As a young person, you care about global warming. You know that a clean energy economy will create millions of jobs and pathways out of poverty, reduce pollution, and save the planet. And you are willing to do whatever it takes to make that happen. Right?

Well, Thomas L. Friedman, the popular New York Times columnist, isn’t convinced. In fact, Friedman concludes his latest column* by calling us out! He writes:

“Attention all young Americans: your climate future is being decided right now in the cloakrooms of the Capitol, where the coal lobby holds huge sway…. Play hardball or don’t play at all.”

Does Friedman have a point? Do we need to be bigger and louder?

I think the answer is yes.

We know that thousands of young people across this country are working tirelessly to usher in a clean and just energy future for us all. But if we want to truly achieve our goals, we need our elected officials to know that we are watching closely as they debate the climate policy that will shape the rest of our lives.

Take the first step. Let President Obama and your Senators know that you demand bold, just, and science-based climate solutions, and ask your friends and family to do the same.

Let’s send a strong message to our President and Senators that we are here, we’re watching, and we are ready for action. And let’s ask our friends and families to do the same. It’s going to take big numbers to fight back against the thousands of letters and calls generated by the dirty energy industry (not to mention their well-paid lobbyists).

Send a message to the President and your Senators, and forward this email to everyone you know.

But we know that sending email isn’t enough. In order to drown out the voice of the dirty energy industry, we’re going to need to mobilize in unprecedented numbers. Tom Friedman isn’t kidding when he suggests we should have a million people marching in the streets.

Ready to take a bigger step? Sign up to be a leader in your community, and to help get millions of feet in the streets for climate solutions.

We’ve gone big before, but now we need to go bigger. And the only way we will get there is if people like you do more. Ready to take a bigger step? Sign up today to get active in your community, to get in the faces of our elected officials, and to recruit the huge movement it will take to win.

In it to win it,

The Energy Action Team

* -Read Thomas L. Friedman’s Op-Ed

Posted in global warming

Join ACE this July 4 as we break up with oil! Declare your Independence from Fossil Fuels and Sign the Declaration:

www.climateeducation.org/petition

Posted in Climate Policy, Youth Leaders

In his most recent blog post, Ken Ward highlights Rick Boucher’s love of the climate bill because of the amount of coal support in it:

…The EPA projects that by 2020, coal usage in America, under the terms of this bill, will actually grow.

As transportation electrifies and the demand for electricity increases, coal, our most abundant fuel, will still be the fuel of choice to meet that rising demand. The claims of opponents that the CO2 controls under the bill will force utilities to surrender coal use, causing an overreliance on natural gas with attendant broad economic harm to the Nation are also simply wrong.

~Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va., on the climate bill

If you didn’t know already, Boucher is the man that has taken more money from the coal industry than any other representative — despite the fact that he has run unopposed! His dirtying up the climate bill inspired this awesome protest last month.

Ward also points out that

The United Mine Workers union concluded the bill ensured that “the future of coal will be intact” (but still withheld its endorsement, seeking more concessions for coal companies and coal-fired utilities).

Posted in global warming

The below article is an attempt to use a satirical historical comparison to demonstrate how we have drifted away from moral messages that convey our values and the seriousness of the situation in favor of treating a societal evil (emitting greenhouse gases) as a trade-able commodity that has a rightful place in our society.

“Cap and Trade Bill Passes House, Democrats Attack as Assault on Economy”

June 26th, 1859

The United States House of Representatives, in a victory for the nascent Republican Party, narrowly voted to substantially reduce the amount of slaves in the United States by the turn of the century.

“This is a great victory for freedom and equality” said Rep. Daniel Webster, Chairman of the Committee on Commerce of the House and lead author of the bill.  ”By the end of the century, about 80% of the slaves alive right now will be free.”  Webster worked closely with long-term ally Henry Clay to draft the legislation.

The two worked hard to negotiate in advance with representatives from slave states, to craft a compromise that would muster enough votes to pass, but still reduce the number of slaves in America.

Anti-slavery groups hailed Webster & Clay for their courageous vision: “Daniel Webster & Henry Clay took a bold and unequivocal stance that our current levels of slavery are unsustainable, and that we should gradually decrease the amount of slaves over the next fifty years,” said Andrew Smith, head of the Abolition Advocacy Program of the anti-slavery Former Slaves for Freedom (FSF).

The bill puts a “cap” on the total amount of slaves permitted in the United States, and gives each slave-owner a “credit” for each of the slaves they now own, with a few industries exempted.  As the years go on, there will be a gradually diminishing supply of “credits” for slaves, until the turn of the century, where permits will exist for only 17% of the current number of slaves.

Slave Tax?

Democrats voted almost universally against the bill, saying it was equal to a ’slave tax’ that would cost hard-working Americans their jobs.  “Our economy is dependent on slaves, plain and simple.  How many small farms will go bankrupt because of Lincoln’s Slave Tax?” asked Rep. Joe Barbarion (D-TX), the ranking Democrat on the Committee of Commerce.  “When we regain power, we will repeal this assault on American jobs.”

Most economists agree that a tax on slaves would be a more efficient way to reduce the number of slaves, but the ruling Republican Party did not want to be seen as raising taxes with mid-term elections only a year away.

Freedom-Industry Jobs

Instead of losing jobs as Democrats claim, Republicans argued that the cap and trade slavery program would actually create new  “freedom-industry” jobs.  “Think about it,” said Rep. John Smith (R-MD), “every slave that’s freed is a slave who is going to need someone to teach them everything from grammar to farming.  An entire new industry dedicated to the service of newly freed slaves will create far more jobs than will be lost.”

Yet this argument did not win over many recalcitrant swing-district Republicans, most of whom have substantial plantations in their districts.  “Now look, as a privileged white male in congress, I care as much about equality as the next guy,” said Rep. James Bartholomei (R-VA), “but you can’t expect me to vote my district and this great nation into bankruptcy.  We need slaves to power our economy.  And if we start freeing them, even gradually, then other countries that still have slaves will undercut our cotton prices, and our nation’s economy will crumble.  I just can’t vote for that.”

On to the Senate

The bill now waits an uncertain future in the Senate.  Senate leaders indicate that they want to try to pass the bill this summer, but the Republicans have a smaller lead in the upper house of congress.  While anti-slavery groups are publicly expressing optimism that they can increase slave reductions in the Senate version, they publicly admit that the opposite is more likely.  An anonymous senator confirmed this, stating: “We just don’t have the votes to free that many slaves.  But we’re hoping to pass a bill that will allow us to as many as half of the slaves by the end of the century.”

Anti-slavery groups hope that once people start seeing former slaves become free, autonomous individuals without destroying the economy, public support for slave reductions will continue to grow.

Abolition

A few fringe anti-slavery groups attacked the bill, claiming that it was too little, too late.  “Slavery is wrong, period.” said Josiah Bartlett, of Patriots for Freedom (PfF) Tthis bill will actually allow the number of slaves to increase until 1880, as slave owners here can buy new slaves, so long as other slaves abroad are ‘freed’.  This will create a perverse incentive for people to capture slaves abroad so that they can free them, and slavery will continue to reign in our nation.  This madness has to end now.”

Please note that this article is entirely satirical, and that the author is very much glad that slavery ended as early as it did, and indeed wishes that more citizens had been willing earlier to take a stand on this once-controversial issue in favor of liberty and justice for all.

Posted in global warming

Perplexed by the inter-related problems India faces as it develops at the cost of 2/3 rd of its population living outside the economy, two young activists from Switch ON, rode their cycles 1800 kilometers across India through the coal belt – to question India’s growth based on fossil fuel, and to seek and highlight alternatives for a sustainable and equitable development.

Why New Coal gives a new perspective to Coal in India – addressing India’s growing energy needs, problems of energy security and Climate Change Vulnerabilities – by interviewing experts across the nation, while also documenting Vinay and Hoob’s epic journey across the nation.

Speakers in the video include energy experts from across the country including S.P. Sethi (Planning commission), Dunu Roy (Hazard Centre), Vandana Shiva (Navdanya), Chandra Bhusan (CSE) Siddharth Pathak (Green Peace), S.K.Chand (TERI), Shirish Sinha (WWF) Ashok Agarwal (Jharia Bachao Sangharsh Samiti), Girish Sant (Prayas), Dr. Gonchowdhury (WBREDA), Sanjeev Ghotge (WISE), Nitin Desai (United Nations), Ambuj Sagar (IIT), Dr. M P Narayanan (Coal India)

If you like Vinay and Ekta’s trailer for Why New Coal, you’ll love his earlier video below, and the full-length feature film about the Climate Ride 2009.

Posted in Asia, carbon sequestration, Climate Challenge, Climate Justice, Coal, Coal Campaign, Dirty Energy, Economics, Efficiency, Extraction, green for all, Impacted Communities, India, International Affairs, mountain top removal, Renewable Energy, South Asia