March 2nd, 2009
The crowd, which has got to be at least 2000 people, is preparing to walk down to the coal plant. I just walked by the plant and there are police everywhere. We’re about to start posting photo and video in a few minutes.
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March 2nd, 2009
You can watch it below, or you can watch it here. Streaming now!
Broadcasting Live with Ustream.TV
Tags: capitol climate action, CCA, live stream video
Posted in Live Update, Video | No Comments »
March 2nd, 2009
15 minutes out. Hundreds are gathering in Spirit of Justice park. The atmosphere is charged with hope and excitement. People are bundled up in their warmest coats and staying active by chanting. I hear “Coal can never be clean.” There’s a prayer vigil in the south section of the park.
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March 2nd, 2009
FYI. The action begins at 1 EST. So t-minus 1 hour and 45 minutes. You can also get updates on Twitter. Find us at @climateaction. Our hashtage is #climateaction.
Check out this email I just received:
I don’t want to travel to DC from Frederick in the snow today. However, I am donating my bail money to an organization that fights mountaintop removal. I hope the turnout is a good one for the day. Try to stay warm.Katherine
Tags: twitter
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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.
Tags: coal, global warming
Posted in In the Media | No Comments »
March 2nd, 2009
We just got done with a legal briefing. This seems like a good time to talk about why we are choosing civil disobedience at the Capitol Power Plant. Civil disobedience is a time-honored tactic and strategy of peaceful social movements. It has been used throughout history as an effective way to demonstrate the seriousness of an issue, the morality of a situation, and the commitment people have to bring about change.
The American author Henry David Thoreau pioneered the modern theory behind this practice in his 1849 essay Civil Disobedience, originally titled “Resistance to Civil Government”. On November 2, 2008 Nobel Peace Prize winner Al Gore, speaking at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York City, urged young people to engage in civil disobedience to stop the construction of coal plants:
“If you’re a young person looking at the future of this planet and looking at what is being done right now, and not done, I believe we have reached the stage where it is time for civil disobedience to prevent the construction of new coal plants that do not have carbon capture and sequestration.”
Why the Capitol coal-fired Power Plant?
The Capitol Power Plant, sitting just blocks from Capitol Hill, symbolizes the stranglehold coal has over our government and future. It’s not the largest or the dirtiest power plant in the country, but as the plant that is actually run by and for Congress it serves as an incredibly iconic symbol of what is wrong with our country’s energy and climate policy. From being outdated and inefficient, to burning dirty fossil fuels including coal, to having its clean-up blocked by politicians pandering to coal industry interests, we see this plant as the strategic target to address our concerns.
Tags: civil disobedience, coal, legal briefing
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March 2nd, 2009
Tags: coal, global warming, james hansen
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March 2nd, 2009
Just got this email…
Dear Daniel Kessler,
In support of the fine civil disobedience action that Greenpeace USA together with Bill McKibben, Jim Hansen and 90 other groups are undertaking today in Washington, there was a modest demo this morning at the U.S. consulate in Amsterdam, organized by Concerned Citizens against Climate Change, Greenpeace Nederland, and the Haags Milieucentrum. We distributed a bilingual leaflet, and left a letter to Obama at the consulate (in attachment) supporting your action. A consular official promised to fax it on to Washington.
The English side of the leaflet, titled “Renewables Yes, Fossil Fuel No. Support Obama and the Washington Mass Protest against Dirty Coal”, is copied below. The letter to Obama is in an attachment. The Greenpeace Nederland organizers have sent photos of our demo to your colleagues.
We admire your courage and that of all the other participants, students and older people, in this highly important action. Good luck.
Fraternal greetings,
Arthur Mitzman, for Concerned Citizens against Climate Change ( www.stopwarming.eu).
Posted in Live Update | No Comments »
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
Tags: artice links, CCA, snow
Posted in In the Media, Live Update | 4 Comments »
March 1st, 2009
Tags: american news project, capitol climate action, CCA, power shift 09, students
Posted in In the Media, Live Update, Video | No Comments »
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