Power Shift '07!

Personally, I was only able to attend Power Shift Friday night – I was working at Step It Up on Saturday and then, well, I needed a day off. But it was incredible to watch all the students arrive from all over the country. The excitement was palpable, and the speakers were great.

Van Jones kissing Bill McKibben on the cheek after they gave two of Saturday’s keynote speeches. Photo courtesy of Liz Veazey.

USCEC coordinator Ted Glick was one of the first speakers. He walked up to the stage and announced that he was on the 60th day of a “Climate Emergency Fast.” I was sitting in the audience and watched everyone around me do a double take, turn to their friends and whisper, “did he just say what I think he said?” and “60 days, is that even possible?”

It is possible, apparently. For the first 27 days, Ted subsisted on water and vitamins (27 days is longer than Mahatma Gandhi ever fasted. Gandhi was generally thin and had very little fat to lose). After 27 days Ted switched over to drinking juices and broths. Ted’s fasting to pressure Congress to pass significant and meaningful global warming legislation. He has been to Capitol Hill to lobby key representatives numerous times and plans to continue the fast until Congress adjourns for the year. Continue reading

2007 Virginia Climate Action Conference

On Saturday, Oct. 27, I was privileged to attend a truly historic event. Activists, politicians, students and citizens from all over the Commonwealth of Virginia converged on Charlottesville to participate in the first-ever Virginia Climate Action Conference. The conference represented the first time in the history of the state that Virginian’s had come together with the sole purpose of fighting disastrous climate change right in their own backyard.

VA Climate Conference

There were lectures and panel discussions on a wide range of topics, from biofuels to state energy policy, from coal mining to engaging the faith community, from wind farms to environmental legislation.

The Green Miles even did some live blogging from the event, which you can see here.

For me, it was a great opportunity to learn about the science and politics of climate change in Virginia, with experts panelists drawn from numerous disciplines. Did you know, for example, that with over 3,000 miles of shoreline (as much as California!) Virginia is one of the states most vulnerable to sea-level rise? Or did you know that Virginia is ranked dead-last in state spending on energy efficiency? Or how about the fact that Virginia’s per capita energy usage is 40% percent higher than California’s? Sobering statistics, especially when you consider the efforts of Dominion Power to build even more coal-fired plants.

Perhaps more importantly, though, the Virginia Climate Action Conference was an opportunity to see the passion that Virginian’s have for the well-being of their state, and to witness the kind of progress that can be made when people get together, form coalitions and fight hard for what is right. Already there is a diverse group of people fighting to protect Virginia’s environment. When we come together on a regional level, just as we did last Saturday, there’s no limit to what we can achieve. Continue reading

VA Tech to help DC become Energy Smart

In a gala session at the National Building Museum, Virginia Tech and partners announced the Energy Efficiency Partnership for Greater Washington.

The goal is to “reduce greenhouse gas emissions 20 to 50% from existing buildings”, using financing for energy efficiency and have the energy efficiency savings provide more than enough money to pay back the loan.Sound familiar to anyone? (Reminder: Energize America’s Energy Smart Communities Act.)This is a great initiative. The type of project that can be replicated across the country and pushed aggressively to significantly cut existing buildings’ energy use and the associated greenhouse gas emissions. Continue reading

"I am deeply honored"

Former vice president Al Gore and the United Nations Panel on Climate Change were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize today for their work educating the world about global warming and advocating for political action to control it.

“We face a true planetary emergency,” says Gore in a statement on his blog. “The climate crisis is not a political issue, it is a moral and spiritual challenge to all of humanity. It is also our greatest opportunity to lift global consciousness to a higher level.”

In the spirit of activism, and because the absolutely necessary climate movement that Al Gore’s work has helped create is only in its infancy, I wanted to take this opportunity to encourage everyone to see “An Inconvenient Truth” briefing in person — if not by Gore then by someone he has trained.

Gore, via The Climate Project, has trained 1000+ people who, in turn, have given somewhere over 5000 presentations in less than a year’s time.

On the Climate Project site you can request a presentation or you can find out if any are already planned near you.

Al Gore has done some tremendous work educating the public about the defining issue of our time, and we wouldn’t be able to make the claim, as we so often do, that we have science on our side if not for the tireless work of the remarkable scientists that make up the IPCC. Congratulations to Al Gore, to the IPCC, and to everyone around the world working on climate change! This is a great day for the climate.

Something that I think best illustrates how important Al Gore’s work has been is this quote by film critic Roger Ebert:

“In 39 years, I have never written these words in a movie review, but here they are: ‘You owe it to yourself to see “An Inconvenient Truth”. If you do not, and you have grandchildren, you should explain to them why you decided not to.”

Continue reading

Bush: Wrong Way on Global Warming

On Sept 27th-28th, Bush called a meeting of the world’s biggest polluters to talk about voluntary caps on carbon emissions and "clean coal." CCAN supporters were on hand to proclaim our own message: “George Bush does not speak for us. We want clean energy now!“

Activists are getting COLD

It is easy to get bogged down when you fight global warming — be it from new bad news about the Greenland Ice Sheet melting faster than expected or from the staggeringly slow pace at which many of our local, state, and federal governments are working to achieve real global warming solutions. There are days when it would be easy to say that, “we can’t do it,” “i think we have waited to long,” and “the opposition is too strong.”

The feeling of disempowerment, like you can’t ever make a difference no matter how hard you try, over your effect on global warming is our movements biggest enemy because disempowered people are inactive and complicit to the ‘business as usual’ mentality.

Last Wednesday, the Chesapeake Climate Action Network held its first in a series of five activist trainings designed to empower and educate citizens so they can not only be effective in their efforts to fight global warming, but also be leaders for others in the movement. The Climate Organizing Leadership Development (COLD) training series first session attracted about 15 activists to the Friends of the Earth Office in downtown DC to learn about the history of social movements and how our fight to stop global warming is part of a long line of successful and powerful social movements.

Attendees of the first COLD training were very impressed with quality of the presentation and the straightforward and well-informed training. The training featured a lecture and interactive breakout sessions.

There are four more COLD training sessions left that anyone can sign up for. Get Active. Get Organized. Get COLD!