Archive for the ‘In the Media’ Category

UNPRECEDENTED PROTEST

Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009

Yesterday thousands of people came together to offer an unprecedented example of mass protest and civil disobedience for the climate.

More than 2500 activists, many willing to risk arrest, successfully blockaded all five entrances to the Capitol Power Plant for more than four hours.

As impressive as that is, this action wasn’t just about this one coal-fired powerplant. The scale and the commitment of the participants was the biggest example yet of the kind of public support necessary to solve the climate crisis.

We aren’t going to stop global warming by just changing lightbulbs and driving hybrid cars. The only real solution is to come together and demand unprecedented change through unprecedented action.

And that’s exactly what happened yesterday.

Take a look at the media coverage of the action:

From the AP: Thousands rally for legislation on climate change

In Time Magazine: Despite Snow — and Irony — a Climate Protest Persists

On Alternet: Thousands Storm Capitol Hill in Largest Protest Against Global Warming

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Coal is dirty

Monday, March 2nd, 2009

Here’s 5 reasons why coal isn’t so hot. I’ll post 5 more later.

1. Coal Fuels Global Warming
Coal is the largest single source of global warming pollution in the United States. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has reported that global warming threatens human populations and the world’s ecosystems with intensifying heat waves, floods, drought, extreme weather, and by spreading infectious diseases. Furthermore, it is conservatively estimated that the climate crisis will place a $271billion annual drag on the U.S. economy alone by 2025. According to the IPCC, the United States and other industrialized countries need to reduce global warming pollution by 25–40 percent by 2025 to avoid the most severe impacts of the climate crisis.

2. Coal Kills People and Causes Disease
According to the American Lung Association, pollution from coal-fired power plants causes 23,600 premature deaths, 21,850 hospital admissions, 554,000 asthma attacks, and 38,200 heart attacks every year. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that 12,000 coal miners died from black lung disease between 1992 and 2002.

3. Coal Kills Jobs
The coal industry is one of the least job-intensive industries in America. Every dollar we invest in coal is a dollar we can’t spend creating jobs in the clean energy economy. In fact, the country’s wind sector now employs more workers than the coal industry. Investing in wind and solar power would create 2.8 times as many jobs as the same investment in coal; mass transit and conservation would create 3.8 times as many jobs as coal.

4. Coal Costs Billions in Taxpayer Subsidies
The U.S. government continues to subsidize coal-related projects despite its impact on health, climate and the economy.

5. Coal Destroys Mountains
Many coal companies now use mountaintop removal to extract coal. The process involves clear-cutting forests, using dynamite to blast away as much as 800–1000 feet of mountaintop and dumping the waste into nearby valleys and streams. Mountain-top removal has leveled more than 450 mountains across Appalachia.

Mountain-top removal destroys ecosystems, stripping away topsoil, trees, and understory habitats, filling streams and valleys with rubble, poisoning water supplies, and generating massive impoundments that can cause catastrophic floods.

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Snow is no wet blanket

Monday, March 2nd, 2009

We’re up and at ‘em here at headquarters. We pushed through the snow, got into the office early, and immediately started taking phone calls from media wanting to know if the event is still on. Of course it’s still on! We expect 2,500 dedicated activists to stand tall at the Capitol Power Plant and demonstrate that the course of history bends toward progress. Make sure to follow the day right here as it unfolds.

Don’t forget you can email me or leave comments on the web site. My email is dkessler@greenpeace.org.

Meanwhile, here’s some interesting reading for you as you sip your coffee.

Schwarzenegger declares California drought state of emergency
Farmers worry as parts of Texas are driest in US
Drought bad for wheat

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Video: Coal Action Heats Up Capitol Hill

Sunday, March 1st, 2009

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AP: Capitol power plant dims clean energy hopes

Sunday, March 1st, 2009

Great AP article by Dina Cappiello on the Capitol Climate Action:

WASHINGTON – As Congress tries to clean up the nation’s energy sources and cut gases blamed for global warming, it is struggling to do so in its own backyard.

The Capitol Power Plant, a 99-year-old facility that heats and cools the hallowed halls of Congress, still burns coal and accounts for one-third of the legislative branch’s greenhouse gas emissions. For a decade, lawmakers have attempted to clean it up.

In recent years, Congress has reduced its energy consumption. The steam and chilled-water power plant has become more efficient. It now burns more natural gasand only 35 percent coal, compared with 49 percent in 2007.

But Congress is running out of options to make the plant fully green. Also, there are questions about whether it can afford to keep paying to use the extra natural gas, which burns cleaner than coal.

The plant’s story is one that is likely to play out across the United States as Congress looks to limit greenhouse gases and require more of the country’s energy to come from wind, solar and other renewable sources.

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