change the dream.

Competing Narratives: Empire and Earth Community

2012-01-12T17:51:00.003-05:00

I was flipping through an old book and found the following passage is way to applicable not to share. I highly recommend this book, as it was instrumental in shaping my understanding of the crisis we are in, as well as the transformation in which I believe we are now taking part.

“The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community, ” by David Korten

Competing Narratives

Empire and Earth Community flow from sharply contrasting worldviews. The narrative of Empire, which emphasizes the demonstrated human capacity for hatred, exclusion, competition, domination, and violence in the pursuit of domination, assumes humans are incapable of responsible self-direction and that social order must be imposed by coercive means. The narrative of Earth Community, which emphasizes the demonstrated human capacity for caring, compassion, cooperation, partnership, and community in the service of life, assumes a capacity for responsible self-direction and self-organization and thereby the possibility of creating radically democratic organizations and societies. These narratives represent two sides of a psychic tension that resides within each of us. One focuses on that which divides us and leads to ear and often violent competition. The other focuses on that which unites us and leads to trust and cooperation.

These competing tendencies are expressed in the tension between the feminine predisposition to bond for mutual protection in the face of danger and the masculine predisposition to fight or take flight. Yet while one tendency or the other may be more fully expressed ina given individual or sociey, both reside in each of us -- male or female-- which helps to account for the wide variety of the human experience. Healthy social function depends on maintaining a balance between these tendencies. Empire’s five thousand years of male domination demonstrate the tragic consequences of imbalance.

The competing narratives are also reflected int he range of qualities attributed to God in different cultures. At one extreme is the wrathful God of Empire who demands exclusive loyalty, favors one people over another, lives apart from his creation, rules through anointed earthly representatives, and extracts a terrible vengeance on his enemies and the unbelievers. At the other extreme is the universal loving God/dess of Earth Community, the intrinsic, omnipresent living Spirit beyond gender that manifests itself in every aspect of Creation.

Love and fear are both integral to our human nature and necessary for our full development. Love is a binding spiritual force that opens our minds and hearts to life’s creative possibilities. Fear alerts us to real dangers and focuses our attention to ensure that we do not neglect our own survival needs. However, when fear awakens our defenses, it also evokes our capacity for violence, including violence against those we love. How we resolve the tension between love and fear has major consequences for the course of our lives - and our politics. The deep democracy of egalitarian civic engagement that is integral to Earth Community necessarily depends on a mature sense of mutual trust, responsibility and caring.

Decolonize Thanksgiving

2011-11-21T01:49:00.002-05:00

Occupy the Media

2011-11-08T13:53:00.003-05:00

Here are just a few of my favorite recent videos related to the Occupy Movement.

John Ford - Occupy Boston Librarian (Kinetic Typography)

"We stopped into Occupy Boston filming for the documentary "Bailout: The Dukes of Moral Hazard" to talk with John Ford, the local librarian, about the Occupy Wallstreet Movement. Here's a short clip of what he had to say about the movement."

John Ford: Occupy Boston Librarian from Endless Eye on Vimeo.

Colbert Super PAC - Occupy Wall Street Co-Optportunity

If Dick Armey's FreedomWorks can co-opt the Tea Party, then the Colbert Super PAC can co-opt Occupy Wall Street.

The Colbert Report

Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Colbert Super PAC - Occupy Wall Street Co-Optportunity

www.colbertnation.com

Colbert Report Full Episodes

Political Humor & Satire Blog

Video Archive

Colbert Super PAC - Stephen Colbert Occupies Occupy Wall Street

Hilarius and such a great look into the OWS movement. And I love Ketchup!

Stephen heads to Wall Street to gain the trust of Occupy Wall Street protesters and take over the movement. (07:20)

The Colbert Report

Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Colbert Super PAC - Stephen Colbert Occupies Occupy Wall Street Pt. 1

www.colbertnation.com

Colbert Report Full Episodes

Political Humor & Satire Blog

Video Archive

Stephen presents the dramatic conclusion of his Occupy Wall Street co-occupation.

The Colbert Report

Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Colbert Super PAC - Stephen Colbert Occupies Occupy Wall Street Pt. 2

www.colbertnation.com

Colbert Report Full Episodes

Political Humor & Satire Blog

Video Archive

Josh Kahn Russell mic check at OWS 11/6: Tar Sands Action

An animated Joshua Kahn Russell spoke about the plan to encircle the White House on Sunday, Nov. 6 to stop the Keystone XL pipeline. Here's Russell's speech at OWS:

Tim DeChristopher Letter read at Occupy Wall St. 11/5: Tar Sands Action

Incarcerated climate activist Tim DeChristopher made a written appearance at Climate Action day at #OWS. DeChristopher encourages occupiers to protest the proposed tar sands pipeline in DC on November 6th. You can read his entire letter here - http://www.peacefuluprising.org/tims-call-to-join-nov-6-tar-sands-action-2011...

Occupy Boston - The Beauty of Unity - 10.15.11

"Trying to capture the beauty of unity. There are too many police brutality videos out there that defeats the purpose of this movement. This is how I see the revolution. "
[music: The Album Leaf]

Consensus is a beautiful thing

2011-10-14T15:05:00.002-04:00

This is the nature of the popular uprising that is the Occupy movement: it's a process, not a protest- people actually communicating and co-creating without hierarchal organization. This is how we peacefully disassemble the pyramid out from under those who would rather stay on top.

Peace, Love and Revolution. We are all in this together.

The Hopi Ten

2011-10-13T22:51:00.003-04:00

Chumash elder Choqosh Auh-ho-oh was some years ago summoned by a prestigious group of Hopi elders. They told her they have a message for her to share.

They said, "

You've been telling people the 11th hour is approaching. Tell them it is here, and there are things to be considered."

They gave her a 10-point Hopi Checklist to consider:

1. Where do you live (not just geographically)?

2. What is it that you do?

3. How are your relationships?

4. Are you in right relation with the Earth?

5. Where is your water?

6. Know your garden (and nature around you).

7. Speak your truth; it is time now.

8. Be good to each other.

9. Don't look outside yourself for the leader.

10.This could be a good time.

Decolonize Your Mind

2011-10-09T03:19:00.020-04:00

It is with a grateful heart and hope for this movement, that I report that the Occupy Boston General Assembly has ratified a memorandum of solidarity with indigenous peoples. It was an honor to be part of the drafting committee for this resolution, and I am extremely grateful to all who supported this decision to found the future deliberations and decisions of this movement on this necessary bedrock of respect and healing intentions. Below is the complete text of the resolution, followed by an elaboration of personal thoughts I have had related to these issues. Please note that beyond the language of the resolution contained directly below, all statements and opinions contained herein shall not be construed as official statements or opinions of “Occupy Boston.”

The following resolution was passed by the Occupy Boston General Assembly on October 8th, 2011:

RESOLUTION: Memorandum of Solidarity with Indigenous Peoples

WHEREAS, those participating in “Occupy Boston” acknowledge that the United States of America is a colonial country, and that we are guests upon stolen indigenous land that has already been occupied for centuries, Boston being the ancestral land of the Massachusett people; and

WHEREAS, members of the First Nations have continued to resist the violent oppression and exploitation of the colonizers since they first arrived on this continent, and as a result have a great amount of experience that could strengthen this movement; and

WHEREAS, after centuries of disregard for the welfare of future generations, and the consistent disrespect and exploitation of the Earth, we find ourselves on a polluted and disturbed planet, lacking the wisdom to live sustainably at peace with the community of Life; therefore be it

RESOLVED, That we seek the involvement of the First Nations in the rebuilding of a new society on their ancestral land; and

As a signal to the national “Occupy” movement and to members of First Nations who have felt excluded by the colonialist language used to name this movement, it shall be declared that “Occupy Boston” aspires to “Decolonize Boston” with the guidance and participation of First Nations Peoples; and

Extending an open hand of humility and friendship, we hereby invite members of the First Nations to join us in this popular uprising now taking place across this continent. We wish to further the process of healing and reconciliation and implore Indigenous Peoples to share their wisdom and guidance, as they see fit, so as to help us restore true freedom and democracy and initiate a new era of peace and cooperation that will work for everyone, including the Earth and the original inhabitants of this land; and

We hereby declare that Columbus Day should be referred to as “Indigenous Peoples’ Day.”

It has taken centuries of playing out a story of domination and exploitation for many to realize what the people most consistently oppressed during this time have known all along: that this game will not last. As the pyramid economy tumbles down and oil-addicted machinations scour the land in their final and devastating death-throws, (ie. Tar Sands, Fracking, MTR), we find ourselves with the opportunity and motivation to start building a new society which honors and heals the Earth and all of its inhabitants.

It seems as though everything is falling apart around us. It's become readily apparent that it's time to build something radically different. However, many of us living in America today have little experience to draw upon, lacking precedence for a society based on anything but selfish greed and destruction of the natural world. If we are to transform the broken pieces of our nation into a body that functions and heals on all levels, who better to turn to for guidance and leadership in creating this new society than those who have resisted the now ailing and awkward machine since it first arrived on this continent, and who maintain our most recent connection to a mode of consciousness and way of life that actually works?

Thousands are currently occupying public spaces in Boston and cities across the country in solidarity with those occupying Wall Street: the seat and symbol of western financial power. The 99% are uniting against the 1% who have concentrated wealth and influence over our lives. Those on top of this pyramid have played out their roles in a story of exploitation and domination that has lasted many generations. Now this story is coming to a close, and we have an opportunity to write a new story: one that works for everyone, including Mother Earth, the original inhabitants of this continent, and other historically oppressed and underrepresented people.

Further, let us recognize the fact that America is already being occupied, and that we are guests upon stolen indigenous land. As noted by native activists and bloggers, by calling this an “occupation” without recognizing the historical context and legacy we are part of, we are inadvertently disrespecting and excluding a long-marginalized segment of the 99%. If we are going to build a new society, and break the cycle of colonialism and oppression, it is only right that we seek the consent and participation of indigenous populations in any foundational change we may pursue on their ancestral lands.

We must decolonize our minds and decolonize the “Occupy” movement, meaning we must realize the historical context of this movement, and examine the underlying assumptions on which we base our understandings of the world and possible solutions we will chose to manifest, lest we recreate a new society based on same old systems of deeply ingrained oppression and systematic violence. As explained in the #decolonizewallstreet flier copied below, “colonization continues to this day, with indigenous communities across the globe still under attack. To dismantle corporate greed and imagine a different world we must make connections between the histories of colonialism, genocide, capitalism, human trafficking, globalization, racism, imperialism, ecocide, patriarchy and so much more.” This is what is meant by “Decolonizing” our minds and our movement. We must recognize and cast off the colonialist mindset.

As Columbus Day approaches, we should celebrate not the exploits of the famous rapist and slave-trader, but rather, celebrate in solidarity with the descendents of the original Americans, who continue to resist cultural oppression and the ongoing exploits of our most destructive industries. Let us reflect on 519 years of indigenous resistance with gratitude and hope!

Over the past several decades, as wealth has become concentrated in a world with dwindling finite resources, the majority have now become the target of the top 1%. Members of the First Nations have continued to resist the violent oppression and exploitation of the Empire since it first arrived on this continent, and therefore, along with the descendents of slaves and other long-oppressed peoples, have a great amount of guidance to provide to the rest of the 99%.

It is a well documented, albeit widely repressed aspect of American history, that the wisdom of the Iroquois Confederacy provided the foundational inspiration and guidance for American Freedom and Democracy as it was initially envisioned by the Founders of the United States. As noted by historian and healer David Yarrow, “the founding fathers found their best working model for their new government through their direct contact with the Iroquois League”, from their foundational symbols (the Tree of Peace/Liberty, and the Eagle clutching a bundle of arrows) to their “sophisticated political system founded on reason” as delivered in the Great Law of Peace. Unfortunately, these wisdoms were applied in a fractured and incomplete manner, without honor for the Sacred or for the original Americans who provided this wisdom. The ideas of “Freedom” and “Democracy” were then perverted by generations of immature and selfish empire-builders.

After centuries of disregard for the 7th Generation, and the consistent disrespect and exploitation of Mother Earth, we find ourselves on a polluted and disturbed planet, lacking the wisdom to live sustainably at peace with the community of Life in honor of the Sacred.

We, therefore, must once again turn to members of the First Nations for their consent and support in this transformational time. We must, first and foremost, do what we can to further the process of healing and reconciliation of our painful past, and invite our Older Brothers and Sisters to share their wisdom, guidance, and Original Instructions, as they see fit, so as to help restore true freedom and democracy and initiate a new era of peace and cooperation that will work for everyone, including Mother Earth and the original inhabitants of Turtle Island.

The Legacy of Columbus

2011-10-09T03:16:00.003-04:00

Below is an excerpt from Thom Hartmann's book "The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight." This book transformed my view of the problems facing our world, and as Daniel Quinn (author of "Ishmael") put it, it's "A wake-up call, loud and clear, that must literally be heard round the world."

On this Columbus Day, I share the following passage, for your consideration:

"Christopher Columbus not only opened the door to a New World, but also set an example for us all" - George H.W. Bush (b. 1924), 1989 speech

If you fly over the island of Hispaniola off Haiti, the island on which Columbus landed, it looks like somebody took a blowtorch and burned away anything green. Even the ocean around the capital of Port-au-Prince is choked for miles with the brown of human sewage and eroded topsoil. From the air, it looks like a lava flow spilling over into the sea.

The history of this small island is, in many ways, a microcosm for whats happening in the whole world.

When Columbus first landed on Hispaniola in 1492, almost the entire island was covered by lush forest. The Taino "Indians" who lived there had an idyllic life prior to Columbus, from the reports left to us by literate members of Columbus's crew, such as Miguel Cuneo.

When Columbus and his crew arrived on their second visit to Hispaniola, however, they took captive about sixteen hundred local villagers who had come out to greet them. Cuneo wrote; "When our ships... were to leave for Spain, we gathered... one thousand six hundred male and female persons of those Indians, and of these we embarked in our ships on February 17, 1495.... For those who remained, we let it be known [to the Spaniards who manned the island's fort] in the vicinity that anyone who wanted to take some of them could do so, to the amount desired, which was done."

Cuneo further notes that he himself took a beautiful teenage Carib girl as his personal slave, a gift from Columbus himself, but that when he attempted to have sex with her, she "resisted with all her strength." So, in his own words, he "thrashed her mercilessly and raped her."

It was a common reward for Columbus's men for him to present them with local women to rape. As he began exporting Taino as slaves to other parts of the world, the sex-slave trade became an important part of the business, as Columbus wrote to a friend in 1500: "A hundred castellanoes [a Spanish coin] are as easily obtained for a woman as for a farm, and it is very general and there plenty of dealers who go about looking for girls; those from nine to ten [years old] are now in demand."

While Columbus once referred to the Taino Indians as cannibals, there was then and today still is no evidence that this was so. It was apparently a story made up by Columbus-- which is to this day still taught in some U.S. schools -- to help justify his slaughter and enslavement of the people. He wrote to the Spanish monarchs in 1493: "It is possible, with the name of the Holy Trinity, to sell all the slaves which it is possible to sell.... Here there are so many of these slaves, and also brazilwood, that although they are living things they are as good as gold."

However, the Taino turned out not to be particularly good workers in the plantations that the Spaniards and later the French established on Hispaniola: they resented their lands and children being taken, and attempted to fight back against the invaders. Since the Taino were obviously standing in the way of Spain's progress, Columbus sought to impost discipline on them. For even a minor offense, an Indian's nose or ear was cut off, so he could go back to his village to impress the people with the brutality the Spanish were capable of. Columbus attacked them with dogs, skewered them on poles from anus to mouth, and shot them. Eventually, life for the Taino became so unbearable that, as Pedro de Cordoba wrote to King Ferdinand in a 1517 letter, "As a result of the sufferings and hard labor they endured, the Indians choose and have chosen suicide. Occasionally a hundred have committed mass suicide. The women, exhausted by labor, have shunned conception and childbirth.... Many, when pregnant, have taken something to abort and have aborted. Others after delivery have killed their children with their own hands, so as not to leave them in such oppressive slavery."

Eventually, Columbus, and later his brother Bartholomew Columbus, whom he left in charge of the island, simply resorted to wiping out the Taino altogether. Prior to Columbus's arrival, most scholars place the population of Haiti/Hispaniola at around 300,000 people. By 1496, it was down to 110,000, according to a census done by Bartholomew Columbus. By 1516, the indigenous population was 12,000, and according to Las Casas (who were there), by 1542 fewer than 200 natives were alive. By 1555, every single one was dead. (Today not a single Taino is alive: their culture, people, and genes have vanished from the planet.)

As the transplanted population of slaves brought from Africa grew in Haiti, people began cutting the forests to create farmland and to use the trees as firewood for cooking and boiling water. As a result, today trees cover less than 1 percent of Haiti. The denuded land, exposed to rainfall and runoff sped up by the slope of the country's hills, has been so thoroughly eroded that it has mixed with sewage and carried the stain a full four miles out to sea from Port-au-Prince. Millions of people are crowded into the cities, where they provide a ready pool of ultra-cheap labor for multinational corporations, as well as cheap domestic help and inexpensive child and adult prostitutes for the European and American managers of those corporate interests and occasional tourist.

The legacy of Columbus is that life in Haiti is more than poor, it is desperate. As much as 16 hours a day are spent by the average country-dweller in search of food or firewood, and an equal amount of time is spent by city-dwellers in search of money or edible garbage. Diseases ranging from cholera to AIDS run rampant through the overcrowded population.

While Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere, it is not unique. The Dominican Republic, which shares the island, is moving in the same direction, as is much of the rest of Central and South America.

Ideas are shared experiences

2011-09-24T01:10:00.007-04:00

I can't believe I didn't know about Reggie Watts until now... totally blew me away. Thank you, Reality Sandwich.

Ideas are shared experiences, and people have gifts to be able to channel them into a clear format. - Reggie Watts

From Reality Sandwich:

In this RS clip, Daniel Pinchbeck and comedian Reggie Watts discuss idea frequencies and planetary change at The Lovin' Cup restaurant in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The two provacateurs talk about comedy, philosophy, psychedelics, and where Reggie Watts will be when December 21st, 2012 rolls around.

If, like me, you are not too familiar with Reggie Watts' work, enjoy:

"Binary Existence"

"It's Only Life/Primary Tracks"

Up to my knees in toxic oil waste...

2011-09-12T16:40:00.023-04:00

[This is a continuation of an earlier post ("With my own eyes") I made while I was down in Ecuador. I wrote this while I was there, but was waiting on some pictures before I posted]

You have to be aware of where you’re putting your weight. Test the ground before you put it down with each step. Use the fallen branches, roots and organic debris to help distribute your mass, sort of like snow shoes. One hasty step or misplaced, and you’ll be knee deep or even hip high in a mixture of crude oil, asphalt and water. And just like with quicksand - if you do go down, your best bet is to throw your weight forward or back so as to not find out how deep the pool is. And be sure to remember your Tyvek suit, volatile organics respirator, big rubber boots and gloves, and a whole lot of duct tape.

Do this while trying to spot and recognize dozens of plants and mushrooms, large and small, passing new samples to your team mates who are out on the surface of the oil pool with you, digital cameras and notebooks in (oily) hand. This was my life for three long days.

We were performing an ecological survey to begin answering these questions: In these toxic environments left behind in the Amazon rainforest by negligent oil companies decades ago, what is growing? Which plant and fungal species are tolerant of or even thrive in the oil waste? Which species are colonizing this most inhospitable blemish in the process of succession? And ultimately, how can we work with them to further this healing?

Life is beautiful and persistent, even on top of this layer of aged asphalt and oil waste.

These are big questions to ask, and many grad students could surely be flown under them. Two of our team members (Julia and Megan) are currently in school, and will be using this initial field research as ground to pursue further, more extensive work. I was most interested in seeing what species of fungi were growing on or near the oil waste. Could these be possible allies in future efforts of mycoremediation?

We set up a series of randomly-placed two meter circles over the surface of three “piscinas” (pools). Some circles were right in the middle of the swimming pool-sized pits, some were along the edges. We would then tread carefully on the viscous surface of the pool to catalogue each plant and fungal species we could find in each circle. None of us are botanists or mushroom experts, so we ended up making up our own names for

specimens we found, like “elephant ear,” “spiral” and “orange cup.” They were all numbered, photographed and documented for later identification.Megan (pictured right) was the one with the notebook who cataloged the species, and by the end of it, she could identify plants by number within a fraction of a second (walks through the jungle were fun, afterwards, with her calmly acknowledging each familiar friend with the number or “name” we had used).

It was difficult work, and as described above, it was kind of sketchy. We really have no idea what is in that brew of drilling waste and crude. It was surely dangerous, but such is science!

Fortunately I didn’t get too much contamination on my skin, although some of the questionable water leaked through my poorly-duct taped boot on the second day. I did have one close call when my foot sunk in way more then expected (up to about my knee). When I pulled it out, it wasn’t just covered in dirty water or a little asphaltene like before, but in glistening, flowing crude oil! I had stepped into a pool of oil that was coming out of some sort of drainage pipe. This pool is 30 years old, and there is somehow still fresh-looking oil pouring into it.

Staring at the bubbling crude and picking it up with our gloves, it really hit us. WTF. This was the most beautiful tropical rainforest and the oil companies came in here and messed it all up for a quick buck. It’s still being contaminated, even as we stand here.

It’s interesting to me to reflect on our work ethic, as a team. Four of us were out there on the oil pools. These were long days in stuffy masks and Tyvek suits. We all worked our asses off and recorded a lot of information, and we didn’t have anyone in charge or supervising. We would take breaks here or there, sometimes just a few minutes to poke a termite mound with a stick. And then we’d continue with our work. It was a great example of a non-hierarchal, cooperative endeavor.

In the end we recorded more than 100 plant species and 50 fungal species (although there are likely some duplicates). We’re going to be working over the next few months to identify them all, with the help of university experts and online forums. There’s no telling what kind of valuable ecological information we may have harvested. We also identified a few recurring species of apparently petro-tolerant fungi. On future trips (and with more resources), we will seek to culture these species and use them in controlled experiments.

Much Love and Respect to the fearless Science Shack Crew!

It was an honor and a privilege to work with other members of the Amazon Mycorenewal Project to advance solutions for the oil-contaminated Amazon, and I look forward to continuing our efforts and expanding our mycelial network! If you’d like to support these efforts or join in on the next trip to Ecuador, please visit amazonmycorenewal.org.

Below are a some pictures of just a few of the interesting fungi we found in an around the toxic oil pit.

Seeds of Love and Outrage: Cultivating Resistance to the Tar Sands

2011-09-09T11:17:00.017-04:00

*The title of this post "Seeds of Love and Outrage" is a reference to a recent letter written by Tim Dechristopher, who is serving two years in prison for his unapologetic defense of the Earth.

I spent several hours sitting in front of the White House this past weekend. It was a nice day, save for a little rain. It happened that on that same day, 242 other everyday normal individuals (mothers, fathers, teachers, students, clergy, and even a WWII veteran) chose to sit there with me, calm and peaceful, in front of the of the Presidential Mansion.

I then spent the next several hours sitting on a bus, in handcuffs.

I was arrested as a willing participant in Tar Sands Action, the largest act of civil disobedience in the U.S. since 1977, and the most sustained since the epic campaigns of the civil rights movement. During this two week sit-in, myself and 1251 other conscious individuals allowed ourselves to be arrested in order to raise awareness of the choice that our President has to make on the Keystone XL oil sands pipeline. The decision is his alone. He can choose to “stand up to Big Oil,” as he had promised he would do and deny a permit for the oil company TransCanada to build a massive oil sands pipeline across our border. Or he can fold under the demands of first class corporate citizens and commit us all to liquidating the most environmentally destructive source of oil on the planet, thereby taking our addiction to a new low.

When the Park Police finally started binding us with plastic ziptiesand carting us off a few at a time, reality started to hit us. We were about to be bound and detained as a consequence of standing up (sitting down) for what we believe in. For many, this was about to be their first arrest. We began to chant and sing, to each other, to the President, to the Police. For some of us, the singing soothed our anxieties, and raised the vibrations during the long wait while “our friends took us away” (as one song lyric reminded us). (For those wondering, the charge we were arrested under was "Failure to disobey a lawful order" which resulted in a $100 fine.)

We were doing this for them and for everyone who enjoys clean air and a livable climate. The tar sands which are meant to flow down this pipeline represent an incredible threat to ancient ecosystems, native peoples, America’s drinking water and the Earth’s climate.

ABOUT THE KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE
(from a Cornell University report)

Under the forest in northern Alberta, Canada lie the world’s largest deposits of so-called “tar sands,” sand mixed with thick, tar-like oil. To produce one barrel of heavy crude oil from tar sands requires strip mining the forest, extracting four tons of earth, contaminating two to four barrels of fresh water, burning large amounts of natural gas, and creating vast holding ponds of toxic sludge. Production of this oil is increasing and a growing amount of it is already being shipped to the US.

The Keystone XL will be a 36-inch crude oil pipeline stretching nearly 2,000 miles from Alberta, Canada to terminals in Texas on the Gulf of Mexico. Tar sands oil heats to more than 150 degrees as it is pumped through at high pressure. It is designed to carry more than 800,000 barrels of crude oil extracted from tar sands to refineries in the US.

Oil industry corporations, The American Petroleum Institute, many politicians, and a few unions are urging the State Department to approve the Keystone XL pipeline, and the Obama Administration has indicated it will make a decision before the end of the year.

Here are the major reasons I oppose the Keystone XL Pipeline:

An area of Canada’s ancient Boreal Forest the size of Florida is being deforested, mined, boiled and squeezed (4 tons of earth for 1 barrel of oil) to produce an energy and carbon-intensive, low quality oil product, poisoning indigenous lands and bodies in the process.

The massive 1700 mile pipeline would cross over our border and over some of the most sensitive and beautiful agricultural lands, wetlands and aquifers, to carry 800,000 barrels per day of the worlds dirtiest oil to US refineries for international export.

The precursor to this pipeline had 12 spills in its first year, and whatever doesn't spill onto the ground will spill into the atmosphere when it is burned. 2011 was already the hottest year on record, and opening up this giant reservoir of carbon could push us over any climate tipping points which still remain. As climate scientist James Hansen puts it, opening up the tar sands to development would mean “game over” in the battle to stop human-driven climate change.

They say some people have to hit rock bottom before they can quit their addiction.

I went to Washington to tell Obama that he doesn’t have to let this addiction go that far. Right now, the president has complete legal power to say NO to this pipeline. Congress is not in the way. There are, however, very real structures in place that are heavily influencing his decision.

Here’s a great short video, produced by Josh Fox (“Gaslands”), about the impacts of the Tar Sands and the reason for this action at the White House.

As I was being handled by one of the police officers, he asked me
“Why are people supporting this pipeline?”

It's all about the Benjamins...

As oil prices rose, these known sources of oil, which were previously too expensive to extract, became attractive investments. The climate-denying, Tea-Party-funding , oil-slinging Koch Brothers are known as Obama’s bitterest political enemies and are “among the most powerful opponents of his clean economy agenda”. They stand to make a major profit from increased flow of tar sands, and as it has been well documented, they play a significant role in shaping our politics. Thanks to the “Citizens United” Supreme Court ruling, dollars now equal free speech, so these corporate interests can spend unlimited amounts of money influencing real-life people, citizens, and politicians.

Here I'd like to take a quick look at the major arguments being put forward in support of this pipeline.

"They took our Jobs!" (the Jobs Argument)

Between figures spouted by TransCanada and its echo chamber allies, we are to believe that the pipeline will create 13,000 to 553,000 jobs. According to the State Department, 5,000 to 6,000 jobs will be created over a 3-year construction period (see the recent Cornell University debunking). It would seem difficult to inflate 6,000 to half a million even if you incorporated all the health workers and border patrol guards we will need on a hotter and dirtier planet thanks to this pipeline. But if we are going to ponder theoretical jobs, we should visualize the clean energy jobs that could be created if our political system wasn’t currently catering to short-sighted fossil fuel interests. And as author/activist Naomi Klein pointed out at the "Stop the Tar Sands" rally the day I was arrested, “The same economic logic that puts greed above all and liberates corporations to do as they please, that same economic model that is threatening to crash the global climate system is exactly what crashed the global economic system, which is why we don’t have enough jobs.”

We can create jobs that honor people and the planet. We can have a clean renewable energy economy. What we need is a leadership that is not committed to keeping us addicted to fossil fuels.

The National Security Argument

We most certainly have to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, but the Keystone XL pipeline is not being set up to supply America with “friendly oil”. It’s being built in order to set up an international market for the dirty tar sands. Refiners in Port Arthur, Texas are already getting ready to make big moves tax-free, as Port Arthur is a Foreign Trade Zone. One blogger has cleverly noted that it might make more sense (in the interest of national security) to leave the black stuff in the ground for now, in case we get cut off from other supplies. Now there’s some addict wisdom.

"If we don’t do it, someone else will..."

Without a doubt, if our addiction to oil continues and our reverence for greed goes unshaken, we will find a way to exploit this oil. Oil companies have already been trying to pipe it to the coast through Canada, but have been met with fierce indigenous resistance. If we can act in solidarity to keep the tar sands in the ground just a few more years, perhaps it will be long enough for us all to wake up and shake off these suicidal delusions, and avoid a catastrophic mistake.

Obama, Obama, Obama.... You said we’d look back at your election as “the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal.” (Wow, that’s some big talk.) Now you have people wondering "Is Obama Bad for the environment?" Right now you have the opportunity to turn down this pipeline and re-inspire the base of grass-roots support that won you the election the first time. Otherwise, this election cycle, the oil company contributions might not be able offset the absence of the now hopeless masses that will do something else on election day.

I was fortunate enough to have the privilege to be able to join this historical peaceful protest this past weekend to help bring attention to this monumental issue. But this is only the beginning, and there so many ways you can join the growing movement. Here are just a couple of suggestions.

I hope that you are able to join (or start) one of the thousands of global events on Sept. 24 for Moving Planet, “a day to put demands for climate action into motion - by marching, biking, skating- showing the world there is a way to move beyond fossil fuels.” There is something quite powerful about the globally synchronized positive intentional actions organized by 350.org.

Please visit the Tar Sands Action website and join the email list to stay up to date. You can also like the “Tar Sands Action” page on facebook and connect with others who support the goals of this action and hear about related solidarity actions.

If you want to do something right now, wherever you are, you can organize a solidarity action. There are plenty of creative ways to send a message.

Finally, please share this information. Talk about it. Ask your teachers, preachers and radio hosts about it. Post it, tweet it, like it, share it.

Thank you for reading, and thank you for being alive right now. We have a lot of work to do.

With my own eyes

2011-07-30T23:59:00.003-04:00

I just spent the last four days exploring and documenting, in detail, three of the more than 600 unlined oil waste pits in northern Ecuador. These three locations have been healing for more than 30 years since they were perversely transformed from pristine Amazon rainforest ecosystems into swimming pool-sized depositories of crude oil and drilling waste. These places have since been steadily recolonized by a diversity of Life. With a dynamic team of emerging scientists and solutionaries, we set out to document the plants and fungi that thrive in what is still, for many a deadly and toxic environment. If we are going to help heal the damaged Earth, we must get to know and learn to work with our allies in this regenerative process.

This was not an accident.

Oil production is Ecuador's largest export industry. Oil drilling began here in 1964, when Texas-based Texaco (now owned by Chevron), started drilling in northeast Ecuador, an area of unparallelled and untamed natural beauty. When a new oil well is drilled, a large amount of water is used, and a large amount of waste (including heavy metals) is produced. It has to go somewhere - this is a given in the industry. Here, it is also industry practice to let the pump run at full speed for hours in order to determine production rate, before it is even hooked up for processing.

For hours at a time, the oil flows out of the ground into un-lined pits near the pump site (in the US, Chevron and other oil companies must follow state laws requiring liners on waste pits, and use more advanced technology). After decades of oil exploration, Ecuador is pock-marked by these point sources of pollution, and people continue to suffer from Texaco's legacy of environmental destruction.

As part of the intensive 10 day service learning course which began my 5 week internship with the Amazon Mycorenewal Project , we took a “Toxic Tour” of some of these breath-taking (literally) sites, guided by life-long community member, educator and activist, Donald Moncoya. He played near these pits as a child - no one told him it was dangerous. He remembers when the pit next to his family farm burned for days, making the sun shine dark red through thick and foul smoke. He lead us to a “remediated” pool site - a muddy yet relatively appealing (by my New England standards) tropical setting next to a small farm, where the oil executives take the press to serve them Coca-Cola and show them how responsible they are.

“Esto es lo que no muestran los periodistas,” (“This is what they don't show the reporters,”) he said as he plunged a core boring device into the ground. Seconds later, we were smelling a handful of black and shiny asphalt retrieved from a few centimeters below the surface. It had the overwhelming aroma of oil.

We visited another site, which was more readily apparent as the toxic environment it really is – a swamp of asphalt and oil waste, covered with a thin layer of vegetation. He showed us how, as a matter of regular practice, the companies build overflow pipes, which, in times of big rain (which tends to happen in the rainforest), direct the influx of rainwater, mixed with this witch's brew of carcinogens towards waterways that feed directly into rivers used by local indigenous people, eventually flowing into the Amazon River, itself.

Much to our surprise, Donald began walking along the surface through the middle of the toxic pool, sinking slightly with each smooth wide step. The area around him swelled, generating large waves of disturbance in the thick layers of asphalt covered with vegetation that floated on the pool of water and oil waste. Our entire class gasped in astonishment, how he walked across the surface without falling in.

I had no idea that only a week or so later, I would, myself be walking across the surface of similar pools, albeit in a less calm and collected manner.

The Universe Is Conspiring to Shower You with Blessings

2011-06-29T11:44:00.003-04:00

The title of this post are the words of author Rob Brezny (I highly recommend his book, Pronoia), and these words embody my gratitude to everyone who has helped me in this mission so far with their energy, excitement, words of encouragement and monetary contributions. I really do feel supported by the Universe, and by each of you, as a part of the Universe!

I leave in 8 short days, and I still have lots to prepare before I join with the Amazon Mycorenewal Project in Ecuador (see previous posts). I just wanted to take a minute to post a short message expressing my immense appreciation for all my friends and allies who have offered their support. I have so much LOVE and GRATITUDE for all of you!

I plan on posting my experiences and pictures as I am able to while I am down there, so please check back here for updates.

If you are interested in joining my network of financial supporters, I could still use the help! As a volunteer on this service learning mission, I am paying for all my costs of getting down there and daily expenses, and putting funds towards the general program expenses.

When you go amazonmycorenewal.org and click the donate button, please indicate the designation "AMP, Martin Driggs" on the donation form so that it makes it to my fund.

A special thanks goes out to everyone who made it out to the Amazon Mushroom Alliance Benefit hosted by Music Ecology and Evolver Boston. It was a such a fun night connecting with all of you. I was happy to see others excited as I am about this project, and I hope to connect on future projects in the local area!

Thanks again,

marty

Ways to help the Amazon Mycorenewal Project

2011-06-09T22:18:00.012-04:00

I'm about to order a respirator for organic vapors and a Tyvek suit, like Bob here.

In less than a month, I will be down in Ecuador with the Amazon Mycorenewal Project. We are an international interspecies alliance working to heal the oil-polluted rainforest with the power of mushrooms. As I explained in this previous post this is a one-of-a-kind ground-healing effort to apply recent advances in mushroom science (mycology) to break down and remove environmental toxins. By writing these messages, I hope to increase awareness and support for these solutionary efforts.

Much gratitude to those who have been able to provide some funds, already. As a volunteer on this project, I appreciate the support of this kind from those who can provide it to help pay for the trip.

If anyone was having trouble with the Paypal button, I've set up with the Cloud Forest Institute (the parent organization for the Amazon Mycorenewal Project) to receive online donations for my fundraising efforts. Please indicate the designation "AMP, Martin Driggs" on the donation form so that it makes it to my fund. Donate at www.amazonmycorenewal.org or by clicking:

For those who aren't in the position to spare any money but still want to support the movement (as a full-time community activist, I understand) there are so many ways to help.

First off, something I hope you all can do is get outside in the wild(er)ness this season to observe and the mushrooms and other living things. Seriously, we need more people to get to know them, and to know the healing and intelligent power of Nature. Get out there and get connected. Go on a mushroom walk with your local mycology club. Learn about mushrooms and join the growing global network of mycosolutionaries. (If you have no idea what I'm talking about, you can start by watching this.)

Other ways to support the AMP this summer:

Do you do science? Grant-writing? Research? There's no shortage of research topics, things that we could use help finding articles on (on University databases), grants to be discovered and written. Even remote ex situ research... And that's not all, we need allies all over: graphic design, web promotion, writing... If any of this sounds interesting, please don't hesitate to write me.
I need a digital camera. (I lost my last one with my laptop out of my broken trunk at the Caspa show in Cambridge last August. Good show, btw.) If anyone can hook me up with a decent digital camera, that would be so helpful. As would a flip cam or other type of camcorder. I could return it when I get back.
And if you're planning on investing in your health any time soon, might I suggest you invest in some PowerShrooms! AMP team member, Monica Neff makes these medicinal mushrooms. From now through July 10, for every bottle of medicinal mushrooms you buy on-line, $7.00 will be donated to the Amazon Mycorenewal Pojrect. Enter the coupon code: AMP2011 PowerShroom.com

As always, please feel free to email me at mdriggs.amp[a]gmail.com if you any thoughts, ideas or just want to connect or hit me up on facebook or Evolver.net. For those in the Boston area, I hope to see you Tuesday for the Amazon Mushroom Alliance Benefit at the Wonder Bar in Allston, hosted by Music Ecology and Evolver Boston. (details here).

Much Love and Gratitude to everyone reading this.

marty

Amazon Mycorenewal Project Benefit, hosted by Music Ecology and Evolver Boston

2011-06-04T21:19:00.013-04:00

On Tuesday June 14th at 8 pm, Music Ecology and Evolver Boston will host a short film screening and discussion to benefit the Amazon Mycorenewal Project, a group using mushrooms to help clean up the Amazon.

Chevron has recently been found guilty of discharging over 18 Billion gallons of toxic oil waste in the Amazon rainforest. While they try to avoid responsibility for their mess, an international (and inter-species) alliance is working to help heal the damaged earth.

Come learn how mushrooms are being used to clean up toxic oil waste on indigenous lands in the Ecuadorian Amazon, how you can join the branching network of solutionaries, and how to support efforts in Ecuador this summer.

Please see this previous post to learn more about the project.

What: Amazon Mushroom Alliance Benefit (Amazon Mycorenewal Project)
When: Tuesday, June 14th at 8pm
Where: Wonder Bar, 186 Harvard Avenue Allston, MA 02134-2806
Why: To support the Amazon Mycorenewal Project!
How much: Suggested $10 donation (includes admission to Music Ecology). No one turned away for lack of funds. However, this is a 21+ venue, ID required. Stay tuned for details for other all ages events.

View Larger Map

Facebook event page - please RSVP and share!

I hope you'll join us to learn more about the project, connect with other local solutionaries, and enjoy some local electronic music.

With Love and Gratitude,

marty

Music Ecology is a weekly gathering of producers, DJs, musicians and artists focused on exposing live, original, and fresh bass-heavy electronic music and local art. The night is held every Tuesday at Wonder Bar in Allston.
On Tuesday, the 14th, Music Ecology presents Mammox, Tactical Lisp, tRick & Pressplay
Please see the Music Ecology website for more details.

What is Evolver Boston? We exist in Boston to promote ecologically/human friendly yogic and shamanic lifestyles, while connecting activist, artist, and spiritual communities. Evolver aims to help humanity in a holistic evolutionary leap towards what we know is possible.

Please learn more and connect at evolverboston.net. Evolver Boston is part of an international network of "Evolver Spores." Find/start your local spore at Evolver.net!

Help me help mushrooms save the world!

2011-05-29T11:05:00.017-04:00

Hello friend (and friends of friends),

I hope this message finds you in good health and high spirits. This is a personal appeal explaining something I’m putting my energy towards. I want

to give you the opportunity to learn about it and support it however you are able. Thanks

for reading.

You might have heard that mushrooms can help save the world. With your help I can work with mushrooms (and other amazing humans) this summer to help clean up oil pollution in Ecuador. I'm trying to raise $1000 to support this solution in the Amazon. Please read on to learn more. Any amount of support is helpful.

My name is Martin (marty) Dagoberto Driggs. Some of you know me as an outspoken proponent for environmental justice and the conscious evolution of our species. I am honored to be alive with each of you in this time of unprecedented change, complete with its daunting challenges and revolutionary solutions. Along my path as an Earth Activist, I have encountered this emerging culture of “solutionaries” who give me renewed hope for the future. I am hoping you, too, will share my excitement and offer your support.

Solutionaries are now at work in the Ecuadorian Amazon, where indigenous peoples of the once-pristine rainforest are living with the aftermath of decades of corporate abuse. Over a 30 year period, Texaco (now owned by Chevron) intentionally discharged over 18 billion gallons of toxic oil waste into hundreds of unlined pits. As a result, birth defects and cancer rates are extremely high in local communities. Chevron has recently been found guilty after an 18 year long court battle, but the corporation still refuses to pay to clean up its mess. While Chevron avoids responsibility, an international (and inter-species) alliance is working to heal the damaged earth.

The Amazon Mycorenewal Project (AMP) is a ground-healing effort to apply recent advances in mushroom science (mycology) to actively break down toxic organic compounds found in the polluted Amazon (a process called “mycoremediation”). Amazingly, mushrooms have the ability to break down the most persistent toxic organic pollutants: long-chained hydrocarbons, PCB's, oil, dioxins and even TNT – mushrooms eat them for breakfast (and break them into less harmful compounds, like water, carbon dioxide, and fungal mass). Although it's been proven in the lab, there have been limited real-world applications.

I have been asked to join this team of scientists and advocates from the U.S., Canada, U.K. and Ecuador this summer to help develop and apply methods of mycoremediation to clean up oil pollution in the Ecuadorian Amazon. As an intern with the program, I'm able to contribute my formal scientific educational background in biotechnology and my perspective, skills and passion as an environmental activist. After th

is experience, I will be able to take my new skills and partnerships back to New Bedford, where mushrooms can help break down cancer-causing PCB's.

Everyone involved with the project is a volunteer, and we all pay our own airfare to Ecuador. I will be reallocating my current savings to seize this opportunity to contribute my energy to this cause. Interns also contribute and raise funds to help pay for the program and research materials costs. I am hoping that my extended networks of positive world-changers will be able to help support this work and defray my personal cost. My goal is $1000.

Donations in any amount will help. Tax-deductible donations can be made through the AMP's parent organization, the Cloud Forest Institute (link, below). Please be sure to add indicate that the donation is designated for "The AMP c/o Martin Driggs" so that it makes it to my fund.

Please let me know if you are able to support these efforts in any way (including ways beyond money) by emailing me at mdriggs.amp[at]gmail.com. Thank you for your support.

Also, for those in the Boston area, on Tuesday June 14th at 8p I will facilitate a discussion/short film screening on mycoremediation and the Amazon Mycorenewal Project, hosted by Evolver Boston and Music Ecology (a weekly future dance music showcase at the Wonder Bar in Allston.) I invite you to join us to learn more about the project, connect with other local solutionaries, and enjoy some local electronic music. (facebook event page)

Wherever you are and for everything you're doing. Thank you.

I am grateful for the opportunity to co-create with you this transformative culture of healing.

With Hope, Love and Gratitude,

Martin (marty) Dagoberto Driggs

mdriggs.amp[at]gmail.com

Links and Videos!:

Amazon Mycorenewal Project

http://amazonmycorenewal.org/

“A Solution to Pollution - Mycoremediation in the Ecuadorian Amazon”, short film by Nicola Peel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KO1WjFRL_XA

“Crude”, acclaimed feature documentary by Joe Berlinger (trailer)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTnm01lWsTg

ChevronToxico (Amazon Watch, campaign page)

http://chevrontoxico.com/

Paul Stamets TED Talk: 6 Ways Mushrooms Can Save the World

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XI5frPV58tY

Graduation: Exxon Mobil or a Sustainable Future?

2011-04-30T15:55:00.004-04:00

A storm is brewing at my alma mater, Worcester Polytechnic Institute. The CEO of Exxon Mobil is to give the commencement speech this year. Students are refusing to receive his words of wisdom. An incredible debate has engulfed the WPI community. If anything, it's getting people talking about some critical issues of our time. Here is my contribution to the conversation.

Exxon Mobile. The World's largest oil company, world-record profits in a time of global recession. Not only a particularly successful corporation (#1 or #2), a world economic force and world class tax dodger, but also a top spender on American politics. They are not just another company, they are at the head of what has become a new ruling class, a corporate plutarchy - a form of power structure in which power effectively rests with a small number of wealthy people. This is not a conspiracy theory, this is the world we're living in.

Thanks to the Citizens United Supreme Court case, corporations, now considered legal persons, have a Constitutional “free speech” right to spend unlimited amounts of money influencing elections. That means they have a LOT more free speech than any other citizen, and are much more invested in the course of politics. Not coincidentally, the government, now effectively by and for the Corporations, is moving towards policies which are more conducive to the efficient production of wealth at all costs - environmental, social or otherwise. That means, for instance, limiting the powers of the of the Environmental Protection Agency to effectively regulate carbon.

Not only is Exxon Mobile directly influencing our politicians and regulatory mechanisms, they have been engaging in a well documented cigarettes-are-good-for-you style disinformation campaign for years, spending more than 16 million dollars funding junk science, climate skeptic front groups and echo-chambers to keep us confused and apathetic.

Of course, as the largest oil company, they see a future where we remain addicted to oil “for decades”, as Rex, himself, projects. Would it really be that hard to believe that as powerful as they are, they wouldn't be making moves stay in that position?

It's not enough to have us continue our suicidal addiction to fossil fuels. They are directly participating in what is recognized as the most environmentally destructive practice on Earth: the extraction of the Canadian Tar Sands. We can forget about past oil spills and other apparently excusable errors in management. We can look to today to see deliberate actions of destruction and exploitation in the quest for ever increasing profits.

With their Canadian subsidiary, Imperial Oil, Exxon is currently expanding tar sands operations in Alberta, which, if you haven't heard, are ripping up Boreal forest ecosystems on native land to extract oil from the tar sands, using ridiculous amounts of fresh water ( 2.5 to 4.0 barrels of water for each barrel of oil produced) and leaving behind huge toxic lakes (visible from space), emitting record amounts of greenhouse gasses in the process (3 times more per barrel than conventional oil)- facts. Exxon is currently trying to figure out how to ship gigantic truckloads of mining equipment through indigenous lands, a federally protected corridor, in order to reach processing sites in Alberta as part of a 50 year expansion. The route and loads, if approved, will create a permanent industrial corridor right through the heart of Nez Perce (indigenous) territory in order to facilitate the exploitation of other indigenous territories in Alberta (Recent post from former VP Candidate and indigenous leader, Winona Laduke)

In short... there appear to be more than a few reasons why some people of conscience would hear a call to action when their alma mater decides to invite a representative and Chief Executive Officer of this corporation to offer his blessings to their graduating class. This presents a most serious and symbolic opportunity for each person who sees it as such to choose the vision they hold for the world: either one in which we remain addicted to oil and exploitation, or one in which we have a clean, efficient, and equitable economy. Some graduates will make a choice not to listen to the words of this man, and instead hear Richard Heinberg speak, thought leader from the Post Carbon Institute. Those students, may in effect be choosing to not complete the graduation ritual in front of their parents and friends, as they had once pictured. And when the commencement speech is interrupted, it very well may tarnish some memories for a few people. For others, it may represent their initiation into conscious global citizenship. Either way, in the scheme of things, climate change threatens all Life on the planet, and this guy is at the helm of a ship bringing us towards that future. The school made a big mistake inviting him to give the speech. Ultimately any fault for an interruption lies on them, as they have presented a choice of conscience that some can not turn down.

Re: Incinerators - my statement to the MA DEP (Dept. of Environmental Protection)

2010-10-04T21:27:00.002-04:00

The DEP recently held a series of hearings to obtain public comment on their "zero-waste" plan. Members of the local group Massachusetts Coalition for Clean Air mobilized community members to attend and deliver statements, with particular attention being given to the part of the plan that provides for trash, including construction and demolition debris, to be incinerated at plants across the state. (Also, see this post from Toxics Action Center on the hearing) This is what I had to say...

My name is marty driggs. I'm a Community Mobilization Leader with the New Bedford POWER project - People Organizing for Wealth and Ecological Restoration. We are local New Bedford residents who are dedicated to helping our fellow community members restore the equity, economy, and ecology of our area and our Nation.

Let me start by saying, combustion of any kind is a foolish band-aid of a non-solution. We have no way to capture the carbon dioxide that will inevitably be dumped into our common atmosphere. What about greenhouse gases?! We are in a state of climate emergency! Carbon dioxide levels are higher than they've been in the past 900,000 years! Leading NASA scientist, James Hansen told us in a peer-reviewed journal in January 2008 that [in order to preserve a planet similar to that on which civilization developed and to which life on Earth is adapted we must maintain atmospheric carbon dioxide below 350 ppm.] We are currently at 392 ppm. So clearly, any proposed solution that includes combustion is not only a false solution, but a big problem.

Further, the introduction of plasma gasification into the mix of proposed solutions for our waste problems provides a cracked door for Dirty old King Coal to insert his dirty foot. Plasma gasification of trash is just one step away from coal plasma gasification, bringing with it the dirty Death Cycle of coal; mountaintop removal coal mining and other forms of strip mining which are sacrificing communities and ecosystems across Southern Appalachia and many areas of the global South.

Now, if I may expand our level of perception just a bit: As a world, as a species, we've found ourselves in quite a sticky situation. Our habits, and most significantly, our economic model, has systematically destabilized and dismantled the very life support systems of our planet which allow us to live here in the first place.

I would like to offer my vision, or rather my prediction for the future: If, in 10 years, there is even a global economy to speak of, we will have eliminated the very idea of waste. Like Julia Butterfly Hill says, "There is no away." Further, the concept of "waste" is purely a human construct. In Nature, there is no such thing as waste. "Waste" is simply a resource out of place (and I'm not talking about a resource for combustion).

If we are going to rely on market forces, that is, if capitalism has any hope of evolving from a life-destroying construct to one which honors and enriches our lives, then we have to talk about extending producer responsibilities. The DEP master plan makes mention of "extended producer responsibilities" but lacks any teeth and is clearly not a priority. If we are going to have the kind of systemic change we need in order to avoid GLOBAL SUICIDE, we must make this a legislative priority. We must internalize the true cost of products (including recycling). We have to create market incentives to eliminate the production of toxins and make products more easily recycleable.

Massachusetts has the opportunity to lead the way in this effort, and we should cooperate with other states to codify the law to create cradle-to-cradle production and UPcycling streams. We have the opportunity to transform this economy from one dependent upon ever increasing amounts of energy, dependent upon high consumption and throughput, and implicitly, high waste, to one which is life-honoring and sustainable. Finally, we have the timely opportunity to create good, green jobs for the people of the commonwealth.

In conclusion, we need a more holistic perspective if we're going to solve this problem. We must address the root causes of our global conundrum. As Einstein put it, "the solution will not be created by the same frame of mind which created the problem in the first place."

To bring it back to tangible demands. We need stronger legislative provisions, with sharper teeth, and less loopholes, which serve the people and NOT the corporate interests and their predatory agendas. We must create an economy that is not only waste-free, but free of the very idea of "waste."

Mycoremediation - The Power of Mushrooms

2010-10-04T15:52:00.001-04:00

A little paper I wrote for my Permaculture Design Course back in 2007.

"Mycoremediation" is a new term for a process that has been occuring
for millions of years, and is now being proposed, by some, as a
powerful tool for the remediation of soil and water contaminated by
man-made toxic pollutants. The most visible public presentation of
the idea comes from mushroom guru Paul Stamets, in his 2005 book,
Mycelium Running. I decided to see if this "new" idea was yet being
applied, and if not, why. I was also interested in finding out where
research was happening, as I might be looking for a graduate school
program in the near future. What follows is a brief summary of some
highlights from my research findings, which included a broad overview
of mycoremediation. A large list of leads on research groups and
firms were amassed and are at some degree of organization at this
point.
Fungi, as decomposers, have the ability to digest plant-based
molecules. A wide range of man-made compounds are synthesized from
oil, a substance produced by ancient plant material. Some of the most
dangerous toxins; PCB's, Dioxins neurotoxins and even TNT, to name a
few, apparently resemble natural plant molecules enough to be digested
by fungi present in the soil. The wood-digesting house-wreckers known
as brown and white rot, together with the oyster mushroom and A. niger
are seemingly the most popular candidates for use in mycoremediation.
Stamets stresses the idea that the best place to look for powerful
remediating fungi is at site of contamination. Mycologists and other
field researchers have, in fact, isolated a large number of species
capable of breaking down contaminants.
After reading Mycelium Running, one gets the impression that this
field of remediation is a rising science, about to break through to
popular application. However, it appears that Paul Stamets remains to
be the most vocal proponent of mycoremediation, at least in the public
realm. In his book, he even proposes one major hurdle to widespread
application: many of the techniques of mycoremediation are subject to
patent protection. Stamets, himself, holds several patents. Since
most contaminated sites are polluted by many several contaminants, its
easy to inadvertently step on toes.
Although there appears to be no formal graduate programs in
mycoremediation, there are a great many research groups within the
academic realm, studying the degradative powers of fungi. They
publish in journals like "International Biodeterioration and
Biodegradation", "Bioremediation Journal," and "Applied
Microbiological Biotechnology." Much of this work is in the
laboratory, using single contaminants in control conditions. However,
a search for recent articles with keywords "soil bioremediation"
returned almost 200 articles in the last year. Many reviews of the
literature close with remarks to the effect of "this promising field
lacks outdoor trials" or "the fate of pollutants in the ecosystem is
unknown."
According to a book "Biotechnology for the environment: Soil
remediation," bioreactors are already being used at an industrial
scale in Germany to clean soil contaminated with PAHs (persistent
aromatic hydrocarbons). The book outlines several bioprocess
techniques, most relying on the indigenous fungal community of the
soil, and gives the impression of demonstrated viability of industrial
application of some types of mycoremediation.
As a matter of coincidence: during my trip to the Bay area in
California, a recent oil spill in San Francisco was being cleaned up
using oyster mushrooms. Not surprisingly, Paul Stamets was the one
supplying the innoculant and consultation on this project, for the
non-profit organization, matter of trust. Activists trespassed on the
restricted site of the oil spill in order to absorb the slicks with
mats of human hair, which are now being digested by oyster mushrooms.
There seems to be a general consensus that mycromediation is
promising tool for future regeneration of ecological systems. It is a
noteworthy consideration for students of the regenerative science of
permaculture. It will be interesting to see how the field develops.
Fortunately, the patents are only good for 17 years.
The research for this project was conducted mostly using the internet
and the library resources at my alma mater, Worcester Polytechnic
Institute. Using interlibrary loan, I ordered Mycelium Running and
several other books found through internet searches for books on
"mycoremediation" or "bioremediation." One particularly helpful
research tool is Google scholar, which searches academic books and
papers. Science Direct was another useful tool to find recent papers.

Resources:

S. Agathos and W. Reineke, eds. (2002) Biotechnology for the
Environment: Soil Remediation
-offers a look at industrial application of bioreactors and bioremediation
Harbhajan Singh (2006) Mycoremediation: Fungal Bioremediation
-an encyclopedia of research on the degradative powers of fungi, heavy
on science
Paul Stamets (2005) Mycelium Running: How Mushrooms Can Help Save the World
-well-known and inspiring book on the power of mushrooms

another weirld is possible

2010-05-28T00:50:00.003-04:00

big ups to the love police

no time like the twenty dime

2010-05-25T00:09:00.008-04:00

i'm very excited about a string of documentaries which, to me, appear to resonate with our collective psyche in its various stages of awakening. they reinforce what i know many of us are feeling. we know that things are changing in a big way.

in lak'ech and namaste

ReGENERATION Trailer from Phillip Montgomery on Vimeo.

ps. please suggest any others that I should keep an eye out for!
pps. thanks scallie for the post title

Change the meme.

2010-05-07T01:03:00.006-04:00

Memes are our cultural genes - theoretical units of cultural transmission - essentially, the pool of ideas, assumptions and programming of our society. Like genes, some memes end up being fatal. Fortunately, like their genetic counterparts, they are also mutable (susceptible to change), and will themselves, at some point, cease to exist.

ie. [watch]

It's fun, for a while...

2010-03-05T12:41:00.000-05:00

Just in time for Valentine's Day!

2010-02-11T01:59:00.002-05:00

A new dating site exclusively for corporate polluters, industry lobbyists,
and politicians. Now it's easier than ever for big polluters to buy and sell influence in order to sabotage America's clean energy future! PolluterHarmony.com

Hear Jeff's success story:

Olly The Octopus - A Call To Arms

2010-02-02T00:30:00.002-05:00

Climate Ground Zero:: After a week, they're still in the trees.

2010-01-28T23:11:00.005-05:00

Here's an interview (audio - complete with blaring tortuous airhorns) with Eric Blevins, on day 6 up in a tree to halt blasting on Coal River Mountain. Incredible.

"Tell them if they stop sinning, we will forgive them!" - Eric, from up in the tree.

ClimateGroundZero.net

These Mountains are Divine Creations

2010-01-23T22:04:00.000-05:00

While Eric Blevins is holding out up in the trees with fellow activists Amber and David to successfully halt blasting at Coal River Mountain, I’d like to share with you some inspiring words which he delivered this past December at a protest at the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection in Charleston. Eric spoke on behalf of Mountain Justice, and was joined on the stage by the likes of former WV congressman Ken Hechler and Robert Kennedy Jr. The genuine and profound framing and delivery of Eric’s speech has stuck with me since that day. And as he sits up there, defending this mountain, I hope his words inspire you, as well.

Mountain Justice is a regional movement, moving to abolish mountaintop removal. And this region unites us. Whether we live in West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Ohio, North Carolina, Georgia or Alabama, we are united by these mountains. Appalachia unites us.
These mountains are divine creations. They deserve our love and respect. The people who live in these mountains are divine creations. They deserve our love and respect. The plants and animals who live in these mountains are divine creations. They deserve our love and respect. The fresh mountain air and fresh mountain spring water are divine creations. They deserve our love and respect. We must love the creator and all of the creator’s creation. If we all give them the love and respect they deserve, then they will heal us every day, for generations and generations into the future. If we continue to desecrate and destroy them, they will leave us, probably within a generation.
Coal River Mountain is a divine creation. It deserves our love and respect and it deserves to live.
Massey Coal is a corrupt corporation, [Eric had to pause here for a big applause] with over two thousand documented violations of the Clean Water Act, and the government continues to allow them to poison our divine living water and to blow up our divine mountains like the terrorists they are, and to bury our loved ones in their waste.
They are turning our loved ones into waste. This is criminal activity and it must be stopped. Massey Coal has said that they are going to kill 998 people in the Coal River Valley if their coal waste dam fails, and the government has given them permission to blast within 200 feet of it, and the blasting has begun. Massey dams like this one have failed in the past and there is no reason to think they won’t fail again. The government must step in now to stop this killing, and if they don’t, we will keep getting in Massey’s way until this madness ends, and we will save Coal River Mountain and the Coal River Valley and our deep connection to divine creation.
Thank you.

Are you listening?

2010-01-07T02:05:00.000-05:00

"But the question remains: 'Are these things which are now so familiar to us actually true?' Let us then ask ourselves, 'what is the principle predicament that faces us?' Well, one of the very prime answers to that is, 'difference of opinion.' ...I think it is safe to say that at the present time, most of the muddle is mental." ~Manly P. Hall

The Faded Glory of the Goddess Shall Return :: cveitch

2010-01-04T01:36:00.003-05:00

Charlie Veitch, (from the "Everything is OK" /Love Police from London), with an important message and call to action.

It started as an email on "The Law of Two Feet."

2009-12-28T22:19:00.006-05:00

"The Law of Two Feet" came up in a side discussion tonight (at a very traditional committee-style meeting for climate action). I thought I would share this, as it relates closely to another topic of another side discussion that deserves further (and central) consideration (by this particular group): that topic being Transition Towns. (I started to right this as an email to a few members of the group, then it seems to have turned into a blog post, so... enjoy!)

The Law of Two feet is part of a scalable organizing approach for groups "focused on a specific task". It's called Open Space Technology (OST) as wikipedia defines it,

"The approach is characterized by five basic mechanisms: (1) a broad, open invitation that articulates the purpose of the meeting; (2) participant chairs arranged in a circle; (3) a "bulletin board" of issues and opportunities posted by participants; (4) a "marketplace" with many breakout spaces that participants move freely between, learning and contributing as they "shop" for information and ideas; and (5) a "breathing" or "pulsation" pattern of flow, between plenary and small-group breakout sessions." ...The approach is often defined by its lack of an initial agenda.

The Law of Two Feet promotes the "breathing", "the flow" of the gathering. It is a critical operating instruction, which states:

“If, during the course of the gathering, any person finds themselves in a situation where they are neither learning nor contributing, they must use their feet and go to some more productive place.”

This is an example of an organizing process that can maximize the creative output of a large and diverse group of people, WITHOUT the need for hierarchical power structures and it's related ego-battles. In fact, as this Transition Culture website puts it,

"If you are a control freak, you will hate organizing an Open Space event! It involves a lot of trust that the process will work but at the same time I have never seen or heard of one not working."

I've been part of open space activities, and can personally attest. By simply setting an intentional tone for a gathering with simple rules, one can allow people to express and synthesize their ideas to their greatest potential as a fluid yet cohesive group. That is why this organizing tool is central to Transition Town model. One way I define the Transition Town (or Transition Initiative) model is as an organizing model for community-scale climate action, based in the principles of permaculture, that builds community resilience and decreases dependence on fossil fuels. With this scale of intent, and in the context of our climate emergency, we can see how such efforts to maximize the creative potential of a group (and to abandon dysfunctional interpersonal dynamics) seem most appropriate.

I would strongly suggest to anyone who is concerned with climate change and/or peak oil: look at the Transition Initiative model. They can borrow the book from the library, read the pages and forums online, or start with this 49-page primer. Then all they have to do is find someone else in their community and turn them onto it. Then... they're ready to start.

Transition Initiative, as an organizing model, gets at the root causes of climate change. It addresses the ways in which we relate to each other, to ourselves, and to the planet. It helps us to think about the climate and energy crises in a more holistic context, with sensitivity to the psychological and emotional reality of our situation. And even if a person is not ready to start an Initiative herself, the principles, theories, and tools will surely be useful in the years ahead.

more useful links:
A Brief User's Guide to Open Space Technology, Harrison Owen
http://transitionus.org/ - Transition United States

Day 42 Message to fasters

2009-12-17T13:11:00.001-05:00

After the Disaster

2009-12-14T18:04:00.003-05:00

"The possibility for a rapid regeneration of human culture is predicated
on a great awakening happening quickly -- before ecological meltdown
leads to systemic breakdown.."

After the Disaster, by Daniel Pinchbeck (read the article here)

This is the kind of thinking that attracts me to the 2012 meme. It's what helps me to keep an optimistic outlook! Much gratitude to Daniel for sharing these words!

we will save this mountain

2009-12-09T21:14:00.013-05:00

Last Monday I had the privilege to join a protest to save one mountain from the destructive onslaught of mountaintop removal coal mining. Coal River Mountain is the tallest standing mountain in West Virginia (almost 500 mountains have been destroyed across Appalachia), and its ridges provide some of the most viable locations for wind power generation. But the coal companies began blasting away at the mountain several weeks ago. This single mountain serves as a potent symbol of the greater struggle for energy justice in the coal fields of Appalachia. (more details here and here).

The protest was intense and bordered on surreal. About 500 people (at most, by my estimate) assembled into two pretty even groups in the parking lot of the DEP in Charleston, separated by two temporary fences and a detail of police. There was a strong counter-protest to this anti-mountaintop removal protest, composing largely of miners (in striped uniforms: they likely got the day off to attend). They had nice printed or vinyl signs with words like "Loud and Proud, Miners of WV" and "Environmentalists: Endless Bitching." They certainly were loud; boisterous shouting, insults, cheers ("whose coal?") and especially the massive coal trucks; a dozen or so of which circled the block, tirelessly airing their booming horns, in an attempt to drown out the speakers at our protest.

You can hear the horns in the background of this video.

Judy Bonds began to shout "Honk if you love mountains" every time a truck went by, blaring its horns. The cheers of our crowd would then join with the shouts and jeers of the miners and other counter-protesters, much to their dismay. (photo cred. Scott E., via facebook)

I had the honor of assuming a "Peacekeeper" role for this action. Dozens of angry miners, shouting, blaring horns, blinded by ignorance and hate. This volatile setting provided a trial-by-fire, as it were, for my peacekeeping skills. Our charge, as Peacekeepers, was to diffuse any conflicts between protesters and counter-protesters, to pull our people aside and remind them of our purpose there, and if necessary, to intercept any insults, glares or violent gestures. ("Sure... no problem... just breathe..." I told myself...)

I found it to be an incredible exercise in non-attachment, in mindfulness, in non-violent thought. Not only did I have to keep my own emotions in check, I had to monitor the emotional state of others around me, and to step in when energetic interactions approached violence.

And I realized:
The whole "us vs. them" polarity is becoming obsolete.
We only believe that we are in competition with each other.
But we all need clean air and clean water, a live-able climate.
Mountaintop removal mining is ecological suicide for Appalachia.
And our continued burning of coal is a fatal mistake for the planet.
Coal extraction is poisoning the same families that are fed by it.
They depend on coal to live, yet it kills them slowly.
What a profound microcosm...
Our collective our addiction to fossil fuels!

If we're going to solve this problem, then we need to dismantle false polarities.
In the end, we're all in the same boat! (except the exploitative corporations... we should vote them off the boat...)

Mining coal is currently the only option for so many fathers that need to feed their children. And of course, the coal companies want to keep it that way! So I was so delighted to hear the words shared by Mountainkeeper Larry Gibson, which included an opening line to the effect of: "Before we shut down the coal companies, we have to create jobs for all of these miners back there!"

The coal fields of Appalachia have provided the cheap and abundant fuel source that has propelled our nation's industrial progress and amassed great wealth for Wall Street bankers. But ironically the top coal-producing regions are also the most impoverished in the country. Imagine if the rest of the country were to pay its dues and respect to the coal regions, and help it to develop more sustainable and just economies? Ideas for restorative justice have been proposed by green jobs champion Van Jones; give the older miners an early retirement and retrain younger miners to perform green and sustainable jobs. What if we helped them create an alternative economy to coal? They could then walk away from the jobs that are killing them!

We all need to respect those who've been sacrificed to get us here (wherever we are...) I guess it comes down to "hating the sin, and not the sinner..." or maybe "the game, not the player?" We need to end mountaintop removal. And we need to end exploitation of all kinds. The miners, as much as they have been conditioned to hate environmentalists, are themselves being exploited by coal companies. The only viable answers to this conundrum will be to work together, to realize that we're on the same side (as humans). The only "them" is the disembodied corporate structures, the machine of exploitation (which, by the way, is in its final death throes), and perhaps the few sad and sleep-walking souls who think they're on top.

time to stop tip-toe-ing around the tulips

2009-12-09T17:20:00.005-05:00

We can't just substitute one power source for another.
The energy crisis and climate change are only symptoms of a much larger disease.

New PCI Study Concludes No Combination of Alternative Energy Systems Can Replace Fossil Fuels

From the press release:

"An alarming new study jointly released by two prominent California-based environmental/economic think tanks, concludes that unrelenting energy limits, even among alternative energy systems, will make it impossible for the industrial system to continue operating at its present scale, beyond the next few decades. The report finds that the current race by industries and governments to develop new sustainable energy technologies that can replace ecologically harmful and rapidly depleting fossil fuel and nuclear technologies, will not prove sufficient, and that this will require substantial adjustments in many operating assumptions of modern society."

One particularly powerful conclusion from the study includes:

"...It is necessary to prepare societies for dramatic shifts in consumption and lifestyle expectations. It will also be necessary to promote a new ethic of conservation throughout the industrial world. A sharp reversal of today’s globalization of commercial activity—inherently wasteful for its transport energy needs—must be anticipated and facilitated, and government leaders must encourage a rapid evolution toward economies based on localism especially for essential needs such as food and energy. The study remarks that this is not necessarily a negative prospect, as some research shows that, once basic human needs are met, high material consumption levels do not correlate with high quality of life."

Harnessing Coal River Wind in Appalachia

2009-12-07T01:04:00.000-05:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIwO9Z3IlRo&fmt=22

Today, the confluence between mountaintop removal coal mining and climate change is front and center on the streets of Charleston, West Virginia and on stage at the "COP15" United Nations Climate Summit in Copenhagen.

In Charleston, activists from around the region are gathering in front of the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection headquarters to demand an end to blasting at Coal River Mountain -- ground zero in the fight against mountaintop removal coal mining.

And in Copenhagen, Google is unveiling a new layer in Google Earth that dramatically illustrates the choice to be made at Coal River Mountain -- a choice between a clean energy future and the increased threat of climate change.

As Lorelei Scarbro, who lives in Rock Creek, West Virginia, at the foot of Coal River Mountain, says in the video, Coal River Mountain represents a crossroads in our future.

Massey Energy plans to mine more than 6000 acres of mountaintop at Coal River Mountain, which would destroy the opportunity to build a 320 megawatt wind farm on the ridges of Coal River Mountain.

Instead of 320 megawatts of clean energy that would power more than 70,000 homes indefinitely, Massey's plans would release 134 million tons of C02 -- the equivalent of putting 1.5 million more cars on the road for 17 years.

That's what makes Coal River Mountain a "cauldron of Climate Change," in Lorelei's words. That's why Google is showing millions of Google Earth users and the delegates in Copenhagen what's at stake at Coal River Mountain, and why people from around the region are gathering today in Charleston.

Can you stand with the activists in Charleston and the delegates in Copenhagen today by taking two simple actions?

1. Watch the Coal River Mountain Video and forward it to your friends and family. Ask them to join you in stopping mountaintop removal coal mining by signing up at iLoveMountains.org.

2. Email your Senators and tell them to pass the Appalachian Restoration Act. If Congress is serious about addressing climate change, we need this bill to dramatically reduce mountaintop removal coal mining, which is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions.

Thank you for taking a moment today to help secure a clean energy future for all of us.

Matt Wasson
iLoveMountains.org

it works both ways

2009-10-26T20:10:00.009-04:00

A public address delivered to those gathered at the 350 International Day of Action in New Bedford, Massachusetts on October 24th, 2009

picture from 350.org, New Zealand

Last night, on the other side of the planet, a conscious group of individuals gathered in the mountains of New Zealand to greet the first rays of sunlight to hit the earth on this arbitrary calendar day, October 24th, 2009. They gathered with a very specific intent: to be the first ripple in a wave of heightened awareness to spread across the globe on this day.

Today, people 181 countries are coming together for the most widespread day of environmental action in the planet's history. At over 5200 events around the world, people are gathering to call for strong action and bold leadership on the climate crisis.

Thank you for being part of this amazing event!

Science tells us that we must immediately begin to reduce global atmospheric CO2 to below 350 ppm in order "to preserve a planet similar to that on which civilization developed and to which life on Earth is adapted. " Currently, we’re at 390, and climbing by 2 ppm each year. Most of the economically and politically “feasible” action proposals put forth by world governments consider 450 or even 550 ppm to be acceptable.

The last time the Earth was at 450 ppm, the oceans were 75 meters higher. A coastal city, like New Bedford, would be completely under water. Is that acceptable?

Our global greenhouse gas emissions have been on an exponential curve for decades. Science tells us that our yearly emissions must not only decrease, but they must peak by 2014, and then drop rapidly in order to avoid catastrophic climate change.

It is clearly an amazing, and daunting challenge, and there’s no simple answer. The only thing I know for sure, is that we’re all in this together. And that the only way past this global challenge is to come together as a global family.

Because climate change is about more than just carbon in the atmosphere. It is perhaps the most visible and immediately threatening symptom of a much larger disease. And yet this crisis may be exactly what we need to wake up to this fact. Perhaps we’re ready to realize that at the root of all our problems is a defective and fatal world view.

This idea of kill-or-be-killed,
Of competition over cooperation,
Of systematic oppression and exploitation of people and planet,
the mechanistic worldview of Empire is finally being exposed as the short-sighted failure that it is.

Many of us have heard about the maxim represented by Chinese character for Crisis and Opportunity. The climate crisis gives us an incredible opportunity: an opportunity to reweave the very fabric of our culture, to lay the framework for a truly just and sustainable global society, to redefine the way we relate to each other and the planet.

But the opportunity also works both ways.

Those in power want to remain in power, and are using this crisis towards their own advantage,
They are breeding a new form of colonialism, where rights to pollute our common atmosphere are bought and sold. They’ve fabricated a variety of thinly-veiled programs to maintain the status quo:
Carbon capture and sequestration,
agro-fuels,
bogus carbon-offsets and carbon markets,
and of course “clean coal”

But as Einstein put it: “The significant problems we have cannot be solved at the same level of thinking with which we created them.”

So quite simply, how can we entrust our very survival as a civilization to the same “free market” forces that brought us to this precipice? (we can’t)

We know that Empire is unsustainable, but they can see nothing beyond their own world view, and seem to be ready to go down with the ship.

But we won’t let them take us with them.

We are here today to demand meaningful action from our so-called “world leaders.” This December in Copenhagen, they must reach an international climate agreement that is Ambitious, fair and binding, that is in line with what Science is telling us, and that prioritizes the interests of people over the interests of the corporations.

But we clearly can’t put all our eggs in this one basket.

We must realize that our future is ultimately in our own hands. And we are writing our future story right now.

In our own communities, we must each cultivate climate solutions which are
decentralized, locally-controlled, bioregionally appropriate and socially just.

We must work to build community resilience, both to mitigate the causes and to adapt to the changing face of our feverish Mother Earth.

And we must work intimately with each other, and within ourselves to heal the initial trauma, the disconnection that brought us here in the first place.

I have an incredible sense of excitement and anticipation for this time which we have entered. We are here for the birthing of new society, the next step in our collective evolution. Don’t get me wrong: things are going to get MUCH worse before they get better. But we are carefully planting many seeds around the world. And like a forest fire, which disturbs the established system of hierarchy and order, our seeds are being activated and given space to grow.

Thank you for being here, for being part of this, and for being ready to brave the coming storm with clarity of purpose, and positive intent.

We’re all on the same boat! - 350 Day of Action in New Bedford

2009-10-25T11:35:00.004-04:00

New Bedford, a coastal city with a strong nautical heritage, is home to a growing and creative movement for social equality, green jobs, and environmental justice. On Saturday, hundreds of concerned individuals surrounded a sailboat placed curiously in the middle of an intersection of downtown New Bedford, with a sail that boldly read: “350.org”. The people there were joining thousands of others across the globe as part of the largest environmental action in history. The message: The world is ready for an international climate treaty that is ambitious, fair, and binding, and that follows what science is telling us.

350 may be the most important number in the world. Science tells us that it’s the highest level of atmospheric CO2 that we can maintain if we wish to “maintain a planet like that on which civilization developed.” (We’re currently at 390 and climbing.) I found the sailboat to be an incredibly powerful way to accent the nautical heritage of New Bedford and to highlight its vulnerability to sea level rise. Perhaps most importantly, it symbolizes the importance of community resilience and adaptation in the face of this emerging climate crisis.

When I first heard that Bioneers by the Bay: Connecting for Change was happening the same weekend as the 350 event, I was excited at the possibilities of how these unique and powerful initiatives would combine forces in the city of New Bedford. Bioneers is an inspirational gathering of individuals sharing “visionary and practical solutions for restoring the Earth and its inhabitants.” What a perfect context in which to punctuate the global message of 350.org! We have the solutions to avert climate disaster and sustainable communities. We must simply realize that we’re all in the same boat, and make up our minds to act as one.

Let's do it.

2009-09-30T19:01:00.000-04:00

watch and listen from the heart

2009-08-20T19:38:00.003-04:00

Drunvalo brings us a message from the Mayan Elders

and this

All-You-Can-Emit Pass from Jet Blue!

2009-08-16T19:05:00.001-04:00

Check out the new deal from JetBlue!

Enjoy unlimited polluting and climate destruction with JetBlue’s new All-You-Can-Emit Pass! For just $599* you can pollute with JetBlue anywhere you like, as often as you like, from September 8 to October 8, 2009. Use your All-You-Can-Emit Pass to cause global warming, sink island nations, or to visit your favorite polluted cities or to meet with a climate refugee. You might as well just do it all! With more than 50 cities to pollute in, and for just $599, it’s a deal you can’t pass up.

JetBlue Unlimited Flight Pass Abbreviated terms:

*Offer ends when climate crisis makes the Earth uninhabitable, or earlier, when coastal airports are underwater. Pass includes unlimited stratospheric pollution for one person on JetBlue operated flights between any cities in the JetBlue route network. Pass does not include certain external costs, including without limitation (a) melting the Arctic (b) rising sea levels (c) subsequent damage to coastal cities and climate refugees (d) spread of mosquitos and tropical disease (e) the climate crisis. Other restrictions apply, see 350.org/jetsmog for more complete deals.

Street Farmer

2009-07-15T10:39:00.001-04:00

By ELIZABETH ROYTE

Published: July 1, 2009

Will Allen, a farmer of Bunyonesque proportions, ascended a berm of wood chips and brewer’s mash and gently probed it with a pitchfork. “Look at this,” he said, pleased with the treasure he unearthed. A writhing mass of red worms dangled from his tines. He bent over, raked another section with his fingers and palmed a few beauties.

It was one of those April days in Wisconsin when the weather shifts abruptly from hot to cold, and Allen, dressed in a sleeveless hoodie — his daily uniform down to 20 degrees, below which he adds another sweatshirt — was exactly where he wanted to be. Show Allen a pile of soil, fully composted or still slimy with banana peels, and he’s compelled to scoop some into his melon-size hands. “Creating soil from waste is what I enjoy most,” he said. “Anyone can grow food.”

Like others in the so-called good-food movement, Allen, who is 60, asserts that our industrial food system is depleting soil, poisoning water, gobbling fossil fuels and stuffing us with bad calories. Like others, he advocates eating locally grown food. But to Allen, local doesn’t mean a rolling pasture or even a suburban garden: it means 14 greenhouses crammed onto two acres in a working-class neighborhood on Milwaukee’s northwest side, less than half a mile from the city’s largest public-housing project.

im back

2009-07-15T10:37:00.002-04:00

I need to start blogging again.

I have so many other outlets for web 2.0 connections, but still need somewhere to post thoughts and articles that are critical to my personal process, as well as our collective process

America Honors Leaders

2009-07-08T13:00:00.000-04:00

World at gunpoint, or what’s wrong with the simplicity movement. By Derrick Jensen

2009-07-08T11:22:00.000-04:00

This essay originally appeared in Orion Magazine Written by Derrick Jensen

A FEW MONTHS AGO at a gathering of activist friends someone asked, “If our world is really looking down the barrel of environmental catastrophe, how do I live my life right now?”

The question stuck with me for a few reasons. The first is that it’s the world, not our world. The notion that the world belongs to us—instead of us belonging to the world—is a good part of the problem.

The second is that this is pretty much the only question that’s asked in mainstream media (and even among some environmentalists) about the state of the world and our response to it. The phrase “green living” brings up 7,250,000 Google hits, or more than Mick Jagger and Keith Richards combined (or, to look at it another way, more than a thousand times more than the crucial environmental philosophers John A. Livingston and Neil Evernden combined). If you click on the websites that come up, you find just what you’d expect, stuff like “The Green Guide: Shop, Save, Conserve,” “Personal Solutions for All of Us,” and “Tissue Paper Guide for Consumers.”

The third and most important reason the question stuck with me is that it’s precisely the wrong question. By looking at how it’s the wrong question, we can start looking for some of the right questions. This is terribly important, because coming up with right answers to wrong questions isn’t particularly helpful.

So, part of the problem is that “looking down the barrel of environmental catastrophe” makes it seem as though environmental catastrophe is the problem. But it’s not. It’s a symptom—an effect, not a cause. Think about global warming and attempts to “solve” or “stop” or “mitigate” it. Global warming (or global climate catastrophe, as some rightly call it), as terrifying as it is, isn’t first and foremost a threat. It’s a consequence. I’m not saying pikas aren’t going extinct, or the ice caps aren’t melting, or weather patterns aren’t changing, but to blame global warming for those disasters is like blaming the lead projectile for the death of someone who got shot. I’m also not saying we shouldn’t work to solve, stop, or mitigate global climate catastrophe; I’m merely saying we’ll have a better chance of succeeding if we recognize it as a predictable (at this point) result of burning oil and gas, of deforestation, of dam construction, of industrial agriculture, and so on. The real threat is all of these.

The same is true of worldwide ecological collapse. Extractive forestry destroys forests. What’s the surprise when extractive forestry causes forest communities—plants and animals and mushrooms and rivers and soil and so on—to collapse? We’ve seen it once or twice before. When you think of Iraq, is the first image that comes to mind cedar forests so thick the sunlight never reaches the ground? That’s how it was prior to the beginnings of this extractive culture; one of the first written myths of this culture is of Gilgamesh deforesting the plains and hillsides of Iraq to build cities. Greece was also heavily forested; Plato complained that deforestation harmed water quality (and I’m sure Athenian water quality boards said the same thing those boards say today: we need to study the question more to make sure there’s really a correlation). It’s magical thinking to believe a culture can effectively deforest and yet expect forest communities to sustain.

It’s the same with rivers. There are 2 million dams just in the United States, with 70,000 dams over six feet tall and 60,000 dams over thirteen feet tall. And we wonder at the collapse of native fish communities? We can repeat this exercise for grasslands, even more hammered by agriculture than forests are by forestry; for oceans, where plastic outweighs phytoplankton ten to one (for forests to be equivalently plasticized, they’d be covered in Styrofoam ninety feet deep); for migratory songbirds, plagued by everything from pesticides to skyscrapers; and so on.

The point is that worldwide ecological collapse is not some external and unpredictable threat—or gun barrel—down which we face. That’s not to say we aren’t staring down the barrel of a gun; it would just be nice if we identified it properly. If we means the salmon, the sturgeon, the Columbia River, the migratory songbirds, the amphibians, then the gun is industrial civilization.

A second part of the problem is that the question presumes we’re facing a future threat—that the gun has yet to go off. But the Dreadful has already begun. Ask passenger pigeons. Ask Eskimo curlews. Ask great auks. Ask traditional indigenous peoples almost anywhere. This is not a potential threat, but rather one that long-since commenced.

The larger problem with the metaphor, and the reason for this new column in Orion, is the question at the end: “how shall I live my life right now?” Let’s take this step by step. We’ve figured out what the gun is: this entire extractive culture that has been deforesting, defishing, dewatering, desoiling, despoiling, destroying since its beginnings. We know this gun has been fired before and has killed many of those we love, from chestnut ermine moths to Carolina parakeets. It’s now aimed (and firing) at even more of those we love, from Siberian tigers to Indian gavials to entire oceans to, in fact, the entire world, which includes you and me. If we make this metaphor real, we might understand why the question—asked more often than almost any other—is so wrong. If someone were rampaging through your home, killing those you love one by one (and, for that matter, en masse), would the question burning a hole in your heart be: how should I live my life right now? I can’t speak for you, but the question I’d be asking is this: how do I disarm or dispatch these psychopaths? How do I stop them using any means necessary?

Finally we get to the point. Those who come after, who inherit whatever’s left of the world once this culture has been stopped—whether through peak oil, economic collapse, ecological collapse, or the efforts of brave women and men fighting in alliance with the natural world—are not going to care how you or I lived our lives. They’re not going to care how hard we tried. They’re not going to care whether we were nice people. They’re not going to care whether we were nonviolent or violent. They’re not going to care whether we grieved the murder of the planet. They’re not going to care whether we were enlightened or not enlightened. They’re not going to care what sorts of excuses we had to not act (e.g., “I’m too stressed to think about it” or “It’s too big and scary” or “I’m too busy” or any of the thousand other excuses we’ve all heard too many times). They’re not going to care how simply we lived. They’re not going to care how pure we were in thought or action. They’re not going to care if we became the change we wished to see.

They’re not going to care whether we voted Democrat, Republican, Green, Libertarian, or not at all. They’re not going to care if we wrote really big books about it. They’re not going to care whether we had “compassion” for the CEOs and politicians running this deathly economy. They’re going to care whether they can breathe the air and drink the water. They’re going to care whether the land is healthy enough to support them.

We can fantasize all we want about some great turning, and if the people (including the nonhuman people) can’t breathe, it doesn’t matter. Nothing matters but that we stop this culture from killing the planet. It’s embarrassing even to have to say this. The land is the source of everything. If you have no planet, you have no economic system, you have no spirituality, you can’t even ask this question. If you have no planet, nobody can ask questions.

What question would I ask instead? What if, instead of asking “How shall I live my life?” people were to ask the land where they live, the land that supports them, “What can and must I do to become your ally, to help protect you from this culture? What can we do together to stop this culture from killing you?” If you ask that question, and you listen, the land will tell you what it needs. And then the only real question is: are you willing to do it?

Manly P. Hall - Love

2009-06-23T11:19:00.000-04:00

Call to Action: Stop Cliffside Power Plant

2009-03-22T23:47:00.003-04:00

Dear Friends,

Two weeks ago, thousands took to the streets of Washington D.C. to blockade and shut down the Capitol Power Plant in the largest direct action against the coal sector in U.S. history. On April 20, another peaceful direct action has been called to stop the construction of an 800 mega-watt coal-fired powerplant in NC. People from around North Carolina and the nation will converge at Duke Energy's headquarters in Charlotte, NC to demand an end to dirty coal by putting their bodies on the line in acts of civil disobedience.

We need you to join us. RSVP By Clicking Here Now.

The new 800 MW coal-fired facility that would emit over 6 million tons of carbon dioxide annually. This facility will live at least 50 years, which means 312 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere throughout its life. This is the equivalent of adding one million cars to the road each year! Furthermore, North Carolina and Duke Energy are some of the biggest consumers of mountaintop removal mined coal. Over 500 mountains have been destroyed to feed these dirty plants.

The fight against mountaintop removal and coal-fired powerplants has escalated and it's time for dramatic action.

We need you to join us. RSVP By Clicking Here Now.

WHAT: Take Action to Stop Duke Energy's Dirty Coal Plant
WHERE:Duke Energy Headquarters, Charlotte, NC
WHEN:Monday, April 20
INFO:http://www.stopcliffside.org
RSVP:http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5797/t/5284/questionnaire.jsp?questionnaire_KEY=108

See you there!

Thanks for all you do,
Scott Parkin, Senior Organizer
Rainforest Action Network

We're going mainstream

2009-03-22T23:42:00.003-04:00

More media hits than I can keep up with.

Here's two great recent articles on coal activism.

Indypendent, March 20, 2009,Taking on Coal Power: The Movement to Shut Down the Coal Industry is Not Waiting for Congress or Barack Obama

Time, March 10, 2009, Environmentalism, Millennial-Style

hopefully I'll actually have time to write something one of these days...

New video from the Capitol Climate Action

2009-03-22T23:39:00.002-04:00

This video couldn't do a better job nailing home the message: substituting one fossil fuel for another is unacceptable. If you haven't heard about the effects of natural gas extraction, it's time to educate yourself, and each other.

http://www.energyjustice.net/naturalgas/

TVA March in March

2009-03-19T22:37:00.001-04:00

Cross-posted from the Power Past Coal blog

Posted by Chelsea Ritter-Soronen on March 15th, 2009

On the same day that dozens of Californians marched to demand renewables in their state, students from all across the country joined Appalachians in Tennessee to march on the TVA headquarters. Organizer Chelsea Ritter-Soronen offers her account of the action...

On Saturday March 14, over one hundred activists gathered in downtown Knoxville, Tennessee to protest dirty coal, to speak out against the Harriman ash spill disaster, and to demand renewable energy from the nation's largest purchaser and distributor of coal, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). The majority of the crowd was composed of students that had attended the annual Mountain Justice Spring Break the previous week, and the action was a result of their collective planning process throughout camp. Others in the crowd included many Tennesseans, including members of United Mountain Defense, college students, and residents of nearby counties affected by the ash spill. Judging from the diverse crowd, one message prevailed: dirty coal affects everyone, and it is time for TVA to clean up their act with renewable energies!

The weather was certainly not in our favor, as it had been pouring for three days beforehand and was not willing to compromise. However, a little rain was the least of our worries. The rally kicked off with people speaking from the crowd to TVA with big statements through a big megaphone, while bystanders were fliered about the event and media mingled through the masses. We then started our march around the two TVA towers, which occupy an entire city block, and are the most prevailant buildings of the Knoxville skyline. The Knoxville Police Department had the entire perimeter on watch with vehicles and, in some spots, shoulder-to-shoulder police (this was a public event that had been openly advertised, and they were ready for us). Thankfully, the TVA police never made a public appearance; their unusual behavior and recent harassments were unwelcome at our event. Yes, it's true, because the TVA is a government-owned facility, they have their own police division, which seemingly has precedent over the local police, no matter what. It's actually quite terrifying.

Anyways, the march continued with music and chants that could be heard throughout the area. As we turned one corner, a banner was dropped from the top of a parking garage along the parade route that read TVA, Windmills not toxic spills, for which there was more cheering and excitement. As we reconvened at our starting point in front of the TVA entrance steps, 14 individuals stepped up together in front of the police line that separated public property from TVA, and dramatically participated in a “die-in”, to represent all of the land and lives that have been lost to coal, coughing and wheezing as they gracefully collapsed to the wet concrete. Each of these 14 people wore a dust mask to represent that humanity is choking on coal ash, and many depend on these masks and respirators for daily living. With the TVA headquarters there, it is no wonder that Knoxville has the highest asthma rates of any other city in the United States. After everyone had laid down, two activists strategically appeared behind the police line with a large banner that read TVA, Clean it up, don't cover it up, resulting in yet another great image from the day's events!

Police escorted the group lying on the sidewalk away, with the protesting crowd supporting them close behind, and they were ticketed for a mere loitering citation. Apparently, a couple of police officers had relatives with chronic respiratory diseases, and were empathetic to the cause. Again, the message is obvious that coal affects everyone, and not just those who live next to an ash spill or work in the mines. Everyone at the die-in was very cooperative and treated respectfully, and nobody went to jail.

Later that night, we held a candlelight vigil at the TVA entrance as we paid our respects to those harmed by dirty energy. It was very beautiful and motivating, as we recognized that this is indeed a movement, and that together, we have the power and potential to stop the coal-inflicted abuse of land and people. We look forward not only to the remaining days of Power Past Coal, but to every day after!

http://www.tvamarchinmarch.com/

2009-03-06T19:41:00.002-05:00

Western Coal: Low in Sulfur, High in Oppression

2009-02-19T22:36:00.004-05:00

cross-posted from The Wesleyan Argus

By Jonathon Booth

The first promise I made to myself when I agreed to have an online column in the illustrious Blargus, was that I would write my own articles and not respond to other columnists, no matter how much they angered me. Admittedly, I thought I would have to resist responding to Mytheos, but that was before I read Jonah Blumstein’s latest response article. Aside from referring to my “reflexive liberalism” (I promise you, I am not a liberal), Jonah’s article amazed me in its ability to make absurd assertions and miss the point of my article entirely.

Jonah’s thesis, as much as one was detectable, was that clean coal exists. Blumstein’s clean coal is different from the clean coal that the coal industry talks about. He does not refer to the process that cleans some chemicals out of coal emissions, which also creates toxic coal sludge. Jonah’s clean coal is western coal, which contains less sulfur. He believes that a conspiracy between the United Mine Workers Union and Senator Robert Byrd has forced coal power plants to buy and burn high sulfur coal from Appalachia. Whether or not this conspiracy exists is utterly irrelevant. Low-sulfur coal is not clean, it just has less sulfur. Jonah failed to address the three major points of my column: coal mining is extremely and inherently destructive, any coal burning will release huge amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, and we do not have time to waste waiting for fantasy technologies to fix these two major problems. Jonah’s low-sulfur coal is not lower in mercury or lead and, obviously, is not lower in carbon. Just to make sure no one believes Jonah’s western coal is a sensible alternative, let us explore one of the largest western coal mines in Black Mesa, Arizona.

Since 1968, Peabody Coal has been exploiting Hopi and Navajo land in northern Arizona. The Black Mesa coal mine is one of the largest strip mines in the United States and has been the subject of indigenous anger and resistance since its inception. Due to Peabody’s mining more than 12,000 Navajo have been removed from their land, the largest removal of native people since the 1880s. Additionally, Peabody coal has been responsible for draining more than half of the Navajo Aquifer in the extremely dry region. In an average year of the mine’s operation Peabody was responsible for more than half of the water taken from the aquifer.

Mining at Black Mesa stopped in 2005 because the Mohave Generating Station in Nevada, which bought all of the Black Mesa coal, shut down because it violated the Clean Air Act. The plant emitted 40,000 tons of sulfur dioxide per year from Jonah’s low-sulfur western coal. However, last December the Office of Surface Mining (OSM) allowed Peabody to restart mining, and continue destroying Navajo and Hopi communities until 2026 or the water runs out, whichever comes first. (Side note: The OSM is an absurd bureaucracy that gives out awards for the best strip mine reclamation. Reclamation is a euphemism for planting grass after destroying an ecosystem to mine coal.) All this oppression for Jonah’s low-sulfur coal!

Regardless of its sulfur content, or the fantasies of Jonah Blumstein, coal will never be a clean energy source. Coal mining, like all fossil fuel exploitation, destroys local environments, oppresses local (often indigenous) people, and contributes to climate change. Our fossil-fuel economy is based on the exploitation of land and people from Appalachia, Arizona, Alberta, Ecuador, and many more. Exploiting new sources of coal in the West would simply expand the destruction of Appalachia to the rest of the country. It clearly would do nothing to slow climate change or stop environmental destruction.

The only way to stop the exploitation of these communities and to stop the worse effects of climate change is to leave fossil fuels in the ground.

Emergent Events - Boston

2009-02-09T18:54:00.000-05:00

Mountain Justice Spring Break 2009!

2009-02-06T01:14:00.005-05:00

9 days of training, service and action
for environmental justice in the coal fields
9 more nails in the coffin of dirty coal!

In less than five weeks, you'll have a chance to get totally plugged into the growing movement to end mountaintop removal and bring justice to the coal fields. Come to Eastern Tennessee, March 7-15 for Mountain Justice Spring Break, where we will share the skills and knowledge needed to fight back against dirty coal. This will be an amazing opportunity to meet and join the good people who make up Mountain Justice, gain grassroots organizing skills, and learn the dirty truth about coal, with your own eyes. Stand up and take action at the site of the TVA coal ash disaster and stand in solidarity with the impacted communities.

You can visit mjsb.org right now and register for what is bound to be a life-changing experience.

Building upon the success of Mountain Justice Spring Break (MJSB) 2008, this year's camp will be full of workshops, speakers, community service, direct action, hiking, music, great food, camp fires, fun times and more. Not only will you leave with a refined understanding of mountaintop removal and the dirty coal cycle, you will learn to organize in solidarity with coal-impacted communities to maintain their land and culture and end our dependence on dirty energy.

(Check out this video/slideshow from MJSB 2008! )

MJSB 2009 is will be held at a beautiful camp (with cabins) near the Cumberland Plateau, allowing us to explore and appreciate the land we are working to protect. The camp is only miles away from the recent TVA ash disaster, the single worst environmental catastrophe in U.S. History. We will have the unique opportunity to meet with and act in solidarity with the local people, who's lives have been turned upside-down by the colossal one billion gallon spill of toxic coal ash. (And TVA Headquarters will only be a few miles away, in Knoxville... )

At spring break, Mountain Justice will also be recruiting volunteers to join the struggles in coal-impacted communities of Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia and Virginia. Internships for college credit can be set up for a wide range of areas of study. You can come work for Mountain Justice and get college credit for it!

This event is being planned largely by college students and full-time volunteers, so if you're interested in joining in on the final stages, please email Marty to get involved!

If you have break between March 7th and 15th (or even if you don't...), please consider coming to Eastern Tennessee and joining in on the fun and educational experience that will be Mountain Justice Spring Break. We're looking forward to making lots of new friends and pushing the movement that much closer towards critical mass. The time for Mountain Justice is at hand, and you can be part of it!

Please visit mjsb.org for more information, and register by February 18th!

Can't make it to MJSB 2009? Then maybe you can come to DC for the 4th Annual End Mountaintop Removal Week in DC, March 14-18th. Check out this event and many more at powerpastcoal.org

Arch Coal CEO talks up "clean coal" at Harvard lecture: Epic Fail

2009-02-03T22:04:00.012-05:00

This rough week for coal continued yesterday, as Rising Tide Boston (RTB) acted in solidarity with those who took a stand at Coal River Mountain, earlier that day. Steve Leer, CEO of Arch Coal, the second largest coal supplier in the U.S., attempted to deliver a public lecture on "clean coal technology" at Harvard University last night. Not only was the crowd less than receptive to the coal baron's sad defense of coal, the final word was delivered by members of RT Boston.

The Arch Coal rep was a guest speaker in a special series of lectures entitled "The Future of Energy." As if its some sort of cosmic joke, the lecture series is funded by none other than Bank of America, the largest financial sponsor of coal extraction, and a predominant investor in Arch Coal. Not surprisingly, the lecture contained very little discourse on the feasibility of carbon capture, and served mainly as a defense for maintaining the status quo of centralized and dirty energy production (including nuclear!!!).

After a hour-long excretion of predictable arguments for keeping us addicted to dirty coal, the evening was ended with an enlightening Q&A session. Every single person in line at the mic made a critical comment as part of their question, the first being delivered by a young woman from the coal-fields of Kentucky, who brought attention to the conveniently overlooked issue of coal extraction in Appalachia.

You could almost see the CEO shrink in his cocoon of avoidance and denial, his voice dropping to near inaudible as he delivered each sidestepping non-answer. After getting nailed one question after another, a member of Rising Tide Boston got to ask the last "question," which ended, "...what gives us the right to gamble the future of civilization on a magic technology that doesn't exist?". Oh snap.

As he tried to control the damage, and fashion some sort of response, two other members of RTB walked to the front of the lecture hall and unfurled a banner which read, "The coal bubble is bursting - Clean Coal is a Dirty Lie," before proclaiming a list of statements on Arch Coal's investments in "every dirty energy practice in the country." (Note that the banner included both the Arch Coal logo, as well as Bank of America's.)

That was the end of the evening's failed attempt at disinformation. Don't quit your day job, Steve. No wait, quit your day job.

The whole debacle served as yet another blow to King Coal, a one-two punch after the morning's inspiring action at Coal River Mountain. And with the capital action and others across the country on the horizon, things are only heating up for Steve and friends. Rising Tide Boston isn't letting up on Bank of America either, and will continue to stick it to them come Valentine's day.

The press release, from the laptop of Rising Tide Boston:

Rising Tide Boston crashes talk by Arch Coal CEO

February 3, 2009

Boston, MA - Seven activists from Rising Tide Boston disrupted a lecture at Harvard University being delivered by Arch Coal CEO Steve Leer, who was speaking on the future of "clean coal" technology. The activists attempted to enlighten the coal baron and the lecture attendees on the true cost of coal extraction.

"Arch coal is participating in the destructive practice of mountaintop removal," says Tyler Kinser, a member of Rising Tide Boston. "How can coal ever be clean when entire communities are being poisoned and displaced by coal extraction?"

"This Harvard lecture series is funded by Bank of America, the single largest financial sponsor of mountaintop removal," said Kinser, "so it's no surprise that Harvard is hosting this lecture of disinformation on coal. We decided to balance out the lies." Bank of America has invested billions of dollars in Arch Coal, according to the website dirtymoney.org.

Read the full press release, here.

Time Magazine celebrates monkewrenching; plugs Capitol Climate Action

2009-02-02T14:41:00.002-05:00

cross-posted from It's Getting Hot in Here

Another momentous article in mainstream media! Check out this recent feature in Time Magazine. It’s truly inspiring to perceive this sort of shift in the political climate. To have an article like this, in a publication like Time, without any allusion to the Green Scare or use of the “T” word, says something. The article even gives a nice plug to the upcoming mass civil disobedience in DC on March 2nd.

To Protect Public Land, Eco-Protesters Get Creative

By Bryan Walsh Saturday, Jan. 31, 2009

Environmental activist Tim DeChristopher tainted an auction of oil and gas drilling leases by bidding up parcels of land by hundreds of thousands of dollars without any intention of paying for them.

Courtney Sargent / Deseret News / Rapport

You may have never heard of the Monkey Wrench Gang—unless you read the 1975 novel by maverick writer and nature lover Edward Abbey, who introduced the world to a fictional collection of green misfits waging a guerrilla war against industrialization in the American West. They sabotage bulldozers and construction sites, burn billboards and destroy dams, all to keep their beloved Southwestern desert pristine. Think of it as muscular environmentalism, a world apart from the wonky work on climate change that now defines the mainstream green movement.

Still, the outlaw spirit lives on in the work of contemporary monkeywrenchers like Tim DeChristopher, a 27-year-old college student who singlehandedly disrupted a multi-million-dollar land auction that would have put hundreds of thousands of acres of public lands in southern Utah in the hands of oil and gas companies. But DeChristopher didn’t use sabotage or homemade bombs—just chutzpah.

Read the full article, here

George Monbiot places Shell Oil CEO over a barrel

2009-02-01T16:03:00.002-05:00

Guardian columnist George Monbiot sticks it to Jeroen van der Veer, the CEO of Royal Dutch Shell. Watch this hilarious video of the CEO squirming in his seat as Monbiot blows up his spot.

NYT: Collapse of the Clean Coal Myth

2009-02-01T15:00:00.001-05:00

Cross-posted from the Climate Progress blog
read the full post here

The NY Times had a strong editorial this week on the painful reality that trumps the industry greenwashing — coal ain’t clean:

A month of negative news for the Tennessee Valley Authority could lead to positive changes in national policy, including federal regulation of toxic coal wastes and new legal constraints on coal-fired power plants. More broadly, the authority’s recent travails may help persuade the public that coal is nowhere near as “clean” as a high-priced industry advertising campaign makes it out to be.

Hear! Hear! (see The day ‘clean coal’ died). The whole piece is worth reading.

Blowing Away King Coal - The Coal River Wind Project

2009-01-31T16:40:00.003-05:00

Another great article, this time on the Coal River Wind Project, an effort to install a wind farm on one of the remaining mountains in Coal River Vally, currently threatened by mountaintop removal.

From Salon.com

Also, get an update on the Coal River Wind Project, here.

Blowing away King Coal

Can a scrawny young wind-power activist topple the biggest, dirtiest industry in West Virginia?

By Jeff Biggers

Jan. 29, 2009 | ROCK CREEK, W.V. -- On Jan. 16, as Barack Obama visited a wind turbine factory in Ohio, Rory McIlmoil snaked along a muddy mountain road in West Virginia on a similar mission. He was headed up Coal River Mountain, the last mountain left untouched in a historic range ravaged by strip mining.

On a ridge, the 28-year-old activist brought his four-wheeler to a skid. He couldn't believe what he saw. Bulldozers had begun clearing the site for the first phase of a mountaintop removal operation, a radical strip-mining process that would clear-cut 6,600 acres of hardwood trees, detonate thousands of tons of explosives and topple the mountain range into the valley. A 100-foot swath of forest just below the ridge lay like an open wound.

For McIlmoil, this should have been ground zero in Obama's green recovery plan. Not a future wasteland.

Read the full article here.

Dirty Coal Reaching a Tipping Point?

2009-01-30T15:37:00.002-05:00

We may be reaching critical mass, in more regard than one. As explained, in such interesting detail, by Malcolm Gladwell in "The Tipping Point", social epidemics, such as ideas, fashions, or even virus's tend to spread exponentially through a population after reaching a certain point and touching a few key channels. It seems like the message of mountaintop removal, and the True Cost of Coal, is finally reaching that point at which it will soon become a commonly held fact. Let us work to further this progress, and spread this contagion!

Since I first learned about mountaintop removal, I had a gut feeling that "If only more people knew about it, it wouldn't be happening." It seems to be so vile a transgression against the Earth, that we simply can't let it continue once enough of us know it's happening. An idealistic perspective, I know. It will, at the very least, lay the context for seemingly radical action.

Well, the truth is finally making it's way into mainstream consciousness, in increasing frequency.

The recent TVA coal ash disaster, as horrible as it was, has served to punctuate the growing distrust of the pure marketing tactic known as the Clean Coal Lie. Although the toxic spill, 50 times larger than the Exxon Valdez has passed by some major media outlets, it did make several hits. Time magazine did an article on it (Jan 10, 09), titled "Exposing the Myth of Clean Coal Power"

And then today, I learn about a 12-page article entitled "Mining the Mountains" in Smithsonian Magazine, which brings our attention to the plights of a small West Virginia town.

To anyone paying attention to the stream of media and collective popularity of coal and coal issues, it is clear that we are approaching a tipping point. There is reason to be optimistic, for sure, and ample motivation to continue with this work, with a renewed sense of purpose and validation. We are going to change this thing around, each and everyone one of us.

As a side note, the last article will also bring you to this website, where you can see exactly where your energy comes from and what kind of emissions it causes. It also provides resources on cleaner and greener energy usage.

There is hope for the mountains, for us still.

2009-01-25T22:37:00.001-05:00

With all the destruction happening in the Appalachia, it's important to remember that another future is possible. Another form of energy is possible. There is no reason to be destroying mountains and building new coal plants.

United Mountain Defense volunteer Chris Irwin brings us this set of aerial fly-over videos. Mountaintop removal (aka "strip-mining" has spread into Tennessee. This first shows the staggering destruction, as seen from above.

The second video, however, renews hope, bringing us a symbolic and beautiful image of wind turbines spinning in the clouds. Enjoy.

this is just a test

2009-01-24T20:48:00.002-05:00

In honor of our mountains

2009-01-23T22:25:00.002-05:00

a guest post from Nichole

Walking towards beauty, I seek my mother's majesty. I search for her bosom, as I'm in need of sustenance. Walking along her water's, searching for the crest, the peaks. I feel her warmth, I'm in the heartbeat. Secure in this connection, I look up now, instead of down. My gaze is forward between her and the sun. Amidst the gaze I see her majesty, in ranges.
Ranges of mountains, caressing the sky so high. I've found the peaks of her sustenance. I will walk up to that range. I will walk up to that mountain that calls my will, my awe and wonder, my name. To the top, I am free. To the summit of her nectar, of her being. My love has grown, just in the journey. In the journey to be free.

- We Must Stop Mountain Top Removal -

We work til the day we expire to find a peaceful valley, yet it's here, within me and within you. In everybody. It's on the other side of every mountain. Walk up to the mountain. Look up and walk. And when you get there, you'll know. The peace will grow. The sight, panoramic, will glow.

"The peaceful valley
Just over the mountain
The peaceful valley
Few come to know
I may never get there
Ever in this lifetime
But sooner or later
It's there I will go
Sooner or later
It's there I will go"

I suppose these words make me imagine a lady living amongst the devastation of mountain top removal. Her life weaved in the appalachia's, she sees what beauty has been removed. She wonders if she'll ever see that peaceful valley again, as opposed to toxic slurries and destroyed earth. She dreams of being able to go up the mountain and witness a miracle, a restoration, a healing, and a cleansing of the devastation.
And she believes, maybe not in this lifetime, her dream would come true. That she may find that peaceful valley. That she may have a place, that peaceful valley place, to be able to transcend from and to. All she has now, is faith and will.
All she needs is faith and will.

-nichole

We need to talk...- The Fluoride Deception

2009-01-23T15:59:00.002-05:00

see also:

http://www.fluoridealert.org/

Take four deep breaths

2009-01-23T03:15:00.002-05:00

This is the difference between the power of our Creator and anything else — particularly evil: That you can go into a pitch black room, full of evil, full of darkness, and light a little candle, and instantly that darkness flees. But you can’t do the opposite. You can’t go into a well-lit room full of truth and wisdom and righteousness and joy and health and harmony with the Universal power — You can’t take any amount of Darkness and go into that well-lit room and have any effect whatsoever.

That is the metaphor which I frequently think of when I think that I’m not empowered. It is the greatest lesson for me, and I think for everybody else, to know that we are on the winning side and that we win in the end.

author unknown

New Video of the Kingston Ash Disaster

2009-01-22T03:31:00.002-05:00

Produced by environmental activist Summer Rayne Oakes, a close look at the people, property and land affected by the Kingston coal disaster...

Swan Pond Road: The Kingston Coal Disaster from SRmanitou on Vimeo.

Obama gets two Green thumbs up, so far...

2009-01-22T01:19:00.011-05:00

Although I will continue to be critical of Obama (as I am of anyone who makes it that high in politics), I'll also give him the benefit of the doubt. 1 day in and he's delivering on some of that change I heard so much about. There's reason to believe that we may very well achieve Mountain Justice with help from his administration, and soon. Alas, there is good reason to be optimistic!

On his first full day in the oval office, Obama put the breaks on the Bush's 11th hour, corporate-inspired "Loot and Run" environmental rollbacks. Included in the list of last-minute fraternal favors, was yet another kick-back for King Coal. Obama has undone this deal, which made it easier for coal companies to engage in Mountaintop Removal mining. (Other regulations however, could not be undone so easily, including a paralyzing provision on the Endangered Species Act. Read the full release, here).

Along with the good news, comes word on Obama's newly-appointed Chief of the EPA, who has vowed to "immediately assess hundreds of coal ash disposal sites at power plants across the country in the wake of two spills in Alabama and Tennessee"

Lisa Jackson said the agency also will reconsider ways to regulate the ash and how it is stored, something the EPA recommended in 2000 but did not act upon.

Jackson said the agency's decisions will be based on science and the law and not politics.

Obama and crew know that they can't ignore the coal ash disasters of late. And it sound's like they're going to deal with things in a much different way than we've seen in the past.

I'm looking forward to seeing how things play out.
Put it's not a passive process.
Obama needs us to keep his feet in the fire.
Let us make it clear right now.
Regulation is only be a first step.
Coal ash ponds must be banned.

and as always...

29 Disturbingly Creative Ads for the Environment

2009-01-21T04:20:00.000-05:00

(in case you missed this...)

The New Safe Cigarette

2009-01-16T17:17:00.003-05:00

Ever wonder why we've ever heard the phrase "clean coal?" Even though coal is clearly dirty all the way from extraction, to burning, and even though none of the 100 or so (and decreasing) coal-fired power plants on the board incorporate any kind of carbon emission-reductions, we still keep hearing those two words in the same sentance! I've taken a personal mission to stop using the phrase to whatever extent possible. It is such a magnificant lie.

But it still begs the question... how did this idea become so prevalent that all the 2008 candidates were talking about it? (I'll give you a hint: Who was the largest corporate sponsor of the presidential debates?) Well, we're finally getting the word straight from the mouths of the satan-spawn responsible for injecting the idea of "clean coal"into the presidential campaign.

A press release from the Kelley Campaign brings to light an internal memo from the spin doctors who brought us the greatest lie since the safe cigarette.

From the January 14th press release:

"Experts on the human and environmental impact of coal expressed outrage today at a newly posted memo from a D.C.-area public relations firm. In the unseemly memo, the Hawthorn Group extolled their PR campaign on behalf of the coal industry as historic, although “clean coal” does not actually exist."

The whole letter, sent to employees of the PR firm, details a highly organized strategy to simulate grassroots support and convince the candidates that Americans support the coal industry, in coordination with a national advertising campaign that reportedly took the total expense to $55 million.

You can see the full text of the memo right here! (until they realize we're blogging on it, and they take it down....).

A few gems:

“We nearly turned candidate events into clean coal rallies,”

“We did this by sending ‘clean coal’ branded teams to hundreds of presidential candidate events, carrying a positive message (we can be part of the solution to climate change) which was reinforced by giving away free t-shirts and hats emblazoned with our branding: Clean Coal.”

"ACCCE (a coal indusry front group) shaped the debate by finding supporters of the candidates and turning them into clean coal advocates."

MJSB 2009: Join the movement!

2009-01-13T15:16:00.009-05:00

Mountain Justice Spring Break 2009
9 days of training, service and action
for environmental justice in the coal fields
9 more nails in the coffin of dirty coal

This Spring Break - Avoid the hangovers!

Learn about and take action against the destructive effects of the dirty life-cycle of coal!

See ground zero of the huge TVA coal ash disaster in in Kingston, TN - the WORST environmental catastrophe in US history.

Meet the people affected by the spill, and support them, in solidarity.

See Mountaintop Removal Mining, with your own eyes!

Take direct action against the dirty coal industry!

Come to Mountain Justice Spring Break and support grassroots, community led resistance to environmental injustice! Through education, community service, speakers, hiking, music, poetry, direct action and more, we will join local communities in the struggle to maintain their land and culture.

MJSB 2009 is happening in Eastern Tennessee, from Saturday March 7 to Sunday the 15th, near the areas affected by the recent ash disaster.

For more information on MJSB, please visit mjsb.org .

For more about the TVA coal ash disaster, visit www.unitedmountaindefense.org

Mountain Justice Spring Break 2009
MARCH 7–15, 2009 Eastern Tennessee

http://www.mjsb.org
Register Today!

Get involved, now!
The Outreach Team is looking for Outreach Coordinators at your campus and in your hometown. This is your chance to begin organizing for Mountain Justice, today! email info@mjsb.org

Tell Bank of America: "It's Over!"

2009-01-11T15:44:00.005-05:00

What better way to celebrate the next commercial holiday than spotlighting the role of the banking behemoth Bank of America in the systematic destruction of ecosystems and oppression of working families?

Although BofA recently hatched an “ill timed PR ploy” swearing off MTR, they continue to fund coal extraction, as well as widespread oppression, from Black Mesa at Four Corners to the coal fields in Eastern Tennessee, to the urban communities in Mattap an… unless…

This Valentine’s Day, we do something about it.
From the desk of Rising Tide Boston, in solidarity with City Life/Vide Urbana

*NATIONAL CALL TO ACTION*

BREAK UP WITH BANK OF AMERICA ON VALENTINES DAY

FEB 14th, 2009: MASS DAY OF ACCOUNT CLOSURES

STOP ALL EVICTIONS AND FORECLOSURES!

STOP FINANCING COAL AND CLIMATE CHANGE!

Contact: valentinesday@risingtideboston.org

This Valentine’s Day, February 14th, 2009, join Rising Tide Boston (RTB) in demanding that Bank of America stop its funding of the dirty and deadly coal industry and demanding, in solidarity with City Life/Vide Urbana, stop its unjust foreclosures and evictions of working families. Closing your account with Bank of America (BOA) is an important step in bringing closure to this unhealthy relationship. In Boston, we are planning a day of coordinated bank account closures in at least two locations, and encourage people in other places to organize something similar.

Read the rest of the call to action here.

Recommendation: A poem by Thich Naht Hanh

2009-01-10T17:49:00.001-05:00

Promise me,
promise me this day,
promise me now,
while the sun is overhead
exactly at the zenith,
promise me:

Even as they
strike you down
with a mountain of hatred and violence;
even as they step on you and crush you
like a worm,
even as they dismember and disembowel you,
remember brother, remember:
man is not our enemy.

The only thing worthy of you is compassion -
invincible, limitless, unconditional.
Hatred will never let you face
the beast in man.

One day, when you face this beast alone
with your courage intact, your eyes kind,
untroubled
(even as no one sees them),
out of your smile
will bloom a flower.

And those who love you
will behold you
across ten thousand worlds of birth and dying.

Alone again,
I will go on with bent head,
knowing that love has become eternal.
On the long, rough road
the sun and moon will continue to shine.

Zen Master THICH NHAT HAHN, founder of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship and the Unified Buddhist Church (Eglise Bouddhique Unifieé) in France in 1969, during the Vietnam war. Thich Nhat Hanh is a Vietnamese Buddhist monk, a poet, a scholar, and a peace activist. His life long efforts to generate peace and reconciliation moved Martin Luther King, Jr. to nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1967. When not travelling the world to teach “The Art of Mindful Living”, he teaches, writes, and gardens in Plum Village, France, a Buddhist monastery for monks and nuns and a mindfulness practice center for lay people

(thanks Nichole)

I'm an optimist... really. part 1

2009-01-09T15:57:00.010-05:00

There seems to be critical decision that many of us are finding ourselves making on the conscious or the unconcious level. Do we try to fix this system and make it work? Do we actively challenge those who are fouling things up for everyone? Or do we walk away from the pyramid and do our own thing. Some say you have to work the system from within and play by the rules. Other prefer to challenge those rules. And others still, walk away and establish their own.

But how can we choose? Is there even a choice? Can anyone ever truly escape this mess? I think not, because there is no boundary to the Empire. It is all encompassing. And the future of the Empire is critically tied to the future of Life as we know It.

What follows are some of the conclusions understandings I have reached:

We can't just establish another program to save the system, so it won't be as simple electing the right official, or diverting more funds to piecemeal conservation and humanitarian efforts (as important and noble as that is). This culture has built massive momentum, like a rock rolling quickly downhill, or a stream that has turned into a roaring river. Through Quinn, the teacher B showed us that a program is like a stick in a river. The water quickly moves around it. Likewise, you can not resist a rolling boulder.

So how do we influence a moving mass, so as to not end up where its heading?
To continue with the metaphor: While we can not directly resist the flowing water, or the falling boulder, but we can direct its path. We can shape the land down which it flows.

How can we shape the path WE are taking?

To clarify, I am certainly not saying that we can not resist the systems of oppression and domination that have been exploiting people and planet for centuries. This is absolutely critical. The machine must be held back in areas, so that something else can grow. The maladies of the self-destructive system must be constantly revealed and exploited. But the key here, is that something new must grow to take its place, and to eventually overgrow it and transform the system as a whole. What grows, is up to us. :)

The colorful metaphor here, of course, is the caterpillar being transformed from the inside. A foreign and novel creature originates from the dissolving tissues of body which came before it. The transformation starts with a few cells working together, and grows out, from within.

We can be those "imaginal cells", and work together, and grow. We will meet resistance from the old, but we are creating something new, with a new path, a new idea, a new way of relating to each other and the planet. Or perhaps a very very OLD way, which we somehow forgot. We will bring the light back to the darkness. We will carry that light and utterly transform the reality of human existence.

It will have to be this radical.
Otherwise, the system will end up where its heading.

This is how I consider myself an optimist. I know this simple, undeniable fact. If human culture is still around 100 years from now, it will be so radically different that what we know today. This has to be true, because this culture of competition and domination is killing itself. If we continue playing out this story, as these characters, we will reach the end of the story, very soon. We will figure this one out. Or we will no longer exist. Either way, things will work out. :)

So, reality check. We currently find ourselves in a precarious position. Our actions up to this point have left us with an interesting convergence of resource depletion, conflict and climate change. Before we even consider where we're going, we must understand how we got here. Fortunately this has been investigated and laid out several times, by many great minds of our time.

As far as recent documentaries go, I would suggest "What A Way To Go: Life at the End of Empire." You can watch the trailer here. This is quite an amazing mind-fxck of a movie, and I would not suggest watching it in any sort of altered state. As for good books on how we got here, in "The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight" Thom Hartman provides a critical resource for understanding of how We have systematically overtaxed and sullied our nest. (I would suggest this book to anyone concerned with the environmental crisis.)

So where do we go from here? What will our glowing centers of enlightened resistance look like? How do I know?! All I know is we are dealing a changing world, and inheriting a boat-load of baggage. Surely, we need to be ready to adapt and respond to the ramifications of our prior short-sightedness.

On his website, FutureScenarios.org, one of the OG's of Permaculture, David Holgrem uses a scenario planning model to understand the potential interaction between Climate Change and Peak Oil. "In the process," He says,

I introduce permaculture as a design system specifically evolved over the last 30 years to creatively respond to futures that involve progressively less and less available energy.

That's what we're working with. Things as simple as "where do we get our food" and "where does are waste go" are becoming not so disconnected from daily life. Whatever we do, we better wake up to the natural cycle of resources and the reality of the world we've created.

Let's see what we can do...

Spring Break: Get Some Action

2009-01-08T12:29:00.003-05:00

What better way to spend your spring break than organizing for justice in the coalfields of eastern Tennessee? March 7-15th, its Mountain Justice Spring Break.

MJSB 2009 will bring hundreds of students face to face with the devastating effects of mountain top removal and coal industry abuse – and give us the skills and knowledge we need to fight back! Through education, community service, workshops, speakers, hiking, music, poetry, and direct action we will join local communities in the struggle to maintain their land and culture.

Get plugged into the growing movement for energy justice. Gain valuable experience in grassroots organizing. Email info@mjsb.org, and get involved.

the golden rule [obey]

2009-01-08T12:11:00.001-05:00

Pass this on like a bug

2009-01-07T17:35:00.001-05:00

DEAR EVERYONE-

PLEASE TREAT THIS LIKE ONE OF THOSE INTERNET FORWARDS THAT PROMISES YOU MONEY AND GETS CIRCULATED TO HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF PEOPLE!

PLEASE FORWARD AND YOU WILL HAVE GOOD LUCK FOREVER!!!!!

BUT YOU MUST READ THE WHOLE THING FIRST!!!!

THIS IS FROM A GRASSROOTS ORGANIZATION HELPING LOCAL RESIDENTS IN TENNESSEE DEAL WITH THE MASSIVE SLUDGE DAM BURST OF TVA (The Tennessee Valley Authority, the largest public utility company in the US), IN WHICH OVER A BILLION GALLONS OF COAL FLY-ASH WASTE-WATER SLUDGE FLOODED OUT OF A DAM THAT HAD BURST, AND DEVASTATED THE LOCAL COMMUNITY. THE PEOPLE IN THIS GROUP NEED TO BE RECOGNIZED AND REWARDED FOR THEIR HARD WORK AND DEDICATION.

SO PLEASE READ AND FORWARD FAR AND WIDE!!! YOU WILL HAVE GOOD LUCK FOREVER!!

The Un-Natural Disaster
The Tennessee Valley Authority, better known as TVA, has a coal-burning power plant located near Harriman, Tennessee, along Interstate 40 between Knoxville and Nashville. On Monday, December 22 around 1:00 a.m. residences living near the Kingston coal plant were flooded with over a billion gallons of nasty black coal waste. It covered 400 acres of land up to 6 feet and flooded into tributaries of the Tennessee River - the water supply for Chattanooga TN and millions of people living downstream in Alabama, Tennessee and Kentucky.

The coal ash, slurry or sludge is a byproduct left over after TVA burns their coal and they have a huge mountain of this coal waste material stored in a gigantic pile next to their Kingston power plant, alongside the tributary of the Tennessee River. Coal ash contains mercury and dangerous heavy metals like lead and arsenic, among many other potentially toxic and radioactive contaminates. Materials found naturally in coal are concentrated in the ash and more toxic than they start.

This Tennessee TVA spill is over 40 times bigger than the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska. This is a huge environmental disaster of epic proportions. United Mountain Defense has been at the site of the spill sharing information about the extremely serious threats to human health and the environment.

United Mountain Defense is actively creating a plan of action to deal with this issue, as bureaucracy, red-tape, and foot-dragging is undoubtedly going to keep TVA and governmental authorities from acting quickly and adequately. We plan to spend as much time as possible in Harriman meeting people, taking photos and video, gathering water samples, passing out information and reporting what we learn. WE NEED YOUR FINANCIAL HELP!! We must make sure residents receive appropriate testing, and the aresenic and other dangerous heavy metals to which they've been exposed are no longer easily dectectable 30 days after exposure. Each test costs hundreds of dollars, and if we wait for TVA and the government to pay, it will be too late. PLEASE HELP US HELP THE RESIDENTS OF THE LOCAL COMMUNITY!

TO DONATE, GO TO
or go to unitedmountaindefense.org

For more information on what we're doing and where your money is going, and for more specific requests made by UMD of the greater environmental community, please read the email below, or go to www.unitedmountaindefense.org. Thank you for your support and concern.

Here are some of the projects that United Mountain Defense has been working on for the past two weeks.

- We have distributed more than 250 gallons of bottled water to coal ash impacted residents.

- Our volunteers have distributed over 10 documents outlining the potential dangers of coal fly ash to more than 400 hundred local residents inlcuding Fly Ash Material Saftey Data Sheets.

- We have been taking water and coal ash samples since day 1 of the spill. We have 4 rounds of samples in various certified labs and are awaiting the test results.

- We have been training local residents in our protocals so that they to can gather samples and send them to labs for testing.

- We have distributed the first round of water quality information that Applachain Voices and the River Keepers shared with us.

- We have posted regular updates on our blog dirtycoaltva.blogspot.com, website- www.unitedmountaindefense.org, and the local progressive blog at roaneviews.com.

- We helped the impacted residents organize the first community meeting of the coal impacted residents of the Swan Pond community.

- At the request of the community we are setting up biometric sampling of residents who drank ground water or stayed in the area for a few days after the coal ash spill.

- We have distributed petitions for the Agency for Toxic Sustances and Disease Registry to the coal impacted residents in an effort to get an outside agency to help access and address the communities health risks and concerns.

- We will continue to work with this coal impacted community to figure out what they need and want and help them continue to develop their own community group so that United Mountain Defense can take a step back. We are working hard to work ourselves out of this job.

The following is a list of requests of United Mountain Defense from the greater environmental community, and concerned citizens in general.

Request 1- That all the environmental groups across the country and world please use this disaster to bring the coal industry to it's knees. United Mountain Defense understands that this disaster can be a huge turning point for the coal industry and we have been working hard to make sure and document TVA's response. Feel free to use any of our videos and online information to help out with this work. Please credit United Mountain Defense.

Request 2- United Mountain Defense needs more funding and support from other non profits and foundations. Personal donations are also appreciated. We need funding for bottled water, personal protective equipment for residents and on the ground volunteers, biometric sampling of impacted residents, air quality monitoring, and water quality monitoring. United Mountain Defense is a tiny non profit and the only way that we have had as much success as we have had is because we have been training our volunteers for the past 5 years to deal with a situation like this one and our volunteers were willing to spend the holidays away from our families to help deal with this disaster.

Request 3- United Mountain Defense wants to work with other non profits on this disaster because we don't have a lot of funding, BUT we want to get credit for our ground work with all your future funders, in all your press releases, and with the environmental community as a whole. Please do not cut United Mountain Defense out of the history books as we helped deal with TVA's coal ash disaster of Dec 22, 2008.

Request 4- United Mountain Defense requests funding for water monitoring.

Request 5- United Mountain Defense needs a paid staff person. United Mountain Defense has done all this work with a dedicated volunteer force. Some of our volunteer force is becoming very concerned about paying the utility bills for the volunteer supported Volunteer House.

Thanks for your time and effort and let's please find a way to work together. If you have any questions, concerns, have special skills to volunteer or would like to donate money or other resources please contact United Mountain Defense at 865 689 2778.

Thanks, the full-time volunteer staff of United Mountain Defense

www.unitedmountaindefense.org

###

Coal is Dirty. (pass it on)

Coal for christmas

2008-12-25T12:19:00.000-05:00

happy holidays

This xmas, my thoughts are with those who are unfairly impacted by the coal industry. May this unfortunate event help bring justice more swiftly.

toxic sludge pond failure covers 400 acres

2008-12-25T01:20:00.000-05:00

You might have heard the breaking story of a sludge pond failure in Eastern Tennessee. 500 million gallons of toxic coal waste spilled down a valley and damaged 14 homes and covered 400 acres in heavy metals and other toxins.

merry christmas

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/12/23/tennessee.sludge.spill/index.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnJUSHpTm-E&eurl=http://itsgettinghotinhere.org/&feature=player_embedded

http://itsgettinghotinhere.org/2008/12/22/coal-ash-slurry-pond-bursts-in-tennessee/

New "Clean Coal" add features Obama (robot)

2008-12-23T23:45:00.000-05:00

I'd prefer to give Obama the benefit of the doubt until he's in office. But in the end he's either playing the game, or the games playing him. After all, no one makes it to the position of president-elect without having full support of the corporatocracy, including King Coal. I just hope he's paying lip service to the king until he get's close enough to his neck.

Obama has had the tendency to get us wrapped up in his well-written and emotional speeches, until he'd reach his obligatory and blood-curdling support of "clean coal and safe nuclear." (I almost choked while eating during his acceptance speech in Denver). Well, the coal industry front group, American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE) has chosen a few of Obama's (or Robobama's) gems and put out a new advertisement, perhaps in response to the Reality Campaign ad's which have been getting impressive air time.

You can see the new ad at the ACCCE website, americaspower.org.

With all the good news about Obama's appointees, I guess we still have reason to be optimistic. But it's up to us to put the pressure on him, and to let him know that there is no such thing as clean coal. Maybe he just needs a little gentle support and guidance. But we should, by no means, limit ourselves.

It is of utmost importance that we successfully debunk the myth of clean coal. And, thanks to the power of media, we'll have to do it over and over again. Remember, repetition is key. Repetition is key.

Thankfully, the Reality Campain (thank you Mr. Gore) is releasing a new commercial, called "smudge." Check it out.

If letter-writing and phone calls aren't enough for you, it's time to get involved with serious grassroots organizing against King Coal. Next March, Mountain Justice Spring Break will give you the chance to learn from and stand with those most directly impacted by the dirty coal industry. What better way to spend your spring break? Keep an eye out for more information in the near future, or better yet, email MJSB to find out how to help!

Geeking out on geomagnetism

2008-12-21T01:09:00.001-05:00

High-energy pulses of solar wind distort the Earth's magnetic field.

For some reason I felt like geeking out tonight. Reading about variations in the Earth's magnetic field, among other things. Scientists know that the Earth's magnetic field changes over time, and that complete reversals of the poles have happened many times in the past, the last time being about 700 thousand years ago. The overall field of the Earth has decreased 7% over over the last 100 years, which some scientists think might be a sign of a pending reversal. The thing they can't decide is whether the change happens quickly (over a few years) or slowly (over a few thousand years). When the fields reverse, they first collapse, leaving the Earth and it's inhabitants exposed to flares of solar radiation. The coming collapse (if it happens) will be the first to occur with a global technology-based population (that we know of). All of our satellites and other technology would basically be wiped out without protection from solar radiation. Should make for interesting times.... indeed.

Rising Tide Boston to Bank of America: We’re still breaking up with you.

2008-12-10T13:08:00.000-05:00

While it's important to celebrate our victories, and keep a positive momentum, we know that the fight is far from over. Bank of America's new "coal policy" is nothing more than a PR ploy, and we must not be distracted.

A message, from the core of Rising Tide Boston:

Rising Tide Boston not fooled by Bank of America's "Coal Policy"; plans to break up with them this Valentine's Day

Contact: info@risingtideboston.org

Rising Tide Boston wishes to announce that the group will continue its part in the widespread campaign to pressure Bank of America to drop its involvement with the coal industry, despite the bank's recent release of a new "Coal Policy". We view this so-called policy as a PR gimmick intended to distract the public from Bank of America's ongoing funding of the coal industry. Bank of America's Coal Policy fails to commit to a timeline or any concrete action to halt their financing of mountain top removal coal mining, and the alternatives the bank pledges to support are not solutions at all.

Bank of America claims that they will "phase out financing of companies whose predominant method of extracting coal is through mountain top removal." Without having any sort of schedule, there is no way to know that Bank of America actually intends to follow through on their stated plan. If the bank's intention is a "phase out" over a number of years, what does that mean for places being bombed or covered in toxic sludge every day? If and when Bank of America does drop companies like Massey Energy, we hope they would extend this action to all companies wreaking havoc on ecosystems and coalfield communities through strip mining.

Bank of America says that they will promote technologies that "capture carbon from fossil fuel plants and then sequester that carbon in geologic reservoirs," which is also problematic. At a period in history when climate-related disasters have become a reality for communities around the globe, there is no longer any time for putting our hopes in pie-in-the-sky solutions like carbon capture and storage. CCS technology will not be available to implement on a large scale for years, and with unnatural disasters increasing in frequency and intensity, we need to drastically cut our consumption - not wait for technological quick fixes.

Somebody should let Bank of America know that a completely free and reliable form of carbon capture and storage already exists! It's produced by two powerful forces: biological (capturing carbon in the form of living organisms) and geological (transforming carbon into a very stable form underground and inside of mountains). It's called coal. If Bank of America wants to demonstrate their commitment to carbon storage, we recommend that they promote the practice of leaving fossil fuels inside the Earth where they belong.

Rising Tide Boston also wishes to remind Bank of America that our concerns are not limited to "the environment" and that throwing us a bone like the "Coal Policy" won't distract us from the bank's practice of evicting our neighbors who have been hit hard by predatory lending and the mortgage crisis. Perhaps when we've heard conclusively from coalfield residents that strip-mining has stopped, when people stop being evicted from their homes across the U.S., and when Bank of America stops making a profit off industries that create climate chaos, we'll "phase out" our campaign against them. In the meantime, we'll be promoting February 14, 2009 (Valentine's Day) as a major day of Bank of America account closures. Along with organizations resisting the current wave of evictions, Rising Tide Boston invites anyone who cares about a habitable planet and a livable community to join us in dumping Bank of America this Valentine's Day. For more information about Rising Tide Boston, please visit: www.risingtideboston.org. Stay tuned for updates about February 14^th.

We can use the media, too

2008-12-05T02:50:00.000-05:00

You might have seen this add on every single commercial break last night during Daily Show and Colbert. It's about time we get some screen time.

The Reality campaign is a project of Al Gore's Alliance for Climate Protection. Unfortunately the campaign materials leave out the single largest argument that there's no such thing as clean coal; AS LONG AS WE'RE BLOWING UP MOUNTAINS, it doesn't matter how much emissions are cleaned. (a good article about the ad campaign, here).

You might have caught another quick shout to the coal justice movement during Wednesday's Daily Show. During the "Lame Duck Presidency" skit, PC guy makes reference to the Lame Turduken Bush's 11th hour decision to effectively gut the Stream Buffer Zone rule, allowing mining operations to dump waste into rivers. Obama? Clean-up, aisle eleven.

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Lame Duck Presidency

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video

The tide may be rising, but it's also turning...

2008-12-05T01:56:00.000-05:00

It's important to have milestones, checkpoints. Right now is such a juncture at which we can celebrate, take a mindful breath, look how far we've come, re-establish our footing, and dig in for the long road ahead. Fortunately, our pace is quickened, and our momentum is growing. Our goal is now within our site. We will see and end to mountaintop removal, and an end to coal.

There may never be a truly ethical corporation. They are programmed to do one thing, after-all, get money. But if the people organize, we can translate ethics into business terms. When it comes to the destruction of our mountains, and of our rivers, and the systematic genocide of an entire culture, business as usual ends now. Bank of America may be starting to get the picture.

Yesterday, Bank of America released its new coal policy, which appears to announce the bank's divestment from the most destructive form of coal mining, mountaintop removal. The policy states, in part:

Bank of America is particularly concerned about surface mining conducted through mountain top removal in locations such as central Appalachia. We therefore will phase out financing of companies whose predominant method of extracting coal is through mountain top removal.

This is pretty huge, considering Bank of America is currently the single largest investor in coal extraction, giving billions of dollars to the largest coal companies performing mountaintop removal, including Massey, Arch and Peabody. Of course, we'll have to see how this plays out. After all, they don't call what they're doing in Tennessee by the term "mountaintop removal."

Either way, this is a momentous occasion. It sends yet another message to the coal companies, and to other investors. Time is running out for coal.

News of the divestment came less then two days after a federal judge revoked the air quaility permit for the Cliffside plant in North Carolina. Duke energy now has 70 days to update its technology or construction will be halted by the court. (Props to our friends and allies in Asheville!)

It's been a particularly momentous last few weeks for the energy justice movement. Recent events were almost foreshadowed earlier in November. The night before the National Day of Action against Coal and Coal Finance, some of us were gathered at the house in Boston, making signs and painting banners. Word came through the interwebs that a major victory had been won. A wave of elation ran through some of us, when we learned that a court had ruled that all new coal plants must use “Best Available Control Technology." Of course, none of those currently being built or proposed are up to par, so its back to the drawing board. More than just stalling all current projects, the ruling makes coal an even riskier investment. (We can certainly help it along, and make it even riskier.)

The Day of Action went well, across the country. I was happy to watch videos of a rather impressive march in Austin, Texas, with props, costumes, and a giant Bank of America card, with scissors. Back in Boston, a small of troupe ventured out for a day of culture-jamming, street theater, and quasi-educational tomfoolery. We decided to help the banks with their green image, by marketing their investments in "green coal"...

Meanwhile, in Boston...

2008-10-08T04:49:00.000-04:00

I'm on my way to Austin, and I just get word about a fantastic direct action that happened today in Boston. I'm so excited for my friends back home, and can't wait to get back. Boston is where it's at! I'm looking forward to hearing some personal accounts. My thoughts are with my friends and comrades who might still be in custody.

From the Understory:

150+ Rally in Boston: Not with Our Money!

posted by Debra in RAN General on October 7th, 2008

Climate crisis, housing crisis, financial crisis… more and more people are connecting the dots. I just returned from a rally in Harvard Square that put all of the pieces together in a powerful way. More than 150 people came together on a sunny fall day to protest the banks that are financing coal power, foreclosing on homes, and getting rich - all with the backing of the US government and taxpayers’ money. The demonstration (sponsored by RAN and Rising Tide Boston) was peaceful, positive and purposeful - with music and lots of energy to attract and engage the lunchtime crowd.

The multigenerational rally included women in their seventies and a baby attending his second protest. Speakers from City Life/Vida Urbana talked about how Bank of America’s irresponsible lending practices have led to a wave of home evictions in Boston, while other speakers called for Bank of America to take responsibility for the social and environmental impacts of its financing. Participants carried signs with the message “Not with Our Money,” bearing pictures of coal power plants, tar sands, and foreclosed homes. Passersby were overwhelmingly supportive and took hundreds of pieces of literature.

After rallying in front of BofA, we marched and danced our way around the corner to the Citi bank branch. Waiting for us were four young activists who had chained themselves in front of the bank to temporarily shut down one branch and send a clear message that we will not stop until the bank stops funding dirty energy and starts investing in sustainable alternatives and community solutions. We kept up the music, chants and songs as police arrested the four. It was a first arrest for each of them, and they looked calm and strong as police unlocked them and took them into custody. They’re still in custody as I write this, and some of the demonstrators have stationed themselves outside of the police station to show their support.

It’s inspiring to see more and more people taking up the call for real solutions to our financial and climate crisis. As peaceful protests spread across the country and increasing numbers of people get involved, I look forward to more afternoons like this one spent with ever-larger crowds of people who can see a better future and won’t stop until we get there.

For more pics, visit our Flickr page.

It all comes down to community, and food. An update from the road.

2008-10-02T22:24:00.000-04:00

Sitting at a truck stop, somewhere in Mississippi, about 80 miles outside New Orleans. Just want to take a minute to write down some thoughts and update you all on what we've been up to. Most of the crew is in the truck stop restaurant right now, listening to the debate between Biden and Palin. I can only take so much of these politicians. I was, however, glad to hear a question on climate change. In his response, Biden used the two biggest oxymorons possible, "clean coal and safe nuclear." (Ackhh!) The fact is that neither of the candidates has any idea of what we need to do to solve the climate crisis, and they are all too invested in business-as-usual to see the solutions in front of us. That doesn't really bother me, though, because I have very little faith in centralized government. I know that the solutions will come from strong local communities, in the relocalization of food and energy production. "The time of the nation-state is coming to an end." (The prominent public figure who said this asked not be quoted... but it's true!)

Anyways (*breath) ... we left Knoxville yesterday, after being there for two weeks. Except for having some of the worst air quality in the country, Knoxville seems to be a great place to live. It's cheap, warm, has a great music scene; good conditions for a destitute activist. Further, I sense that the community is on the verge of engaging a sustainable and conscious world vision. There are several bubbles that have been growing. Set near the coal-fields and conservative Bible-belt of the U.S., it would be an interesting and inspiring experience to witness and take part in the transition of Knoxville into a sustainable community.

During outreach and organization for the Knoxville event, we made solid connections with several groups and individuals which are playing a part in transforming this small city. We had a chance (?) encounter with Tracie, an organizer of the Knoxville Permaculture Guild. At the Roadshow, Tracie delivered a workshop on urban gardening. Her partner, Chad gave an intro to permaculture. Over the two days, we had a rather solid workshop schedule, diverse and well attended. We also had workshops on water catchment, biodiesel, mountaintop removal, and of course, mushrooms!

While we were in Knoxville we received much support in the form of food donations from Beardsley Community Farm and the Three Rivers Market Co-op. Both are conscious local businessess and centers for the community. I didn't get a chance to visit the farm, but the co-op was warm and welcoming, and had a great organic herb section!

I gotta toss in a shameless plug for Smith & Associates Geothermal. They install geothermal home water-heating units in Eastern Tennessee. These guys were super chill and supportive of our project. I hope that we helped them get a little business. We also had Big Frog Mountain Solar powering our solar stage. (You might have seen these guys before. It's the same solar rig that powers the solar stage at Bonnaroo.) They drove a couple hours to be part of our event, and only charged us for travel expenses. They hooked us up. (...I guess that's a pun.)

We had a hard time booking food vendors for the event. It was something that was worrying me all along, because, you can't have a good gathering without good food! Fortunately, at the last minute, two groups pulled through and supported us. Knoxville Food Not Bombs pulled through on Sunday and served some tasty chutny, chile, and Panera pastries. I was glad we could have FNB there. They are actively building sustainable community and setting an example; take advantage of waste, care for your neighbors.

Yawah from Organic Roots Cafe was able to attend and serve her delicious and unique meals on Saturday (forbidden rice and beans... amazing!). She was so excited about our project and thankful to us for coming to Knoxville. I have to say that Yawah is one connected individual. I could feel her calming energy when talking with her. I'm glad I got a chance to meet her, and I'm glad that Knoxville has been blessed with such an individual. On our way out of town, she sent me a text message, which was well timed for myself and a close friend:

"So divinely is the world organized
that every one of us in our place and
time is in balance with everything else."

These are the types of connections I was sure I would make on this journey. With all the daunting crises, the constant bad news, and nihilistic outlooks trying to creep in and pull me back down into apathy and fear, it's so important to connect, explore and be inspired by the good individuals with positive intentions, who are "being the change" in each of there own ways. There are so many of us out there. It's important to remember that.

I've only been able to briefly touch on the connections and experiences I had in Knoxville. I still need to let you all know about the ACE conference that some of us attended in Abingdon, VA, and about my time at the UMD house. Hopefully I have time again, soon. We are actually, at this time, driving through the Ninth Ward in New Orleans. This is about to get intense, and I think we might be lost. Time to look out the window and get off this computer.

Peace, and thanks for reading.

Resolving the paradox of energy versus water

2008-10-02T22:05:00.000-04:00

I came across an interesting article on energy and water. It's been said that before the wars over oil are completed, we will be fighting over water. This article provides a holistic analysis of how water issues are intertwined with energy issues, and provides an inspiring set of solutions and steps forward towards a just and sustainable system.

Energy versus Water: Solving Both Crises Together

Water is needed to generate energy. Energy is needed to deliver water. Both resources are limiting the other—and both may be running short. Is there a way out?

By Michael E. Webber

Water and energy are the two most fundamental ingredients of modern civilization. Without water, people die. Without energy, we cannot grow food, run computers, or power homes, schools or offices. As the world’s population grows in number and affluence, the demands for both resources are increasing faster than ever.

Woefully underappreciated, however, is the reality that each of these precious commodities might soon cripple our use of the other. We consume massive quantities of water to generate energy, and we consume massive quantities of energy to deliver clean water. Many people are concerned about the perils of peak oil—running out of cheap oil. A few are voicing concerns about peak water. But almost no one is addressing the tension between the two: water restrictions are hampering solutions for generating more energy, and energy problems, particularly rising prices, are curtailing efforts to supply more clean water.

Read the full article here

Traveling band of eco-friendly educators comes to UT

2008-09-24T23:01:00.000-04:00

From the Tennessee Journalist

The Sustainable Living Roadshow's goal is to educate and inspire anyone who is interested in making the world a greener place.

www.SustainableLivingRoadShow.org

www.SustainableLivingRoadShow.org

The Sustainable Living Roadshow's goal is to educate and inspire anyone who is interested in making the world a greener place.

By Robert Baldus

published: September 24 2008 07:43 PM updated:: September 24 2008 09:28 PM

Don't know much about living green? No problem. The University of Tennessee will host the Sustainable Living Roadshow Sept. 27-28 on Fiji Island.

Everywhere the "Be the Change" national SLR tour stops, a group of dedicated eco-friendly volunteers do their best to inform inquisitive residents how to most efficiently live green.

Marty Driggs, A spokesperson for the SLR, said the caravan hopes to bring "edutainment" to campuses like UT. By creating an arena to focus on different aspects of sustainable living, the SLR hopes attendees will feel engaged and motivated, but not preached to.

The group achieves this "edutainment" feel by bringing information to the consumers in a fun and festive atmosphere.

To that end, several bands will be playing at this weekend's event:

Artvandalay
Ga-Na-Si-Ta
The Andy Show
Natti Love Joys
The Charles Butler Experience
Grandpa's Stash
Booze Hound Gandy Dance
DJ Snack Attack & special guests
Beats Antique
Monkey Spores
Thomas Clever

"People think green living is a sacrifice, but by taking a holistic approach to green living, you don't see it as a sacrifice," Driggs said. "Instead, you see that there is a whole community to rely on. There is a lot to gain from it."

The SLR heavily promotes the idea of community-based living. Driggs advocates locally grown produce and meats. "By focusing on having a local diet, you see a big reduction in pollutions. For areas that can't grow their own produce year round, there are other options like canning and food fermentation, and the SLR is looking to create workshops about these methods of storing food."

The SLR focuses on a holistic view of the green lifestyle, which includes natural health, green technology, localization of food and power, consumer choices, and alternative transportation. It does this through various elements:

Solar sound stage - A venue for local and national acts powered solely by the sun.
The Conscious Carnival - Eight interactive games including a nine-hole "global warming mini-golf course."
Green Screens Film Festival - An opportunity for event-goers to watch and discuss videos concerning environmental and social issues.
Workshop tents - Speakers from across the world will be leading discussions about everything green.
The Green Market Place - A medium for introducing various eco-friendly companies to consumers.
Natural Health and Healing Farmacy - An area dedicate to selling a wide range of natural healing aids.
The Eco-Info Zone - The caravan's mobile bookstore.
Clean Energy Showcase - The road show's biofuel buses and vehicles are used to show viewers ways to improve energy usage.
Awakened Art Garden - A gallery of various art mediums themed about the environment

Tossing fossil fuels is a prevalent topic of the road show's discussions, Driggs said.

But isn't a mobile caravan adding to the problem of using fossil fuels? According to SLR's Web site, all of the tour's buses run on sustainable biofuels, the events use power from solar and biofuel generators, and the events are "zero-waste."

The next question one might ask is: isn't that more expensive?

Driggs explained, "The dichotomy between the economic and environmental solutions is quickly becoming outdated. The costs of externalities from fossil fuels are much higher. Switching over would actually cost less."

But setting up a mobile education festival is by no means cheap. Driggs estimated setting up each event, including fuel to the event, would cost around $10,000.

And yet, the event is free for everyone. So how do they afford to travel from campuses to conventions?

A large portion of the groups funds come from large individual donors, Driggs said. But volunteers do their part as well. Local farmers and co-ops donate food. The SLR does sell some merchandise.

The group went out to thrift stores, purchased affordable used T-shirts, and printed the SLR logo on them. The road show also sells books on everything from alternative medicine to vegan cookbooks.

"The real goal of the SLR," Driggs explained, "is to make itself obsolete. It should serve as a model for people around the country. We all sense something isn't right. Realizing that there's others out there with the same way of thinking as you is empowering. Going to the show makes you more motivated to be green."

The Methane Time Bomb

2008-09-24T12:52:00.000-04:00

This article is making its way around the climate action community. Looks like those feedback loops are kicking in....here we go!

Tuesday 23 September 2008

by: Steve Conner, The Independent UK

Arctic scientists discover new global warming threat as melting permafrost releases millions of tons of a gas 20 times more damaging than carbon dioxide.

The first evidence that millions of tons of a greenhouse gas 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide is being released into the atmosphere from beneath the Arctic seabed has been discovered by scientists.

The Independent has been passed details of preliminary findings suggesting that massive deposits of sub-sea methane are bubbling to the surface as the Arctic region becomes warmer and its ice retreats.

Underground stores of methane are important because scientists believe their sudden release has in the past been responsible for rapid increases in global temperatures, dramatic changes to the climate, and even the mass extinction of species. Scientists aboard a research ship that has sailed the entire length of Russia's northern coast have discovered intense concentrations of methane - sometimes at up to 100 times background levels - over several areas covering thousands of square miles of the Siberian continental shelf.

In the past few days, the researchers have seen areas of sea foaming with gas bubbling up through "methane chimneys" rising from the sea floor. They believe that the sub-sea layer of permafrost, which has acted like a "lid" to prevent the gas from escaping, has melted away to allow methane to rise from underground deposits formed before the last ice age.

They have warned that this is likely to be linked with the rapid warming that the region has experienced in recent years.

Methane is about 20 times more powerful as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide and many scientists fear that its release could accelerate global warming in a giant positive feedback where more atmospheric methane causes higher temperatures, leading to further permafrost melting and the release of yet more methane.

The amount of methane stored beneath the Arctic is calculated to be greater than the total amount of carbon locked up in global coal reserves so there is intense interest in the stability of these deposits as the region warms at a faster rate than other places on earth.

Read the full article.

MLK Speech on Civil Disobedience, I mean, “Terrorism”

2008-09-24T12:48:00.000-04:00

Cross-posted from GreenIsTheNewRed.com

Sep 24th, 2008 by Will Potter

I’ve written before about how Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. would be labeled a “terrorist” for his tactics, and radical politics. But when I heard these speeches by Dr. King about his opposition to the Vietnam War (when others were urging him to remain “single issue”) and his unwavering support for civil disobedience… well, it gave me chills.

I certainly found this at the right time. I was in dire need of some inspiration like this. Funny how it always seems to come along right when you need it most. Here’s a link to the MP3 from Democracy Now (the excerpt below is near the end).

"I say to you, this morning, that if you have never found something so dear and precious to you that you will die for it, then you aren’t fit to live.You may be 38 years old, as I happen to be, and one day, some great opportunity stands before you and calls upon you to stand for some great principle, some great issue, some great cause. And you refuse to do it because you are afraid.

You refuse to do it because you want to live longer. You’re afraid that you will lose your job, or you are afraid that you will be criticized or that you will lose your popularity, or you’re afraid that somebody will stab or shoot or bomb your house. So you refuse to take a stand.

Well, you may go on and live until you are ninety, but you are just as dead at 38 as you would be at ninety.

And the cessation of breathing in your life is but the belated announcement of an earlier death of the spirit.

You died when you refused to stand up for right.

You died when you refused to stand up for truth.

You died when you refused to stand up for justice.”

Wild-rice, Horses and Environmental Justice

2008-09-20T01:38:00.000-04:00

After a wholesome meal of wild rice and wild-crafted mushrooms, I find myself inspired to recount my experiences at the Anishinaabeg reservation, home of the White Earth Land Recovery Project, a program founded by Winona Laduke. And with the excitement of recent actions against Dominion coal still ringing in my head, her words carry a timely significance; "If I can stop a few coal plants from being built, or put up a some wind turbines, I can go the Creator knowing that I tried."

We met Winona at the Ripple Effect concert at the RNC. She enjoyed the fun yet sophistacted spectacle that is the Sustainable Living Roadshow, and invited us to her reservation. They were having a pow-wow that weekend, and would be blessing a piece of land set to receive a new structure, a symbolic device offering a degree of independence for the reservation: a 20 kW Mitsubishi wind turbine. It was a momentous and appropriate invitation, we could not refuse.

I woke up on the bus in the early morning, having fallen asleep during the late-night ride to the res. I walked outside into a field, immediately struck by the air. I wasn't prepared for this kind of cold.

The people of at the pow-wow welcomed us warmly to this cultural event. Rotating crews of men beat drums and sang unfamiliar words with powerful and hypnotizing voices. Men and women in traditional and semi-traditional clothing danced their respective dances in circles, in a sort of competition. The dresses of some women jangled as they walked. Their clothes had many ribbons, with small cones of metal hanging from their ends. I was intrigued to learn that sometime in recent history, a woman was instructed in the dream to replace with traditional sea-shell dangles with aluminum can lids, rolled into cones.

The kids at the pow-wow were off the wall, to say the least, free to run around and have fun. Ofcourse, with our games and free giveaways we were honored by their constant attention. It was cool seeing 8 year-olds running around with RYSE stickers on them. Three little kids were interested in our Dr. Bronner's soap samples. So interested, in fact that they ended up opening the packets and squirting them at me.

By the end of the day, I was exhausted. The bitter cold had returned, but fortunately a man at the pow-wow was selling winter hats! I spent some time hanging out with a veteran named Doug, while others chilled at a small fire. I turned in early. We had another important day ahead of us.

We had been invited to see a part of the long process of obtaining wild rice. Unfortunately the timing wasn't right in order to see the harvest, where canoes are used to float by the rice, and sticks are used to knock the rice into the boat. It's a skillful art as old as time. The process of rendering the final product, however, has been modernized to an extent. We were brought to the processing facility, where a half-dozen men (and one boy) operate decades-old furnaces, shaking and rotating machines. The grain pods must be heated, rotated, heated again, filtered and separated. I can't imagine how much work it took before the machines. Of course, these people are making more rice then they can ever eat. They sell the high-quality wild rice to small health-food stores and individuals across the country via their website.

Proceeds from rice sales constitute a major source of income for the people of the reservation. They are able to continue their ancient practice of harvesting and share their gift with the world. This gift, however is being threatened by industrial agribusiness. In an attempt to streamline the production of the highly-valued rice, the University of Minnesota is attempting to grow genetically modify "wild rice" to make it easier to harvest and process. There, of course, would be no control of genetic contamination, which could cross-pollinate with and effectively take the "wild" out of the rice.

Wild rice sales (and other Wild Harvest products) help to fund the White Earth Land Recovery Project, which has been fighting agribusiness corporations to keep the rice GMO free. The Project is set up as a land trust, buying up land previously inhabited by the Anishinaabeg tribes.

The Project is also working to address issues of environmental and energy justice. Like the people of Southern Appalachia, Native populations have been continuously oppressed by the energy industry. Native reservations are disproportionately affected by uranium and coal mining, processing, and waste.

Recognizing the true cost of coal, the White Earth Land Recovery Project and members of the reservation have worked to make their homes more efficient, install solar water heaters, and will soon be getting more of their electricity of locally produced wind power.

In order to prepare the land for a new 20kW wind turbine, a ritual was performed which, according to an elder, had not been performed for over 100 years on that land. Our crew was lucky enough to be invited to participate in the ritual. I will close this post with my previous recollection of that event.

"Thirty-three living beings stood in a circle, meditating, blessing this piece of earth. Twenty-nine humans and four horses. These four special individuals stood facing the four directions, wearing the four colors of the four races of man, linking us all to our past and to the Creator. These strong and dependable creatures took part in the ritual with a solemn humility. We could all sense an enchanting connection with those great beings. It was as if they knew of our intent, and encouraged us with their blessing.

This horse ritual had not been performed on the land for more than 100 years, and its revival was as momentous as it was mesmerizing. It was performed in order to prepare the earth for a landmark of both purpose and function. On that spot will soon stand a new wind turbine."

Obama: New Hope or just New Packaging?

2008-08-29T03:13:00.000-04:00

"Clean coal." He said it. His acceptance speech sounded so good until he got to that phrase. To hear such a beautiful and inspiring speech be soiled by such a dirty myth, I couldn’t help but immediately respond by shouting expletives.

But it’s not like I didn’t see it coming. Walking the streets of Denver during the Democratic National Convention I was constantly insulted by messages of "clean coal." That’s because the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE) spent more than 2 million dollars this week on a pervasive advertising campaign, targeting delegates and attendees of the DNC. During the blaring heat of the late summer days, paid programmers of the coal industry passed out cardboard fans, which read, "I’m a fan of coal." They even passed out water bottles stating "someday, coal will be as clean as this water." This is what we’re up against, people.

The industries that are killing us are lying to us. This, of course, comes as no surprise. But it is utterly alarming to see such an aggressive campaign of disinformation at what is believed to be one of the most progressive turning points of our time. And to hear the symbol of hope for the future, the O man himself, plug "clean coal" in the forefront of his energy plan (followed by nuclear, and then solar, as a remote footnote)... all I can say is, "Oh Man!" No actually I can say a lot more than that.

It’s a reality of the corporate-governmental structure, that anyone who speaks out directly against the most powerful and polluting industries could not make it to the office of President. If Obama spoke out against coal, he wouldn’t get the coal states. It’s that simple. But why is he is actively propagating the destructive and deceiving myth of clean coal?

I’d like to give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he’s taking their money and paying them lip service, just so that he can get into a position of power where he can change things. Maybe one if his first acts as President will be to ban the practice of mountaintop removal coal mining and then to take up Al Gore’s challenge of freedom from fossil fuels by 2018. But then again… maybe not.

I don’t want to get too far out here, but perhaps this is all part of the Empire’s plan. Give the people a leader that they are happy with. Someone articulate, charismatic, someone who can relate to their struggles, someone who promises change and everything they want to hear. Lull them back to sleep, back into apathy. And then continue on with business-as-usual.

Look at how involved people have become in response to the ridiculousness of the Bush regime. People (youth, especially) are actually starting to give a damn about the state of the world. Won’t it be so much easier to sleep at night when you trust the man in charge? Don’t worry. He’s got it under control. Go back to school. Go back to work. Go back to sleep.

Let’s hope that’s not the case. Perhaps what he says about McCain is also be true about himself. "It’s not that he doesn’t care, it’s just that he has no idea." Maybe we just need to help him understand. Let's offer him and Michelle a romantic flyover of the Appalachian Moonscapes of Southern West Virginia. Let's get him in the same room with Larry Gibson or Maria Gunnoe and have them tell their stories.

Whatever the case is with this particular presidential candidate, one thing is clear: we have our work cut out for us. Those promoting the myth of clean coal have all the dirty money in the world at their disposal. And the fact that they are spending as much as they are to spread lies tells us something: They are threatened by the work that we are doing. They are threatened by what we have, which they will never have: the Truth. And they know the more people know the truth, the less powerful they become.

Defeat the myth. Spread the truth. By whatever (non-violent) means necessary.

change the dream.

Competing Narratives: Empire and Earth Community

Decolonize Thanksgiving

Occupy the Media

Colbert Super PAC - Occupy Wall Street Co-Optportunity

If Dick Armey's FreedomWorks can co-opt the Tea Party, then the Colbert Super PAC can co-opt Occupy Wall Street.

Stephen heads to Wall Street to gain the trust of Occupy Wall Street protesters and take over the movement. (07:20)

Stephen presents the dramatic conclusion of his Occupy Wall Street co-occupation.

An animated Joshua Kahn Russell spoke about the plan to encircle the White House on Sunday, Nov. 6 to stop the Keystone XL pipeline. Here's Russell's speech at OWS:

Consensus is a beautiful thing

The Hopi Ten

Decolonize Your Mind

The Legacy of Columbus

Ideas are shared experiences

Up to my knees in toxic oil waste...

Seeds of Love and Outrage: Cultivating Resistance to the Tar Sands

With my own eyes

The Universe Is Conspiring to Shower You with Blessings

Ways to help the Amazon Mycorenewal Project

Amazon Mycorenewal Project Benefit, hosted by Music Ecology and Evolver Boston

Help me help mushrooms save the world!

Graduation: Exxon Mobil or a Sustainable Future?

Re: Incinerators - my statement to the MA DEP (Dept. of Environmental Protection)

Mycoremediation - The Power of Mushrooms

another weirld is possible

no time like the twenty dime

Change the meme.

It's fun, for a while...

Just in time for Valentine's Day!

Olly The Octopus - A Call To Arms

Climate Ground Zero:: After a week, they're still in the trees.

These Mountains are Divine Creations

Are you listening?

The Faded Glory of the Goddess Shall Return :: cveitch

It started as an email on "The Law of Two Feet."

Day 42 Message to fasters

After the Disaster

"The possibility for a rapid regeneration of human culture is predicatedon a great awakening happening quickly -- before ecological meltdownleads to systemic breakdown.."

After the Disaster, by Daniel Pinchbeck (read the article here)

we will save this mountain

time to stop tip-toe-ing around the tulips

New PCI Study Concludes No Combination of Alternative Energy Systems Can Replace Fossil Fuels

Harnessing Coal River Wind in Appalachia

it works both ways

We’re all on the same boat! - 350 Day of Action in New Bedford

Let's do it.

watch and listen from the heart

All-You-Can-Emit Pass from Jet Blue!

Street Farmer

im back

America Honors Leaders

World at gunpoint, or what’s wrong with the simplicity movement. By Derrick Jensen

Manly P. Hall - Love

Call to Action: Stop Cliffside Power Plant

We're going mainstream

New video from the Capitol Climate Action

TVA March in March

Western Coal: Low in Sulfur, High in Oppression

Emergent Events - Boston

Mountain Justice Spring Break 2009!

Arch Coal CEO talks up "clean coal" at Harvard lecture: Epic Fail

Time Magazine celebrates monkewrenching; plugs Capitol Climate Action

George Monbiot places Shell Oil CEO over a barrel

NYT: Collapse of the Clean Coal Myth

Blowing Away King Coal - The Coal River Wind Project

Dirty Coal Reaching a Tipping Point?

There is hope for the mountains, for us still.

this is just a test

In honor of our mountains

We need to talk...- The Fluoride Deception

Take four deep breaths

New Video of the Kingston Ash Disaster

Obama gets two Green thumbs up, so far...

29 Disturbingly Creative Ads for the Environment

The New Safe Cigarette

MJSB 2009: Join the movement!

Tell Bank of America: "It's Over!"

Recommendation: A poem by Thich Naht Hanh

I'm an optimist... really. part 1

Spring Break: Get Some Action

"The possibility for a rapid regeneration of human culture is predicated
on a great awakening happening quickly -- before ecological meltdown
leads to systemic breakdown.."