It’s Getting Hot In Here

On July 1st, New York Times published an op-ed by 2002 Pulitzer Prize winner and noted author Thomas Friedman. The article titled “Just Do It”, calls out the flaws of the ACES bill. Friedman, author of “The World is Flat: A Brief History of the World”, agrees with many scientists, economists and environmental journalist, Brentin Mockr, that the ACES bill is weak and cannot afford to get any weaker. Friedman goes off in this op-ed calling out Republicans, President Obama and the American public for making this bill weak. Here’s a piece of what he had to say:

“Attention all young Americans: your climate future is being decided right now in the cloakrooms of the Capitol, where the coal lobby holds huge sway. You want to make a difference? Then get out of Facebook and into somebody’s face.”

We hear you Friedman and we here at www.checktheweather.net
have been hitting the concrete talking to real people about this “ACES” Climate Bill. Last night we went out to Horace and Dickie’s Chicken and Fish Carry Out in Northeast, Washington, DC and asked Dennis “Chico” Jackson what he felt about Climate Change, Michael Jackson and most importantly what he knew about the Waxman Markey climate bill.

Visit Checktheweather.net to watch the video, download our mixtape for climate justice and get in the KNOW on real people talking real about the Green Movement. www.checktheweather.net

Please spread far and wide… (http://www.350.org/video)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

New analysis demonstrates how America can create 1.7 million jobs and opportunities for low-income families

Washington (June 18, 2009) – As clean energy and climate legislation moves through Congress, new data show that a $150 billion investment in clean energy could create a net increase of 1.7 million American jobs and significantly lower the national unemployment rate. According to the analysis, shifting to a clean-energy economy will help millions of low-income Americans by creating more accessible job opportunities ─ with the potential for advancement ─ and by lowering utility bills and transportation costs.

Two complementary reports ─ prepared by the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst (PERI), Center for American Progress (CAP), Green For All, and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) ─ outline how investment in a clean-energy economy will produce significant economic and job creation benefits. These include the generation of roughly three times more jobs than would be generated by the same investment in the existing fossil fuel infrastructure.

Continue reading ‘REPORT: Clean-Energy Investment Provides Economic Boost, More Jobs, and Expanded Opportunities’

Update from previous posts 1, 2, and 3.

17 activists in southern West Virginia have committed civil disobedience to stop mountaintop removal, believing that it is bad for people, the economy, and the environment, and must be stopped. As of early this afternoon, all 17 are out of jail (but still need help – donate to the legal defense fund!).

Legally speaking, I agree with them. The Necessity Defense is a little known and rarely used approach to ‘crimes’ one was forced to commit. The required elements for a successful Necessity Defense are:

1. A defendant was faced with a choice of evils and chose the lesser evil.
2. A defendant reasonably anticipated a cause-and-effect relationship between his conduct and the harm avoided.
3. A defendant acted to prevent imminent harm.
4. There were no legal alternatives to violating the law.

Any legal experts or enthusiasts out there think there might be a case? Coming from Columbus, Ohio, I wonder what OSU President Gordon Gee would think, as he sits on the Board of the corporation responsible for much of this, Massey Energy.

Continued from my previous post.

A 25-person crew has been working hard to support 17 line crossers, lockdowners, and sludge canoers. We still need to bail out 4 people at $2,000 each, and have got over 40 mouths to feed. Shameless plea for money :0)

Be part of ending mountaintop removal: ban its combustion in your community, volunteer in Appalachia, and donate to Coal River 17’s legal fund.

Full updates at MountainJustice.org

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]‘

That a boy Earl!

Congressman Earl Blumenauer of Oregon went on the offensive on the House floor yesterday, calling out the outright lies House and Senate Republicans have been repeating about the costs to consumers of potential climate legislation.

Senators Mitch McConnell (R-KY and the Senate Minority Leader) and John Thune (R-SD), as well as House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) have repeatedly made the false assertion that climate legislation would cost the average American $3,100 in additional energy costs. That number it turns out, is entirely fabricated, a “canard,” as Rep. Blumenauer calls it, that comes from a blatant and outright incorrect misinterpretation of the MIT study it is supposedly based on.

All this prompted Rep. Blumenauer to give the Republicans a direct dose of richly deserved truth on the House floor yesterday:

Continue reading ‘Rep. Earl Blumenauer Smacks Down Republican Lies on Climate Bill’

This just in, three videos of the action demanding justice for coalfield communities and a Green New Deal from the Tennessee Valley Authority:

As Minnesota went through an almost unprecedented heat wave on Thursday, with temperatures well above freezing in early March, college and high school students descended on the Capitol in St. Paul to rally for a Clean Cars standard allowing Minnesota to use California’s increased vehicle fuel efficiency standard for the state. Joined by Van Jones for a rally at the Capitol, they also rallied for important increases in weatherization programs that will help spur green jobs creation, and a Sustainable Communities Act that will help local communities take charge of their own energy future. The Will Steger Foundation, an organizational ally of our college state network TEAM Minnesota and our high school state network YEA Minnesota, produced this YouTube video of the event:

Continue reading ‘Minnesota Youth and Van Jones turn up the heat’

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’