature to double-down on recent clean energy and energy efficiency investments by creating a task force to achieve 100% clean electricity by 2020. The campaign – The Commonwealth Challenge, launched on March 4th – is not your typical political initiative.

Continue reading ‘Commonwealth Challenge: Will Massachusetts Lead the Next American Revolution?’

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” These powerful words were penned in a prison cell in 1963, by one of the best-known advocates of equal rights – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Keep reading + Scroll down for Action Form!

Two environmental activists appeared in court today accused of terrorism-related offences during the Copenhagen climate summit in December.

Natasha Verco, an Australian honours student, and Noah Weiss, an American citizen who lives in Denmark, will face similar charges in a trial which is due to last all week.

Verco, who has organised non-violent direct action in her native country and who has been part of the Climate Justice Action (CJA) network in the lead-up to the summit in Copenhagen, has been charged with organising violence, organising public disorder, significant damage to property, and organising disorder during the international talks on climate change which took place in Copenhagen last year. If found guilty, Verco faces a maximum of twelve and a half years in prison.

Continue reading ‘Action Alert! Copenhagen Climate activists accused of terrorism, your urgent help needed’

Last weekend I had the opportunity to speak at a national conference of young Jesuit’s gathered in West Virginia as part of the Ignatian Solidarity Network’s national Teach-in on Environmental Justice and Sustainability. Inspired by the powerful history of social justice work of the Jesuit community I spoke to them about the importance of Environmental Justice, the Energy Action Coalition, the need for urgent action, and of our latest campaign: Define our Decade. During the Q&A one question really stood out: “What’s so special about THIS decade? Why focus on defining the next ten years?” After pausing to reflect, I simply said: “Because we have to.”

At first the student questioner probably thought my answer sounded like a mother answering her seven year old on why she couldn’t eat the cookie for breakfast, “Because I said so.” But really, it’s true that we have to make this decade one of the most transformative in American history. Period. Anything short of that is morally inexcusable. Over the next 10 years our generation will unleash the full power of the clean and just energy revolution and secure our climate from the duel threats of the economic and climate crisis. Why? Because we have to. This is not just a campaign slogan but the reality that we have inherited an insane global emergency and failure to rise to the challenge will result in the suffering of millions of our fellow human beings. We cannot continue to live under the corporate polluter domination that is poisoning our communities and disproportionally affecting communities of color the world over. I for one can’t live with it. And I keep going because I know that everyday there is a movement of people out there that feel the same way. Let us now let us speak with a unified vision for Our Decade. Continue reading ‘Our Decade Starts Today: Events Across the Country Kick-off Efforts to Define It With Clean Energy’

Rising sea levels. Stronger storms. Melting ice caps. Increased famine, disease, and drought. This doesn’t have to be our future – or our legacy.

Our planet is in peril and we need our Senators to pass a strong climate bill this year. We are at a critical moment, not only for our planet, but for our country. A new bipartisan proposal is taking shape, and may be introduced in the Senate as soon as this week.

The question is, will this bill create the clean energy economy we need, or will it fall victim to lobbyists from Big Oil and Coal who will fight tooth and nail to maintain our addiction to dirty fuel?

Today, we are joining with dozens of organizations across the issue spectrum to launch a massive grassroots call-in campaign: 72 Hours for Clean American Power. Together, we will flood Senate phone lines to make sure voices for clean energy are heard over the special interests.

Join in! Add your voice to the call for comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation.
Continue reading ‘Earth to C02ngress: Act on Climate NOW!’

Mountain Justice Spring Break is an alternative spring break aimed at coal fields residents, college students, environmentalists, and any concerned citizens that are interested in learning more about mountaintop removal coal mining and cultivating the skills and visions needed to build a sustainable energy future in Appalachia.

This March 12 – 20, Mountain Justice Spring Break will bring hundreds of young people face to face with the impacts of mountaintop removal and the coal industry – and give you the skills and knowledge you need to build sustainable communities in Appalachia! Through education, community service, speakers, hiking, music, poetry, direct action and more, you will learn from and stand with Appalachian communities in the struggle to maintain our land and culture.

2 years ago I and several friends shut down construction at the site of the Cliffside Coal Plant in North Carolina. It was April 1^st, Fossil Fools Day. After public hearings, petitions, legislative efforts, and protest failed, we knew we had to do something to up the ante in the fight against coal plants in this country. So it was that we found ourselves locked to Duke Energy’s bulldozers on that dark, drizzly morning.

Did we permanently stop the Cliffside construction site? No. However this action, along with the countless other actions like it by groups around the country, have greatly increased the cost, both politically and economically, of building coal plants in this country. While the construction at Cliffside continues, I feel confident that our direct actions, and those of others, is in part responsible for the wave of coal plants that have been canceled in the US (100 and counting).

No doubt utility companies and state governments pursuing new coal plants took note of the fight against Cliffside and decided that the constant controversy and harassment was not worth it (of course the recession and prospects of CO2 being regulated has helped as well). Well its 2010 and Fossil Fools Day is once again rounding the corner. We’ve witnessed the spectacular failure of Copenhagen, the Obama administration time and again capitulating to big business, and corporations doing there best to stall our efforts.

Yet we’ve seen inspiring resistance around the country, from Climate Ground Zero’s relentless direct action campaign against mountaintop removal to citizens shutting down Chevron’s refinery in Richmond, CA. The question is: What are you going to do to raise the stakes on April 1^st?

www.fossilfoolsday.org

Cross-posted from Hip Hop Caucus

Tour Launch at Dillard University

Great start to the Hip Hop Caucus Clean Energy Now! Bus Tour. Rev. Yearwood, joined by D. Woods, Gloria Reuben, DJ Biz Markie, and community and student leaders, rallied with hundreds of students on Dillard University’s campus in a call for clean energy.

The tour bus arrived at Dillard University at noon. As the sound systems were brought online and the music began to play, students gathered in anticipation of the events to come.

Continue reading ‘Hip Hop Caucus Clean Energy Now! Bus Tour Launch in New Orleans’

Kicking off today in New Orleans, Consequence youth partners are teaming up with the Hip Hop Caucus, Repower America and a diverse coalition of organizations to launch the Hip Hop Clean Energy Now! Bus Tour, an exciting initiative to amplify the voices of the young people and communities of color calling for a clean energy future.

Over the next week, the tour will swing through 5 states, bringing together leaders from the faith, business, and climate communities alongside entertainers and prominent figures, including DJ Biz Markie, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, actress Gloria Reuben, performer D. Woods and many others.

Continue reading ‘Hip Hop Caucus Clean Energy Now! Bus Tour Gets Rolling’

By Xixi Sun

Well, I am not yet 25 and definitely not yet leader of the world, but I am amongst the 700 international youth right here in London attending the inaugural One Young World summit. We were all born after 1984 and we represent youth from all 192 countries on this planet. Early this year I was lucky enough to be sponsored to attend. We are here to discuss the challenges faced by our generation and topics include climate change, interfaith dialogue, global business, media, global health and developing leadership for a positive future.

Here I want to tell you what Day 1 of this summit makes me think.

Having heard speeches made by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Sir Bob Geldof and Lord Mayor of London Boris Johnson yesterday at the opening ceremony, we started our day with the welcome session by hosts David Jones and Kate Robertson. The first plenary session is on Environment and its protection. Having attended COP15 last December with the China Youth COP15 team, I am glad to see that youth today have not lost hope. They have different views on why Copenhagen has failed, but they all agreed that actions need to be taken now and we cannot wait for the decision-makers to make decisions. In the video from Senator John Kerry he mentioned the youth campaign “How old will you be in 2050?” That T-shirt is still in my Beijing home and reminds me of the campaigning events we had in the Bella Centre. As many have said, it’s not the end, it’s just the beginning. And this OYW summit is not just a nice trip to London. There’s work, hard work to be done. This summit will be producing a youth resolution, where each part will be voted to pass by the 700 participants. Continue reading ‘One Young World – 25 today, leading the world tomorrow’

The fossil fools ain’t no joke – but that doesn’t mean we can’t fight them with one!

The Fossil Fuel Empire is real and it’s here. The stakes couldn’t be higher: destabilization of the global climate, communities from Alaska to Appalachia being destroyed by dirty energy extraction and combustion, devastating super hurricanes, droughts, flooding, the list goes on…

Last December in Copenhagen, the politicians sold us out to the fossil fools, corporate lobbyists and big banks. Now we’re left with “green capitalism,” carbon market shenanigans and continued assaults on our communities and ecosystems. If we’re going to stop climate change, the only real solution is to keep fossil fuels in the ground.

This April, join Rising Tide North America as we pull some pranks that pack a punch. Use the simply subversive to the downright disruptive: office occupations, banner drops, road blockades, clownish parades, spoof product launches, sub-vertising, leaflets, street theater, lock-downs and laugh-ins. Whatever works for you and your group! Continue reading ‘Fossil Fools Day 2010: Pull a prank that packs a punch April 1′