It’s Getting Hot In Here

In Grand County, Utah, people are thirsty. Utah is a desert state; it’s a thirsty place. What we love about Utah is its unique, gorgeous, otherworldly geography, which keeps us coming back or sticking around. So explain this logic to me: a horrifying and unprecedented project could put Utah’s Canyonlands National Park and Glen Canyon Recreation Area at serious risk, while at the same time thrusting a new source of water-depleting, CO2-billowing, filthy, and geographically destructive (but pseudoprofitable!) business into the equation.

I’m talking about the first ever bona fide tar sands extraction project in the United States of America–right here, in my own backyard!

You might have heard about the tar sands extraction happening in Canada. This nightmarish debacle has transformed countless acres of priceless Canadian biodiversity into a sticky black cesspool, for primarily America consumption. Don’t take my word for it; do a simple Google image search for “Canadian Tar Sands.” After you’ve done that, imagine the effect these proposed tar pits would have on the land immediately adjacent to the sites. Now picture that land as Canyonlands National Park. I’m not making this up. Continue reading ‘First US Tar Sands to Break Ground in Utah’

Tessa is a campus organizer for the Show Me Democracy campaign, and below is her account of the University of Oregon’s first Show Me Democracy Senate Field Office Visit!  To join us in demanding comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation from our representatives NOW, click here, and be sure to get on our Climate Bill S.O.S. leaders call tonight (Thursday, March 4th) at 9pm EST/6pm PST.

written by Tessa Barker, UO Climate Justice League Show Me Democracy Campaign Coordinator

Students at the University of Oregon want a strong climate bill now! Support on campus for passing climate legislation that would cap carbon and help to create a clean energy economy has been growing throughout the school year.  In November, we organized the regional Powershift West conference, drawing over 500 young leaders to the University of Oregon campus; in December, a delegation of UO students went to the International Climate Negotiations in Copenhagen.  And now, despite the lack of true results from COP-15, student leaders are more determined than ever to pass a strong climate bill in the US before it’s too late, and we are ready to show our community what democracy really is.

On February 18^th, students from the UO’s newly founded Climate Justice League and I rode our bikes to the courthouse for the first of many lobby days as part of the national Show Me Democracy Campaign.  At the heart of this campaign to develop broad-based support for a strong climate bill is community outreach.  From day one, students in our group have been working to build coalitions with members of the wider community, ranging from business leaders, to farmers, to faith-based groups.  The goal is for representatives from each of these groups to eventually join us in lobbying our senators.

Continue reading ‘University of Oregon Students Bike to Eugene Senate Field Office to Engage in Democracy!’

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!’

The discussions about how to Define Our Decade are taking off in communities around the country. The Weeks of Action are coming up in 2 weeks, but already young people are having discussions about how they want to define their decade, and taking action to make it happen; this past week dozens of young people turned out at a student-called hearing at Michigan State University.  While preparing for the hearing, they had a discussion about what they want to see in the next decade, and then the next day hit the streets calling for MSU to be powered by 100% clean energy by 2020.

All of this comes at a time when the U.S. Senate continues to try to figure out how to proceed with climate and energy legislation. In a Sunday op-ed penned by Thomas Friedman titled “How the G.O.P. Goes Green,” one of the leading figures in crafting legislation, Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina acknowledged that he is inspired to take up climate and energy legislation because of young people on college campuses. Graham correctly points out that young voters are driven by deeply-held environmental values, and more lawmakers would be wise to wake up to this, but Graham’s solutions of nuclear and offshore oil-drilling are both counter to our values and economic interests. Every dollar spent on the dirty energy economy, is a dollar that could have created more jobs in the clean energy economy we must create. That’s why in the coming month it’s essential that we, as the Millennial Generation, further define what our vision for a clean energy economy really is.

Already dozens of events are being hosted around the country that will help us do just that. Check out the event registration page for the full listing and see a couple of highlights below: Continue reading ‘Graham is right, for young people “climate is no-debate.” Let’s make sure we show him our solutions’

Through an event arranged by the Bard Center for Environmental Policy, college students from Alaska and across the United States had the opportunity to speak with McKie Campbell, Republican Staff Director for the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, about environmental issues in Alaska – and what Senator Murkowski is doing in Washington DC to address climate change, the opening of the Northwest Passage, and ocean acidification.

Naturally, one of the hot topics of conversation was Senator Murkowski’s bill to block the EPA from regulating carbon dioxide as a criteria air pollutant.  Senator Murkowski has drawn fire for these views, since this is seen to be the last hope for achieving meaningful GHG reductions if no bill passes this year.  The chances of a bill passing this year are looking smaller and smaller – the Kerry-Graham-Lieberman bill has failed to materialize, despite their op-ed pledging a bipartisan bill.  According to Campbell, while Kerry this morning seemed optimistic about the state of the legislation, Senate Majority Leader Reid today stated that if a climate bill is not brought before the Senate within the two weeks, climate change is not going to be addressed this year.  This puts huge pressure on Kerry – it is increasingly clear that another year without action will have huge economic and environmental consequences.

Mr. Campbell defended Senator Murkowski’s anti-regulatory actions.  Her action against EPA regulation of carbon dioxide is not because she feels it is not contributing to global warming–rather, that the language of the Clean Air Act is not sufficient to regulate GHGs as it is now written.  Continue reading ‘Let’s Talk: Alaska’

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill into law today that doubles the amount of energy power companies will be required to buy back from customers with solar panels today. That means that customers will be able to sell back up to 5% of the energy they generate, double the old rate of 2.5%.

A home with rooftop solar panels Los Angeles, California. From Flickr.com

This is exactly the kind of incentive that people need to expand solar technology. Many scientists and researchers say that solar technology is best implemented on an individual home basis. With legislation like this, homeowners will have a greater incentive to invest in the expensive technology.

We’ve heard of the homeowners that get paid by the power companies, but it is usually an amount so small that it rarely covers the cost of equipment. If new legislation can double that number, like it has in California, then more and more people may turn to solar. Continue reading ‘Solar Incentive’

Last Tuesday DC was lucky enough to host an all-star panel of global justice activists in a panel discussion called “Evaluating Copenhagen: What it Means for Ecology, Economy, and Equity“, convened by leading movement organizations and moderated by Ray Suarez of PBS.

Among the panelists were leaders and experts of the global justice movement like Martin Khor from the South Centre, Maude Barlow from the Council of Canadians, Victor Menotti of the International Forum on Globalization, Chair of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, and Gopal Dayaneni from Movement Generation. You can view the full event online here, or by clicking the image below. I’ll discuss some highlights and possible movement-building lessons.

Movement-Melding in Copenhagen

The experts left very little doubt that the fight to avert climate catastrophe is the fight for the direction of the global economy.

Climate justice + development justice + trade justice = true global justice. Continue reading ‘Justice Beyond Copenhagen’

Written by Taj Schottland, a member of the College of the Atlantic delegation to the Copenhagen Climate Negotiations this past December

When discussing climate change, liberals love to cite facts. We believe facts can’t be argued with. Scientific facts are neither political manipulations nor individual opinions. They are well-reasoned, neutral statements that will convince any rational person – provided the person understands them. This is what we believe. But have you ever tried to “lay out the facts” to a climate skeptic? You probably didn’t get very far. Likely, regardless of what you said, they countered with some unfounded argument. In the end they weren’t swayed and you were left frustrated because they couldn’t see the logic behind your brilliant argument. Why did your facts fail to convince them? After much thought, I believe I have an answer.

George Lakoff, a renowned cognitive linguist and political thinker, asserts that people reject facts that are outside the frame with which they see the world. That frame, or framework, is often created by values that are instilled during childhood. The frame ensures that we see the world, and only the world, that agrees with our values. In other words, we block out facts and reasonable arguments to ensure that our core values are justified. The frame alters the reality that our senses detect.

Continue reading ‘Climate Security: How to Frame a Winning Argument’

Cross post from ForSerious.ca

Confessional time. I am in a rocky relationship with Jim Prentice.

I should have seen it coming, I really should have, as I suppose all good relationships must come to an end. Your true colours showed through, Jim, and not in a good, Cyndi Lauper kind of way.

The Honourable Jim Prentice began his speech to members of the University of Calgary School of Public Policy and School of Business on February 1 - though, at first, I could have sworn he was right next to me whispering sweet nothings in my ear – with soothing words about the federal government’s energy and climate change: Continue reading ‘I liked Cyndi Lauper’s colour scheme better.’

Jobs, jobs, jobs – that was the message during today’s “Let’s Talk: Michigan” event with Chris Adamo, from Senator Stabenow’s office, and Alice Yates, from Senator Levin’s office.  Both legislative aides agreed that the climate bill is not just about climate – it’s also about jobs and energy.  They also agreed that forward movement on climate legislation will benefit Michigan, the nation, and the world.  At its heart, said Adamo, climate legislation is an economic bill, one that will jumpstart investment and jobs in renewables, cleantech industries, and biofuels.

The discussion needs to shift, Adamo continued, to climate legislation as national security from an oil perspective to a technology perspective.  There’s widespread worry in the American public about our dependency on foreign oil – but we don’t want to turn this into a reliance on foreign manufacturers for solar, wind, and other renewable energy technologies when we have the capacity and expertise to develop and innovate in these areas within our own nation.

Unsurprisingly, both Adamo and Yates feel that Michigan is primed to take over the role of clean energy manufacturer.  According to Yates, green jobs have recently grown at a rate of 9.1% overall and 10.7% in Michigan. Yates pointed out that Michigan offers a tremendous physical, intellectual, and working infrastructure for clean tech industries to invest in. Continue reading ‘Let’s Talk Michigan’