It’s Getting Hot In Here

This year’s 2nd annual Brita Climate Ride and “climate conference on wheels” will see 200 cyclists pedal 300 miles from New York City to the US Capitol in Washington DC to raise money and awareness to fight climate change. The ride takes place from September 26 to 30, 2009, and benefits critical projects at three climate and bike-related organizations: Rails-To-Trails Conservancy, Focus the Nation, and Clean Air – Cool Planet. The ride is an unforgettable experience and a unique opportunity to be part of the movement. The picture below shows Climate Riders biking into Washington DC during last September’s Brita Climate Ride.

Continue reading ‘Brita Climate Ride – Space Still Available – Sept 26 to 30′

Congressman DeFazio & Candidate Obama

Cross-posted from Focus the Nation

After listening to Congressman Peter DeFazio (D-OR) speak today on all the reasons the Waxman-Markey cap and trade plan (ACES) is deeply flawed and that advocates for greenhouse gas reductions should be working to kill it, not pass it, I find myself almost convinced.

I’m only almost convinced because I fear the two alternatives to cap and trade – a carbon tax or Clean Water Act-style regulation – may be political nonstarters.

Congressman DeFazio (and many others) claims that carbon trading will be subject to all the same financial corruption responsible for our current economic crisis and that offsets provisions remove any incentive for real behavior change. He has co-sponsored Jim McDermott’s bill that would impose a Clean Water Act-style regulator system on global warming pollution, and hinted that a carbon tax would be better than cap and trade.

At the end of the Congressman’s speech today, I asked him this: “Waxman-Markey, even in its present severely weakened form, is going to have a tough time passing the full house. What are the chances of Congressman McDermott’s bill, Congressman Larson’s carbon tax, or even Congressman Inglis’ revenue-neutral carbon tax bill of passing the house, and how important is it to the success of an international climate treaty that the US pass something soon?” Continue reading ‘Would Obama Do It?’

On June 23rd Dr. James Hansen, a leading climate scientists and environmental hero, will join community members in Coal

River Valley, West Virginia to launch a year of activism to end mountaintop removal coal mining.  Blowing the tops off of mountain ranges to harvest dirty coal harms the people and places of Appalachia, destroys the economic potential of the Appalachian Mountains for clean energy opportunities and furthers the burning of climate killing coal.

Dr. Hansen and the people of West Virginia need you and as many friends as you can muster to come to West Virginia on June 23rd to help build the wave of activism needed to stop mountaintop removal this year.

This is the year we must stop the most ecologically and culturally destructive form of strip mining on earth.

Continue reading ‘Get Arrested with James Hansen to stop MTR!’

This April, the roots of leadership were laid in the Climate movement.  From Powershift to the FTN Town Hall Campaign, young people across the country moved into positions of leadership, and engaged their community and policy makers on our vital clean energy future.  A sea change in the quality and quantity of leadership occurred, and on the eve of the first ever US climate legislation it continues to breed success and momentum.

Since April, certain needs have arisen that must be addressed. First, we must continue pressure on policy makers and institutions to accelerate our transition to clean energy sources, and to strengthen ACES and our local legislation. At the same time, we must fulfill the less noticed need of developing and empowering our new climate leaders.

Continue reading ‘From Coal to Copenhagen: An Opportunity for Leadership’

Co-authored by Mollie Ruskin and Mark Kimbrell

On Tuesday morning Markese Bryant woke up in his Atlanta apartment, quieted his nerves, and attempted to go about his day as if it were any normal school day.  But this was no ordinary day for Markese.  Today, Markese would become a leader in the climate movement.  Today, Markese would help Atlanta realize the dream of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by shedding the injustices of the carbon economy, and embracing the opportunities of clean energy and green jobs.  This was Focus the Nation 2009.

There are many ways to tell the story of the Focus the Nation Town Hall campaign.  There are the little snippets the media picked out, the experiences of the politicians and panelists who attended the events, and even the war stories of the organizers on the ground.  But no one saw the whole picture quite like the national organizers who worked behind the scenes to put it all together.  These are their stories, their favorite moments; providing not only inspiration but powerful lessons for the future direction of our movement.

Continue reading ‘April: The Turning Point in the Climate Movement’

I am excited to feature this guest post by Bill Walker, campaign director with Earthjustice, focusing on a critical and largely unsung component of the fight to overcome the climate challenge – Jesse Jenkins, founder and chief editor, WattHead – Energy News and Commentary, contributing editor, ItsGettingHotInHere.org

Senators who usually couldn’t be farther apart on environmental issues agreed on Earth Day that the EPA should look at ways to control a dangerous pollutant that kills millions worldwide and accelerates global warming, particularly in the Arctic: soot, also known as the sinister-sounding “black carbon.”

Two of the Senate’s greenest members, John Kerry of Massachusetts and Barbara Boxer of California, and Jim Inhofe, the Oklahoma Republican who is the Senate’s chief global warming skeptic, introduced a bill requiring the EPA to study black carbon pollution and within a year come up with solutions for reducing emissions.

Earthjustice has just released a short animated film that explains the black carbon problem and urges EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to take action. The video also asks Americans to urge Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s team to take international leadership on black carbon at next week’s Arctic Council meeting in Tromso, Norway. The video can be viewed below and at www.stopsoot.org.

Continue reading ‘Strange Climate Bedfellows Tackle Black Carbon [VIDEO]‘

From St. Louis and Philadelphia, to Columbus and Denver, Focus the Nation’s Clean Energy Town Halls bring youth, community members and elected officials together to find clean energy solutions and plan sustained action.

Forget Seattle and Berkeley. Move over Portland and Boston. When it comes to deciding America’s energy future, it’s place like Akron and Pittsburgh, St Louis and Detroit that deserve the spotlight right now. While many leading cities in the traditionally green bastions along America’s coasts are showing what’s possible, the American ‘Heartland’ is where the nation’s clean energy future must be built. What’s more, the Heartland is where the political fate of climate and clean energy legislation being debated in Congress will be decided.

It’s good timing then that Nationwide Town Halls for Clean Energy Solutions are happening all around our country right now. In community centers, college lecture rooms, and church halls all across the nation this week and last, elected officials from all levels of government are joining young leaders and community members to focus on what it will take to build a clean and prosperous energy economy and tackle climate change. The ongoing Nationwide Town Halls for Clean Energy Solutions are sponsored by the youth-empowerment organization, Focus the Nation, and organized by hundreds of committed community leaders both young and old.

Focus the Nation events have been held in over 165 Congressional Districts, including dozens of town halls across Heartland states like Missouri, Pennsylvania, Colorado and Ohio.

The nationwide town halls kicked off on Monday, April 13th in Philadelphia, where swing Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) joined Drexel University students, community members, and business leaders for a discussion on tackling climate change and seizing the opportunities of the new energy economy.
Continue reading ‘Focusing the Heartland on a Clean Energy Future’

The discussion on climate legislation is heating up in DC. This week, the hearings on the American Clean Energy & Security Act starts, and we have got to make sure our voices are heard.

Call Congress TODAY and demand a clean and just energy economy!

Here are a couple of simple steps:

1. Find your Congressperson here.

2. Call 1-877-666-3393. This line will give you a brief message and connect you to the Congressional switchboard.

3. Deliver this simple message:

“My name is ___ and I live in ____. I’m ___ years old and I vote. I am calling to ask Rep. XXX to pass bold legislation that creates a clean energy economy and makes polluters pay.”

4. If you want more specifics or talking points, check out the Power Shift policy principles here: http://powershift09.org/resources

Check out our live coverage from Day 1 at the hearings.

In a little under two weeks, Middlebury College will be hosting the first “Getting to 350″ Conference on campus in Middlebury, VT. Featuring a keynote address from Dr. James Hansen of NASA (interactive via video feed – yay cutting carbon emissions!), the conference will focus on the strategies we must employ to actually achive that great number in the sky that we’ve all been talking about: 350 parts per million. This conference will be a great opportunity for youth leaders to discuss their ideas with climate movement vets and some of the most brilliant scholars working on these issues today. These conversations will feature leaders like From Crisis to Opportunity’s (and former Greenpeace exec. director) John Passacantando, the Indigenous Environmental Network’s Kandi Mosset, and youth leaders like EAC’s Jessy Tolkan and Breakthrough’s Jesse Jenkings (both IGHIH contributers) among many, many others,  Don’t miss your chance to help transform our future, go to our website today to register for free!

Continue reading ‘Free “Getting to 350″ Conference to be held May 1-3′

I’m in Charlotte, North Carolina this evening, where hundreds of organizers and activists from over 20(!) states have gathered for a major act of civil disobedience in opposition to Duke Energy’s Cliffside coal power plant. We have a crew of 10 from the Ohio Student Environmental Coalition here, taking notes to see what we can take back home with us.

The action starts at 10AM sharp tomorrow. Check back for updates and check Russ Anderson’s blog entry from earlier today for more info and background.