This was a bang up week of action and recognition for students across Maryland.
Video – PowerShift 09 and friends of CCAN featured!
A previously overlooked video focusing on the importance of youth in the climate movement just hit Green.tv (which is kind of a big deal, congrats!). It features PowerShift 09 and lots of personal friends of CCAN. For 3:33 it’s definitely worth checking out.
Virginia youth for 350 parts per million.
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
Youth to Congress: Bold Climate Policy, NOT Corporate Giveaways!
Cross posted from here
Hilary here, blogging live from the Rayburn House Office building, room 2322, where 18 young people have been waiting in line for the Hearing on Allocations since 5:45am. Dedicated young voters are rallying to attend today’s hearing on ACESA, demanding 100% auction of pollution credits, not free permits for polluters. We are making t-shirts, so that our message of “Free Allocations Hurt Future Generations” and “100% AUCTION” is clear. Some students are having a Bake Sale to raise money to buy off a politician- since apparently that is the only way to get language in federal legislation. Peebles wil be updating the blog as the morning progresses- and you can follow #powershift09 on twitter for hearing updates!
9:00 A.M. Continue reading
Students Lobby Annapolis
So this post is a little overdue, I organized a couple of lobby meetings with Delegate Michael Vaughn, and after many attempts to reach him, State Senator Nathaniel Exum. The meeting with Delegate Vaughn went well, we talked with him about the Greenhouse Gas Reductions Act which he hadn’t seen yet, gave him a copy, and told him what was different about the bill this year, and how we thought he could help sheppard it through the Economic Matters Committee. In the end, he ended up becoming a co-sponsor.
The meeting with State Senator Exum was not successful, although we did talk with him for about 45 minutes about the bill, and the issues surrounding it. Exum’s main issue was that Maryland Dept. of Env. had taken longer than it should have to get him a permit for his business, and he felt that they were too incompetent to administer a greenhouse gas reductions plan. The one thing we did learn that was useful was that he planned to introduce an amendment similar to the one he introduced last year, where MDE has to report its plan and proposed programs back to the legislature every year. He said he might “compromise” on 2 years. Obviously this wasn’t acceptable to us, and we do not see eye to eye with Exum. Despite our differences, he was very respectful, and we’re thankful he was kind enough to sit down with us for so long considering we weren’t his constituents and his relationship with the environmental community hasn’t been all flowers and sunshine.
Pictures below
Al Gore, Energy Action, call on students to vote for the climate
Al Gore has repeatedly called on students to take more dramatic action on climate change. Last night he asked them to hold our politicians accountable.
A big shout out to UMD, who blew out the competition and had the biggest Gore-cast in the nation!
Read more about the Gore-cast on It’s Getting Hot In Here>>
CCAN Job Opening: VA Campus Organizer
JOB DESCRIPTION
The Virginia Campus Organizer will be responsible for running the Campus Climate Challenge on campuses across Virginia. Continue reading
Maryland Students Hot on the Hill
Many of us in the climate movement feel that we have the answers to the climate crisis. And why shouldn’t we? We have been doing brilliant work modeling solutions in our daily lives, on our campuses, and in our communities across the country. We know we need this localized action but also know that if we are to avoid the most devastating effects of climate chaos we need bold federal legislation to drastically bring down the dangerous levels of carbon in our atmosphere.
The real question then becomes: How many of us know exactly where our congressional elected officials stand on the issue? Do we trust them to make the right decision and vote correctly when the time comes? I know that after a decade of inaction on climate change I’m not making any assumptions. They need to hear our voices loud and clear in one unified and powerful demand for clean energy! Enter Power Vote.
To get the bold solutions we need we must engage in a new dialogue with our elected officials. For too long the conversation in congress has been dominated by the stench of the fossil fuel industry’s dirty money. It’s time to reclaim our democracy! This summer students from the Maryland Student Climate Coalition (MSCC) have begun to do just that.
Maryland students have had three constituent lobby meetings with their congressional elected officials on Capitol Hill to push for the bright vision outlined in the Power Vote platform. 
The first meeting was about a month ago when several student representatives of the MSCC met with a member of US Representative Steny Hoyer’s,(D-MD) staff. Rep. Hoyer will be key player in our bid for federal climate legislation because of his influential position as House Majority leader. The main message coming out of that meeting was that Rep. Hoyer is supportive of science-based carbon reductions but isn’t hearing enough of a demand to act from his constituents. His staffer also mentioned that the other US House members’ staffs are behind on their understanding of climate legislation and what the citizenry wants them to do with the cap and trade revenue. It is clear to me that the bold demands of young people will be critical to getting us there. Continue reading
Video: Power Vote!
Young people have launched a new campaign to engage over 1 million youth climate voters this Fall! Go to www.powervote.org
This is Our Moment. We Need a Power Vote!
You can’t ignore it. Every headline, TV newsflash, and cover story are saturated with the upcoming elections. Amid all of this noise where is your story? Where is the true voice of our generation? We must be heard! We must build a movement to match the scale of our greatest challenge, global warming.
This is our moment. Scientists tell us that the leadership in the next couple of years will decide the future of our climate system and the fate of millions of people. The elections this Fall provide a unique window of opportunity. Never doubt that you are living in a truly historic moment and that what you do today will impact generations to come. This is it! We are called by our conscience to seize this historic moment and act. “Our generation needs a brand new vision for our future. We need to lead the world towards a just, clean energy economy that moves beyond dirty energy, creates green jobs for all, and secures our climate.” WE CAN AND WE WILL!
We can no longer afford inaction. The consequences are too great and the opportunity too promising. It’s time unleash our PowerVote
Continue reading