"Don't Let Up, Fight Harder"

Judy Bonds may not be physically present when thousands of people take action September 27th in Washington, D.C. to demand an end to mountaintop removal and strip mining, and that would be a real shame. If there is one person who has done more in their life to shake up the coal barons and, in her words, “put them on the ropes,” it’s Judy Bonds, co-director of Coal River Mountain Watch.

Judy may not be there because she learned last month that she has stage three cancer. Treatment will take at least three months.

There’s no question, however, that Judy will be there in spirit, and that her spirit is guiding the growing Appalachia Rising coalition (http://www.appalachiarising.org). This coalition is organizing a two-day “Voices of the Mountains” conference the weekend of September 25-26 followed by a mass demonstration on Monday the 27th.
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An open letter to all people and organizations working to combat global warming

Crosspost from Grist.org

This letter is from members of the 1Sky board of directors: Jessica Bailey, K.C. Golden, Bracken Hendricks, Bill McKibben, Billy Parish, Vicky Rateau, Gus Speth, and Betsy Taylor.

As we find ourselves surrounded by the tatters of the climate debate in the U.S. Congress, it seems fitting to take a moment to step back and ponder where we go from here. While the blogosphere is buzzing with assignments of blame for the failure of the Senate to act, we are much more concerned about how we move forward with urgency and clarity of purpose. Unfortunately, we do not have the luxury to pack our bags and go home as the Senate did only moments ago. We just staggered through the hottest six months in recorded history worldwide. People everywhere are being impacted by the damage we have done through decades of carbon loading, and it is clear that our ailing planet will not sit idly by as our political leaders have done. Continue reading

EPA to regulate Coal's Dirty Little Secret

EPA officially opened their comment period on the federal regulation of coal ash under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). The basic question posed by EPA during this comment period is whether toxic coal ash should be regulated as a hazardous waste under Subtitle C of RCRA or as a solid waste under Subtitle D. Really? Do we need a debate about this??? The very nature of coal ash is HAZARDOUS. Coal ash is riddled with heavy metals that are toxic to humans and the environment. For more information on the nature of coal ash and its impacts on the environment click here.

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We're Hot as Hell and We're Not Going to Take It Any More

Three Steps to Establish a Politics of Global Warming
By Bill McKibben (Cross Posted from TomDispatch.com)

Try to fit these facts together:

* According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the planet has just come through the warmest decade, the warmest 12 months, the warmest six months, and the warmest April, May, and June on record.
* A “staggering” new study from Canadian researchers has shown that warmer seawater has reduced phytoplankton, the base of the marine food chain, by 40% since 1950.
* Nine nations have so far set their all-time temperature records in 2010, including Russia (111 degrees), Niger (118), Sudan (121), Saudi Arabia and Iraq (126 apiece), and Pakistan, which also set the new all-time Asia record in May: a hair under 130 degrees. I can turn my oven to 130 degrees.
* And then, in late July, the U.S. Senate decided to do exactly nothing about climate change. They didn’t do less than they could have — they did nothing, preserving a perfect two-decade bipartisan record of no action. Senate majority leader Harry Reid decided not even to schedule a vote on legislation that would have capped carbon emissions.

I wrote the first book for a general audience on global warming back in 1989, and I’ve spent the subsequent 21 years working on the issue. I’m a mild-mannered guy, a Methodist Sunday School teacher. Not quick to anger. So what I want to say is: this is fucked up. The time has come to get mad, and then to get busy.

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CCANers retreat and reconnect

Last week, the CCAN staff traveled to a retreat center in the Blue Ridge mountains of West Virginia, where we took some time to reflect on the past year and look forward to what’s ahead. As the newest member of the staff, I was inspired by the passion and commitment of my team members and thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to get to know everyone. We all returned to the office this week with a renewed sense of purpose and energy to throw into our work. After the jump, see some photo highlights of the trip.

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Remember Sasha and Malia!

Some Thoughts on the Democratic Party’s Failure to Fight on Climate

“I am firmly convinced that the passionate will for justice and truth has done more to improve (the human condition) than calculating political shrewdness which in the long run only breeds general mistrust.”
Albert Einstein, “Moral Decay,” 1937

1)—Harry Reid’s statement yesterday about why he would not be putting forward legislation on the climate crisis blamed the Congressional Republicans. It’s true that, with a few exceptions, Senator Susan Collins of Maine being at the top of the list, the Republican Party deserves withering criticism for their joined-at-the-hip allegiance to Big Oil and Dirty Coal.

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Congress: You Have Oil on Your Hands!

On the 3 month anniversary of the catastrophic explosion at the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, an explosion that ended the lives of 11 workers and irreparably damaged the livelihoods of countless others, I was at a rally held across the street from the U.S. Capitol building.

The ever-greening Google

In an ever apparent effort to prove that there is nothing the company can’t do, Google has officially become a utility. Yes, you read that right: Google can now add “green utility” to its laundry list of bold and ingenious ventures.

In 2007, Google made headlines when it announced the company intended to voluntarily become carbon neutral. To achieve this goal, they’ve vastly minimized their energy consumption (no small feat considering the magnitude of their data centers), begun powering their facilities with renewable energy, and purchasing offsets for the carbon emissions they cannot eliminate directly.

So when the opportunity arose for Google to directly purchase wind power from the source, it seemed to be a natural growth of this commitment to sustainability. Yesterday, the company announced that it will begin a 20-year Power Purchase Agreement to buy 114 megawatts of wind energy generated at NextEra Energy Resources’ Story County II facility in Iowa. This comes after announcing in May that the company had invested $38.8 million in two North Dakota wind farms.

With its track record of successful innovation, Google could give the wind power industry a much-needed boost. The company has plans to seek more long-term wind power purchase agreements. Welcome to the clean energy revolution, Google Energy LLC. We’re happy to have you.

P.S. Google- We could really use some help over here on the east coast, if you aren’t too busy. Have you heard of the Mid-Atlantic bight?

Your climate art judged by Philippe Cousteau and Van Jones?

CCAN has partnered with groups like Energy Action, 350.org, the Hip Hop Caucus and many more in the first online art contest exploring climate change in its many forms – how it is impacting our lives and what can be done to ensure a sustainable future for all of Earth’s inhabitants.

Participate in the CoolClimate Art Contest and get the chance to have your submission judged by Philippe Cousteau, Van Jones and the comedian Chevy Chase!

Here are the details:

Submit a work of art that explores our relationship with the climate