The single most important thing you can do tomorrow is vote. Don’t know where your polling place is? See below for a nifty gadget to help you find your polling location and candidates.
Please, learn about the candidates and take some time to vote tomorrow!
The 350.org International Day of Climate Action a week ago was unprecedented, historic, stirring and inspiring. Watching the pictures scroll across the computer screen at www.350.org from literally all over the world, seeing the very concrete evidence of a worldwide grassroots movement for climate justice, was truly unforgettable. It was impossible not to feel that, yes, despite the very long odds, we actually may be able to win the race to prevent looming, catastrophic climate change and to enact climate and social justice.
What is the one thing most needed right now if we are to win this race? October 24th showed us: a visible, growing, mass movement in the streets.
There are some who believed, and still do, that the key to the needed clean energy revolution was the election of Barack Obama. Although it is important to have a President who understands that climate change is happening and that action is needed to address it, it has become very clear over the last nine months of his time in office that this is not enough. Continue reading
Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. For one day of the year, you get to be someone (or something) else. Today, a few of us dressed up as green jobs workers and delivered a message to our Virginia Senators: We want clean energy jobs NOW! Wearing green hard hats, work boots and tool belts, we delivered our messages in style- by presenting the staff of Senator Webb and Senator Warner with a Frankenstein halloween bucket filled with candy and petitions from folks all across the Commonwealth who want Congress to pass a strong climate bill this year. We think they got the message!
With the Senate climate fight really kicking off this week with a round of hearings in the EPW Committee our Senators need to hear from us more than ever. That’s why I arranged a little meeting between Maryland Senator Cardin (who sits on the committee) and Maryland climate activist MA Sheehan. To remind the Senator what hard core climate activists many of his constituents are, MA gave him copies of some photos from our big October 24th climate march through the driving rain to the White House. She also handed over a few dozen handwritten letters from constituents, to add to the 1000 that we delivered to the Senator over the summer. 
The mere fact that the Senator took the time to meet with (and pose for the lovely picture shown here) speaks volumes about the impact all the grassroots love we’ve showered upon him has had. An even better indicator is the statement Cardin made at the start of the EPW hearings on Monday. In it he talked about the plight of his constituents on Smith Island, the economic benefits of clean energy, and his excitement over the increased transportation funding and consumer protections “polluter pays” principles built into the Kerry Boxer bill. All of this
Meet Anne. Anne is excited about cleaning coal. She has a basin, a washboard, and some soap. Here she goes…
Thanks to Kathy Selvage and Antigone Ambrose for the inspiration!
Obviously coal isn’t clean and we need your help to spread the word. Coal Country is a stunning new documentary that reveals the devastation of mountaintop removal coal mining to the forests, streams, and communities of Appalachia. We need to get this film in the hands of Americans nationwide. Help get the word out and end mountaintop removal coal mining by hosting a Coal Country House Party. Deadline is November 1st.
cross posted from thinkaboutit.eu
This weekend, in conjunction with 350.org’s International Day of Climate Action, more than 100 students from across the Commonwealth of Virginia converged on the campus of George Mason University in order to plan the next phase in the fight for a clean and responsible future for Virginia the United States, and the globe.
Virginia Power Shift 2009 was marked by a wide array of workshops, panels and speakers, ranging from greening your daily living, political and direct action training (with help from the folks at AVAAZ), and new and diverse ways to spread and grow the youth environmental movement.
The phenomenal lot of keynote speakers included Mike Tidwell, director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Jessy Tolkan, director of the Energy Action Coalition, and Gillian Caldwell from the 1Sky campaign, all key personalities in the struggle to end human-caused climate change. Representatives from Repower America and SustainUS offered valuable insight into the role of youth within America’s nonprofit and NGO culture. Continue reading
Late last week, after resolving a lawsuit by environmental and public health organizations, EPA officials announced that they have set a deadline for developing standards to limit mercury and other toxins emitted from coal-fired power plants by Nov. 16, 2011. According to the EPA, coal-fired plants in this country emit nearly 50 tons of mercury each year, or about a third of the nation’s total mercury emissions. Initially when the suit was filed last year, only 28% of coal plants used scrubbers for pollution controls. However, these scrubbers are creating another environmental problem: contaminated drinking water. According to an article in the New York Times, one of the biggest threats to our waterways is coal-fired power plants. Yet there are no federal regulations on the proper disposal of toxins from coal plants into waterways or landfills. The EPA announced earlier this week it will begin looking into the contamination effects of fly-ash, a coal by-product created when coal is burned.
In a report released by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation earlier this month, mercury emissions from the Old Dominion Electric Cooperative’s (ODEC) proposed coal-fired power plant for the Hampton Roads region in Surry County would further damage waterways leading into the Chesapeake Bay where state advisories are already posted due to the high levels of mercury contamination.
All of this comes on the heels of a report by the National Academy of Sciences stating that the annual cost of health issues related to emissions from coal-fired power plants was about $60 billion in the United States.
Surry County and the rest of the Chesapeake Bay community don’t need these kinds of “benefits”. Join us in saying NO to this plant.
Over a hundred students gathered at the University of Maryland, College Park over the weekend for the first ever Maryland Power Shift. The participants, from over fifteen different Maryland and D.C. schools, gathered on Saturday to participate in the 350.org International Day of Action in D.C. and on Sunday for a conference on grassroots organizing around environmental issues.
On Saturday students stood out in the crowd with green Power Shift t-shirts and led the 350.org march in DC with enthusiastic cheering: keeping everyone’s energy high. Sunday was also a big success. Students had a chance to meet fellow activists from other schools to share ideas, tips, and excitement!
What an incredible experience standing in front of the White House with hundreds of soaked, dedicated people taking part in a historic, global event! Standing there Saturday we were connected to schoolchildren in Ghana, mountain climbers in Vermont, women in Bangladesh, and activists in Egypt.
If you haven’t already, please head to www.350.org and spend a few minutes watching the pictures from around the world. As Bill McKibben wrote as he watched images flood in from every corner of the globe, “I finally saw what a climate movement looked like — and it looked diverse and creative and beautiful.”
You can also check out the great images from the DC action. Thanks to Chris Eichler and Mark Fenton for these inspiring pictures.
Finally, Grist has a great roundup of coverage from across the world, including commentary by CCAN’s very own Keith Harrington and this account of the DC event by freelance journalist Carrie Madren.
There’s much to be done yet. But right now take a minute to soak in the pictures from across the globe and savor this accomplishment. It’s not every day you can be part of the most widespread day of political action the world has ever seen.
By Mike Tidwell
Here’s an idea: Why don’t the residents of Smith Island – at the fragile center of the Chesapeake Bay – rent a few scuba-diving suits and hold a town hall meeting under water?
Scientists say a huge part of the Chesapeake region could be below water in a few decades due to rapid global warming. So why not practice up? Just grab a few wetsuits and goggles and rehearse for the aquatic life to come.