Senate Committee Passes Global Warming Bill!

Exciting news! The Greenhouse Gas Emission Reductions Act – GGERA (pronounce that with hard g’s – “gugera”) – was passed by the Senate Education Health and Environment Committee yesterday! That’s the first milestone in getting this bill passed, and it did amazingly well, passing 7-2.

The reason I’m EXTRA excited about this is that Andy Harris (remember him? 9% Andy?) supported the bill, making it officially a bi-partisan effort. It’s about time too, because really, global warming effects all of us, regardless of race or gender or political party.

So what’s next, you ask? The Senate floor. Which is where all y’all awesome grassrootsy folks come in. We expect the Senate floor to take up the bill early next week.

Nonviolence Trainings for March 2

The momentum continues to build for the March 2 action at the coal-fired Capitol Power Plant. 75 organizations have now endorsed, and it is clear that thousands of people will be taking part in this action from around the country, including 150-200 or more people connected to CCAN!

Do you want to find out more about the plans and legal issues for this action? Do you want to learn, or be reminded, about the basic nonviolence principles and tactics that are guiding this mobilization? Do you want to be as prepared as possible for this historic day? We hope the answer is yes, and we hope that, accordingly, you will plan to be part of one of the pre-event nonviolence trainings. You have several options.

The first option is to join Kolya Braun-Greiner, Deepa Isac from Greenpeace and myself this Saturday, February 21, at an in-person training from 10 am to 1 pm in Takoma Park. If you can do this please be in touch. Please email me to RSVP.
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Prayer Vigil for Capitol Climate Action

ghandiOn March 2, a mass action will occur at the coal-fired power plant that brings energy to Capitol Hill, bringing attention to coal’s contribution to the climate crisis and its threat to the health of future generations. The Capitol Climate Action, www.capitolclimateaction.org, represents the beginning of a mass mobilization for climate justice and energy solutions.

Participants engaging in civil disobedience at the coal plant are committing themselves to practice the nonviolence principles of Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. Just as the civil rights movement was rooted in nonviolence, much was inspired and sustained by the faith community. In keeping with this tradition the Capitol Climate Action will be preceded by a prayer vigil offering an opportunity for people of various faiths to offer prayers for the success of this action and calling upon their spiritual resources to ground them in this important work for a cleaner, brighter, future for all of creation, in what Dr. King would call “the fierce urgency of now.”

The Prayer Vigil will occur at the staging area for the action, at Spirit of Justice Park (about three blocks from the coal plant), C St. SE & New Jersey Ave. SE (two blocks west of Capitol South Metro), from 12:30 to 1 pm, on Monday March 2. Banners from worship communities are welcome.

  • Opening: Lakota prayer to the 4 directions/Chant –Rose Khalsa 5 mins.
  • Prayer: Muslim –Ibrahim Ramey 3 mins.
  • Song: Bright Morning Star– Rev. Fred Small 3 mins.
  • Prayer: Rabbi Arthur Waskow 3 mins.
  • Singing: Emma’s Revolution “Peace, Salaam, Shalom” 3 mins.
  • Prayer: Rev. Graylan Hagler 3 mins.
  • Reflection: Rabbi David Saperstein 3 mins.
  • Testimonial: Pete Ramey (Appalachian Mountain Stewards) 4 mins.
  • Mountain Prayer- Kolya 1 min.
  • Song: Luci Murphy “The Tree of Life” 3 mins

James Hansen joins voices calling for action

“I think it’s time we take a stand on global warming,” says James Hansen in this video calling on all of us to take part in the March 2nd civil disobedience on Capitol Hill. Just days after the Washington Post reported that the pace of global warming is likely to be much faster than recent predictions, the scientific community is calling on all of us to ramp up our efforts.

Join us on March 2 as we participate in the largest civil disobedience on global warming in history.

EPA to regulate CO2, or How coal plants die

In the death throes of the Bush administration, then-EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson put the agency on record stating that CO2 is not a pollutant that should be regulated by the Clean Air Act. This week, the current EPA administrator Lisa Jackson announced her intent to overturn that memorandum, putting the EPA on the path toward regulating carbon dioxide as a pollutant under the Clean Air Act.

As a result of this decision, coal plants are dropping like flies. The latest victim comes out of Oklahoma. Opposition groups cite the EPA decision and public outcry, but the reps from the company building the plant say it’s “purely a business decision.” With more and more planned coal plants biting the dust due to “business decisions,” how much longer can coal companies insist that building new coal plants is our best option?

But this hilarious video from 2006 reminds us that the fossil fuel industry isn’t confined to the truth when defending its turf. (No, it’s not a spoof. It’s real.)


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Second Part of Diversity Column

This has been cross posted from: http://madrad2002.wordpress.com/2009/02/17/second-part-of-diversity-column/

So last week, I wrote the first part in a 2 part series on the need for more diversity and inclusion in the environmental movement. My second part is this week. In case you haven’t read the first part or would like to re-read it, go here: http://madrad2002.wordpress.com/2009/02/10/column-on-lack-of-minorities-in-environmental-groups/

For this weeks column, link is here: http://media.www.diamondbackonline.com/media/storage/paper873/news/2009/02/17/Opinion/Green.Diversity.Cross.Cultures.Save.The.World-3632931.shtml?reffeature=recentlycommentedstoriestab

Green diversity : Cross cultures, save the world

Issue date: 2/17/09 Section: Opinion

I met with a black state delegate about a bill a few weeks ago and made sure to ask him what the environmental community was doing wrong in reaching out to minorities. In his response to me, he made a good point. It’s difficult to tell someone they need to put a solar panel on their roof or to get the roof insulated when they’re working hard just to keep that roof over their head. He also stated the situation was unfortunate, because minority groups are most affected by global warming, rising energy costs and pollution. They also stand the most to gain from a clean energy economy if they’re involved in creating it. How do we stress that linkage? He didn’t have an answer. I have ideas.
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Watch Global Warming Forum with Rep. Connolly Online at 7 pm

Yesterday, President Obama just signed into law an economic recovery bill containing $87 billion in green investment funds–the largest investment ever in clean energy solutions! This is only the first step of many to solve the climate challenge and build a clean economy. In the months ahead, we’ll have to keep pushing Congress and the President to enact strong caps on carbon pollution and a halt to new coal power plants.

Tonight, Fairfax County’s Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA-11th) will be talking to a packed town hall meeting at the Fairfax City Library about what congress is doing to stop global warming and what you need to do to keep up the pressure. If you can’t make it in person, watch it online on CCAN’s Blog: http://www.chesapeakeclimate.org/blog/?p=785
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Bobby Scott talked green at THM in Richmond last night

Last night was the first of several town hall meetings being held across the state on green jobs and clean energy sponsored by the C-campaign. Congressman Bobby Scott spoke to a crowded room (estimated between 100-170 people!). Other speakers included:

Mr. Karl Bren, founder of Green Visions Consulting;
Mr. Michael Schewel, Chair of the Corporate Development Department at McGuireWoods and former Virginia Secretary of Commerce and Trade;
Mr. Glen Besa, Director, Virginia Sierra Club;
Dr. Thad Williamson, Professor of Leadership Studies, University of Richmond; and
Dr. James Wetzel, Professor of Environmental Economics, Virginia Commonwealth University.

After the panel spoke, they opened the floor for questions. People were really excited about green jobs and wanted to know more. One gentleman said he’s been looking at workforce development training and couldn’t find anything closer than NYC. He stated that the price of that particular program keeps going up and up too. He wanted to know why there wasn’t any training for him here in Richmond. A gentleman from a vocational technical school said they implemented a program last year to train troubled youth how to build solar panels. They felt it was more important to get the program up and running then to sit and wait for funding. He said that with the signing of the stimulus bill, they are planning to expand the program and start doing adult training programs as early as next month.
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