It's Getting Hot In Here » Week of Action

On Our Way to Defining Our Decade – Hundreds of Communities, and Thousands of Leaders On Their Way to 100% Clean Electricity by 2020

Whit Jones — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 21:41:20 +0000

The Leadership Campaign capped off the Weeks of Action w/ a sleepout and chants of "Nothing more than 350, nothing less than 100% clean electricity!"

In the past two weeks, hundreds of communities had discussions and took action to begin to define our decade with clean energy.

The votes are still being tallied, but over 6,000 people from across the country voted on the world we want to create, and not surprisingly, the results reflect our generation’s ambition! 83% of us voted to make 100% clean electricity by 2020 a priority. I’m not just excited about this because we now have thousands of petitions to deliver to our politicians (we do, and we will!). I’m excited about it because we’ve developed not only political demands, but things we can strive to collectively achieve. And although what we’ve settled on is very ambitious, when you look at the goals and plans that local, statewide, and regional groups drew up, you start to get a sense of “YES, we can actually make this happen!”

In the last few weeks, hundreds of groups either developed a local vision for their decade, brought more people into the discussion, or got to work creating it.

Students in Florida, and the Southern Energy Network continued to build support around the Student Green Fund, and got over 1,500 new people on board!
Dozens of campuses are committed to moving their campuses beyond coal – an incredibly important first step if we are to reach that goal of 100% clean electricity.
The Southwest Workers Union continues to build support for a community-written Peoples Power Plan that will provide safety and prosperity for residents in San Antonio, TX.
The Ohio Student Environmental Coalition is jumping into their upcoming primaries by working to “make green a primary color” and bring political candidates along with them in defining the decade with clean energy
The stories go on and on with students at Michigan State University calling their own hearing on a coal plant in violation, to voices across Appalachia continuing to articulate a vision of a region with a sustainable economy and no longer constrained by the coal industry, and even to American University’s EcoSense winning their clean energy revolving fund campaign this past week!

I have no illusions that just because thousands of us voted that we want to achieve 100% clean energy by 2020 that it will just magically happen. But I do think that if the people who voted and the communities who got to work on their local projects continue to build a movement big enough, strong enough, and creative enough, we might just reach our goal, and we’ll try damn hard.

I closed out the Weeks of Action in Massachusetts with the Leadership Campaign at their sleepout on the Cambridge Commons. What I saw was hundreds of young people from campuses and communities across the state who aren’t waiting for their political leaders to legislate change, they are out there creating it. They are pushing their own bill to move the state towards 100% clean electricity by 2020 by hosting sleepouts, lobby days and call-ins; they are narrowing in on Massachusetts’ 5 coal-fired power plants and developing direct action campaigns to shut them down; and they are continuing to use their campuses and communities as models of a future powered by clean energy, through projects like their Commonwealth Challenge.

These two weeks of action are over, but our work is far from done. In the next few weeks, the communities that worked to come up with a vision for their decade will be delivering their results to community and elected leaders, and the discussions about how to work together to realize our vision will continue at places like the Power Shift New York Summit and beyond.

Filed under: 350, Act Locally, Climate Challenge, Coal Campaign, Dirty Energy, global warming, Green Jobs, Political Participation, Visioning, Week of Action, Youth Leaders

Graham is right, for young people “climate is no-debate.” Let’s make sure we show him our solutions

Whit Jones — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 17:34:31 +0000

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:

At Pennsylvania State University they’ll be constructing the “Foundation of Our Future,” a big art installation that students can write about there demands for clean energy on.
An open-mic at Murray State Univ (KY) for people to share poetry and vision for the decade!
Define Our Decade Vermont Kick-off! On the heels of the Vermont Yankee Nuke Plant decision, and two-years before it’s close date, students at Middlebury College are going to launch their initiative to get a statewide commitment for 100% clean energy!
Events across the Buckeye State to support Power Vote Ohio in Making Green a Primary Color – they want clean energy candidates to define their future!

There’s a ton of great stuff on the event registration page, I really encourage you to check it out, and host an event of your own! This idea has come about through extensive discussions with leaders around the country about the solutions we have to share, so we are really excited to come to fruition. Register your event to become part of what is turning out to be an incredible movement-wide discussion on our future, and to take action to make our vision a reality! We’ll be having another discussion on a National Leaders Call this Wednesday, March 3 at 9 PM ET – I really hope you’ll join us and register an event of your own!

Filed under: Act Locally, Campuses, Climate Policy, global warming, Nuclear Power, Oil, Political Participation, Politics, Renewable Energy, United States, Visioning, Week of Action, Youth Leaders

Hip Hop Tour Rolls into Washington: We are the Light, Clean Energy Now!

sethteicher — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 01:00:58 +0000

“Give light and people will find the way.” This quote by Ella Baker, civil rights leader and youth activist, sums up the last day of the Hip Hop Caucus Clean Energy Now! Bus tour. Baker mentored young civil rights stalwarts like Diane Nash, Stokely Carmichael, Rosa Parks and Bob Moses. Today, she would be proud as the new generation of activists rallied behind the need for clean energy jobs and their right to economic equality in our nation’s capital.

Imagine it. After touring the nation and meeting with young people in urban communities all along the way, the Hip Hop Caucus’ Clean Energy Now! Bus Tour brought its message of clean energy solutions to the steps of the Capitol Building for a closing rally. The event began with music from DJ Biz Markie. His classic beats were heard around the Capitol while hip hop echoed off of our nation’s government buildings. As Biz began, a bus full of Howard University students marched up to the rally with Clean Energy Now! signs and took their place on the stage as one of the nation’s leading universities.

The program began with youth activists, Kari Fulton from EJCC, Liz Starke, student activist from Michigan State University, and William Kellibrew who represented the Black Youth Vote. Together, these students amplified the diversity of today’s youth movement and the importance of a clean energy economy for their future prosperity.

Reverend Yearwood moderated the rally and introduced Administrator Lisa Jackson, who jumped right into the importance of a clean energy economy to protect our air and provide clean water to all communities across the country, especially for young people and future generations. “The tour has been across the country listening to young voices calling for good jobs, lower energy costs and cleaner communities,” said Jackson. “This is the time to seize global leadership in clean energy innovation and answer the young people and urban communities who are asking for clean energy now.” Signs were raised, young people were cheering, and Washington was listening.

Following Administrator Jackson, movement leaders like Gary Flowers, Congressman Andre Carson, Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins, CEO of Green For All, and actress Gloria Reuben took the stage to explain how protecting the climate can help us to take back our streets by creating new businesses and regenerating the urban economy. Maggie Fox, CEO of the Alliance for Climate Protection, amplified the importance of showing the diversity of this movement to Washington. “It is clear that our young people and communities of color will benefit greatly from the economic opportunities that come from investing in clean energy,” said Fox.

Today, the message was clear in Washington. WE MUST ACT NOW! The clean energy movement is about taking control of our future and bringing opportunity to our communities. Millions of our friends and neighbors are out of work. Washington has the opportunity to create 1.9 million new jobs and rebuild our economy from the ground up by making a commitment to clean energy here in America. The Hip Hop Caucus Clean Energy Now! Bus Tour was a light that illuminated monumental economic opportunity across the country. So, hats off to our civil rights predecessors, it is now our turn to carry the torch towards a victory in Washington.

Filed under: global warming, United States, Week of Action, Youth Leaders

In Which Oregon’s Senators Get Lots of Phone Calls – this Time from OUR Side!

nickengelfried — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 19:35:14 +0000

Students at Pacific University, Linfield College, and University of Portland are organizing to generate 100 phone calls to Oregon’s US senators within approximately one week, asking them to push for a strong American Clean Energy and Security Act. Though both Senator Ron Wyden and Senator Jeff Merkley are likely to vote for whatever version of the ACES bill is finally adopted, we’re pushing them to take up a leadership role in crafting a bill that:

• Grants at least as much funding to clean energy technologies as to fossil fuel industries

• Devotes $15 billion per year to clean energy research and development – a goal set by President Obama

• Preserves Environmental Protection Agency authority to regulate global warming pollution under the Clean Air Act

• Ensures we make real reductions in pollution here in the US, instead of buying pollution “offsets” in other countries

With 1Sky pushing to generate 10,000 calls to senate offices nationwide in the next two weeks, the efforts of these three Oregon colleges – participating in the call-in week as the first major project of the Northwest Fossil Action Fall campaign – fit right in with the national push to produce a strong ACES bill that helps steer the US to a clean energy future. Now college campuses across the country need to duplicate these efforts.

A lot of activists are saying that the current version of ACES is a weak bill that will do little to curb US global warming emissions. Well, they’re probably right; but the only way that’s going to change is if we get down to work and organize young people to contact their senators with the same energy that brough hundreds of thousands of us together to sign the Power Vote pledge last fall. Pacific University, Linfield, and University of Portland are doing now what colleges across the nation need to do over the coming month: organizing students to call their senators through tabling events, call-in get-togethers, and more.

Hats off to the student organizers at these three campuses making this happen. Now, want a stronger ACES bill? Get some folks together, reserve a table on-campus, and start chalking up the phone calls!

More updates on the Oregon call-in coming later this week.

Posted in Act Locally, Campuses, Cascade Region, Climate Policy, global warming, Renewable Energy, Week of Action

Post-Bali Dispatch: “Lighting Up” a movement in Upstate New York!

dominicfrongillo — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 13:00:15 +0000

The bustling halls of the United Nations climate negotiations still ringing in my ears, it’s been an incredible few months since I and other youth delegates from SustainUS returned from Bali. So many friends and neighbors emailed or stopped by to say “Thanks for sending your email updates from Bali!” and “Welcome home!” I still feel the excitement of working with the best & brightest of the youth climate movement around the world.

Upon returning from Bali as a US youth delegate, I was filled with hope that humanity will create a global consciousness by rising to meet the climate emergency. In the last few months, worsening scientific predictions have only strengthened my belief that we are the leaders we seek. It’s up to us. We have the power to make the climate emergency, and the immense economic opportunities we will realize from solving it, our top priority. A bold, broad movement is needed on a scale larger than the mobilization for World War II. This mobilization will only be accomplished by unleashing a renewed civic engagement.

“LIGHTEN UP CAROLINE!” ON APRIL 19

As a 24-year old elected Town Councilmember and Deputy Supervisor, I’m SO excited about a new way we’re igniting this movement, right here in my hometown of Caroline, NY, USA. On Saturday April 19, in a massive event called “Lighten Up Caroline!” over 100 volunteers will distribute one energy-saving compact-fluorescent lightbulb to every household in the Town… that’s 1,400 households!!

It’s huge. “Lighten Up Caroline!” will collectively save our town $70,000 in energy bills and reduce carbon emissions by over 800,000 pounds. An incredible team of students from Cornell University and Ithaca College is working with a local group called Energy Independent Caroline to launch the event. SewGreen of Ithaca is mobilizing a series of “sew-ins to save energy” to make bags from reused fabric which will hold the lightblubs and energy conservation information.

It’s news. The project’s already making big news here in central New York. The Syracuse Post-Standard ran it today as a front-page story!! http://www.syracuse.com/poststandard/pageone/pdf/thu-a.pdf Here’s the full story: http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf?/base/news-13/1207213258129270.xml&coll=1

It’s us. Many people in Tompkins County have asked me “what can I do to help?” It’s simple — volunteer and help make history! Don’t live in central New York? Tell your friends that real people in small rural towns are taking the climate movement to Hometown, USA.

It’s one of many. “Lighten Up Caroline” is just one example of how ordinary people like us can ignite a spark that can impact an entire community. This and countless other initiatives can and will build the renewed civic engagement we need to meet the climate emergency.

We’re all in this together, and for the long-haul. Whether you live cross the street, across the country, or across the world, you can make a difference when you encourage, support, and inspire. It means more than you know.

Northwest Climate Policy Update: Two Victories and a Setback

Jesse Jenkins — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 00:21:06 +0000

As I wrote a little while back, we Cascadian Climateers here in the Pacific Northwest just wrapped up two weeks of kick-ass climate action. Since our two weeks of action wrapped up with Cascade POWER SHIFT and Cascade Climate Network Citizen Action Lobby Days on February 11th, we’ve already seen two big victories (yay!) and one disappointing setback (boo…). Here’s the summary on the policy front:

-Oregon’s Governor Tells Feds to Put Brakes on LNG Development!

Governor Kulongoski calls for a halt in the permitting of proposed LNG terminals until an independent study examines the need for new natural gas supplies in Oregon and determines the global warming impact of LNG importation!

-Washington Climate Bills Pass House of Origin, on the Way to Final Passage!

The Washington House and Senate both passed climate change bills on Tuesday that were supported by the Cascade Climate Network. The bills are now heading to the opposite chamber, where they are expected to win passage and be signed into law.

-Oregon Climate Bill Stalls, May Die This Session…

Hyped-up industry opposition may prove enough to scuttle a climate bill in the Oregon legislature during the short, first-of-its-kind Oregon special session. The bill passed the House Energy and Environment Committee but may not see a floor vote before the short session ends.

More below…

Oregon Governor Tells Feds to Put Brakes on LNG Development! Secretary of State calls LNG development “insane” for Oregon.

At Focus the Nation events on January 31st, at a huge rally with other Oregon citizens on February 6th that gathered attention from media and politicians alike and again at Oregon Lobby Day on February 11th, Cascade Climate Network members have said loud and clear “No LNG for Oregon!” We’ve taken to the streets and engaged directly and effectively with our elected officials, including Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski, Secretary of State Bill Bradbury and State Treasurer Randall Edwards. And we’re winning!

-At a Focus the Nation event at Pacific University, and again at the anti-LNG rally in Salem, Secretary of State Bill Bradbury came out strongly opposed to LNG for Oregon, calling it “a dirty fuel” and saying it would be “insane” to increase our dependence on foreign fossil fuels. You can hear Bill Bradbury and Oregon Speaker of the House (and US Senate candidate) Jeff Merkley speak on LNG at the Feb 6th rally in this video clip:

-Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski is changing his tune on LNG too!

After giving a forceful defense of his “open-minded” approach to LNG for Oregon at the huge Focus the Nation event at the University of Portland on January 31st, Kulongoski met with boos form thousands of people on live radio, was pressured by hundreds of citizens on Feb 6th, and heard directly from Cascade Climate Network members on Feb 11th.

On February 14th, Kulongoski adopted a new position: while saying he is still not “unalterably opposed” to LNG for Oregon, the Governor sent a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission calling on them to halt the permitting of three proposed LNG terminals until an independent assessment of the global warming impacts of LNG importation and the need for new natural gas supplies in the region is completed.

The Governor also directed Attorney General Hardy Meyers to determine that state’s authority to halt the permitting process and asked Oregon’s congressional delegation to repeal the section of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 that granted near-exclusive gas project siting authority to the federal government.

While he’s not flat out opposed to LNG, the Governor is now taking a much more cautious and approach to the proposed terminals and pipelines and his new position should help slow the headlong rush towards the authorization of new LNG import facilities.

You can find more about the Governor’s evolving position (including his letter to FERC) and the rest of “the LNG saga” at: http://blog.oregonlive.com/hillsboroargus/pipeline/

Washington’s Climate Bills Pass House of Origin, on the Way to Final Passage!

The Washington House and Senate each passed climate bills on Tuesday, just ahead of legislative deadlines for all bills to leave their house of origin. The House passed House Bill 2815, with a 64-31 vote on Tuesday. The bill, which we lobbied to support on Washington Lobby Day, lays the important groundwork for statewide action to tackle climate change. The bill:

Require the state to meet greenhouse-gas reduction goals set last year.
Give the state Ecology Department the authority to require the largest producers of greenhouse gases to report their emissions beginning in 2010.
Instruct Ecology to come back to lawmakers later this year with the state’s part of the Western Climate Initiative’s plan for reducing carbon dioxide release (likely some form of “cap and trade”).
Create an initiative for increasing the number of clean-energy jobs through job training.
Set statewide goals for cutting the amount of miles driven per person.

The bill now goes to the Senate, where passage is expected! You can find more at http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/351926_climate20.html

The Senate also passed a companion bill that would incorporate climate concerns into land use planning on Tuesday. The bill would require long-term county land use plans to take into account the plan’s effects on greenhouse gas emissions and encourage smart land use and community development to help reduce emissions. It is also expected to win passage in the House.

Oregon Climate Bill Stalls, May Die This Session

Proving that you can’t win ‘em all, Oregon’s modest climate bill is not faring as well as it’s Washington counterpart. Largely falling victim to Oregon’s super-short “special session” this year, the bill has stalled in the House Ways and Means Committee and will probably not see a floor vote before the session ends, perhaps as early as tomorrow.

Oregon’s bill, House BIll 3610, would gather important information that would prepare the state for major climate action in the regular 2009 session. The bill would give the state Department of Environmental Quality authority to require reporting of greenhouse gas emissions and direct state agencies to report back by October 2008 on options to help the state achieve greenhouse gas reduction goals passed last year.

Despite it’s modest nature, the bill met with strong opposition from just about every industry group you could think off, from chemicals to metals to agriculture, but the leading culprits were the high tech and pulp and paper industry members of the Industrial Customers of Northwest Utilities lobby group. Opponents of the bill included Intel and Weyerhauser, two industry giants who have made very public greenwashing efforts touting their commitment to climate change…

Oregon’s first-of-its-kind, month-long special session made “controversial” bills very difficult to pass, something the industry opponents used to their advantage, kicking up a storm of hyped-up opposition that seems to have scared off enough House members to keep the bill from the floor this year.

After Cascade Climate Network members delivered forceful testimony at Oregon’s House Energy and Environment Committee Hearing and lobbied our legislators on February 11th, the committee passed House Bill 3610 on February 13th, but along party lines. All three committee Republicans, including Representative Chuck Burley of Bend, voted no. Burley explained his vote by spouted flimsy rationales straight from the industry opponents’ playbook, despite a strong rebuttal from our climate champion, Rep Ben Cannon (D-Portland).

After passing out of the Energy and Environment Committee, the bill moved to the House Ways and Means Committee where it currently sitting, but it now seems unlikely to see a floor vote before the end of this short session. Three House Democrats have “defected” and said they would vote no on the bill – Mike Schaufler (D-Happy Valley), Brian Clem (D-Salem), and Debbie Boone (D-Cannon Beach) – and House Republicans have “locked down” in opposition to the bill. Without their support, House Leadership does not want to bring the bill to the floor for a loss. Barring a major 11th hour change, the bill will likely stay in Ways and Means until the session ends and it dies a slow death.

Next Steps…

We’ve made some major progress in Washington and on the LNG front this year! These big victories move the ball forward and we should build on our gathering momentum to stop new fossil fuel developments in our region and get our states on the path to a carbon neutral/climate positive future!

Clearly, we’ve still got work to do in the Oregon legislature! But we’ve made a huge start. We’ve introduced ourselves to the Oregon Legislature and earned props from our climate champions for supporting HB 3610 – House Energy and Environment Chair Jackie Dingfelder and Vice Chair Ben Cannon both told me on the 13th that they were very grateful that we showed up to support the bill and delivered strong testimony that “shook things up” in the committee! We’ve also raised the profile of climate change with our legislators and now have confirmation of who the entrenched opponents are to the bill as well as who we may be able to cultivate as allies and champions.

We’ve now got the next 10 months to prepare for the 2009 session, when the climate will be front and center, both in Oregon and Washington. It’s time to figure out how to urge our state reps to be climate champions.

We should also think about ways to highlight Intel and Weyerhauser’s irresponsible role in blocking climate legislation and the inconsistencies between their public greenwashing and their opposition to legislative action. If we can neutralize one or both of these companies, it could be a huge help in overcoming the industry opposition we should expect and prepare for in 2009.

And of course, with 2008 being a big election year, we should do our best to make sure that 2009 sees new climate champions join the ranks of both state’s legislatures!

That’s the report from the Northwest policy front. Great work Climateers!

Cascade POWER SHIFT Summit Wraps Up Two Weeks of Intense Northwest Climate Action!

Jesse Jenkins — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 00:20:28 +0000

Cascade POWER SHIFT 2008, the Northwest’s largest youth climate summit, ended on February 11th, wrapping up two weeks of intense climate action across the Northwest that also included nearly 50 Focus the Nation events across the region on January 31st, a giant rally in Oregon’s Capitol to oppose new liquefied natural gas importation on February 6th, and Oregon and Washington’s first-ever youth global warming lobby days in both Salem and Olympia on February 11th.

That’s a lot of climate ass-kicking! No wonder I’m exhausted today…

Cascade Power Shift: Mobilizing Youth for Climate Justice took place February 8-10th at the University of Oregon campus in Eugene, Oregon, and brought together over 200 young people from more than 20 colleges, universities and high schools across Oregon and Washington. The weekend summit was followed by a Citizen Action Lobby Day on Feb. 11th in both Salem and Olympia brought dozens of students and youth to their state capitols to amp up both youth political engagement as well as politicians’ response.

Entirely volunteer-driven and youth-organized, the weekend was sponsored by the Cascade Climate Network, the new network of Northwest youth climate activists, and pulled together people from across the region for a blow-out event aimed at training, engaging and activating hundreds of youth in the region to take on the most important challenge and opportunity of our generation: climate change.

A great line-up of keynote speakers and panels introduced summit attendees to important climate change issues in the region, such as the prospect of green jobs and social justice opportunities as well as false solutions like proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) and coal plants. Experienced students and community activists also provided dozens of skill-building trainings and facilitated campaign kick-off sessions for new regional campaigns, including efforts to win state climate victories, rise to the climate challenge on campuses, seize opportunities to create new green jobs and fight off false solutions like LNG.

We learned, we met new friends, we were energized by our fellow activists. Oh ya, and of course, we partied!

“The amount of passion and energy popping-up in so many communities throughout the Cascade Region is powerful and hopeful,” said Jesse Hough, summit organizer and OSPIRG student leader at the University of Oregon. “Creative, thoughtful and inspired youth are stepping-up, and it’s especially exciting to work with people who have never thought of themselves as activists before.”

On Monday, Cascade Climate Network members followed up the Cascade POWER SHIFT summit with youth global warming Citizen Action Days in Olympia and Salem, taking their energy and passion directly to the statehouse. We fanned out throughout both state capitols on Monday to meet with our elected officials, testify in committee hearings and support state climate solutions (download the archived audio here to listen to the passionate testimony of three CCN members in Oregon’s House Energy and Environment Committee! Fast forward to about 39 minutes in to the hearing…)

In Oregon, we began our lobby day with a press event, featuring Cascade Climate Network members, and a fun game of “Dirty Energy Dodgeball” on the steps of the Capitol! Not willing to stick to the boring old script for press events, CCN Citizen Action Day in Oregon began with lobby day participants “taking a shot at global warming,” lobbing dodge balls at a human-sized dirty energy target as other CCN-members dressed dirty energy “lobbyists” defended. Now THAT’S how you kick-off a lobby day!

Judging from the feedback from the weekend, attendees came out of the weekend jazzed and energized with new connections, friends and allies and plenty of new ideas for action. At least several minds were blown! Mission accomplished for the now-exhausted Cascade POWER SHIFT organizers…

I’ve been simply stunned by the amazing individuals I’ve met since about twenty of us came together to form the Cascade Climate Network just last October. We are getting connected, getting engaged and getting active, and I cannot wait to see what the next four months has in store for Northwest youth climate activism. Here’s to building a sustainable, just, and prosperous future for all!

_______________________________

The Cascade Climate Network is a group of college students and recent graduates working toward climate change solutions. We are completely volunteer-driven and are active at over 20 college and university campuses in Washington and Oregon.

For more information, go to www.CascadeClimate.org

SC Students Polar Plunge: “Keep Our Winters Cold! our Waters Clean!”

Seth Gunning — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 18:14:48 +0000

On Saturday, December 8, students and conservationists from all over South Carolina braved cold weather and colder water to raise awareness about climate change and clean water. The message? “Keep our winters cold! Keep our waters clean!”

Polar plungers wearing nothing but bathing suits stood by the banks of the Reedy River in downtown Greenville, as local community leaders discussed climate change impacts on South Carolina, especially on our water resources. Student activist have sent over 500 postcards in the past two weeks, to South Carolina’s Department of Health and Environmental Control, in order to help stop the proposed 1,300 megawatt Pee Dee Coal Campus facility outside Florence, South Carolina. The plant is expected to emit a ridiculous 9 million tons of Carbon Dioxide, and nearly 140 lbs of Mercury into the already heavily contaminated Pee Dee River.

Students, community members, and non-profits throughout the state, anticipate hard times for the developments of Santee Coopers Coal Plant plans, and rejoiced Saturday as the U.S. Department of Interior seemed to join the cause , requesting a halt to, and recommending termination of the plants proposal.

“With thousands of miles of rivers and lakes already impaired by contamination and drought, South Carolina’s freshwater resources cannot bear the threat of climate change,” said Colin Hagan, a graduate of Furman University. “So we are baring our swimsuits in December.”

“We want our elected leaders and visiting presidential candidates to know that South Carolinians care about protecting our beautiful natural resources from climate change.”

Students and conservationists from around the state will attend the event. “This will be a fantastic event. It will drive home just how concerned South Carolinians are about climate change,” said Emma Smiley, a student from the University of South Carolina.

“We Want More”

carlosrymer — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 14:29:25 +0000

I’m going to join everyone in saying that Powershift was absolutely mind-blowing! The energy there was incredible and no words can describe what we all felt when we were together as a growing movement with its eyes on a clean energy future. We are ready to take this to the next level. It’s Getting Hot In Here should continue to grow and tell the stories from around the world (see here). I wanted to share with everybody Ted Glick’s Future Hope Column for this week. Ted, one of the best activists in the nation, has been fasting for over 60 days now. He was at Powershift sharing with all of us young people the incredible energy that this movement has. His column sums up what most of us feel like after Powershift:

“Words fail me as I try to figure out how to capture in words the profound significance of the student-based Power Shift conference which took place November 2-5 at the University of Maryland and on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.

Historic—Powerful—Deep—Amazing—Awesome—Astounding—Incredible—Hope at the Highest Level: these are the adjectives and phrases that come to mind.

So what happened?

From November 2nd to the 4th upwards of 6,000 people, overwhelmingly young people from all over the country and with some international representation, met on the campus of the University of Maryland in College Park at the “first-ever national youth climate summit.” Over the course of two and a half days they heard lots of speakers and music at plenary sessions and panels and took part in close to 300 different workshops, on a range of topics.

Some of the topics covered in the workshops and panels included:

-anti-racism and anti-oppression, a central priority for this burgeoning movement of hope for the world

-organizing strategies and tactics on the climate issue on college campuses

-community-based, statewide and national organizing and legislative approaches on the climate issue

-ending the U.S. addiction to coal and oil

-media and messaging

-skills trainings

-spirituality and faith and environmental sustainability

-civil disobedience and direct action in the climate movement

-corporate campaigning

This was a conference of thousands of SERIOUS young people. They were not there just to enjoy one another’s company, although that was definitely going on. They were there primarily to learn, to contribute, to strategize, to return home as smarter and more effective activists for a justice-based, peace-encouraging, world-changing clean energy revolution.

And more.

One of the political high points for me was when, during a major plenary session Saturday night, a “we want more” chant went up from some of those in the crowd of thousands during the speeches of Congresspersons Ed Markey and, following him, Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House. Markey is the chair of a special House committee on global warming set up by Pelosi earlier this year.

Markey and Pelosi were the two prominent national politicians who spoke at Power Shift. I was told that all of the Presidential candidates were invited and, tellingly, none came.

I was especially pleased by this interruption of Markey’s and then Pelosi’s speeches because I was disappointed by the initially loud and strong welcoming of Pelosi when she was introduced to the crowd. Other speakers Friday night and earlier Saturday night had received a warm response when they spoke against the war in Iraq during their time on the stage. So for Pelosi to be received so positively given her misleadership in Congress on that issue was not what I had thought would happen. I was hoping that the response would be more mixed.

But then the “we want more” chant rose up out of the crowd. Here’s how it was described on the Power Shift website blog by one of those who led it, Juliana Williams:

“Tonight at Power Shift, as Congressman Ed Markey stood before us inciting us to support the proposed Energy Bill, a few of us began chanting ‘We want more, we want more.’ Congressman Markey stopped short to listen. We chanted for a full minute with a fervor, intensity and volume that left me light-headed, hoarse and thoroughly invigorated. As we chanted, for the first time, I felt an almost painful desire for the future we want to see. . .“We don’t just want policy fixes, or simply a change in leadership in the White House, higher fuel economy standards, or 80% emissions reduction by the year 2050. This movement is about more than just politics. This movement is about more than just supporting clean energy sources. This movement is about recognizing the patterns of consumption, patterns of thought, patterns of behavior that have led to the social ills we see today. It’s about rediscovering the value of our resources, the value of our neighbors, the value of life on this planet.”“We want more” came forward as a chant another time that I heard over the course of the weekend. It was on Monday the 5th on the west lawn of the U.S. Capitol during a rally of close to 2,000 young people in mid-day in between morning and afternoon mass lobbying by the students in support of the strong legislative demands of the 1 Sky campaign (www.1skycampaign.org). The best lobby day story I heard about was what happened in the Hart Senate Office Building that morning. Spontaneously, hundreds of students started chanting “80 by 50” (80% reductions in carbon emissions by 2050) across an atrium in the center of that building around which Senate offices are lined up. I was with a group of about 25 that chanted anti-war slogans into that atrium space during the first week of the Iraq war in March of 2003, and we were loud, so I’m sure hundreds of students chanting on Monday were heard by everyone in the building.The best visual of the weekend for me was at the end of the Monday rally. Dozens of young people were up on the stage, singing and dancing along with music coming out of the loudspeakers. Hundreds of others were doing the same on the ground as cameras clicked and rolled. I was moved as I watched the joyful energy and read the signs people were holding: Green Jobs—No Coal—1 Sky—30 by 2020—Power Shift—Danger: End of World Ahead—Congress Listen: Act Now—Youth Want Green Energy—God’s Creation, Our Home—Hope Is Green.Our hope for the future absolutely is green: a connection to the green, life-giving force of our Mother Earth. A green, clean energy economy that gets us off the dirty fossil fuels which are destroying the ecosystem and are the reason for the U.S.’s wars of occupation in the Middle East and elsewhere trying to control oil and natural gas. A green, clean energy revolution that creates millions of jobs, lifts people out of poverty, strengthens communities and reduces the power of destructive corporations.And there is movement in Congress toward this future. It is possible that a piece of global warming legislation could come onto the U.S. Senate floor for a debate and vote early next year, although it will not be strong enough and will likely provide even more subsidies for coal, auto and oil companies. There will be a need for significant grassroots mobilization to demand that it either be strengthened and changed or defeated.Most immediately, there’s an energy bill that could be passed by Congress in early December that could—repeat, could—be the beginnings of a turn by the federal government in the right direction on the energy issue. If that’s to happen the climate movement needs to work very hard between now and then to pressure legislators for a good bill. A good bill will include an increased fuel efficiency standard for cars to at least 35 mpg by 2020, a renewable electricity standard requiring utilities to get at least 15% of their energy from renewable sources by 2020, a strong green jobs program and absolutely no subsidies for liquid coal, nuclear energy, coal or oil.As we work to get this kind of energy bill passed we should be building toward actions all over the country on December 8^th, the third International Day of Climate Action. This is taking place during the time of the Dec. 3-14 United Nations Climate Conference in Bali, Indonesia. There will be actions on the 8^th in more than 50 countries. Power Shift. As was talked about this past weekend, a phrase with a double meaning. A shift from carbon to clean energy, and a shift from old, corporate-dominated politics as usual to the new, democratic (small “d”), participatory politics experienced by thousands at the University of Maryland. We are on the way, we are moving, we have hope, we can see the future, and we are determined to do what needs to be done to get there. Young people are rising up and giving leadership and all of us of whatever age need to follow and work with them. Si, se puede! Si, se puede!

Ted Glick is on the 65^th day of a Climate Emergency Fast (www.climateemergency.org) and is the coordinator of the U.S. Climate Emergency Council. He’s also active with the Climate Crisis Coalition, which is coordinating U.S.-based organizing toward December 8^th actions (www.climatecrisiscoalition.org).”

Generation Anything-But-Quiet: Just Wait for the Noise at Power Shift 2007!

Jesse Jenkins — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 01:31:32 +0000

The Youth Climate Movement is poised to explode off of campuses and into our nation’s capitol for PowerShift 2007, November 2nd-5th.

Thomas Friedman, the popular New York Times columnist, recently labeled teens and twenty-somethings coming to age in the early years of the 21st century the “Quiet Generation.” Accusing today’s young people of being “too quiet, too online for [their] own good, and for the country’s own good,” Friedman went on to say that today’s students and youth are “so much less radical and politically engaged than they need to be.” (See “‘Generation Q’ – the Quiet Americans,” New York Times, Oct. 10th, 2007)

Well, in two weeks, Mr. Friedman – and the rest of the nation – will hear what this young generation really sounds like, and it will be anything but quiet! More than 3,300 young people will explode off of their campuses and away from the internet, descending – in person and in droves – on the nation’s capitol for Power Shift 2007, the first-ever national youth summit on global warming, November 2nd-5th.

Power Shift will bring together thousands of students and youth from all 50 states to wrestle with our generation’s greatest challenge and our greatest opportunity: The climate crisis. At the conference, attendees will learn new skills, share ideas, connect with fellow activists and ultimately use their collective experience, enthusiasm and commitment to forge a powerful movement to end the climate crisis and make their innovative and inspiring new vision of a sustainable, just, and prosperous future a reality.

The conference will be held November 2nd-5th in College Park, Maryland, just outside of Washington D.C. Power Shift’s agenda includes: keynote addresses from seasoned and inspiring activists, politicians, and leaders; up-to-the-minute issue briefings from the nation’s leading scientists and policy experts; expert-led training sessions on crucial movement-building skills including organizing, advocacy, and media relations; an “opportunities fair” featuring some of the country’s leading environmental employers; a lobby day on Capitol Hill; and plenty of opportunities for young activists to network and strengthen the bonds of a nationwide youth movement (see www.PowerShift07.org).

On Saturday, November 3rd, the activities of the thousands of young people attending Power Shift will join with and be amplified by the hundreds of actions taking place in communities across the nation as part of the second nationwide Step It Up day of action (www.StepItUp07.org).

April 14th, the first Step It Up day of action, saw over 1,400 events across the country involving hundreds of thousands of community-members, activists, and yes, youth, all calling for steep cuts in carbon emissions: at least 80% by 2050. The weekend of Power Shift, Step It Up activists will be at it again, and this time they’ll be asking who our nation’s real leaders are as they challenge politicians again to Step It Up!

The attendees at Power Shift will join with the Step It Up organizers on Saturday night for the joint keynote events of both Power Shift and Step It Up. Many thousands more young people who aren’t going to make the trip to Power Shift will be back home organizing, recruiting for, and attending Step it Up events in their communities. Wherever there’s a successful Step It Up event, you can bet that there’s the fire, passion, and innovative ideas of a member of “Generation Anything-But-Quiet” somewhere behind it.

And as if there won’t be enough packed into a weekend of organizing, training and action, on Monday, November 5th, more than a thousand youth and students will converge on Capitol Hill to flex their collective political muscle and do exactly what Mr. Friedman seems to think today’s young people are too timid to do – something most citizens are too timid to do – sit face-to-face with their representatives and senators, and speak the truth to power, demanding committed action to end the climate crisis.

Monday’s giant lobby day will begin with a morning rally on Capitol Hill’s West Lawn featuring members of the House and Senate leadership and leaders in the youth climate movement as speakers before teams of young citizens head for scheduled lobbying meetings with House and Senate members from all 50 states. The House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming has also scheduled a hearing Monday afternoon where young people directly affected by climate change will speak out on the issue. Youth witnesses representing the Arctic north, Appalachia, the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans, and other locations will testify on the urgency of the crisis and the importance of bold action.

Throughout the Power Shift conference, at lobby day, and at Step It Up events across the nation, young people will join with concerned citizens of all ages to demand Congress takes immediate action to implement the “1Sky” Climate Initiative (www.1skycampaign.org/) including:

creating 5 million new “green” jobs in the clean energy sector working to help save 20% of our energy by 2015;
immediately freezing climate pollution levels and cutting them at least 30% by 2020 and 80% by 2050;
and transforming our energy priorities from dirty, depleting, and often-imported fossil fuels to clean, renewable, and local energy sources, beginning with a moratorium on all new coal plants until they can safely dispose of their pollution.

Lobby day attendees will also demand that Congress pass a strong energy bill this fall as a down payment on the serious cuts in carbon emissions we urgently need. A bill that includes the best elements of the energy packages passed earlier this year by the House and Senate (including strong fuel economy standards, a national renewable electricity standard, and the reinvestment of federal subsidies from fossil fuels into renewable energy and energy efficiency) will be a critical first step towards the sustainable, just, and prosperous future today’s young climate activists are committed to making a reality.

After the Power Shift conference and lobby day, students and youth will return to their campuses and communities. They’ll probably be temporarily exhausted from all the action, but at the same time, they’ll be energized, empowered, and equipped to strengthen their nationwide movement and push for bold solutions on their campuses, in their communities, and in their state and national capitols.

How’s that for quiet, Mr. Freidman?

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Power Shift is organized by the Energy Action Coalition (www.energyaction.org), an alliance of more than 40 organizations from across the United States and Canada, founded and led by youth to help support and strengthen the student and youth clean energy movement in North America.

Energy Action Coalition groups have successfully launched campaigns on over 600 college and high school campuses through the Campus Climate Challenge and successfully won commitments from 400 college and university presidents to work towards complete climate neutrality at their institutions.

The blog “It’s Getting Hot in Here” (www.ItsGettingHotInHere.org) is the Energy Action Coalition’s outlet for the voices of the growing youth movement on climate change, is regularly visited by tens of thousands of readers from across the globe.

For more information on the Energy Action Coalition and its partners in Power Shift 2007:

For information on Step it Up and the 1Sky Campaign: