Greenpeace

The more I learn about the rapidly expanding coalition organizing the 10/2 One Nation Working Together march in Washington D.C. (and locally across the country), the more encouraged I get about its potential to be a game changer for the climate movement! In fact, I think we should be keeping a very close eye on the overall narrative they are developing, and consider how it could especially impact projects like the 10/10/10 Global Work Party to stop global warming.

My exceedingly high hopes for this narrative are precisely due to the historic nature of what they are trying to achieve, and who they have working to achieve it.

As the New York Times reports, the march’s supporters suggest that they are “the true descendants” of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, where the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his “I Have a Dream Speech.” This march will likewise be held on the National Mall in front of the Lincoln Memorial, and Ben Jealous, the president of the N.A.A.C.P., says that “We’ll look like the progeny of that march, with our diversity.”

Jealous joined George Gresham, president of 1199 S.E.I.U, to initially propose the march, and overtones of a modern civil rights movement are rampant throughout their messaging. In fact, the lofty goal of carrying a mantle descending from King and the civil rights movement at large has made way for a monumentally diverse and eclectic coalition of over 400 endorsing organizations (and rising).

But what does this mean for the climate movement? Well, this jobs-focused effort to “Put America Back to Work and to Pull America Back Together” certainly can---and, I believe, will---develop into a longer term push for green jobs in particular. Indeed, there are a myriad of climate goals expressed within their call to action, as well as strong climate partners such as 350.org, 1Sky, and Green For All, all undoubtedly organizing to make sure that this comes to fruition.

Already, the climate movement can be increasingly put within a civil rights framework, especially after the joint call for direction action from Greenpeace USA, 350.org, and the Rain Forest Action Network. Mass displays of non-violent direct action will certainly tie the climate movement to our predecessors in the civil rights movement through deed. However, I can see the effort extending from 10/2 acting to clarify the ties between these movements more overtly within the historical narrative and our public consciousness.

In the short term, I envision the One Nation Working Together march building momentum for the Global Work Party to stop global warming. The goals overlap, simply put. Putting America Back to Work will require Green Work, and after 10/2 we will, indeed, be Getting to Work on 10/10.

Longer term, I also see the foundation that these two incredible events are establishing as helping Pull America Back Together. We need to build a unified effort to save the planet we all share, and it will take a green collar economy in which green jobs are available to everyone to accomplish it.

So, if you are in DC or close to a local event on 10/2, check out what One Nation Working Together is doing, and use it as added motivation for attending--or throwing your own--Global Work Party on 10/10/10!

 

 

Last week, over one hundred Oregonians turned out to protest Oregon’s dirty coal plant, Boardman. Greenpeace activists wore breathing masks and carried a banner reading, “Coal Kills!”. Many Portland residents also stood up to give testimony in front of representatives from the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) about why the Boardman Coal Plant should be shut down by independence day next year.

The Boardman Coal plant is located east of Portland, Oregon, one of the most environmentally conscious cities in the country. The fact that it is still open and running, especially when it has never complied with the Clean Air Act, is something that must be put right immediately. Every year, the plant spews chemicals like lead and mercury into the air that Oregonians and Washingtonians breathe. These poisons cause asthma, heart attacks, and cancer - most notable in children and the elderly. Oregon has a huge capacity for cleaner, more efficient energy like wind and solar, so why allow an outdated coal plant to keep on burning? We are demanding that the Oregon governor takes a stand against the coal plant and proves that he is serious about protecting Oregonians and giving us a brighter future! No more coal!

You’ve got to give it to the people at BP for their creativity with their latest project, Liberty Island. Through clever engineering, they have gone around the current drilling moratorium by building an artificial island from which they want to launch their latest drilling adventure in the Arctic.

It was just yesterday that officials were questioned for the first time on the findings of their internal probe into what caused their disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico this year.  

Their lead investigator, Mark Bly, admitted that their investigation had serious limitations due to a lack of physical evidence and interviews with employees of other companies.

They cited eight failures responsible for the spill, but admittedly only looked at the immediate causes. Both the drilling rig, still at the bottom of the ocean, and the blowout preventer that was recently recovered from the waters, were excluded as evidence.

A hearing of the National Oil Spill Commission will be held today and tomorrow to discuss the government’s response to the spill and its impact on the environment and the economy.

Experts admit that we won’t know the full extent of the damage for some time to come. Despite all of this, BP is still seeking a government permit to drill in one of the most fragile ecosystems on Earth – the Arctic coast of Alaska. One man has the power to stop BP. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar can deny BP’s request for this permit.

Greenpeace will not stand for this, and our grassroots network has already taken serious action. Not only have they written some great blog entries, they have gotten involved by writing hundreds of letters and making thousands of phone calls to Secretary Salazar. One of our members even organized a campaign at her school using what she learned during her semester with the Greenpeace Organizing Term.

Yes, the same company whose spill has devastated the Gulf region has pumped $1 billion into a project that would allow them to drill below federal waters in the Beaufort Sea.

What they have cited as their “biggest challenge to date” is what many consider a risk too big to take. The area where they plan to drill is home to a vast range of Arctic species, including the endangered bowhead whale and the polar bear,that will be devastated should BP make another tragic mistake.

Want to learn more about BP’s new project? Check out this recent Rolling Stone article by Tom Dickinson.

Please join the fight by urging  Ken Salazar to stop BP from another potential disaster. Take action! Tell him to say no to BP in their quest to drill in the Arctic!

 

Follow Greenpeace on twitter @greenpeaceusa and me @alvarez_alex

Hello!

 My name is Quinlan Brennan and I am the Fall 2010 intern for the Student Network! I am so excited to work with such a fascinating group of professionals and to work on campaigns that I am thoroughly interested in. Since starting with Greenpeace, I have been helping the Student Network research information about congressmen and officials and the amount of money they are accepting from energy companies. After spending hours on the websites dirtyenergymoney.org and opensecrets.org, I have learned some intriguing and alarming truths about our elected officials. The information I am currently researching will be sent to campus coordinators around the country to help get the word out to students so they can make a local impact. With the upcoming 2010 election, timing is crucial in preventing the appointment of representatives that are irresponsible and accepting dirty energy money.

I also was able to participate in the week on action and helped generate calls on my campus to Secretary Salazar to stop BP’s Liberty project and drilling in the Arctic. My experiences so far have been exciting and have kept me very busy. I am excited to see what comes of the next few weeks and I can’t wait to further update about this informative and entertaining position.

Lucia Von Reusner got busy last week with our Greenpeace Student Network. As part of a national week of action, Lucia got her campus to stand up against BP and against dirty, dangerous energies like offshore oil. Her report from the belly of our grassroots beast - powerful and growing all the time: 

I’m on a high. An activist high. I came back to Cornell from a summer of training with the GOT with a new activist toolkit, but unsure if I’d actually be able to put my classroom and ‘lab training’ into practice now that I was on my own. It seemed that as soon as I got back on campus though, things were set in motion.

Everyone was talking about the BP oil spill, everyone was talking about the failed climate bill, and the time was ripe to rise to the challenge that the Greenpeace student network had set for us, which was to launch the campaign against BP’s Liberty Island. There was no time to think of the theory behind my trainings, just to jump into action and hope for the best. 

What I was most nervous about coming back onto campus was drawing the line between being passionate and strong about my campaign, but not going so far as to be that ‘crazy activist girl’ that terrifies and alienates people with doom and gloom scenarios and calls for extreme action. However, I was amazed at how quickly I embraced the role of organizer and how able I was to network together the most unlikely people to jump onto this cause.

This campaign was the perfect ‘starter’ campaign because its one of the few environmental causes that everyone knows about, and BP is the company that everyone loves to hate. Offering people a way to take action was a piece of cake. 

Although there is no official ‘Greenpeace Club’ at Cornell, I liked how this was run better. The Greenpeace crew were the official organizers, but because it wasn’t organized by one single Cornell environmental club (and there are more than 10), every club was ready and eager to get involved, and I think it set a great precedent of collaboration between environmental clubs for the year and started a vibrant and active network. 

We got amazing publicity- it started with a facebook group, then class raps, then a series of posters depicting images and attention grabbing figures (5 million barrels spilled, 11 humans dead, $20 billion in damages, etc) in a line along a high-traffic walkway, then a letter to the editor published in my hometown paper (hometown were Chelsea Clinton got married, Uma Thurman lives, and various other high profile citizens live and browse the paper), and culminating in a detailed, front page article in the Cornell Daily Sun titled “Students Fight BP’s Proposed Drilling Project”. After all this, getting people to call was a piece of cake.

We still have another day to go, we just had a potluck celebrating the activists, and we have about 270 calls made. Tomorrow is the last push, and we have a planned photo opp. Everyone has been giving it their all, working hard, having fun, and definitely feeling empowered. They’re all looking forward to the next campaign (after a well-earned break of course) to flex their activist muscles behind, and my heart warms when I think of the supportive network I’m so lucky to have on the ground here.

The Pacific Walrus needs our help! Watch below, who wouldn't want to save such an adorable creature?

Save "Rocky Balboa" and his species!

Global warming, the most serious issue facing our planet today, is threatening the survival of yet another species – the Pacific walrus. A recently-released U.S. Geological Survey study shows a 40% chance that they will be on a pathway to extinction by the end of this century.  As alarming as this is, the survey uses data that is overly optimistic and underestimates the threats they currently face.

Sea ice habitats, - where they birth their calves, raise their families, and rest between feedings – are crucial for their survival.  Sadly, these safe havens are rapidly retreating, leaving these magnificent creatures ashore and at risk.  Young calves become easy prey, many are trampled on the crowded beaches and shores, and their food supply becomes a major problem.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is in the process of conducting a status review to decide whether to list the Pacific walrus under the Endangered Species Act. 

Rebecca Noblin, from the Center for Biological Diversity, say ,”the Endangered Species Act is our nation’s strongest law for wildlife protection and, properly applied, can help the walrus survive the stress of a melting Arctic. But unless we take immediate action to reduce greenhouse pollution, the grim reaper of global warming will ultimately claim the Pacific walrus as a victim.”

Now is the perfect time to take action. Please take a moment to tell the Service that Pacific walrus cannot survive without the protections of the Endangered Species Act.

Time is of the essence. Get your comments in by midnight, this Friday, September 24th .

 

Follow Greenpeace on twitter @greenpeaceusa, and me @alvarez_alex

What do all of these beautiful images have in common?

 
They are all pictures from the Beaufort Sea near Prudhoe Bay, off of the Arctic coast of Alaska. This is a blue, pristine environment, a bio-diverse and untamed wilderness. The large Mackenzie River empties into the sea as do other smaller rivers feeding its fish and larger species nutrient rich water. It is an important habitat for Bow-head whales, Beluga whales, Ringed seals and a multitude of sea birds and is still relatively untouched by commercial traffic. The shoreline of the Beaufort Sea is the northern limit of the terrestrial range of the Polar bear in North America.

Perhaps this is why BP has decided to start their next drilling project about 5 miles offshore. Or perhaps it is because the sea ice is frozen for more than three-fourths of the year. Even during the summer, when the sea ice has melted or thinned, icebreakers must often accompany ships through the passage. Apparently BP’s ideal conditions to “drill baby, drill!”
Which is exactly what the London based company intends to do. Not one mile down, in tropic waters. That’s too easy! BP plans to drill two miles down into the sea bed, and the six to eight miles sideways to gain access to an oil reserve in Federal waters.

To their credit, it takes a huge amount of gall to do what they are trying to pull off. Not necessarily because it is admittedly BP’s “largest challenge to date”  in what the company itself claims is “some of the harshest weather on Earth”, but because they are doing this so blatantly, and boastfully, and so “legally”. BP plans to moveforward with this as soon as this fall.

“Wait just one minute, Alex! That’s not legal!! There is a six month moratorium on all new offshore drilling projects. This can’t be possible.”

Thank you for the well-timed interjection, alter-ego-super-environmentalist! In fact, it brings me to my next point. BP has skirted around the Federally implemented moratorium on offshore drilling by creating a gravel island that they will be drilling from. I will now take this time to announce the name of their project : “Liberty!”. Well, who am I to stop such an All-American endeavor?  Let freedom ring!

If you are wondering if I am being sarcastic, I am. It is sadly, one of the few ways I know how to cope with such madness. However, it is not the only way I know. I also happen to know that although BP was enabled to write their own environmental review of the project, and already have nearly all of the required permits to move forward, there are still two obstacles in their way. A man named Ken Salazar, the Secretary of the Interior for the White House. And us.

This is our chance people. We may have only one opportunity to voice ourselves and stand up to an empire that not only has control over the health of our oceans, but also the mental health of our elected officials. We must do everything in our powers to show Salazar that we are not a country who bows down to profit driven self-destruction. We must organize around this issue, and get everyone who shed a tear for our oceans and the lives lost on April 20th, 2010 to take action. Check this out : Stop BP’s Next Drilling Disaster. I have heard some amazing stories from folks about how they have collected hand-written letters to Salazar, and organized their own events around the issue. Some of our volunteers have collected more than 300 letters a piece!  How powerful is that?

Take to the streets! Take to the inter-web! Let’s stop this nightmare, and push for clean energy!
Who’s with me?!

For the Walrus,
Alex Holmes, Activist Network Fellow

When I was an undergraduate, I spent my Friday afternoons daydreaming and thinking about my weekend plans.  Well, this past Friday, Greenpeace Student activists at UNC-Wilmington showed just how committed they are to the Energy [R]evolution.  They spent the afternoon, arm and arm with 40 of their neighbors, calling on Secretary Ken Salazar to ban offshore drilling.  Check 'em out:

 

What a perfect end to a jam packed week of action.  Nice work, UNCWeco.

Written collaborativley with Alexandra Alvarez

Since we are online organizers for Greenpeace, we were particularly situated to make the most of the Mashable & 92Y Social Good Summit held in partnership with the United Nations Foundation yesterday! The event kicked off UN Week at large, and gave us all sorts of best practices to consider for our livestream from the Gulf this Friday.

Fascinating speakers were in abundance at the summit yesterday, and we could barely keep up live-tweeting the play by play with all that was going on.

The discussions were based on the effective ways in which new media can help address the world’s challenges, with a focus on achieving the UN’s Millennium Development Goals. Success stories were shared in this regards, such as how social media helped 174 million people “get the message about malaria”, and new goals were announced by groups like (Red), with their pledge to use social media to help ensure that no child is born with HIV/AIDS by 2015.

Social media luminaries and celebrities alike came to present their solutions to some of today’s most challenging problems, mixing the best of Silicon Valley, Hollywood, and the international aid community. This included Facebook’s co-founder Chris Hughes speaking about Jumo, a social network for non-profits, and Ed Norton’s impassioned speech about his social fundraising tool, crowdrise.

The summit culminated with Mashable founder Pete Cashmore’s interview of Turner, in which he discussed nuclear weapons, global warming, and recognizing that "war is obsolete, you end up bombing your customers."

All in all, it was a day to remember! We can only hope that our blogger briefing streaming live from the Gulf can have a similar impact, as we put these theories to practice.

So what do you think, how can social media best be utilized to save the environment?

 

Today, students from across the country are joining together for their first day of the Greenpeace Organizing Term’s fall semester in Washington, DC.  As a GOT alum and current recruiter for the program, I have to say it:  I could not be more excited for these students’ upcoming semester.  Okay, maybe I’m a little bit jealous of them, too.

If you are not already familiar with the Greenpeace Organizing Term (GOT), it is Greenpeace’s semester long training program for student activists to become environmental leaders in their communities and on their campuses.  Students receive training in grassroots organizing and campaign skills from some of the best trainers out there, and also have the opportunity to apply their new skills in the field on their campaign and expedition trips.  Students walk away from their semester ready to work with our Student Network on Greenpeace campaigns back home.

Our newest class will be working with Greenpeace staff all semester to become some of the most amazing organizers out there – and you will be able to follow all of their exploits on Twitter. 

Alums of the program have gone on to do incredible things in the environmental movement – and now it’s your turn!  We are accepting applications for our Spring semester in San Francisco.  So please, take a minute to welcome the newest GOT class and head over to the Greenpeace Organizing Term site to submit your application!

This week was an awesome time to be fighting dirty coal, and working with some of the most incredible student activists in the country.

Yesterday, several Michigan State students drove eight hours round-trip to Chicago to attend the EPA coal ash hearing. Coal ash is the highly toxic leftovers from burning coal for fuel, which contains dangerous pollutants like mercury, lead, and arsenic, which can cause cancer and wreak havoc on both plant and animal life. Since coal ash is being dumped into unlined ponds and landfills that leak into our rivers, streams, and recreation areas, Michigan State students knew that they had to go to the hearings and make sure their voice's were heard. 

I'd say that's a pretty awesome thing to do with your Thursday, but the students we're just getting warmed up. They took all their energy and concern about coal back to Michigan State to fight coal on campus.

Michigan State has a monster coal plant lurking on campus, burning around 250,000 tons of coal each year and using 450 million gallons of water. The plant isn't clean. In Spring 2008, the plant violated emissions limits and was fined for excessive sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide emissions. Students aren't dumb, they know the risks to our planet posed by burning coal. They know that coal is the number one contributor to global warming, that it accounts for more deaths in the US each year - 36,000 deaths - than from drunk driving, according to the EPA.

So today, Michigan State students decided to challenge their university's "Be Spartan Green" motto.

Armed with several signs, one depicting their beloved campus mascot "Sparty" lying in a grave, and one reading, "I don't want to inhale your dirty coal," they entered the board of trustees meeting to voice their concerns. Approximately 10 minutes into the meeting, after all the important business people, press, and spectators were settled and underway with the meeting, nine students simultaneously held up their signs pointing the finger at Michigan State's dirty coal plant. The activity created so much commotion, the Vice President for Finance, Operations, and Treasurer, Fred L. Poston, shot a nervous glance from the students to the university's president Lou Anna K. Simon. Although all the signs were compelling, my favorite sign was the one questioning the university's "Spartan Green" motto. With a dirty coal plant bellowing smoke in the background, the sign read "Spartan Green. I wish." 

After holding their bold signs up in silence for 30 long minutes, amidst nervous glances, angry stares, and some nods of approval, the students left the meeting beaming with excitment. They held up their signs as they left and walked directly in front of the media's TV cameras. The media immediately followed the students to interview them about their efforts to kick coal off campus. Talk about getting your message heard!

Following the meeting, Dillon Kuiava, a Greenpeace student activist at Michigan State said it best: "Our sustainable energy future relies on the innovation of our nation's universities." When I asked Dillon about what advice he could give to other student activists fighting for a renewable energy future, he said, "persistence is key. If you believe in what you do and stick with it, you can accomplish anything."

After seeing dedicated students like Dillon go from Chicago one day to calling out his university's board of trustees the next, I am confident he is right.

Ain't no power like the power of the people, 'cause the power of the people don't stop!

 I can’t wait for next week when I’ll be representing the Greenpeace USA Online Organizing team at the UN Week festivities!

This includes Monday’s celebration of “the power and potential of new media to effect change” at the Social Good Summit, which is organized by Mashable and 92Y in partnership with the United Nations Foundation. They are so accommodating that they have set up a Digital Media Lounge throughout the week to help us get the word as well.

Which brings me to the best news of all. For the Digital Media Lounge, Greenpeace will be hosting an awesome live stream on Friday, Sept. 24 at 1pm EST. It’s called Beyond Oil: A Blueprint for an Energy Revolution, and will be streaming video live from the Gulf of Mexico where our ship, the Arctic Sunrise, is conducting an independent assessment of the impacts of the Gulf oil spill. We’ll be having a live chat for this blogger briefing where you can ask questions of our experts. You can also submit questions right now by commenting on this blog or tweeting your thoughts to @GreenpeaceUSA using the hashtag #BeyondOil.

Join us at http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/live/ Friday!

During the event, Kert Davies, the Greenpeace USA Research Director, will be speaking live via Skype video from the Arctic Sunrise in the Gulf of Mexico. Following that, Sven Teske, a scientist and lead author of the Energy [R]evolution report, will be discussing this comprehensive blueprint for creating 12 million jobs by 2030, getting to 80 percent renewable energy globally by 2050, and preventing oil disasters from happening again by ending our addiction to fossil fuels. There’s lots to discuss, as Greenpeace experts have been busy studying the effects of the BP Oil disaster and cataloguing what they are bearing witness to in this interactive map that includes their Flickr photos, YouTube videos, tweets, blog posts, etc.

We’ll do our best to have them answer as many of your questions as we can. Personally, I can’t wait to see and hear what they have to say while chatting about it with all of you!

(Also, be sure to invite your friends with this Facebook event).

This week, Sept 13th - Sept 17th thousands of young Americans took action to expose and oppose BP's latest scheme to quietly begin a new drilling project in Northern Alaska.  Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar, has the power to give BP a green light or a red light on this project that the US Coast Guard has publicly called "a nightmare."

Students accross the country KNOW that more drilling is not only a mistake, its a disaster waiting to happen. So, they made calls, hundreds, thousands of calls, to Ken Salazar helping to make his choice - red light or green light - pretty obvious. Join them - put the pressure on Salazar to BLOCK BP. 

At Northern Michigan University, Hunter Harrig and Carrie Masters, student leaders for their campus week of action constructed a mock up of BP's plans: a man-made "island" from which to attempt an unprecedented and unproved drilling technique. NMU students called Salazar by the hundreds demanding he stop BP's house of cards plan.

 At Roger Williams University, in Rhode Island, a campus of commonly "indifferent" students were turned to decisive and overwhelming action. Monique, our Student Network leader at RWU explained:

"I wasn't sure the rest of my campus would share in my enthusiasm for this week of action, as its not exactly noted for its activism. Evidently, 'Hey, do you have a second to take action against BP?' are the magic words. You can't imagine the way students jumped at this opportunity, and how intent they were on wanting to do more. Not only did I generate a solid volunteer base for future campaigns to challenge polluters like BP, but RWU has generated approximately 400 phone calls to Secretary Salazar's office in TWO DAYS! Go RWU! We're showing BP what's up!"

BP's plans in Alaska currently benefit from a low media profile. If more Americans KNEW that the same company responsible for the Deepwather Horizon Gulf oil spill was pushing for a NEW drilling disaster in America, their prospects for pressuring a permit from Salazar would change radically. The Greenpeace crew at Cornell University, in upstate New York, put BP's plans into the harsh light of public scrutiny, earning critical media attention for this outrageous scheme.

This kind of attention changes the game. This week of action changes the game. We'll get off dirty, dangerous sources of energy and start o build a green economy when we start to say NO to the corporate polluters that would divert our nation's course. 

I say we start with BP. What better corporate polluter to shut down than the company that proved to us again that these corporations can't be trusted?

DC is about to witness an uprising! 

Appalachia Rising is three days of coalfield residents and activists from across the country standing together for an end to mountaintop removal (MTR), an extremely destructive form of mining where the tops of mountains are blown off to extract the coal seams below.   

You can register here for Appalachia Rising, September 25-27 in Washington DC. 

I saw firsthand the effects of MTR on Appalachian communities while visiting Rock Creek, WV this past January.  Below is a selection of photos that my friend, Phoebe Neel, and I shot while bearing witness to the destruction.  

This behemoth of a complex owned by Massey Energy contains the Goals Coal Processing Plant.  Above it, sits the Shumate Coal Sludge Impoundment pond, which contains 2.8 billion gallons of toxic coal waste.  Beyond that is the Edwight mountaintop removal site, whose blasting puts the dam at risk of failing.  Also out of the picture is Marsh Fork Elementary, which would be wiped out if such a failure were to occur.  Thankfully, the community won a six year fight this past April to build a new school, which will break ground next year.

Just realized that most of my description was for what is NOT shown in this photo.  It says something when you need to be that high up to see the extent of the problem.   

 

A 'No Trespassing' notice from Massey Energy in the rubble of a demolished house.  Massey bought out the residents of Lindytown, WV one by one so the company could level the town and expand the mountaintop removal site that borders it.  Saying the residents had a choice in the matter is a farce - with the noise, dust, and polluted well water that comes with MTR, you trade your health for your home.  (Photo by Phoebe Neel.) 

This is a wider shot of Lindytown, which shows three homes that have been bulldozed.  Surveying the scene, I remember thinking that it could've been the site of a natural disaster - a storm that had decimated the neighborhood.  However, this was caused by man and was just a precursor to the much wider destruction of themining to come.  Nothing would be rebuilt; those concrete steps would always lead to nowhere.    

Maria Gunnoe is a community member and organizer for the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition.  Here, she displays the coal dust wiped from Frankie Mooney's garage in Twilight, WV.  The nearby blasting routinely fills the air with coal dust clouds, which then settle on buildings and turn air filters black. If Massey had its way, Twilight would become the next Lindytown - but Frankie's property is closest to the company land and his refusal to sell protects the rest of Twilight from destruction.

The next two photos should be looked at as a pair.  This one is of the Bee Tree site in Pettus, WV and the huge earth-moving machines that are used to extract the exposed coal.  The striking thing about this for me is that all the rubble is refered to as "fill," which companies like Massey dump into neighboring valleys, burying streams and polluting drinking water.  (Photo by Phoebe Neel.)     

This last photo is of the Brushy Fork Impoundment, which at 8.2 billion gallons, holds much more coal waste than the Shumate Impoundment.  However, it has one important thing in common - it's also located close to an MTR site, where blasting can affect its structural integrity.  It lies less than half a mile away from the Bee Tree site.  Marfork Coal, a subsidary of Massey Energy, estimates a dam failure could cause a wave of coal sludge as high at 72 ft.  (Photo by Phoebe Neel.)

This is just a small selection of what I witnessed in West Virginia.  And when you come to DC for Appalachia Rising, you won't see any of these scarred landscapes.  But what you will see are more people like Maria Gunnoe - people who refuse to give up and instead are rising up.  Join the movement.          

Mark Zuckerberg is the CEO of Facebook. His Facebook profile doesn’t list his relationship status, but if it did, it might say “in a relationship with Coal”.

Everyone has had a friend in a destructive relationship — a relationship that you just know is going to hurt your friend in the long run, and which also hurts others around him. Mark Zuckerberg and his company certainly have an electric relationship with coal power, but we can see that it just isn’t sustainable.

Take Action: Tell Facebook to Unfriend Coal!

The affair began in January, when Zuckerberg announced that he would build a data center in Prineville, Oregon, choosing coal to power it. Then he announced that he would double the size of the storage facility, also doubling his dependence on coal despite its well earned dirty reputation.

It was Zuckerberg’s decision to take the plunge with coal, rather than weigh other attractive options like wind or solar, that drove us to begin an intervention. In a letter to Zuckerberg on September 1st, Greenpeace’s Executive Director, Kumi Naidoo, expressed his concern:

No global business leader, particularly not one who reaches so many people daily, could deny that in this time it is both a threat to a company’s reputation and financial health risk to ignore their company’s environmental impacts.

Half-a-million Facebook friends also tried to steer Zuckerberg in a healthier direction, suggesting he seek some renewable energy and look for places that have an abundance of fresh, sustainable options. Coal may be a cheap date right now, but over time it will pose a financial risk to his company and create a terrible environment for the rest of us.

Unfortunately, Facebook’s response indicates that Zuckerberg is still afraid of commitment.

We want to see Facebook thrive. And we want to make sure that the rest of us don’t suffer from the company’s bad choices. This video is another attempt to help Facebook face reality: coal is going to cause us all pain. It’s time to end the relationship.

If you want Facebook to have a healthy, sustainable relationship with renewable energy, pass the video around to others. With your help, we can get Facebook to change its relationship status with coal.

This is a reprinted post from Daniel Kessler, Communications Manager of Greenpeace International

I continue to be amazed by the power of these 8 words – “Do you have a second to challenge BP?” 8 words. Preceded by a wave and followed by a clipboard, 8 words are changing our nation’s energy future this week.

I flew in to the Burlington Airport yesterday morning – it’s one of those breezy little hangars that inspires a casual efficiency rarely found in modern air travel anymore – and headed straight to the University of Vermont campus. In a triangle of grass and winding pathways at the heart of UVM's campus, I saw these 8 words in action. 

Kate Kroll & Leah Delaney. Greenpeace Organizing Term alums & UVM campus

leaders helping drive over 200 phonecalls to Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar this week.

Their message? "Stop the next drilling disaster in America.

Reject BP's permit to drill again in Alaska."  

“Do you have a second to stop BP?” Leah, a UVM sophomore and Greenpeace Student Network leader asked a passing crew of co-eds. “Heck yea!” one replied.

“Hey, can you take a second to stop BP’s next drilling disaster,” Norah, another UVM activist called to a guy on a skateboard approaching. *Cue textbook skateboard scraping stop and flip of the foot – the guy was off his board and ready to act.*

“Do you have a minute to challenge BP?” It was my turn. I was addressing a young woman that was hurriedly moving towards something – a class, a job, a meeting – on the other side of this grassy courtyard. The busy student paused, “I don’t think so, I’m sorry.” I thought I’d give it a quick follow up – “BP wants to drill again in Alaska. Can you take a second to stop them?” Revisiting the facts of the case: an engagement in waiting…a drilling project impending…a late arrival…a dirty & dangerous endeavor. The obligation on the other side of the triangle could wait.

All week this week campuses like this one are harnessing the simple power of 8 words to get thousands of students to act. The same BP all-star team (cue sarcastic laugh track) that brought us the Deepwater Horizon Gulf disaster is petitioning the US Department of Interior to let them have another crack at it. This time 1,000 miles from the closest Coast Guard station in some of the most unforgiving waters of America’s coasts. 

These students are saying NO. Ken Salazar, the Secretary of the Interior, is in the driver’s seat on this one. He can approve a permit for the all-stars (laugh track) or he can deny it. The students here at UVM are joined by students in Arizona, Missouri, Rhode Island, North Carolina, Nebraska, New Jersey, and everywhere using 8 words to END an era of destructive and dangerous energy addiction and to BEGIN a new era where these 8 words can be put to rest.

Join them. Before its too late. 

 

 

(The below entry was written by Greenpeace Grassroots Interns from Los Angeles Dan Schreiber and Tae Lim.  Dan and Tae have worked tirelessly on organizing the greater Los Angeles community to support comprehensive chemical security legislation in the US Senate.  Here are their reflections on the important work that they and our volunteer group has done.)

 

Here in Los Angeles we have been working tirelessly on a campaign for real chemial security.  Currently, 1 in 3 Americans live at risk of severe injury or death from a toxic facility in their area.  These facilities house dangerous chemicals such as chlorine gas and lack the necessary security to prevent a terrorist attack or accident that would release these chemicals into communities.  California Senator Barbara Boxer is the chairwoman of the Environment and Public Works Committee in the Senate and has a very strategic role in getting legislation passed that would protect communities from unnecessary chemical risks.  So, since last February we’ve been hitting the streets in a big way to educate our community about the potential danger located in our backyards.

 

Our mission was clear - educate Angelinos and deliver our concerns to Senator Boxer.  Starting with a public forum in Torrance, where we have a high-risk chemical facility that puts over 4.5 million lives at risk, we reached out to local communities who are located in the vicinity of a high-risk chemical plant.  Every weekend, our volunteers would visit farmers markets or festivals and collect signatures, photo petitions, hand-written letters and also drive phone calls to Senator Boxer’s office.  Most people were shocked to learn of this issue and many of them joined our volunteer meetings to get more involved with our campaign.  In one of our meetings while brainstorming ways to reach out to Senator Boxer, our volunteers had the great idea of creating a series of short video interviews that would be posted online.  These interviews showcased a retired LA County fire captain and a local nursing student discussing the risks to public health and workers in the event of a chemical leak.  Citizens from all over LA were given the opportunity to voice their opinions on the issue on camera.  The series became a huge hit, and Greenpeace Executive Director Phil Radford even wrote a blog on the Huffington Post about our video interview with Ed Schlegel, a retired fire captain who has responded to chemical fires throughout his career.

    We recently wrapped up our hard organizing work on this campaign by touring some of the highest-risk plants in the LA.  We were joined by all of the dedicated volunteers who spent their summers organizing on chemical security all over LA, and we can’t say enough about how wonderful their work has been.  This tour really hit home for us because we saw first hand how close these facilities are to schools and parks located in heavily populated residential areas. While on this tour we took detailed photos of the complete lack of security at these locations.  These photos were delivered to Sen. Boxer’s office along 1200 petitions, 300 photos and 160 hand-written letters. They were really glad that we’ve been working on this important issue and were even surprised to discover that they were actually living right next to one of our city’s high-risk chemical plants themselves.

 

    Greenpeace will continue to fight for real chemical security throughout the fall, and it is imperative that the US Senate support legislation that will prevent a toxic disaster here in LA, and in communities around the US.  Please take action by telling your Senator to co-sponsor and vote for the “Secure Chemical and Water Facilities Act” today!


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Greenpeace USA, 350,org, and the Rainforest Action Network issued a joint call on Grist.org last week for massive displays of non-violent direct action in the climate movement, as well as a request for your ideas!

But what is non-violent direct action exactly? Well, here's how Martin Luther King Jr. famously described it in his Letter from Birmingham Jail:

Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. It seeks so to dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored.

This is a tactic that has been used throughout the suffrage movement, the civil-rights movement, and the struggle against corporate globalization. Today, our planet is experiencing the fierce urgency of now through the climate crisis especially, which is why individuals will be confronting the issue and fostering tension by putting their bodies on the line.

The growth of this movement is a goal of the 10/10/10 Global Work Party, where this urgency will be displayed through the shaming of our political leaders as we tell them “We are getting to work. What about you?” The collective power of Big Oil and Big Coal just can not be overcome by asking nicely, and if we are going to save the planet, we need to develop a movement bigger than anything we’ve built before!

This is why we are asking you to think about the possibilities for direct action, write them down, and send your ideas to us. You can find added thoughts to guide you here, and when you’re finished you can relay them to this special email address: climate.ideas@gmail.com.

So please, send us your ideas! We’ll be mining through them throughout the fall, and then we will create coherent plans for actions starting next spring based upon them. It's very true that many minds working together are smarter than fewer, and this will further help us act with unity as we enact this next phase of the climate movement.

 

Photo accredited to BEPJ.org, posting about non-violent direct action themselves.

Our addiction to oil is greatly endangering our planet.  Nothing upsets me more than seeing images of the devestation that follows man made disasters such as the recent BP oil spill.

 This month will mark the 5 month anniversary of the diastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that released close to 5 million barrels of oil into the ocean. As much as BP likes to claim that the worst is over, and the beaches have been cleaned, this is simply not the case.

Researchers aboard the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise made a sobering discovery off the coast of Mississippi just this week. In an area near a delicate turtle habitat, they found Horn Island covered in tar balls. Layers of black sand beneath the surface were also discovered. Even in small concentrations, oil can cause extreme damage to marine and wildlife habitats. 

 

 

Below are the latest images from their discovery :

Also, check out the video from the ship :

This oil spill and the tremendous damage it has caused is a reminder of the urgent need for us to get off fossil fuels  and start a green energy revolution.

Here are two ways you can help.

 

Tell Congress: No New Drilling. Period.

 

We are also working with 350.org for the global day of action on October 10th. You can too by signing up for a work party today. People all over the world will be joining together to cut carbon emissions in an effort to move beyond oil and fossil fuels. 

 

Greenpeace is in the midst of a 3 month long expedition aboard the Arctic Sunrise in the Gulf of Mexico. We have teamed up with independent scientists to conduct an independent investigation into the effects of the oil spill.

 

Follow Greenpeace on twitter @greenpeaceusa, and me @alvarez_alex

After some much-needed sleep, I woke up inspired by what I saw and heard at the EPA hearing in Denver.  Rarely do we have the opportunity to sit next to our opposition and wait patiently to testify in front of a panel of some of the most powerful people in this country. My voice was as important as the man in the $3,000 suit sitting next to me. I got the same amount of time, the same attention, and the same polite “thank you” after my allotted three minutes.

 

Of all the powerful, heartbreaking, inspiring, angry and hopeful stories I heard at the hearing, a couple stand out a week later:

A Montana rancher stood in front of the panel of EPA reps in his cowboy boots, dusty jeans and ten-gallon hat and talked about what was happening back on his ranch in Montana. He relies on his reservoir for his livelihood. It provides his land and his cattle with the necessary water for survival. His ranch isn’t far from an active coal plant. He asked an expert to test his water and found that it contained toxins 16 times the lethal limit for cows. Just another reminder that when the coal industry neglects to clean up their mess, people downstream undoubtedly suffer.

A caravan of people came up from the four corners area representing Dine and Hopi people living on and around Black Mesa. Strip mines, coal generating stations, and toxic sludge ponds literally surround their community. The long and short-term impacts of the coal industry are not just environmental. As one woman put it, you can see the effects of the coal industry in the people of that community. People are sick, the water is contaminated and, for the most part, nothing has been done.

By 8 pm, 10 hours into the hearing, people were exhausted, hungry, and 100% drained. Outside, the sun was setting and people were starting to trickle out one by one. At this point I had my head resting on the back of the chair, my eyes closed. I was ready to go home. A number was called and the room burst into a flurry of excitement. I looked up and a ten-year old boy was walking up to the podium. He talked about the next generation and the responsibility of adults to clean up their own messes. He urged the EPA to do the right thing and protect his generation and future generations from the hazards created from burning coal and allowing the toxic bi-products to go unregulated. Wow.

If you live in a city hosting an EPA hearing, attend. If you don’t, get your voice heard.  Standing up and demanding a better world, looking opposition in the face, bringing people from all walks of life together in one room, this is what I love most about being an activist.  Its almost enough to make you want to burst into a round of “the people….united….will never be defeated.”

Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org and writer of the first book for a general audience on climate change, ventured onto the Late Show with David Letterman this week to promote his new book, eaarth and this year’s 10/10/10 Global Work Party to solve the climate crisis. It’s definitely worth the watch:



I loved McKibben’s explanation to Letterman that it is not enough to take individual action, as we need a stronger political movement capable of bringing about large scale change. That’s why the 10/10/10 Global Work Party, a day when Greenpeace, 350.org, 10:10, and a global coalition of folks around the world are committing to do something to solve global warming, is so important. On that day all of our actions will send a unified political message to our leaders: “We're getting to work — what about you?

Help send the message to Get to Work: sign up for the 10/10/10 Get to Work Party.

Join us as we Get to Work to stop global warming, and help us save the world!

The only way to prevent future disasters is to move away from offshore drilling, kick our addiction to oil and embrace a clean energy future. Kate and Lindsey get that. And so do millions of other young Americans. I am so grateful that no more human lives were lost yesterday in the Gulf. But we have to say “enough is enough.” And we have to say it now. LOUD. Join us.

 At UVM, Kate (left) is organizing a Students Against Disastrous Drilling Week of Action to STOP BP from drilling again.

I can't even tell you how excited I am to start our coal campaign in the NW. Therefor I will hand the pen over to intern Tara... First though; if you like biking and hate coal you should check out our upcoming "roll against coal" coming up on 10/10/10 HERE! 

 

My name is Tara, I am an intern with Greenpeace in the NW and I am also a college student and more importantly, a life long Oregonian.  I have always loved the greenery that surrounded me and the consciousness Oregonians generally have about the environment.  I knew that I was passionate about the environment, but to be honest, I didn’t really know the extent to which we, as humans, constantly were degrading the environment until this summer as an intern at Greenpeace.  Here in Oregon, about 3 hours east of Portland, we have a dirty old coal plant called Boardman.  This nest of pollution is of particular interest to the Portland office and me. I did some research on the Boardman coal plant and its ill effects on the environment.  The statistics on Boardman were shocking to say the least.  It is responsible for the release of over 200 pounds of mercury, 15,000 tons of haze causing sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, toxic acid gases such as hydrogen fluoride and hydrochloric acid, and 5 million tons of climate change causing carbon dioxide. Furthermore, I was shocked to find out that 24,000 people die in the US each year as a result of coal power plant pollution.  Nonetheless, the coal industry has received $17 billion in subsidies between 2002 and 2008! That is just outrageous! Coal is an anachronism in a society which continually strives to build the fastest computers and create the highest standard of living. Sierra Club and a series of other local groups are already fighting the Oregon coal plant and now Greenpeace will join the fight. I am excited to see what the future presents and ecstatic that I will be able to have a hand in starting the end of coal based power. 

Boardman coal plant in eastern Oregon, on the Columbia River.