activism

the gift of clean air

In honor of Mother’s Day, remember our daughters and sons will soon be running this country; we can show them, by working right alongside them, that being a responsible parent means being an engaged citizen.[read more]

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Everyone has a place in the ecosystem of the climate fight, and my concern is that the passion that I have seen channeled so well in activism has not developed an equivalent counterpart in the young policy community.[read more]

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Finishing the fight against Old King Coal today while amping up the innovation needed to develop the affordable, scalable alternatives needed to ultimately tackle Big Oil as well is a winning climate strategy.[read more]

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President Obama’s climate change legislation may have no chance of passing through Congress, and it could be the fault of environmental activists.   recent research paper by Harvard Professor Theda Skocpol places the responsibility for the climate legislation’s failure to pass on climate change activists. Skocpol argues that...[read more]

At Politico today, there is an important article focusing on the inability of the environmental movement -- for the most part -- to move beyond a primarily white, liberal base and to engage minority communities.  As Politico's Talia Buford reports, many greens blame the failure of the cap and trade campaign to engage minority...[read more]

Why, if activism won’t do, would I ever link to 350.org‘s tar sands campaign? Simple: Activism of the sort that gives us lists of “10 things you can do to save the planet” is impotent at best and counterproductive at worst. Recycling, refusing plastic and paper, eating local, biking to work, or avoiding bottled water are all good. I do...[read more]

It’s rather fitting. Earth Day turns 40 today, entering that oft-dreaded middle age when reevaluation becomes a way of life, past memories resurface and we start to worry whether our team will win a championship in our lifetime (Yankees fans excluded). Now Earth Day 2010 is upon us, and all the uncertainty, angst and apprehension...[read more]

After working tirelessly to push federal politicians to be accountable to the will of the people through Powershift regional summits, 350.org’s day of action, local events and direct actions, you’d think exhaustion would be setting in on the ranks of the US youth climate movement. Especially after the demoralizing blow that was...[read more]

The Nation has an article from Naomi Klein on activist actions planned for the Copenhagen summit (the naming of the "bike bloc" grouping made me laugh) - Copenhagen: Seattle Grows Up. There is certainly a Seattle quality to the Copenhagen mobilization: the huge range of groups that will be there; the diverse tactics that will be on...[read more]

Steve Miller, Product Manager Google Earth, gave a presentation for Net Tuesday on Google Earth Outreach – a program that enables nonprofits and NGOs to use Google Earth and other geo-spatial applications to tell their stories. Steve highlighted a number of organizations that leveraged Google Earth to tell their stories in effective...[read more]