Greenpeace

Here in Philadelphia, we are keeping the pressure on our candidates to give back their dirty energy money.  We started by directly asking Senate Candidate Pat Toomey if the tens of thousands of dollars he takes from dirty coal and big oil affects his environmental record.  Since then, we have gone to the pre-debate rally to inform voters of the money that Toomey as well as his opponent Joe Sestak have taken.

Yesterday, several volunteers and the fall class of the Greenpeace Organizing Term (GOT) visited offices of both campaigns to ask them to be real leaders for this country.  Our goal was simple: talk to both campaigns about the thousands of dollars they’ve taken from coal and oil, and ask them to give it back, so that the people of Pennsylvania can be sure that our elected politicians are working for us, not the polluting coal industry.  

We started at the local Republican victory office that supports Toomey’s campaign.  The people in the office straight up refused to take our information and claimed that they couldn’t speak for the Toomey campaign.  But we’re not so easily stopped!  Today two volunteers will be heading out to the Philly suburbs, to the nearest official Toomey office, in order to speak with the campaign directly.  

After the disappointing response from the Republican victory office, we headed to the Sestak campaign office.  The staff there spent a few minutes trying to convince us that Sestak has a good environmental record and then listened as we explained that despite Sestak’s record, he has still taken money from the oil industry this election cycle and from the coal industry in the past.  How can we be sure that he has the health and well being of the people and the planet in mind if he’s still taking money from dirty fossil fuels?  The staffers listened to our concerns, took our information, and promised to pass on our letter of request along.  They also told us how we can speak with the finance team about concerns with campaign contributions.  So now we know where our next stop is.

In these last days before the election, it is crucial to let politicians know who they really work for, and it’s happening all over the country including Ohio and Texas.  Check out dirtyenergymoney.org or opensecrets.org to find out where your candidates’ money comes from.  

After attending the EPA’s coal ash hearing in Louisville last month – we dropped a sweet banner! - I dreamed of attending the Knoxville hearing to make even more noise. Last week I got the call that help was needed, I practically screamed into the phone “YES, I’D LOVE TO GO!”

Days later, I arrived on Tuesday morning to a balmy Knoxville, Tennessee. Reagan with Southern Alliance for Clean Energy greeted me at the airport. From there we headed straight to the UT Knoxville campus to begin a frenzied day of recruitment.

We meet up with the fantastic people of the Beehive Collective, who displayed a mural on campus showing the true coast of coal and its destruction of the environment, people, and communities – from cradle to grave. We made class raps in front of large lectures, inviting students to attend the coal ash hearing, we petitioned and phonebanked hundreds of names too. Later that night, we painted banners and signs with Bonnie and folks from United Mountain Defense, while discussing our plans for the EPA hearing.

Then it was game day!

The hearing was held inside the downtown Marriott. Around 8:30am on Wednesday, we deployed a team with 40 large photos showing the destruction of the TVA Kingston coal ash disaster – where a coal ash impoundment failed, releasing over 1 BILLION gallons of toxic-laden sludge into nearby rivers. This toxic coal ash blanketed homes, wrecked a train, and decimated a once pristine area. Almost two years later, the crap still isn’t cleaned up. I spoke with a resident of Roane County, Steve Scarborough, who said that still today he goes out on the river and can find 6-foot piles of coal ash in the river.

We held photos of this tragedy in front of the coal industry executives as they entered the hearing. One of them looked at me, looked at the photo, then started laughing. How is such widespread destruction funny?

As we did interviews with the media and Marriott guests started asking us about the photos, the EPA got nervous. Moments later the Marriott management asked us to leave. We smiled, said okay – knowing that our message had been heard!

The day continued with passionate testimonies from victims of the TVA disaster, and folks from Alabama, Kentucky, Indiana, North Carolina, Georgia – all who’ve lost their livelihoods due to toxic coal ash being dumped in their communities, poisoning their air and their drinking water.

This fight isn’t about money or jobs – as the lobbyists of the coal industry falsely make you believe – it’s about people’s lives. HUMAN LIVES. What could be more precious? It’s about Barbara, who does community organizing with Perry County residents in Alabama – whose impoverished, African-American community drinks tap water with arsenic levels 80 times greater than the safe drinking water standards. It’s about Macy, from Tennessee, who cannot seem to keep her pet fish alive. There is something wrong with the water that keeps killing the fish. It’s about Don from Indiana, whose community is sick and dying from a nearby coal ash impoundment.

As I told the EPA in my testimony yesterday, the coal industry doesn’t care about people, it only cares about profits. This makes me sick as hell, and it’s got to stop!

Throughout the day, our message was heard, and students brought it to the table. Elyse drove 8 hours from Tuscaloosa, Alabama to testify before the EPA panel – tearing up as she pleaded the EPA do its job to protect people, not corporate polluters. Tori and Anna woke up at 4am to travel over three hours to the hearing. When Tori testified, she asked the EPA to think about her generation and the consequences of inaction. By the way, Tori and Anna are high school juniors and incredible student leaders.

In the evening, students lead at 60-person rally outside the Marriott, complete with smokestacks, zombies, witches, and heavy metals – shirts with “arsenic” and “chromium” written on them. The “Coal Ash is Scary” rally went live on the 6 o’clock news. Following the rally, I led over 50 students in a silent procession, walking one-by-one, into the hearing to testify. This showing of support overwhelmed the EPA. One panelist couldn’t wipe the huge grin of his face. Each time a student or community member testified saying hell no to coal ash, I saw his eyes light up and his smile grow wider.

Wednesday’s final EPA coal ash hearing was a tremendous success. We’ve been heard loud and clear. Now the EPA must do its job to protect people, not the dirty, profit-hungry coal industry. Public comments are still being accepted until November 19th, so I call on you to join over 170,000 folks who’ve taken action to protect our communities and our planet.

The awesome thing is that we are winning, and the coal industry knows that their time of record profits and rampant destruction is coming to an end. I can’t wait to celebrate it, can you?

Tyler McFarland is a student from New Hampshire who has taken a gap year before starting college next fall.  He’s currently one of the students with the Greenpeace Organizing Term’s fall class in Washington DC.  Read Tyler’s story below for an update on the GOT’s campaign trip in Philadelphia, working to protect the Paradise Rainforest!

The Fall Greenpeace Organizing Term (GOT) just finished the first week of our campaign trip in Philadelphia.  We spent the week running a recruitment drive at Temple University to find more students who care about our planet's forests and want companies like Pizza Hut to cut their contracts with forest destroyer Sinar Mas.  Temple has a nice campus and we wasted no time on Monday when we arrived there, spending the first few hours postcarding.  Postcarding is a great way to collect public comments in favor of, say, Pizza Hut cancelling their Sinar Mas contract and a way to find students interested in getting involved.  I am happy to announce that we surpassed our goal of 1,200 signed cards last week!


We had a positive reception at Temple.  Students were genuinely interested in the campaign once we got them to stop and could talk with them.  We did end up with two rock solid volunteers at the end of the week named Olivia and Claire who just happen to live in D.C. and are freshmen at Temple.  I think they will probably look into Greenpeace and the GOT further thanks to great leadership development from current GOT students Jeremy Black and Kate Campbell, as well as Ren Ostry, who did a fantastic job training Olivia on her first day of postcarding! 
  
Everyone worked hard during the week, and our efforts culminated with our store-front action at a Philadelphia Pizza Hut on Saturday.  Claire Christensen and Natalie Greene organized our day of action and Ren and Kellen McCoy were behind our props and visuals.  We had Ren and Natalie in two orangutan costumes, some pizza boxes that we had painted our Pizza Cut logo onto, cardboard pizzas with orangutan faces on them, and a banner.  The location was not what we were hoping for, but we made the best of it.  We delivered a packet of information to the store manager and asked for Pizza Hut to stop serving up rainforest destruction.  

There were more cars than people passing and taking notice of us, and at one point a car pulled over next to us and we were able to hand a flyer to the driver!  We had people stop and call into Pizza Hut to leave messages for them and watched heads turn and little kids either smile or scream at our orangutans.  New volunteers Olivia and Claire made it to the day of action which gave us a boost of energy for the last thirty minutes of our time out there.
    

The oil industry sure does love their chant to "drill baby drill". Well, we developed our own which we say with much more snark: "spill baby spill". Now, we also have a way for you to get a taste of what the drill baby drill crowd is getting at, but with much less damage to our oceans!

The Big Online Oil Spill is a new game that we have just released with our friends from vanksen where you can get the oil flowing online rather than offshore. The oil spill may be out of the headlines, but this game is a way that we can keep the spotlight on the oil giants. Everyone could use added reminders about their catastrophic drilling practices, and by playing this game, you can help do just that by covering the web in oil, one page at a time.

So plug in a website that you'd like to spill oil over, and give the game a try. This is only a sneak peak, so please forgive us if you do find any bugs. Afterwards, you can share it with your friends and help spread the spill online!

Ryan Thomson is a graduate student at NC State University and a Greenpeace Student Network Organizer. This fall - as the election approaches, Ryan and the NC State Greenpeace crew have been focusing on the dirty money coming in from big polluters to influence elections and control our energy policy. After orchestrating an event last week on the 6month anniversary of BP's Gulf Disaster, Ryan had these thoughts to share:

This past Wednesday marked the six month anniversary of the Deep Water Horizon catastrophe that forever altered the chemistry of the Gulf ecosystems.  In mourning the losses of this tragic day, some of us found cause for action.  Politicians have maintained this domination of oil and coal through turning a blind eye in exchange for massive campaign donations.  NC is a primary example of how corporations such as Progress Energy, Exxon, Duke Energy and Dominion govern our current energy policy.

For our 3 representatives alone here in Wake County, these donations total over half a million dollars. And they're non-partisan, with democrats and republicans in North Carolina both choosing to soak up polluter cash.  Despite the fact that humanity has already reached 388ppm globally, we continue to blow up Appalachia and pillage our coasts in search for fossil fuels.  It’s easy to see the effects of massive campaign contributions given the endless signs demanding your vote bought and paid for by polluter corporations.

 

Despite some miserable weather, we did what we could with what we had.  We didn’t have the grandest set of numbers but we compensated by increasing our energy as we chanted throughout the brickyard.

We demand that politicians stop taking campaign contributions from these polluting industries and begin acting in accordance with preserving our climate.  We protest, petition, and mobilize only because we understand what is at stake.  Otherwise it will not be long before our coasts resemble that of the Gulf.  We made our points and at such a place as NCSU, it proved a truly symbolic gesture.

 

Throughout my internship at Greenpeace, my main goal has been to expose politicians that are taking dirty money from energy companies and to educate others about it. Working with the student network has allowed me to do so in a rewarding and exciting way. I was so pumped when I first found out that I was selected to participate the town hall style meeting with President Obama, I immediately began thinking of a question about the recent lift of the moratorium on off-shore drilling.
     After spending nearly four hours in a church basement with no windows, a group of 224 students from the surrounding area and myself, were shuttled to BET studios in Northeast DC. I was so excited to get out of that room, I almost able to adjust to the torrential downfall that was ensuring while we sprinted to the closest bus. May I add that we were stripped of all forms of communication as soon as we arrived making the wait a little more agonizing. After we finally made it to the studio we were briefed about etiquette and the workings of live television, and warned that we would ALWAYS be on camera in front of millions of viewers. Promptly at four, the lights dimmed and the hosts of CMT, BET, and MTV began introducing themselves and then out walked the 44th President of the United States. Barack Obama was just as I imagined and throughout the program, which can be found here http://www.bet.com/video/1379470, he was charismatic, respectful and insightful.

Quinlan Brennan(Student Network Intern) sits directly above President Obama as he shakes another student's hand.

When the show finished and we were off the air, President Obama stayed in the studio and shook almost every person’s hand. I unfortunately was one of the few unlucky members of the audience that did not get this privilege but how could I possibly be upset. I was a little bummed that I didn’t have the opportunity to ask a question. Also I feel like the question he addressed about the environment not as relevant and important as other current environmental issues that he could have addressed but I am happy that it was mentioned.
Generally this experience was one of the most thrilling experiences of my life and I will never forget it. MTV, BET and CMT got a lot of negative comments and criticism over the methods they used to select the audience members, but I must give them credit for holding such a successful and relevant event. Just weeks before the midterm elections, this event allowed students to voice their concerns and was a way to re-engage America’s young voters. Within my row alone, there were three other girls who stated that their prime concern was also energy and the environment. This was very exciting because the concern that our generation is posing to government officials will only benefit our future!

This’ll be a quick one, folks. We just wrapped up the event at NC State in Raleigh today – October 20th – the 6month anniversary of the BP Oil Sprill & a day that marks the race to election insanity – when candidates are raising last minute cash anyway they can to out-advertise, out-scare-tactic, out-do their opponents.

Here in Raleigh, like most places, the question has been raised: will young people turn out to vote on November 2nd or not? This generation is not fuel for statisticians’ analysis for journalists’ coverage. Young people will turn out and vote when politicians show and prove that they’re more interested in OUR future than they are in the profits of corporate polluters.

As November 2nd inches nearer, big polluters are shelling out major cash to boost the candidates that will do THEM the most favors.  At today's event, NC State's activists looked the status quo politics of dirty money straight in the eye and said "NO," issuing a challenge to North Carolina's politicians to stop taking money from big oil and king coal.

Check out some photos from the event and keep your blog eyes here. The NC Students will add their own thoughts on this page soon. The message today was clear – No more dirty money, no more dirty politics.

Today is the 6 month anniversary of the BP oil disaster, but it seems like reality hasn’t set in yet. Our nation is still far too much in the thrall of politicians and pundits alike who would prefer to mask the calamity---justifying continuing inaction.

To counteract this state of affairs and commemorate the catastrophe, tonight we will be livestreaming straight from our ship in the Gulf at 8:00pm EST/5:00pm PST. We’ll be presenting highlights of what has been uncovered so far by our independent scientists aboard the Arctic Sunrise, and we will also have an interactive chat for you to engage with experts as well.

But why is this sort of media-event important? Well, it’s because media is absolutely essential for movement building, and can likewise be just as detrimental to tearing them apart. Alan Rosenblatt, the Associate Director for Online Advocacy at the Center for American Progress Action Fund, gives this some historical context:

Television did not end the Vietnam War and create global peace. But television did expose our nation to the reality that the war wasn’t happening as our leaders said it was. And that revelation galvanized the anti-war movement across the country....It was the combination of what we saw on television and the mobilization of feet on the ground that gave rise to the anti-Vietnam War movement. Television was not the revolution, but it played a role by revolutionizing how we saw war.

Television revolutionized how war was seen in Vietnam by counteracting the political myths inherent to its justification. Today, we have political myths that likewise need to be countered...wait, you mean the oil didn’t all just disappear on its own!?

Rev. Lennox Yearwood of the Hip Hop Caucus likewise recognizes the power of media to movements, but he also warns of the pitfalls.

something has happened where the media and the grassroots are not running parallel together. And there is no grassroots movement without media, because media has to make the injustice visible.

In today’s mainstream media environment, far too much injustice remains invisible to too many people, and it is far too easy for those facing damage to their bottom lines to manipulate public perception. In lieu of media outlets covering the lingering damage of the spill and demanding accountability for those responsible, even the moratorium on new offshore drilling gets lifted without a major media outcry.

The silver lining, though, is that we are increasingly developing the tools to make injustice visible ourselves---just as we are doing tonight with our livestream from the Gulf in fact!

A mass movement will not be galvanized unless the injustice is adequately exposed, though. Our media must run parallel with our movement, and we must make it so by producing and distributing the evidence of the injustice ourselves. Once these issues are out in the open they can be seen and dealt with, but the climate movement must break this silence first.

As the old saying goes, money talks.

Recent allegations that the US Chamber of Commerce is using funds donated by foreign based companies to run political ads are serious,and probably deserve their own post. They are also a sobering reminder that special interests remain a dangerously powerful force in our politics.

The relationship between the cash politicians receive and their subsequent policy decisions is as intimate and sinister as ever. Case in point, the oil and gas lobby.

The midterm elections this year will undoubtedly change the make up of Congress.Be that as it may, one thing that won’t change is the influence that the oil and gas industry has in Washington, and rightfully so. For too long, both Democrats and Republicans have raked in campaign contributions to the tune of millions of dollars.

This election cycle alone, incumbents and candidates have raked in over $18 million from companies like Koch, Chevron and Exxon. Again and again, our leaders choose to protect the interests of these cash-strapped polluters over the well being of our planet.

    

With numbers like these, it isn’t surprising that Congress and the White House have failed to take serious action on climate change, or that the Obama administration made the unfortunate decision to lift the offshore drilling ban put in place after the disastrous BP oil spill.

If the ongoing disaster in the Gulf isn’t enough to make them change, what is? Their allegiance to big oil is unwavering, continues to pollute our planet, and contributes to global warming.

We need to put pressure on Washington to stop letting their dirty campaign contributions destroy our planet before it’s too late. We can do better by moving beyond oil and starting a clean energy revolution.  10/10/10 showed that people are ready for action from our leaders, but they need to be pressured.

You can help. Take a stand, tell Congress to end offshore drilling today!

Interested to know how much dirty money the people representing you are taking? Check out this easy to use tool and see the truth for yourself.

Wow, it feels like it only happened yesterday, but this Wednesday is already the six month-anniversary of the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster. Regrettably, the ongoing crisis in the Gulf has fallen from the attention of far too many media outlets. To counteract this, we will be marking this solemn occasion by providing an opportunity for all of you to hear the truth about the devastation that the largest oil spill in US history has wrought! 

Greenpeace has been working with independent scientists aboard the Arctic Sunrise, discovering what is really happening through this expedition in the Gulf of Mexico. Don't take my word for it though, as we’ll be airing a livestream straight from the ship---8:00pm EST/5:00pm PST Wednesday---to present highlights to all of you about what they have uncovered so far. 

 

So RSVP today, and make sure to check it out. John Hocevar, Greenpeace’s Oceans Campaign Director, is already aboard the ship and describes what they have in store:  

Through LIVE streaming video, I'll share with you what we’ve learned during three months of research, and answer your questions. Just today, I was in a submarine over a thousand feet below the Gulf’s surface. What better way to find out the truth than at the bottom of the ocean, where all of the oil has sunk? I can’t wait to tell you what I’ve seen first-hand from the submarines. 

BP, the government and other big oil companies would like you to believe that the oil has just "disappeared." Unfortunately, the truth is that it’s still out there and it’s damaging the marine environment in ways we’re only just beginning to understand.

I’d say that watching highlights from the ship tour and interacting with the people there in the flesh would be quite the way to do this anniversary justice, don't you think?

RSVP and check out Wednesday's livestream if you can, and hear for yourself what is really going on from the most direct sources available! Hope you can make it. 

I always relish the moments when my friends and colleagues hear I'm headed out on the road again. "You're going to Vermont? You're going to Denver? You're going to Denmark? FOR WORK!??!" They ask, with inevitable incredulity. Why, yes. Yes I am. This week - I'm headed to Raleigh, North Carolina. For work.

As the mid-term elections approach, Our Student Network is taking aim at corporate polluters buying influence state by state over our nation's energy policy. Polluters like ExxonMobil, like Koch Industries, like Progress Energy, and BP give millions of dollars to willing politicians who then go to Washington ready to representative their corporate interests instead of the interests of the American People.

 

 

This week, at NC State University, our Student Network activists are standing up. October 20th will mark the 6 month anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon Disaster in the Gulf. And 6 months later, polluters' money continues to corrupt our politics around energy and the environment. Our NC State Greenpeace students, like you, have had enough. Their media event on Wednesday will demand an end to polluter-subsidized politics in North Carolina & will educate and engage hundreds of fellow youth voters.

Stay tuned this week. We’ll be live tweeting @GreenpeaceSN and on my twitter @RuMor_Truth as this group of young voters turns up the heat on North Carolina's politicians and their pockets lined with dirty money.

Want to get involved? DO IT! We can get serious about our dirty energy problems when we get serious about the dirty money in our politics.  

 

Blog Action Day is ongoing, but with over 5,000 blog posts written from 138 countries so far, I dare say it’s fair to call it a success! Jim Riccio has posted for Greenpeace USA’s contribution, with a blog on Nuclear Power’s Threat to Clean Water:  

One of many risks to clean water are nuclear power plants and the inadequate measures to protect us from their radioactive elements that can leak into our drinking water. 

Last week brought more disturbing discoveries of radioactive tritium leaking into groundwater from Vermont Yankee, the aging nuclear plant in southern Vermont.  Exposure to tritium, a radioactive form of hydrogen produced by nuclear power plants, presents risks of cell damage and can increase the likelihood of developing cancer.  Ingested tritium is directly absorbed into the bloodstream, and will quickly spread to other body fluids, organs, and other tissues - it's critical that our drinking water is protected from unsafe levels. 

 That is certainly a frightening prospect from Vermont, but as Riccio explains, the threat to our water supply goes much further: “In fact, the nuclear industry has contaminated groundwater with radioactive tritium at nuclear power plant sites all across the country.” 

In other Blog Action Day news, we’ve received some great blog posts after our invitation to link and RT Greenpeace community members’ contributions, which you can find below:

• Trout Montfalco blogged about what clean water has to do with art. 
• surfergrrrl implored fellow surfers to consider the health of the water.
• The Asia Foundation posted on both the Cambodia flood threats as well as Asia’s environmental leaders exploring water resource management along the Columbia River. 
• Real_Lawyer posted about not taking clean, accessible water for granted.
• The Voss Foundation posted about the great work they are doing at large to bring attention to the global water crisis.
• ....and Kathly Stanley blogged Caribbean: Flooding Events Increase With Speed Up of Global Water Cycle.

On 10/10/10 people from virtually every nation on earth stood together to send a message to world leaders:  it’s time to get to work and move forward with policies which reduce dangerous climate change.

In Austin, TX residents rallied against the state’s deepening dependence on dirty coal, the leading source of global warming pollution in the United States.   Despite the fact that Texas already consumes more coal than any other state, there are currently 12 new coal plants in some phase of permitting or construction across the state.  This would almost double the number of dirty coal plants polluting Texas.

To the Austin residents who participated in the “Global Work Party”,  building any new dirty coal plants is simply unacceptable.

At the Austin “Global Work Party” community leaders addressed a major underlying reason for why Texas continues to rely on dirty coal: our politicians’ campaigns are funded by dirty energy companies.  In the entire U.S. Congress, the top two recipients of dirty energy money are Texas Senator John Cornyn and Texas Congressman Joe Barton.  Together, they’ve received almost $4 million in campaign contributions from polluting energy companies.

These are the same guys that voted on federal energy policy which gave 72 billion dollars of tax payer money (in the form of subsidies) to dirty energy companies between 2002 -2008.  In that same period of time federal subsidies for traditional renewable energy sources were only $29 billion dollars.

Another reason we continue to rely so heavily on dirty coal is that our current policies allow the dirty energy corporations to keep all of the profit while passing off the true cost of their polluting industry to the rest of us.  For example, coal ash is the waste leftover after a coal plant incinerates coal.  It’s filled with toxins and heavy metals such as lead, arsenic, and mercury.  Rather than treating coal ash as a hazardous substance, it’s currently less regulated than the garbage that comes out of our homes and businesses.  Therefore, coal companies oftentimes dispose of this toxic coal ash the cheapest way possible; they dump it in giant unlined pits.  When it rains these heavy metals seep into our groundwater and contaminate our lakes, rivers, and streams.

With dirty energy companies buying off our politicians, it’s no wonder that federal policies encourage our continued reliance on polluting 19th century technologies.

The only thing more powerful than organized money is organized people.  Work Party participants urged Texas politicians to move us in a new direction.   With clipboards in hand they hit the streets of Austin collecting petition signatures asking the EPA to regulate coal ash a hazardous substance.

If you think that coal ash should be regulated as a toxic substance, please make your voice heard and submit your own comment to the EPA.

In coordination with 350.org, nine local groups joined Greenpeace to call for a coal-free Massachusetts on October 10th. Over 150 people came out to join the call for clean energy and green jobs. It was amazing to see how much support there is to kick coal out of Massahcusetts.



We had an amazing day filled with speakers from groups all across the area. We also had a great band, Melodeego, who brought along their bike-powered sound system.

This was a great way to kick off Greenpeace’s coal campaign. We ask the Governor to join us in shutting down the Salem Harbor coal plant. The plant is nearly 60 years old. It is old, dirty, and dangerous. Massachusetss can lead the country in clean energy and green jobs, but we can’t do that as long as monuments to the past remain open.

This past weekend my friend, Chris Douglas, and I dressed in our business casual best and headed to our local Republican victory office.  We were there to ask Pennsylvania Senate Candidate Pat Toomey if the money that he has received from coal and oil companies has affected his dismal environmental voting record.  He didn’t seem too happy that we were asking.  

In fact, we were cut off mid-sentence and two people quickly ushered us out of the building.  

Chris: “Hi Mr. Toomey, do you think the money you take from coal and oil companies influences…”
Random campaign person: “No, not now… you both need to leave… get out.”

Why?  Let me back up a little bit. In just this election cycle, the coal industry has already given more than $6 million in campaign contributions to candidates running for federal office, and that doesn’t include the money they spend on lobbyists, misleading PR campaigns and industry front groups.

While the coal industry spends millions on politicians and lobbyists in Washington, they receive billions in subsidies.  Between 2002 and 2008, the coal industry received $17 billion in subsidies.  That’s taxpayers’ money going to fund the very substance that is the number one cause of global warming pollution.  

There’s no way to say for sure if the campaign money is the reason that our government continues to fund a dirty, outdated technology.  But I, for one, want a direct answer from our politicians.  Why do they continue to take money from the coal industry when, according to the EPA, the air pollution from coal plants cause up to 36,000 premature deaths a year?  That’s why I went to talk to Pat Toomey.  

While I was inside the office trying to get a real answer out of Toomey, five Greenpeace activists stood outside wearing shirts that read ‘Quit Coal’ and holding a banner telling Toomey to ‘Protect People, Not Polluters.’  For me, that is the root of this issue.  What is our government supposed to protect?  The health and well being of the people, or the profits of an outdated industry?

Toomey has taken tens of thousands of dollars from the coal and oil companies, but he’s not the only one.  Not even close.  Democrats and Republicans alike are accepting money from dirty energy companies hand over fist, including his Democratic opponent, Joe Sestak.  Politicians across the board need to be true leaders for our country and stop accepting contributions from the coal industry. Then once they’re in office, they need to end subsidies to big oil and dirty coal.  This will not only put us on track to create many more green jobs, but it will drastically improve the quality of the air that each of us breathes every single day.  It’s time for the energy revolution.  

Check out dirtyenergymoney.org to see how much your congressmen have taken from coal and oil, and then go ask them why

 

 

 

 Greenpeace is getting powered up for Washington, D.C.’s 7th Annual Green Festival, which will be held October 23-24 at the downtown Convention Center. Our staff members, interns, and community activists will be enjoying the Festival and working to advance Greenpeace’s campaigns. We invite you to come explore the Solar Ambulance- our unique former emergency vehicle retrofitted with solar panels! Stop by and charge your cell phone or other electronic gadget through the solar power. We welcome you to come by and take action online against the polluting coal industry by logging onto one of our laptops that we have hooked up to the ambulance as well. We will have a booth with energetic, passionate volunteers, lots of information about our campaigns and Greenpeace membership, and of course a few freebies.

We will be talking about our recent work in determining the impact of the BP oil spill in the Gulf, and what we’ve been up to lately in the fight against coal. You can learn more about these issues here: http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/en/campaigns/global-warming-and-energy/. We will be happy to answer any questions that you may have and give you ideas about how to take action as we work toward a clean-energy future.

The Green Festival is offering some pretty sweet deals for entry that can be found online here: http://www.greenfestivals.org/tickets. So, come by and learn about Greenpeace! Charge your cell phone by the power of the sun! Take immediate action against the dirty coal industry and protect communities.

We’ll see you there!

Visit Green Festival’s website for more information: http://www.greenfestivals.org/wdc/updates/. 

Festival Hours:
Saturday, Oct. 23: 10AM - 7PM
Sunday, Oct. 24: 11AM - 6PM

Washington Convention Center
801 Mount Vernon Place, NW
Washington, DC 20001

 

 

 

  Coal is the dirtiest source of energy out there, a great contributor to global warming, and the people of LA Chicago, and Portland have had enough. Can you take a moment to help by telling the EPA that coal ash is hazardous?

While 10/10/10 was an incredible success, the fight for action on climate change is far from over, and it needs your help. Our leaders need to take action on climate change, and we need people like you to join the movement, to get involved, to spread the message. Through the power of numbers, we can make a difference, and give our planet a fighting chance.

Sign up to volunteer today!

October 10th was amazing. Around the world, there were 7,347 events for the 10/10/10 Global Work Party to save the climate. Stories are starting to pour in from Work Parties all over the country, many organized by Greenpeace members just like you.

In Philadelphia, citizens rallied for clean energy at City Hall with city officials who were getting to work to make green jobs accessible to all.

At Michigan State, students rallied to close down the coal plant that powers their school and replace it with renewable energy.

The City of Los Angeles demonstrated what a carbon free future could look like by closing down seven and a half miles of road to cars and riding to City Hall to demand a coal and oil free Los Angeles.

But don’t just take my word for it, check out these amazing photos: 

 

So, thanks to everyone who came out on Sunday. Together we can give our leaders the courage to act. And you can help give them the power to act right now by submitting a comment to the EPA telling them to give the government the power to regulate toxic coal ash.

Finally, I want to extend a huge thank you to 350.org and the coalition that made the Global Work Party happen. If we work together we can get the dirty energy influence out of Washington and kick start the Energy Revolution. Stay tuned and stay involved!

It's finally here! For today we've teamed up with 350.org and a global coalition of folks doing something about climate change to create a global day of action: the Global Work Party to Save the Climate.

In every corner of the globe today, we will implement solutions to the climate crisis. From solar panels to community gardens, wind turbines to bike workshops, we'll start to change our world from the bottom up!

We'll be reporting on events from Greenpeace USA activists and our allies right here all day. If you prefer, you can follow along on twitter. Be sure to check out all the photos on our two flickr pages! 

As photos come in from around the country we'll be adding them to this slideshow:

 

And check out these photos as they come in from our big events in Denver, Chicago, Los Angeles and Portland:

 

 

When I hit the ground as a regional Field Organizer for Greenpeace in the City of Angels in February of 2009, I wasn’t sure where to start. It’s hard to carve out a place for yourself in this city amongst the millions of people, the diverse and sprawling neighborhoods, the mix of cultures, and at a basic level, the challenges associated with mobility.  It’s a big and complicated place, with big and complicated challenges.

 

But despite all of these challenges, I love LA-it is my home, and even if I move some day I’ll be a loyal Angeleno for the rest of my life.  It is vibrant, full of incredible history, personalities and communities, and a trip around this city often feels like a trip around the world.  And I love working as an organizer here: it presents constant tests in getting to know the city’s people and communities, in understanding its complex story and history of activism, and developing an understanding of the difficulties we face moving towards the future.  

When you look at climate change and Los Angeles, there is a complex story to tell.  LA is the second largest city in the US, plunked down in the middle of a parched environment, and we face tremendous challenges.  Increased heat waves (we just had our hottest day on record last week at 113 F), a shrinking water supply, air pollution, and a growing population that has sparked a scramble to supply our region with more power.  These are just a few challenges we face, and Los Angeles faces a moment of truth where we will need to decide on which path we want to travel.  

 

Will we make the right decisions about where we get our energy from?  How we commute?  Where we live?  How we use our resources?  And, to what extent will we stand up and fight for our future?

Los Angeles has a story.  Organizers tell stories.  I am thrilled to help tell a piece of the story of Los Angeles and climate change this Sunday at a large mobilization Greenpeace has helped to organize here: the Rally to Kick Coal and Oil Out of Los Angeles.  On Sunday, we expect at least hundreds (fingers crossed for thousands!) to turn out on the lawn of Los Angeles City Hall to demand a clean energy future that will break us from the grip of the coal and oil industries that our city is entirely too dependent on. Our event will be a part of a larger, history-making event called CicLaVia, which will shut down 7.5 miles of street on Sunday for Angelenos to reclaim this public space from cars and celebrate our community together.

Our current situation is unacceptable, and our city deserves so much more.  On Sunday, passionate community members, environmental groups, justice groups, and public health advocates will rally together to demand our future back from the coal and oil industries that pocket the money we pay for power and use it to fight public health, safety, and environmental standards from City Hall to Washington D.C.  Attending will be activists who are pushing City Hall and the Department of Water and Power get us off of coal-fired power once and for all so that we can generate clean and efficient power right here in LA that will create jobs for our people.  Activists who are building a local movement to push for EPA regulations on coal.  Activists who are working to clean up the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.  Activists who are fighting to hold the oil companies accountable who have poisoned their communities by placing oil fields in their backyards.  Activists who are battling oil companies that have the audacity to fund Proposition 23 on November’s ballot, which if passed, will destroy our state’s air pollution and climate protection law.  

Lastly, we will have activists like you-people from all over Los Angeles who understand that our future is worth much, much more than a big fat paycheck handed over to dirty corporate polluters.  People who understand that inaction is not an option.  On our darkest days, when the future looks very grim and we may have nothing else to hold to, we will still have our voices, we will still have each other, and we must still have the will to rise up together and demand more.  I hope you will join us on Sunday to help us build and strengthen this movement.

Photo of Los Angeles by Flickr User Storm Crypt.

Live from the campaign trail, check out this blog from Natalie Bogle, Frontline Campaign Fellow.  Based in San Francisco, Natalie has been closely following the Paradise Forest work Greenpeace activists are doing.  Natalie has a secret love for pygmy elephants and corporate responsibility.

The grassoots momentum builds as activists across the country urge Pizza Hut to stop sourcing palm oil from the forest-destroying company Sinar Mas.

While companies such as Unilever, Kraft, Nestle, HSBC and most recently Burger King have all committed to phase out Sinar Mas and its subsidiaries from their supply chains, Pizza Hut has yet to follow suit. Even after recent news that the conglomerate may be suspended from the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO).

Concerned customers are leaving comments on Pizza Hut’s Facebook fan page. As you can see from the Facebook convo below, Pizza Hut claims they stopped sourcing palm oil from Sinar Mas and it’s subsidiaries back in April. That would be great, but unfortunately when asked to show proof the company has failed to act.

 

The pizza chain has failed to formally respond to customer concerns so activists continue to put pressure on the company. Check out the video below that activists in Costa Mesa, CA made.

 

 

 

Click here to leave a comment on Pizza Hut’s Facebook fan page.

Every year in Indonesia 4.5 million acres of rainforest are destroyed to make way for plantations such as palm oil. Let’s save the Paradise Forests- tell Pizza Hut to cut their contracts with Sinar Mas, prove it and end this deep dish destruction!

 

Do it for the tree kangaroos!  

 

This is a nice start. The Obama administration announced today that they will be bringing solar panels back onto the White House roof---decades after Ronald Reagan had removed the ones that Jimmy Carter had originally put up, but just in time to build momentum for the 10/10/10 Global Work Party this weekend!

Check out the video below, via Brad Johnson of the Wonk Room, of this morning’s announcement from Secretary of Energy Steven Chu at the GreenGov symposium:

 

Secretary Chu specifically cited the symbolic nature of this project as a larger sign of “America’s commitment to a clean energy future.” Bill McKibben of 350.org, who has led this effort and personally lobbied the Obama administration in this regards as part of the Solar Road Show, likewise sees the power of this symbolism, and said in a statement that if “it has anything like the effect of the White House garden, it could be a trigger for a wave of solar installations across the country and around the world.” This isn’t a singular action either, as John Broder of the New York Times reports that this “announcement is part of a broader administration push to promote renewable energy and reduce emissions of climate altering gases produced by fossil fuels.” Which is great, because as nice as this is, they should really put solar panels on every government building...

Nevertheless, this is certainly a good step for the climate movement, and comes in combination with the wide promotion of green jobs at the One Nation Working Together march this weekend. These victories both are building momentum for us all to be Working Together for Green Work, and couldn’t come at a better time in anticipation of the 10/10/10 Global Work Party.

The climate movement has an increasing amount to be enthusiastic about these days, with that much more motivation to Get to Work ourselves. In that vain, you can help keep this momentum going by RSVPing for a local work party in your area today!

 

Joining with 350.org and fifteen other partners, Greenpeace will kick off the fight for a coal-free Massachusetts on 10/10/10. Across the state, people will attend work parties in their communities to start building a clean energy future. At 3:30, hundreds of concerned citizens will join together at the Massachusetts Statehouse to ask our elected officials to get to work on global warming.

The festivities kick off at 3:30 with music from Melodeego (www.melodeego.com).

Become part of the solution!

RSVP  today at http://www.350.org/en/node/17692.

Greetings from East Lansing, MI, home of Michigan State University and Sparty the Spartan - their mascot. Also home of the motto: "Be Spartan Green." As Michigan State students are beginning to learn, the Spartans aren't really that green. Why? Well, because they have a campus coal plant burning 75,000 tons of dirty coal each year.

I am here this week visiting Michigan State students in the organization MSU Greenpeace, a group whose sole mission is to transition away from burning dirty, dangerous coal on campus and get with the 21st century times - aka, transition to clean, renewable energy like wind and solar. Last night students hosted a screening of the film Dirty Business: Clean Coal and the Battle for Our Energy Future, narrated by Rolling Stone Magazine's contributing editor and renowned author Jeff Goodell. Mr. Goodell is joined us following the film for a Skype video Q&A. Speaking with students for about 30 minutes, Mr. Goodell addressed the hilarity of clean coal - hilarious because it does not exist! He also commended the students for standing up and challenging their administration to power past coal.

It was an incredible evening. Students ended the night with an inspirational speech by student leader Tabitha Skervin. She called on students to mobilize for their planet, and join a march from the campus coal plant to administration building this coming Sunday on 10/10/10.

Michigan State's 10/10/10 march to quit coal comes at a crucial time. The university is failing to disclose vital information about its plans to address energy needs on campus, including how to transition past coal on campus. Why is Michigan State keeping students in the dark? Why does the university not want student input regarding the dirty campus coal plant?

Whether you're at Michigan State or whether your university is great a greenwashing and tells you that they are doing a lot for the planet - the bottom line is this: If you have a coal plant burning dirty coal on campus, it is your obligation to your student community, this generation, future generations, and our planet Earth to do everything possible to make some noise and call for the renewable energy future you desperately deserve.

On 10/10/10, Michigan State students will demand transparency from their administration, and show overwhelming support to quit coal and transition to 100% renewable energy on campus. Will you join Michigan State in the fight to quit dirty coal?

Sign up to attend at 10/10/10 event here.

 

I don’t normally spend my Sunday mornings cleaning rooftops, but yesterday I did just that. I had the pleasure of helping a wonderful group of local volunteers who, in anticipation of the 10/10/10 Global Work Party, did their part to address climate change.

Brooms in hand, they swept and cleaned the roof of a building in Queens, NY, getting it ready for the two coats of white reflective paint it is slated to get later this week. Why white? Most city roofs are tar black, which in turn causes them to soak up the sun's energy and drive up energy costs, not to mention carbon emissions. 

  

The simple action of painting these roofs white is an easy way to lower both energy costs and carbon emissions. Energy Secretary Steven Chu said in July that it is “one of the quickest and lowest-cost ways we can begin the hard work of slowing climate change." By increasing these buildings' energy efficiency, we are taking important steps in reducing New York City's reliance on coal, the greatest contributor to global warming in the United States.

On 10/10/10, volunteers like the ones I met yesterday will be taking part in painting parties all over the city as a way of participating in the Global Work Party. On this day, people all over the world will join together to create the largest day of action on climate change to date. Thousands of events are planned in 140 countries. The goal is to send a messageto our leaders: “We’re getting to work, what about you?”

While the people I worked with yesterday all got connected to the cause in different ways, they had one obvious thing in common : they are passionate about helping in the fight to address climate change. I found it inspiring to hear their stories and to see them in action. By devoting just a few hours of their day, they took a step in the right direction.

Taking part in the White Roofs Project is only one example of how people are getting involved. Many diverse projects, from solar panels to community gardens, wind turbines to bike workshops, are planned all over the world.

So, where will you be this Sunday? You can get involved and help the movement by registering for a work party in your area.

 

The next time you decide to order from Pizza Hut, you should consider that they serve something not listed on their menu, something that is threatening a rare species in the bear community - large scale forest destruction.

We’ve all heard how rainforest  destruction is threatening orangutans and tigers, but the Bornean sun bear, which currently lives in Indonesia, is equally at risk.
Scientists fear the worst for this smallest member of the bear family, and estimate that their population has declined over 30% in the last three decades, making them the rarest species of bear on the planet.

photo by Flickr user ucumari

These bears already suffer from the effects of  illegal trade and poaching. However, it is the destruction of the Paradise Rainforests they call home that is putting them at risk of joining others on the endangered species list.

One company in particular, Sinar Mas, is doing more than its fair share of habitat destruction. This giant conglomerate is the largest palm oil company in the region, a notorious forest destroyer, and the major supplier of palm oil for none other than yours truly.

While companies like Burger King and Nestle have cut their ties with Sinar Mas, Pizza Hut continues to buy their palm oil, putting the sun bear's survival in jeopardy. They need to end their relationship with these irresponsible forest destroyers.

As sun bears lose their habitat, they begin to encroach on plantations in search of food where they are in turn persecuted by local communities. They are routinely killed because they feed on these palm oil plantations, destroying crops.

In the past ten years, Malaysia and Indonesia have been home to the largest conversion of rainforests to palm oil plantations in history. Indonesia has already lost 65% of its ancient forests.

Pizza Hut and other fast food chains have other options, and don’t have to purchase a product that destroys forests, puts animals in danger, and contributes to global warming.

Act now! Don’t let this rare bear be the next victim of reckless deforestation. Tell Pizza Hut to end its relationship with Sinar Mas, and to give this precious animal a fighting chance.

 

Follow Greenpeace on twitter @greenpeaceusa, and me @alvarez_alex

    The coal industry has learned a lot of tricks from Big Oil. Like BP claiming to be “beyond petroleum,” the coal industry has spent hundreds of millions to convince Americans that coal can be clean. But the truth is that coal devastates communities at every step along the way—from the mine to the smokestack, and we have a dinosaur of a coal plant right in our backyard.

    The Salem Harbor coal plant is over 50 years old and is the third largest emitter of greenhouse gases in Massachusetts. Despite the fact that Congress continues to delay on passing comprehensive legislation to tackle the looming threats of climate change, we can do something right here and right now. Gov. Patrick should join with the citizens of Massachusetts and shut down this outdated and dangerous plant.

    Recently, we spent a great day in Salem touring the town and checking out the Salem Harbor coal plant at the invitation of the local group SAFE (http://www.salemsafe.org/).  It’s amazing that this eyesore sits right beside the docks where tourists come in on ferries. Dominion, who owns the plant, has put up a large fence and tarp to block off the coal ash pools and mountain of coal that is imported in from Columbia. These pools contain heavy metals and other dangerous compounds. We noticed a tear in the covering and looked through to see migrating mallard ducks swimming in the toxic water.


    Get involved today! On October 10th, Greenpeace and its partners will hold a rally at the Massachusetts Statehouse to show our support for clean energy and a coal-free Massachusetts. Please go to http://www.350.org/greenpeaces-101010-global-work-party and RSVP.