Perdue Chicken pecking away at UMD Law Clinic

The University of Maryland Environmental Law Clinic has been fighting to preserve Maryland’s environment on behalf of citizens for years. Most recently, the law clinic has been investigating massive factory farms that contaminate waterways. In retaliation, these factory farms, led by Perdue Chicken, are pushing the Maryland General Assembly to take away funding for the law clinic. Read more in the Baltimore Sun.

The University of Maryland is one of the largest pro-bono law firms in Maryland and represents clients from all over the state, including CCAN. This move could seriously undermine its ability to continue its vital work.

The Maryland General Assembly will be voting on this provision soon as part of the larger budget.

Ask your state legislator to take a stand against big polluters by keeping the University of Maryland Law Clinic’s funding.

Incentivize and they will retrofit!

On Monday, Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling announced a second round of stimulus funding to Virginia residents for energy efficiency upgrades to their homes. Some thirty hours later, the funds were all gone. This strikes me as pretty funny because during our fight at the General Assembly to pass a mandatory energy efficiency resource standard, Dominion VA Power and their supporters at the capital kept telling us that the utilities shouldn’t be held responsible for consumer behavior. Hmmm, seems to me that consumers not only understand the importance of upgrading old, money guzzling appliances but also want to make the necessary changes. I wonder what the excuse is going to be next year?

Reason #12: China is winning the global clean energy race

Forty years after the first Earth Day, the world is in greater peril than ever, but there is also an unprecedented opportunity to build a new future.

We need an “Earth Day Revolution” to bring about historic advances in climate policy, renewable energy, green jobs, and to catalyze millions who can make personal commitments to sustainability by mobilizing the power of people to create change. We need the Senate to stop stalling and start acting on clean energy and climate solutions for America.

That’s why we’ve joined others in presenting Congress with 40 reasons to take action. Every day until Earth Day activists will deliver another reason to offices of Congressional leaders.

CCAN’s very own Chelsea Harnish joined others to deliver reason #12 to Senator Webb and Warner’s Richmond offices. Her message? China is winning the global clean energy race. Her method of communicating her message? An actual race.

A very dangerous road

On Tuesday the Senate’s march to pass Gov. Martin O’Malley’s $32 billion budget hit a roadblock when an item was raised that attempted to withhold $250,000 from the University of Maryland law school until it disclose its legal clinic’s clients.

The UMD environmental law clinic is investigating whether a pile of waste on an Eastern Shore farm came from the massive chicken farms in the area. The chicken farmers, including corporate giant Perdue, claims the waste came from the people of Ocean City. The Maryland Reporter has the story.

It is clear that this blatant attempt by Maryland’s factory farms (and general assembly members that are friendly to these interests) to gut the University of Maryland’s Environmental Law Clinic funding is a political maneuver used to intimidate and squash efforts to address real environmental violations that are destroying the Chesapeake Bay.

Breaking: Anti-MTR Activists Risk Arrest at EPA HQ with Elaborate Protest

Cross-posted from it’s getting hot in here

In an attempt to further pressure EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to enforce the Clean Water Act and halt mountaintop removal coal mining (MTR), activists early this morning erected two 20-foot-tall, purple tripod structures in front of the agency’s headquarters. A pair of activists perched at the top of the tripods have strung a 25-foot sign in front of the EPA’s door that reads, “EPA: pledge to end mountaintop removal in 2010.” Six people are locked to the tripods and say they won’t leave unless Administrator Jackson commits to a flyover visit of the Appalachian Mountains and MTR sites, which she has never done before.

This is the latest in a series of actions and activities aimed at pressuring the EPA to take more decisive action on mountaintop removal coal mining. Today’s tactic is modeled on the multi-day tree-sits that have been happening in West Virginia to protect mountains from coal companies’ imminent blasting. Called the worst of the worst strip mining, the practice blows the tops off of whole mountains to scoop out the small seams of coal that lie beneath.

“We’re losing our way of life and our culture,” said Chuck Nelson, who worked as a coal miner in West Virginia for three decades and came to DC to support today’s protest. “Mountaintop removal should be banned today. The practice means total devastation for communities, the hardwood forests, the ecosystems, and the headwaters. Why should our communities sacrifice everything we have?”

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Tidwell's last radio show

In case you missed the live broadcast Tuesday, you can listen at www.EarthbeatRadio.org. It’s been a great 7.5 years as co-host. But it’s time to move on. I’m especially proud of the last 20 minutes of this show as I talk about how my wonderful son, Sasha, keeps me going as a climate activist. See full summary of the last show below.

Ebert, Romm and More

Listen at www.EarthbeatRadio.org

Host Mike Tidwell reviews the highlights of seven years of hosting Earthbeat. Including a conversation with famed film critic Roger Ebert on the significance of Al Gore’s movie,

Wear Green, Vote Green


Today, instead of just wearing green- take a quick green action: VOTE in the national Define Our Decade campaign! The two questions will help to define what our generation wants to see in the next decade. It’s a new year, and a new decade, and with that comes new opportunity. As our elected leaders struggle to make progress on climate and energy legislation in Washington, a grassroots movement has grown and won real victories in our local communities. We can’t let the “political realities” of corporate-influenced policies define our future. It’s time for us to set our own course, on our own terms, and Define Our Decade! Check out Ethan Nuss’s blog post for some more inspiration!

After you vote- get friends to join in too- the more votes the more powerful our message is. Post the link on your facebook profile (http://energyactioncoalition.org/define) and your friend’s walls. Send it over your list servs. And while you are at it- tweet it out! Wearing #green for #stpatricksday? Then, you should help Define #OurDecade with clean, green energy. Vote now!