Protesters Storm Chain-Linked Fence of Coal Plant

Climate Activists Charge the Fence of a Coal Energy Plant in the United Kingdom in a series of protests leading up to the U.N. Climate Convention in Copenhagen in January, 2010.

Senior Citizens March Against Mountain Top Removal

Our friend Flux Rostrum has posted this video of a rally and march against Mountain Top Removal (MTR) going on over a five day period in West Virginia. Starting at the Capitol steps, senior members of ILoveMountains, Christians for the Mountains, and others have taken to the streets.

Jesse Johnson, the Green Party's 2008 Gubernatorial candidate was on hand and has described a growing tension between the marchers and coal workers. We'll update when we get more news.

Sierra Club's Anti-Coal Campaign Serves This Dish of Humor

The National Sierra Club ad campaign targets schools in 11 states which currently rely on coal power.

* Indiana University-Bloomington
* Indiana University of Pennsylvania
* Lewis and Clark
* Ohio University
* Penn State University
* SUNY-Binghamton
* University of Colorado - Boulder
* University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
* University of Georgia
* University of Iowa
* University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
* University of Missouri-Columbia
* University of North Dakota
* University of Southern California
* University of Washington
* Virginia Tech
* Washington University-St. Louis

It offers a petition website for students.

Greenpeace and Supervisor Take Off Gloves to Fight Global Warming

San Francisco Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, who champions many city-based green initiatives, most notably the ban on plastic bags in San Francisco, spoke at City Hall on May 27 where Greenpeace presented a new report that showed the green-leaning state of California is still a leading emitter of global warming pollution. After the press conference, the organizers marched over to the office of House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi to deliver 30,000 petitions urging Congress to implement stronger measures to prevent global warming.

Calling the situation “urgent” in this video, Mirkarimi gave a rallying cry to Californians to reduce our carbon footprint. “California is the poster child for what is not going right in terms of carbon emissions, the Supervisor said. "It is our responsibility socially, culturally, philosophically, feduciarily and environmentally that we lead the pack.”



State Assemblyman Tom Ammanio provided a statement calling for leadership from Congress. “Despite California's efforts, we are still ranked second in the nation for the highest amount of global warming emissions. Giving lip service to renewable energy or simply talking green will not be enough – we need strong committed leadership that will call for significant reductions and progressive environmental standards. This report should act as a wake-up call to all of us.”

The America's Share of the Climate Crisis report released by Greenpeace reveals that California emitted more global warming pollution from fossil fuel consumption between 1960 and 2005 than 170 of the 184 countries studied. The report also finds that the US:

• exceeds all other nations in cumulative emissions since 1960, accounting for nearly 26 per cent of all the global warming pollution emitted in that period.
• emitted more CO2 than 171 of 184 countries combined.
• in California alone produces 6.7 times higher emissisons than China and 60 times more than Kenya.

The Greenpeace report states that despite President Obama's calls for stronger climate legislation and $80 billion of economic stimulus funds to develop clean, renewable energy, these measures fall short of meeting the requirements necessary to avert a climate catastrophe.

Earlier this month, Greenpeace called out these "conservative" Democrats for supporting the whittling away of the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES) to relieve dirty energy providers of a capital crunch that would otherwise likely kill the coal-energy industry.

Greenpeace USA Executive Director Phil Radford issued the following statement:

“Despite the best efforts of Chairman Waxman, this bill has been seriously undermined by the lobbying of industries more concerned with profits than the plight of our planet. While science clearly tells us that only dramatic action can prevent global warming and its catastrophic impacts, this bill has fallen prey to political infighting and industry pressure. We cannot support this bill in its current state. We call on President Obama and leaders in Congress to get back to work and produce a bill, based on science, which presents a clear road map for significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions, transforms our economy with clean, renewable energy technology, generates new green jobs and shows real leadership internationally.”

One of the chief concerns that critics of the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES) have is that it gives legacy energy providers, such as coal, 60 per cent of the money generated in a carbon market compared to the 18 percent allotted to renewable providers such as wind and solar. This higher allowance to traditional energy providers disincentivize a quicker shift to renewable energy from a monetary point-of-view.

We are actually pretty worried about it,” says Matt Cheney, CEO of Renewable Venture. “It’s basically saying that by virtue of having polluted you now have the right to pollute in the new cap and trade program,” Cheney says.

According to the graph below, amendments to the ACES have had a coincidentally beneficial impact on the stock prices of the coal industry, as this graph show.




Links:

• America's Share of the Climate Crisis Report
• Aces Low for the Solar Industry
• Critique of Waxman-Markey Climate Bill
• Coal Stocks Surge Mirrors Climate Bill Concessions
  

Grassroots Ad Takes Aim at Congressional Reps

The preamble to this direct activist message to Congress addresses Congressional Reps Ed Congressmen Edward Markey and Henry Waxman, holding them responsible for the tax money lost to coal companies in the stimulus package.
It goes on to say:

This is the Clean. Your recent congressional actions have been brought to our attention, and we are concerned about your leadership.

You have co-sponsored The Clean Energy Security Act. This bill is quickly becoming a giveaway to the coal and energy industry. It fails to stop global warming, fails to disentangle the US from unstable regions of the world, and fails to create an energy economy that enables sustainable and equitable economic prosperity...

The 2.5 minute piece hopes to persuade constituents to call their Congress people and urge them to close the wallet on the coal companies. How effective do you think it is?

EPA pulls the plug on Desert Rock Coal-Fired Power Plant

In a dramatic move yesterday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) withdrew the air quality permit it issued last summer for the Desert Rock coal-fired power plant, which is slated to be built on the Navajo Nation in the Four Corners region just southwest of Farmington, New Mexico.

Critics from the Navajo Nation who looked upon the power plant as a beneficial to the community accused the U.S. Government of breaking yet another treaty, while state officials attest that the proposed coal-fired burning plant would have, by itself,

Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley said that the decision was further proof that the U.S. government fails to uphold its agreements with the First Nation People.

“I have people dying every day because of poverty, alcoholism, drug abuse, domestic violence, gangs, and the U.S. Government is not there to adequately fund the direct service programs that cater to these needs,” he said.

New Mexico Environment Department Secretary Ron Curry said that, “Air emissions from Desert Rock would have singlehandedly undone our state’s climate change initiatives.”

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Ashley Judd Rails Against Mountain Top Removal

During the I Love Mountains rally in Frankfort on Feb. 17, 2009, actor Ashley Judd took the podium to speak out against mountain top removal mining and in support of the Stream Saver Bill in this video.

(video courtesy of David Stephensen, Lexington Herald-Leader)

West Virginia Gubernatorial Debate 2 0f 4 Held in Bedroom Community - Protesters Greet Candidates

West Virginia 2008 Gubernatorial Debate - Hedgesville from Polidoc on Vimeo.
This debate was the second of four gubernatorial debates held in West Virginia last week between incumbent Governor Joe Manchin, Senator Russ Weeks, and Mountain Party candidate for Governor Jesse Johnson.

Blocked out of the first and only statewide network televised gubernatorial debate, the balloted third party candidate Jesse Johnson shakes a few leaves off that two-party tree in this one hour debate held in Hedgesville, West Virginia. This debate was hosted by WEPM, a news/sports/talk radio station in West Virginia.

As the only candidate opposing Mountain Top Removal (MTR), Johnson provided relief to the protesting environmentalists in the crowd, many of whom had come to voice their objections to "The Path", a high-voltage power line that would carve a 10,000 acre line through private properties in order to accelerate delivery of coal-powered energy to the East Coast states. While "the Path" is a federally mandated program, many see the current Governor as complicit in the sacrifice of West Virginia for the use of energy corporations.

There are a couple of interesting points to observe in the radio station's reporting of the debate on its website, the most important of which is the exclusion of the discussion of MTR. A recent poll indicated that most West Virginians are against MTR, as well they should be given the level of contaminants dumped into the headwaters by profit-driven coal companies and the ensuing air pollution created by the burning of the coal. Instead, the station reported that the retention of teachers was the major topic discussed, which, while provocative, was not the heated point of opposition during the debate.

Hedgesburg is about a 5 hour drive from the state capitol Charleston and it sits in the upper east panhandle. It was once a sleepy rural area but has become a booming bedroom community for Washington D.C. commuters, who are transient in their commitment to West Virginia and unaware of the rest of the state's history. The state's history with coal mining has effected its politics for generations. It was a state made up of company towns in which a culture of obedience and isolation made it difficult for people to organize. This foundation of corporate control still permeates and aggravates the already dire conditions in which many live in the mid and Southern sections of the state.

One might wonder why the debate was not held in a more populated area so that the theater that held four hundred might at least be a quarter filled. Then again, it might be all too evident.