It’s Getting Hot In Here

Inspirational banners, music, drums and polar bears welcomed delegates to the thirtieth sessions of the UNFCCC Convention subsidiary bodies – SBSTA and SBI, sixth session of the AWG-LCA and the eighth session of the AWG-KP this morning at the Maritim Hotel in Bonn. Delegates in Bonn will be hammering out the draft text for the Conference of Parties (COP 15) in Copenhagen in December, 2009.

This important meeting will see an unprecedented level of youth engagement for an intercessional. Following on the successful participation at Bonn I, the international youth have descended on Bonn. Action factories, negotiator trackers, 350.org, a day of action and regular actions throughout the conference will remind the delegates that we are watching.

See more images from the first day in Bonn here. (©Robert van Waarden)

Sarah Karlin, an editorial intern at Campus Progress, attended an event at Heritage Foundation hosting industry lobbyist and anti-environmentalist crusader Steven Milloy. Check out an excerpt of her piece exposing the hipocrisy of the speaker and the insanity of his claims.

… one might find it hard to trust the scientific credibility of a man who has spent years lobbying on behalf of tobacco and energy companies. For example, in 1993 Milloy was hired by Philip Morris and their public relations firm to defend the tobacco industry. The Americans for Nonsmokers Rights report found that in 1993 Milloy dismissed the US EPA’s studying linking second hand smoke to cancer as a “joke.”

When I asked Milloy about his credibility he became agitated and defensive. “That’s a great spin you put on that,” Milloy said. “You take some contributions to organizations I’ve been affiliated with and spin it into this advocacy for hire and I really think that’s nothing but spin. Let’s look at Al Gore who stands to make more than 2 million dollars for all his energy stuff….So when you guys start doing some introspections looking at your own motivations them you can start throwing stones at other people.”

Milloy repeatedly dodged other tough questions. When a concerned woman wearing a polar bear mask, claiming to “represent the polar bears,” asked Milloy if he believed the polar bears were being threatened, he simply laughed her off. “Well you seem to be doing quite well, you’re down here and its 50 degrees.”

Read the whole story and check out a video of the  Polar Bear Ambassador here.

Last month, Campus Progress Deputy Director Erica Williams and Jessy Tolkan, the Executive Director of Energy Action Coalition talked to Bob Woodruff at Planet Green about Powershift 2009, and how youth activism is having a huge impact on the climate movement. Check out the clip here!

This is an outrage. Tim DeChristopher was hailed as a hero for derailing Bush’s last minute illegitimate public land auctions. He introduced a new form of civil disobedience, but by his account – signed in legitimately, was handed a paddle, and bid. The new Justice Department should realize that these punitive measures only have a chilling effect and show the disproportionate power these extractive industries have over our political and judicial system.

Student is charged with obstructing Utah land auction – Los Angeles Times.

A college student was charged with two federal felonies Wednesday for what he contends were acts of civil disobedience — making false bids to run up auction prices on oil and gas parcels on public land near Utah’s national parks….A grand jury charged [Tim] DeChristopher with one count of interfering with a federal auction and one count of making false representations at an auction, Tolman said. The penalty could range from no punishment to a combined sentence of up to 10 years in prison and a $750,000 fine.”

You want to know who should be arrested? The corrupt staff of the US Mineral Management Service at the Department of Interior. Read what the New York Times found out about that:

“[T]he Interior Department agency that collects oil and gas royalties has been caught up in a wide-ranging ethics scandal — including allegations of financial self-dealing, accepting gifts from energy companies, cocaine use and sexual misconduct.”
Sex, Drug Use and Graft Cited in Interior Department – NYTimes.com.

Guess who was auctioning off our land to private mining and oil interests? The Bureau of Land Management, of the Department of Interior. So who really should be facing felony charges? It sure as hell isn’t Tim DeChristopher.

Read more about this story at the late JohnnyRook’s diary at SolveClimate.

By AMY BRISSON abrisson@delcotimes.com

CHESTER — A handful of members from the Chester Energy Justice Network and a small group of students from Swarthmore College hosted an informational meeting about soil contamination at the planned soccer stadium site and the cleanup process Thursday night. “Just following through with the cleanup, that’s what we’re pushing,” said Desire Grover, a community activist and founder of the GhettoPrint Web site.

The meeting was Part 3 of a series of programs hosted by Energy Justice and the Delco Alliance for Environmental Justice to draw attention and educate residents about air, water quality, public health and the environment. It will be followed by a demonstration Saturday, in which members will carry signs urging developers and officials to “Clean It Up” while handing out information packets to nearby residents. The planned $115 million stadium development on the Chester waterfront will be built on what the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has designated a soil-contaminated “brownfield” site. Continue reading ‘Chester, PA Students and Teachers Monitoring Major League Soccer Stadium Brownfield Cleanup’

Today, Matt Wald at The New York Times wrote an article about “clean coal” that made King Coal very happy.

In the article, besides basically pulling language from press releases from coal companies about how environmentally friendly CCS will be and how it could be the greatest way to solve global warming, he also talks about the BILLIONS of dollars the same dirty energy companies received in the stimulus package to further promote this non-solution.

Luckily, our coalition partners had some things to say and fired off great letters to the editor. I’ve pasted a sampling below. You should write one too. Send your 150 word letter to letters@nytimes.com. Don’t let the Times be a mouthpiece for the coal industry in promoting lies and false solutions to the American public.

“Clean Coal technology is an expensive oxymoron and a dangerous concept to advocate on a prominent newspaper. The price of coal generated electricity was steadily rising before the recession and you can be sure it will continue to soar as soon as we dig ourselves out of this financial mess. Adding capture and sequestration technology to existing and new coal plants will only increase the price of coal generated electricity, burdening consumers and harming our competitiveness with other nations who are investing in renewable energy instead. All we are doing by throwing money at Clean Coal is propping up another failing industry that is unwilling to adapt to modern challenges. Why burden ourselves with expensive and dirty electricity when there are cheaper, cleaner alternatives like wind and solar?”

Tommaso Nicholas Boggia
Washington,D.C. Climate Advocacy Associate
Campus Progress, Center for American Progress

Continue reading ‘All the LTEs that’s fit to print’

Beyond the Numbers (and the Irony)

By Jesse Jenkins, reporting for the Energy Collective and WattHead – Energy News and Commentary

On February 27th-March 1st, 12,000 young leaders from all fifty states, every Canadian province, and about a dozen other nations convened at the Washington D.C. Convention Center for Power Shift 2009, the largest ever gathering of climate and clean energy activists in U.S. history. On Monday, March 2nd, fueled by a fiery passion no snowstorm could chill, thousands stormed Capitol Hill, braving subfreezing temperatures to rally, lobby and even risk arrest in their efforts to ignite a clean and just energy future.

Image credit: Shadia Fayne Wood

If you read the mainstream media’s accounts of this historic weekend, that’s about the extent of the story you likely read. The focus of most coverage was the numbers – 12,000 students, 2,500 protesters, 350 lobby visits – or the supposed irony of a climate rally held amidst a few inches of snow. But beyond the numbers and ironic headlines, there’s a far deeper story on display at Power Shift 2009 – if only the press knew where to look.

I’ve been close to this movement for three years, as both a participant and as a writer and editor chronicling its progress at ItsGettingHotInHere.org, where voices from across the movement share their stories. Rather than wait for the mainstream media to write an in-depth expose on this dynamic and growing movement, I’ll take you behind the scenes to uncover the stories behind the numbers in this three part series:

• Part One focuses on the history of the maturing movement on display at Power Shift 2009
• Part Two takes a look at the diversity of tactics and cutting edge activism employed by the movement
• Part Three looks at how the movement has grown into an expansive effort to build a more sustainable, just and prosperous future and on the road ahead for these young leaders

Originally posted at WattHead – Energy News and Commentary

Joe Lucas has a hard job. He’s the PR huckster that heads up the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, the front group that shills for the coal industry.

As you can see in the video below, no matter how many times he watches “Thank You for Smoking,” Lucas just can’t quite pull off the irresistibly charismatic charm of Aaron Eckhart’s Nick Naylor, the movie’s lead character who spins Big Tobacco’s lies so effortlessly. To be fair, when your industry keeps bumbling around, letting off billion gallon toxic coal sludge spills, indescrimantly blasting the tops off of entire mountains, and buying off West Virginia judges, it’s hard to stay ahead of reality.

While he can’t pull off the style, Lucas sure is taking notes from Big Tobacco when it comes to his talking points: in an interview on CNN last night, Mr. Lucas refused to answer a simple yes or no question about whether or not the burning of coal contributed to climate change.

His answer? “I’m not a scientist.” Nice dodge!

Well Joe, neither am I, but I can read, and I’m pretty sure the science is in. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (which I’m pretty sure includes two or three scientists) stated with greater than 90% certainty that greenhouse gas emissions like the CO2 spewed from coal plants causes climate change. Check out the video below the fold (Lucas’s BS is about 2:00 mins in)…
Continue reading ‘“Clean” Coal and “Healthy” Cigarettes – Coal Industry Huckster Won’t Admit Burning Coal Causes Climate Change’

Bigger than last year’s United Nations Climate Change Conference. Bigger than any other citizen powered conference to hit the United States, or perhaps any other country. Bigger than my home town. And it’s all youth. And it’s all about climate change and energy. And it’s all swirling around me as I type.

Power Shift ‘09 will officially kick off in 18 minutes when 12,000 youth come together in one conference hall. When 12,000 youth – from every corner of America, as well as young leaders trickling in from neighboring Canada, overseas India, and various corners of the globe – come within inches of each others’ shoulders. When 12,00 youth breath the same air, hear the same words, and feel the same surge of a power shift that has already begun. Continue reading ‘12,000 is a Lot of People’

So I am very excited that the Fired Up: Youth Report segment on the International Youth Delegation at the Poznan climate talks, is live!

This was our test case to see if we could tackle TV to cover the incredible work that young people are doing all over the world to respond to global warming and to build a just and sustainable world. Guess what? It is airing March 2nd, the day the largest lobby on climate in US history will go down, along with the Capitol Climate Action.

First Poznan, next we are going to be covering Power Shift, which starts TODAY! Expect to see youth reporters filming all over the DC Convention Center, as this story is too hot for just words or to leave to the traditional media. Come say hello and tell us your Power Shift story!

However, check out our segment on the incredible alliance between threatened island nations and the international youth delegations that emerged at the Poznan climate talks. Power Shift is happening in the US of A, but it is becoming the global story with Power Shifts happening in Australia, the UK, and who knows where next! Take a look!

The Maldives/Youth Segment starts at 12:39.

For a little more information about where this will be shown and who helped put this together, below the fold is some information about LinkTV’s EarthFocus.
Continue reading ‘Fired Up: Youth Report – First Poznan, Now Power Shift 09!’