tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-305921152024-03-12T23:20:49.366-05:00THE WELL-TRAINED ACTIVISTNEWS, VIEWS AND RESOURCES from members of Antioch University New England's Environmental Studies masters program concentration in ADVOCACY FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE AND SUSTAINABLILITY (originally called the Environmental Advocacy and Organizing Program). In this blog, you can find out more about our program and how to increase your capacity as a well-trained activist.STEVE CHASEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17712508109127357832noreply@blogger.comBlogger100125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30592115.post-5849797001587107992011-04-13T23:30:00.000-05:002011-04-13T23:30:57.179-05:00And The Award Goes To... An Advocacy Student!Just got word from Antioch Advocacy student Jamie Capach that the video that she produced about Antioch University New England's <a href="http://www.antiochne.edu/ssj/act/">Transportation Initiative</a> here was selected as a winner of the "My Energy Plan" video competition sponsored by Clean Air-Cool Planet and the University of New Hampshire. A number of Antioch's Environmental Studies students appear in the video, which was written by ES students Rachel Brett (AUNE Green Guru)and Alyssa Kassner (AUNE Transportation Coordinator).<br />
<br />
Check it out:<br />
<br />
<object width="425" height="349"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/TRanGS2TMrc?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/TRanGS2TMrc?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="349"></embed></object>STEVE CHASEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17712508109127357832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30592115.post-8972089783221772602011-04-01T16:16:00.007-05:002011-04-01T20:53:57.570-05:00My Path To Transition OrganizingMy becoming a local Transition organizer, on top of my work as a professor of <a href="http://www.antiochne.edu/es/eao/default.cfm?nav=1">Advocacy for Social Justice and Sustainability</a>, was not at all a surprise to my family, my closest friends, or my colleagues in the <a href="http://www.antiochne.edu/es/">Department of Environmental Studies</a> at <a href="http://www.antiochne.edu/">Antioch University New England</a>. They all saw my new volunteer work as consistent with my previous efforts over the years as both an activist and an activist educator. While the Transition movement often attracts people who have not been social movement activists before, some of us are fairly old hands. I am one of those old hands.<br />
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<b>Organizing Activist Study Groups in The 1970s</b><br />
<br />
Back in the mid-1970s, for example, when I was relatively new to grassroots activism, I helped organize a series of weekly study circles for environmental, peace, and social justice activists in Minneapolis and Saint Paul. Our aim was to help each other see beyond the next demonstration, the next hot-button issue, or even the next volunteer shift at the food coop or community garden. Several of us sensed that we needed to go beyond our urgent, but largely unreflective activism. We wanted to create a more thoughtful politics than our heart-felt, but somewhat knee-jerk responses to date. The assembled participants in this series of study circles had decided to work together in order to construct a deeper, more mature analysis, vision, and strategy to guide our activist work in an emerging age of global ecological crisis.<br />
<br />
I loved our living room gatherings in Twin Cities. Each week, after a potluck supper, we would settle-in for two and a half hours of reports and discussions based on our readings and our experiences. The learning process was participatory and lively--consciously rooted in the popular education theories of Paulo Freire and Myles Horton. Topics of the study circles included the environmental crisis, ecological limits to growth, North-South relations, US social justice issues, militarism, alternative social and economic visions, Gandhian nonviolence, and other organizing strategies. The curriculum for these "Macro-Analysis Seminars" was developed as a program of activist self-study designed by a Philadelphia group that was part of a national activist network called Movement for a New Society.<br />
<br />
<b>Rethinking Economic Growth</b><br />
<br />
Looking back, I see now that we were working together to systematically construct and refine a collective action framework that was similar to the emerging "Transition Model" of today in many, many ways. I especially remember reading and discussing Bill Moyer's groundbreaking 1972 essay, "De-Developing the United States Through Nonviolence." Echoing central themes from Rob Hopkins' <i>The Transition Handbook</i>, Moyer explained how modern industrialized societies would at some point need to make a significant break from the dominant development model of ever-escalating economic growth and ever-expanding energy use and pollution. In light of emerging research, such as the Limits to Growth report put together by a team of MIT scientists, Moyer argued that there is increasing evidence that "there are not enough resources (including minerals, fossil fuels, water), and the environment's pollution-absorption capacity is not great enough" to sustain the dominant pattern of industrial development for too many more decades.<br />
<br />
Anticipating the problems of peak oil, climate change, and the unsustainability and injustice of the global economy, which are all highlighted by the Transition movement today, Moyer argued that "complete world development" along the lines of the dominant industrial growth model is impossible. He then concluded that "over-developed" industrial nations like the United States will therefore have to choose between intensifying their war against the poor and the planet, while still risking future decline or collapse, or creatively "de-developing" themselves and finding ways to transition to a more just, resilient, and fulfilling way of life. As he noted in the piece, "In this long-range vision of a more egalitarian world in which the industrialized nations are de-developed, the standards of happiness would be based more on human relationships and individual actualization than quantities of material consumption."<br />
<br />
This unconventional perspective challenged all of us active in those long ago study groups. Back then, almost all progressive activists still claimed that we should--and could--grow our way out of imperialism, poverty, and war by forever expanding the economic pie available to all people. Some of us, of course, also added that we should throw in some wealth redistribution policies in order to further enhance both social equality and democracy, but we were still firmly committed to unending economic growth. After exploring Moyer's ecological perspective, however, most of us in the study groups were able to begin moving beyond the dominant pro-growth consensus that held together most conservatives, liberals, and even self-styled radicals at the time.<br />
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<b>Working in the "Anti-Nuclear" Movement</b><br />
<br />
Several of us in the Twin Cities, and several others influenced by Moyer's thinking around the country, went on to assist the formation of a regionally-rooted, but nationally-networked alternative energy movement that waged numerous nonviolent direct action campaigns across the country. We set our immediate sights on blocking the construction of 1000 proposed new nuclear reactors in the United States, which we saw as a dangerous and very flawed attempt to maintain the dominant model of business as usual." <br />
<br />
This particular "de-development" movement was ultimately successful at capping the number of US nuclear reactors at less than 200. This is a significant victory, even though we wished the final number had been zero. At that particular point in US history, however, and perhaps in part due to the limits of our oppositional organizing model, we were not able to build a strong enough movement to go farther and achieve our long-range vision of a transition to a decentralized, non-nuclear, post-oil economy built on a foundation of extensive energy conservation, an overall reduction in global energy demand, and switching to safe and renewable energy sources produced largely at the local and regional level.<br />
<br />
By 1980, Moyer and co-author Pamela Haines wrote a new piece stressing that the "anti-nuke" movement would be wise to reframe itself as a more positive, safe energy movement and "actively advocate alternatives as well." As Moyer and Haines put it in this new piece, we need to be "calling for a shift from the traditional hard energy path of massive centralized generating plants using nonrenewable fuels to a new soft energy path of flexible decentralized generation based on a diversity of mostly renewable energy sources." Why? They argued:<br />
<br />
<blockquote>It is not enough to add [the fossil fuels industry] to nuclear power as another system that must be fought. We need a vision of what we want America's energy future to look like, so that we can develop a strategy for the citizens' movement to get from here to there. Without a vision, we don't know where we are going, we get frustrated and stuck in protest, and don't have a basis for deciding what to do next. It is also important to have some ideas of what the transition period looks like so we can have benchmarks for recognizing our victories along the way.</blockquote><br />
<b>Back to the Future With the Transition Movement</b><br />
<br />
Now, close to 30 years later, this unfinished agenda has been strongly lifted up by the international Transition movement. We can see these visionary themes in the Transition movement's call for efforts to foster community resilience, promote energy descent planning, and move forward on the redevelopment of sound local economies that are just and sustainable. Such a constructive, community-driven program for a more relocalized and resilient world was certainly raised for our consideration in Moyer's writings, but he left it largely undeveloped in light of his more urgent priority of challenging nuclear power plant construction through local nonviolent civil disobedience campaigns. With the Transition movement, this neglected element of Moyer's and Haines' thinking is now being put front and center again.<br />
<br />
Not surprisingly, this new movement excites me. In all my work as an activist and activist educator since the 1980s, I have been puzzling over, and experimenting with, how to move toward the long-range, sustainability vision that was first brought to my attention by Bill Moyer and people like Pamela Haines. After all these years, one of my core conclusions is that it is no longer sufficient to put all our hopes into a mass revival of using the grassroots social action tools of electoral campaigning, voting responsibly, lobbying our elected officials, or even putting real "street heat" on corporate or government officials by participating in nonviolent protests and direct action campaigns.<br />
<br />
Please do not get me wrong. I still believe that all of these forms of civic engagement are very important and still needed--and should be engaged in by active citizens everywhere. Yet, like most Transition organizers, I have also come to believe that something else--something very important--needs to be added into the mix of our activism and placed much closer to the center of our work. That something is a global movement of local grassroots organizing aimed at creating relocalized, resilient, and sustainable economies and communities through positive, practical, citizen-led projects and alternative institutions. <br />
<br />
Today, between the cracks of my fulltime <a href="http://www.antiochne.edu/es/eao/default.cfm?nav=1">teaching gig</a>, I'm trying to do my own small part of nurturing the growing transition movement right here in Keene, New Hampshire. It also makes for great service learning projects for my students.<br />
<br />
For more information on our local community work, check out <a href="http://transitionkeene.org">The Keene Transition Movement Community Website and Blog</a>.STEVE CHASEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17712508109127357832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30592115.post-82143593487026092642011-04-01T15:40:00.006-05:002011-04-02T05:24:32.635-05:00Is The Transition Movement A Yuppie Diversion?I am feeling a little like "Dear Abi." Yesterday, I got an email addressed to me and several other Transition movement organizers around the country. It was in response to the <a href="http://www.transitionus.org/">Transition US</a> March e-newsletter. I'm not sure which article upset this reader, but he wrote me and several others the following note:<br />
<br />
<blockquote>IS TransitionUS JUST A SORT OF YUPPIE SUBSTITUTE FOR TAKING SERIOUS POLITICAL ACTION ON, SAY, THE YANKEE G.E. NUKE PLANT IN VERNON, VTAND THE 100+ such plants that are scattered across our country? In a few words, are you simply DIVERTING US, with cutsie-pie, from doing serious and adult things?</blockquote><br />
Below is a slightly revised version of my response:<br />
<br />
<i>Dear Friend,<br />
<br />
I'm not really clear if you are just stating a conclusion, or if you are actually curious about the question you have raised. Anyway, I've tried to take your question seriously and answer it at some length below. I look forward to hearing back from you at your earliest convenience. <br />
<br />
<b>A Bit About Who I Am</b><br />
<br />
Besides running an <a href="http://www.antiochne.edu/es/eao/default.cfm?nav=1">activist training program</a> at Antioch University New England, and being a long time activist before that, I am a founding member of the <a href="http://transitionkeene.org">Transition Keene Task Force</a>--a group of eight friends and neighbors who got inspired by reading Rob Hopkins' The Transition Handbook together. We are the 56th Transition initiative in the US and the first in New Hampshire.<br />
<br />
<b>The Transition Movement's Analysis</b><br />
<br />
Like many people, I was originally attracted to the Transition movement for a variety of interrelated reasons. One motivation for many Transition activists is the movement's unflinching analysis that our local communities, our nations, and the larger global community are increasingly facing a severe threat from the "perfect storm" of climate change, peak oil, and an increasingly dysfunctional global economy. Business as usual is just not working or creating a sustainable, just, or fulfilling world.<br />
<br />
As Hopkins' notes, "It is no longer just a case of whether we should be questioning the forces of economic globalization because they are unjust, inequitable or a rapacious destroyer of environments and cultures." Added to these concerns, we now have to add the likelihood that the impacts of global climate change and the end of the Age of Cheap Oil will send serious shockwaves through our industrial civilization--shocks that will almost inevitably change the way we live, work, and play in the future. This troubling view of our future is becoming increasingly convincing to a growing number of people. As Paul Hawken notes in his book Blessed Unrest, "If you look at the science that describes what is happening on earth today and aren't pessimistic, you don't have the correct data." My guess is that you likely agree pretty much with the Transition movement's analysis. If so, we already have a lot of common ground.<br />
<br />
<b>The Transition Movement's Vision</b><br />
<br />
The greatest appeal of the Transition movement to me, however, is probably its palpable sense of historic opportunity and its vision of a more resilient, just, and fulfilling way of life at the end of the Age of Cheap Oil. A core tenet of the movement is that a "future with less oil could be better than the present," but only if we "engage in designing this transition with sufficient creativity and imagination." The movement's visionary approach is based on finding creative and effective ways for communities to unleash positive, solutions-oriented, grassroots citizens' initiatives to (1) significantly lower community energy use; (2) convert to more local, safe, and renewable energy sources; (3) foster a more localized, green-collar economy that can meet the basic needs of all its citizens; and (4) strengthen the very heart and soul of local community life in ways that offer deeper connection and life satisfaction than mass consumer culture.<br />
<br />
This vision appeals to many people when they hear about it. As Hopkins explains in his book, "I have delivered this message many times, in talks, courses and blog posts, and have yet to encounter anyone who thinks that stronger local economies, increased local democracy, strengthened local food culture and more local energy production are a bad idea." While Hopkins is likely exaggerating about the universally positive response he receives in order to make a point here, it is still a good point. The Transition movement's vision does seem to appeal to an increasing number of people in my town, including people in several different places across the conventional political spectrum. <br />
<br />
While the Transition movement's politics of relocalization can be viewed as radical because it seeks to foster a transition towards sustainability, social justice, community well-being, and participatory democracy, such visions also matter to principled conservatives. Indeed, as Transition fellow-traveler Pat Murphy notes, modernist "values of novelty, comfort, convenience, ease, fashion, indulgence, luxury and competition along with other indolent values associated with declining empires must give way to different values such as cooperation, temperance, prudence, moderation, conviviality, and charity." Anyway, you might even be in rough agreement with the transition vision. If so, we have even more common ground between us.<br />
<br />
<b>The Transition Movement's Strategy</b><br />
<br />
A third thing that draws in many of the movement's participants, including me, is that the Transition organizing model promotes an innovative and inspiring strategy for change--and at a local scale that many people see as the most workable for themselves. Most Transition movement leaders and many participants are wise enough to know that concerned citizens will ultimately need to encourage the development of creative international treaties, and more daring national, state, and local public policies that promote a large-scale transition towards economic relocalization and energy descent. Yet, the movement also believes that the levers for this kind of change are not immediately available to grassroots activists. As Richard Hienberg states in his foreword to Hopkins' book, "On the whole, national governments are slow to understand and act on this imperative, as there are too many interests vested in maintaining the status quo."<br />
<br />
While not at all discounting the vital role of elections, lobbying, and the conventional issue campaigning--or even the nonviolent direct action approach of somewhat more militant groups--the strategic emphasis promoted by Transition movement leaders and participants is on organizing local, community-based, self-help projects and alternative institutions that are fun, energizing, relevant, and are likely to engage many new people as active citizens. <br />
<br />
<b>Adding The Transition Strategy To The Activist Mix</b><br />
<br />
This strategic approach might be what you are most worried about--because you may see it as a distraction from the kind of issue campaigning and protest efforts you think are most needed now. Is that true? If so, I would ask you to remember one thing and to consider another. <br />
<br />
First, please remember that many Transition activists do actively engage in elections, lobbying, issue campaigns, and some--like myself--even engage in and support nonviolent direct action. We are not diverted. We are just adding another tool to our activist tool box by doing Transition organizing. <br />
<br />
Second, I encourage you to consider the Transition movement's main strategic orientation--which is essentially what Gandhi called the "constructive program"--as a supplement rather than a distraction or a diversion from other types of activism. I personally think that any successful movement for fundamental social change will require a local-level constructive program of education and action like that focused on by Transition initiatives, as well as elections, lobbying, issue campaigning, opposition to certain types of development and technologies, and nonviolent direct action. Different movements, organizations, and networks might focus on one or two of these types of tactics and not others for various reasons, but all of these approaches to change are likely needed. If we can agree on that, then we have tons of common ground--we are just focusing our primary strategic energies in different needed areas. Might you possibly agree with this?<br />
<br />
<b>Conclusion</b><br />
<br />
Now the future may prove the Transition movement wrong about the wisdom of its strategic approach, but I think it is safe to say that we didn't arrive at this perspective from an immature, cutsie-pie, yuppie perspective. I would thus encourage you to see us as potential allies in the wider movement for positive social change, and perhaps even refrain from calling us names. Still, with that observation on the tone of your email aside, I do think your basic question is a good one and I've done my best to answer you fully and thoughtfully.<br />
<br />
In closing, I just want to say thank you for all of your activist work and your efforts to contribute to the transition to safe and renewable energy sources and greater energy conservation. I certainly see you as an ally in this effort and hope you come to see me and my compatriots in the Transition movement as potential allies as well. <br />
<br />
Best,<br />
Steve<br />
</i>STEVE CHASEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17712508109127357832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30592115.post-32349760284503460422011-04-01T10:13:00.003-05:002011-04-01T10:25:50.157-05:00Nic Marks on the "Happy Planet Index"I have long been a fan of the <a href="http://www.neweconomics.org/programmes">New Economics Foundation</a> in England because I think they are doing some of the most creative thinking about how we might organize and conduct our political and economic lives in order to promote sustainability, social justice, personal fulfillment, and the common good. They also take into account the realities we will likely confront in the face of the end of the Age of Cheap and Abundant Oil. Here is a recent talk by Nic Marks, one of the founders of NEF, on their tool called "<a href="http://www.happyplanetindex.org/">The Happy Planet Index</a>." In it, Nic also talks about the importance of thinking in visionary terms and not just scaring people with worse case scenarios. I thought many sustainability activists might be interested in watching the talk. It is just 17 minutes long.<br />
<br />
<object width="420" height="261"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/M1o3FS0awtk?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="420" height="261"></embed></object>STEVE CHASEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17712508109127357832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30592115.post-49166075295363694152011-03-26T07:58:00.003-05:002011-03-26T08:04:36.825-05:00From Japan to Our Local Nuke Plant: What's a City Council To Do?I read with sadness the <i>Keene Sentinel</i>‘s March 22 article entitled “Reactor damage worse than thought.” I am so moved by how Japan’s dedicated nuclear plant workers in are risking their lives to keep the rest of Japan as safe as they possibly can. This is real heroism. I’m grateful to all such workers around the world who work so hard to make sure this potentially dangerous technology does not cause the worst damage it can. I think, too, about our nuclear plant workers in nearby Vernon, Vermont, who are trying to keep us safe from the worst that could happen at Vermont Yankee–a plant which uses the same design as the failing and increasingly radioactive plants in Japan.<br />
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<br />
Witnessing this kind of dedication in the current crisis situation only makes me more concerned that the majority of the Keene City Council recently refused to sign on to a letter approved by several other towns in the evacuation zone around the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Plant supported by the <a href="http://www.safeandgreencampaign.org/">Safe and Green Campaign</a> (and an Antiioch Advocacy student who works part-time for them). This “controversial” letter, as one councilor called it, did not even take a position on whether or not nuclear energy should be part of the mix in our energy future. It simply called on the Entergy Corporation to provide full support to our citizens and the local workers at their Vermont Yankee plant as the State of Vermont implements its plans to close the plant once its current license expires next March.<br />
<br />
What was “controversial” in the proposed letter put before our City Council? Was it that the letter asked “that Vermont Yankee workers, many of whom live in our towns and cities, be given first preference when workers are hired for the multi-year decommissioning and site clean-up process?”<br />
<br />
Was it that the letter asked “that when the reactor’s radioactive components will be dismantled and removed or stored on site, workers remaining on the site receive the maximum protection from radiation exposure?”<br />
<br />
Was it that the letter asked “that those workers whose jobs are discontinued or who choose not to accept employment during this post-shutdown period be guaranteed a generous severance package of pay and benefits as well as opportunities for retraining for available jobs at decent wages, including jobs in the rapidly expanding ’green energy’ sector?”<br />
<br />
Or, perhaps, it was that the letter asked “that there will be extra attention to maintenance and repair of all systems associated with the reactor, coupled with heightened inspections, monitoring, and testing to minimize the possibility of a major accident and ensure that people, animals, and the environment are not exposed to an additional risks of breathing, drinking, or otherwise ingesting radioactivity?”<br />
<br />
Usually, I am very impressed by our City Councilors, who have repeatedly shown themselves willing to take strong and creative stands on protecting or improving our community. However, I think that they missed an important opportunity this time to state clearly their strong public support for the decent treatment of the dedicated workers at Vermont Yankee and the public health interests of all area citizens.<br />
<br />
In light of the events going on now in Japan, I hope that our Council will revisit this issue and stand up clearly for both the health and safety of our citizens and the workers at Vermont Yankee who risk their lives for us everyday to avoid the worst outcomes that are possible with a potentially deadly technology like nuclear power.<br />
<br />
I don’t think that is too much for the citizens of Keene to ask. Do you?STEVE CHASEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17712508109127357832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30592115.post-89268206187185186882011-02-07T20:19:00.003-05:002011-02-07T20:21:08.227-05:00Nonviolent Action To Decommission Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.sfbayview.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/Vermont-Yankee-cooling-tower-collapse-2007.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="150" width="200" src="http://www.sfbayview.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/Vermont-Yankee-cooling-tower-collapse-2007.jpg" /></a></div>Below is a letter from Brattleboro area journalist and green jobs activist Eesha Williams. It includes an invitation to support a nonviolent action supporting the Vermont Legislature's decision to decommission the aging and accident-prone Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant in March 2012. The action at the Entergy Corporation offices in Brattleboro will take place on Monday, February 28, at noon. While the Transition Movement that I am active in is often described as "more like a party than a protest," enforcing the people's desire for clean energy and green jobs could well make this action worth supporting. I ask people to decide for themselves.<br />
<br />
Here's Eesha's letter:<br />
Dear Friends,<br />
<br />
Last year, the people of Vermont used the democratic process to order Entergy Corporation of Louisiana to close its Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in March 2012. Instead of obeying the will of the people, Entergy is now spending vast sums of money on lobbying, TV advertising, and lawyers to try to keep its dangerous, polluting nuke running until at least 2032.<br />
<br />
Me and at least four other people are planning to risk arrest for non-violent civil disobedience at the Entergy office in Brattleboro at noon on February 28. We are asking the public to come out to support us and witness our action. We will not damage any property and we have notified the police. We will cooperate with the police if and when they arrest us. We will peacefully walk to the police cars and not say anything rude or confrontational to the police. We will consider allowing anyone to risk arrest with us if they contact us by February 21. I can be reached by phone at (802) 254-2531 or by e-mail by going to ValleyPost.org and clicking "contact."<br />
<br />
Eesha Williams<br />
Dummerston, VermontSTEVE CHASEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17712508109127357832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30592115.post-3492537099835835382010-12-23T09:30:00.003-05:002010-12-23T09:43:48.915-05:00Antioch Advocacy Grad Leads Gulf of Maine Restoration Coalition<b>A Report From Peter Alexander:</b><br />
<br />
I have good news to share about the new US Gulf of Maine Habitat Restoration and Conservation Plan. The Plan was officially released at a press conference in Portland, Maine last week and received a great deal of media coverage. The Associated Press article was most widely distributed, and a front page article in the <i>Portland Daily Sun</i> provided some great in-depth coverage. Maine Public Radio also ran a really excellent in-depth report. If you would like to read or listen, you can find the coverage here:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.mpbn.net/Home/tabid/36/ctl/ViewItem/mid/3478/ItemId/14434/Default.aspx"><i>Maine Public Broadcasting Network</i></a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.boston.com/news/local/new_hampshire/articles/2010/12/08/report_assesses_gulf_of_maine_environmental_needs/"><i>The Boston Globe</i></a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://portlanddailysun.me/news/story/gulf-maine-clean-priced-3-billion"><i>Portland Daily Sun</i></a><br />
<br />
Now that the plan has been finalized and published it is going to take a lot of work to get Congress to implement it, and we are going to need all the help we can get to accomplish this. The National Wildlife Federation has taken on the leading role and has contracted with me to create a regional coalition of conservation and advocacy groups that will be working together to convince Congress to take action. We are not expecting instant results: it took five years before Congress finally started implementing a similar plan for the Great Lakes. Yet, with your help, we can move this plan forward.<br />
<br />
Here are some of the ways you can help:<br />
<br />
1) Be part of the advocacy team, ready to call or write Members of <br />
Congress or other elected officials at key times during the campaign <br />
(for example, when a relevant bill is being considered).<br />
<br />
2) Tell your friends about the plan and ask them to be part of the <br />
campaign to get it implemented (we will keep the survey page open and <br />
they can sign up there at <a href="http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/XZWD7VK">http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/XZWD7VK</a>). Use your social networking sites (Facebook, etc.) to talk about the Plan and the need to get it implemented.<br />
<br />
3) Send a tax-deductible donation to support the campaign to: Gulf of Maine Restoration • National Wildlife Federation Northeast Regional Center • 149 State Street, Suite 1 • Montpelier, Vermont 05602<br />
<br />
4) Send me your ideas for events and activities that can advance the cause.<br />
<br />
Please let me know how you would like to help, and feel free to send any other ideas or suggestions. I look forward to hearing from you and to working with you to restore and conserve our beloved Gulf of Maine!<br />
<br />
All the best,<br />
<br />
Peter<br />
<br />
Peter Alexander<br />
Director, Gulf of Maine Restoration Coalition<br />
Member of Steering Committee, America's Great Waters Coalition<br />
<a href="mailto:peter@peteralexander.us">peter@peteralexander.us</a><br />
<br />
Here are some useful links:<br />
Download the <a href="http://www.gulfofmaine.org/gomrc/20101208/gulfofmaineplan-screenversion.pdf">Plan</a>.<br />
Download just the <a href="http://www.gulfofmaine.org/gomrc/20101208/gulfofmaineplan-executivesummary.pdf">Executive Summary</a>.<br />
Download the <a href="http://www.gulfofmaine.org/gomrc/20101208/gulfofmaineplanspreadsheet.pdf">Expanded Spreadsheet</a> detailing the Plan's cost estimates.STEVE CHASEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17712508109127357832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30592115.post-19678448726208529432010-12-03T16:50:00.004-05:002010-12-23T13:47:42.632-05:00Our 10/10/10 Service Learning ProjectAt the beginning of this Fall semester, a <a href="http://transitionkeene.org">Transition Keene Task Force</a> organizer asked the Environmental Studies class on "Organizing for Social Change" to help with local organizing for 10/10/10, a Global Work Party for Climate Protection sponsored internationally by <a href="http://www.350.org/">350.org</a> that utlimtatly included over 7,300 different work parties in 188 countries. The class agreed to work on this project as part of the course's service learning project. They planned and carried out several 10/10/10 related activities:<br />
<blockquote><i>Assisting with the filming and editing of a 30 minute documentary on all the Keene 10/10/10 work parties including Antioch's (see <a href="http://www.google.com/search?q=%22It+Takes+A+Village+to+Save+a+Planet%22+Keene&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a#q=%22It+Takes+A+Village+to+Save+a+Planet%22+Keene&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbo=u&tbs=vid:1&source=og&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wv&fp=125f667c44193e69">YouTube</a> clips below);<br />
<br />
Raising over $1,010.10 for Antioch's Green Bikes Initiative;<br />
<br />
Organizing three bike related on-campus workshops for 10/10/10;<br />
<br />
Inspiring other campus groups to host additional Antioch workparties (like the AUNE Community Garden and AUNE Library workparty events); and<br />
<br />
Encouraging Antioch alumni, student, faculty, and staff turn out for the Keene-wide evening 10/10/10 celebration downtown.</i></blockquote><br />
<b>It Takes A Village To Save A Planet: Green in Keene on 10/10/10</b><br />
<br />
<i>Part I</i><br />
<br />
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<br />
<i>Part II</i><br />
<br />
<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/JhQUWfdkf2w?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/JhQUWfdkf2w?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br />
<br />
<i>Part III</i><br />
<br />
<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/3j1sP1DxiKk?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/3j1sP1DxiKk?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>STEVE CHASEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17712508109127357832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30592115.post-66450655300256982932010-10-19T10:51:00.004-05:002010-10-19T10:52:51.382-05:00Introducing Dr. Vincent Harding<em><img class="alignnone" title="Vincent Harding" src="http://www.februaryonedocumentary.com/Vincent%20Harding.jpg" alt="" width="160" height="120" /><br />
On October 14, Antioch University New England, Keene State College, Mothers Uniting, and the City of Keene Martin Luther King/Jonathan Daniels Committee hosted a community conversation led by Dr. Vincent Harding--a renowned social movement activist, scholar and liberation theologian who worked closely with Dr. Martin Luther King in the 1960s. It was my honor to introduce Dr. Harding to over 250 local people. My remarks are below.</em><br />
<br />
Good evening, friends. My name is Steve Chase and I direct Antioch’s environmental studies masters program in Advocacy for Social Justice and Sustainability.<br />
<br />
It is a great honor for me to be able to introduce Dr. Vincent Harding to you tonight. Dr. Harding is a long-time activist, historian, and theologian and he has personally inspired me as an activist, a scholar, and a person of faith ever since I first read his book <em>There Is A River: The Black Struggle For Freedom in America. </em>That was back in the mid-1980s. Soon after, I learned about Harding’s close association with Martin Luther King, the American leader who I imprinted on most as a child. This connection between King and Harding leads me to a story I want to tell you tonight.<br />
<br />
In the mid-1980s, a coalition of churches, civic groups, and small business leaders organized a campaign in Seattle to honor Martin Luther King. Their specific goal was to get their city council to change the name of the main street running through Seattle’s predominantly black neighborhood from the “Empire Way” to the “Martin Luther King, Jr. Way.” After a few months, they got the city council to agree.<br />
<br />
The night after the vote, the neighborhood organizers invited community members to a large Baptist church for a victory celebration. That night, Vincent Harding spoke to the community. He urged everyone there to fully embrace what the community had accomplished symbolically--and to make it real in our daily lives. As he said, “We have worked together to change the road we travel from the Empire Way to Martin’s way.” Isn’t this the very challenge we have before us—changing the road we travel from the Empire Way to Martin’s Way?<br />
<br />
For me, the full meaning of “Martin’s Way” is made most clear if we turn back to Martin Luther King’s April 4, 1967 “Beyond Vietnam” speech at New York City’s Riverside Church. King co-wrote this speech with Vincent Harding, who had long been urging King to take a public stand against the US’s criminal war against the people of Vietnam.<br />
<br />
In that groundbreaking speech, King (and Harding as the main speech writer) called on all of us to turn away from our nation’s complicity and passive support of the three core social sins of empire: racism, militarism, and extreme materialism. Today, we could add to this list our society’s destructive addiction to oil, which has now led our nation to become the single biggest purveyor of both global warring and global warming.<br />
<br />
We clearly have much work to do if we are to Dream a New America that follows “Martin’s Way” instead of the “Empire Way.” We have much work to do to create an America where “we the people” engage in a “nonviolent revolution of values,” where we establish liberty and justice for all, where we shrink our ecological footprint and stop impoverishing or occupying other countries in order to steal their resources. Where we create the Beloved Community so often invoked by King or “a more perfect union,” the phrase that runs through Dr. Vincent Harding’s more recent work. Where we are no longer afraid to put on the table of public discussion the “real issue” we need to address, which as King put it is the “radical reconstruction of American society itself” so that we live in a world that is ecologically sustainable, socially just, and spiritually fulfilling.<br />
<br />
This deep vision and agenda for social change articulated by King toward the end of his life and by Harding in all the decades since is what following “Martin’s Way” actually means to me. If you don’t remember this aspect of King’s legacy, I strongly encourage you to read Dr. Harding’s book, <em>Martin Luther King: The Inconvenient Hero, </em>which is the best book on King I’ve read.<br />
<br />
Yet, tonight we have an opportunity even sweeter than reading a great book about Dreaming A New America in the privacy of our homes. Tonight, we get to engage as a community with one of our most insightful and compassionate movement elders. This is a precious and rare opportunity not to be missed.<br />
<br />
Sisters and brothers, it is my deep honor to welcome Dr. Vincent Harding to speak with you tonight.STEVE CHASEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17712508109127357832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30592115.post-89478519816153004522010-09-28T10:09:00.000-05:002010-09-28T10:09:13.173-05:00EAOP Graduate Wendy Stott's Final Report on Her Summer Fellowship with the Congressional Progressive Caucus<i>September 2, 2010</i><br />
<br />
So I have now been in DC for about three and a half months. It is still hot and humid, just to let you know. <br />
<br />
August has been slow as the Congress is in recess and the members are working in their districts. I have continued to update the CPC website, always looking for new op-eds by CPC members and articles for “CPC in the News.” I have also drafted several items for the Caucus, including talking points for a jobs press conference, press releases, CPC Budget Principles, and a letter to President Obama recommending Elizabeth Warren to serve as Director of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection. <br />
<br />
The big issue that has been my continued interest for the past couple of months is the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform (a.k.a. the Debt Commission). I told you in my last posting that I wrote a one-pager that turned out to be quite helpful at least for one Representative. Well, the co-chairs of the commission, former Senator Alan Simpson and White House Chief of Staff for President Clinton, Erskine Bowles, met with the CPC last month. In preparation for this meeting, I drafted an update to the previous one-pager which had information on what has been happening with the commission in the interim, as well as main points of which the CPC should be aware and possible issues to address with the co-chairs that would affect the CPC mission. I also got to sit in on that meeting, which was really great. I learned a lot about both of the co-chairs and their views, as well as social security, which as you may know, has been a disputed topic in regards to this commission. <br />
<br />
Finally, I have been working on an issue that is important to me. Prior to my time here in DC, I worked as a veterinary technician for a total of three years, including all through grad school at Antioch. With my background in veterinary issues, I am hyper-aware of over-the-counter products that are sold claiming that they are “flea and tick treatments” but in actuality are nothing more than organophosphate poisons that have seriously harmed and killed many animals. During a recent visit to the clinic at which I used to work, I witnessed the death of another beautiful animal from one of these “treatments”. He was a beautiful male tabby cat who looked almost exactly like one of my beloved cats. I fell in love with him as soon as he came in the door. Watching him die, despite excellent nursing and medical care, was just an incredibly difficult thing to do. <br />
<br />
I returned to DC knowing that I am in a position in which I can try to do something about these “treatments” being sold to unsuspecting consumers. So, I wrote up the beginnings of a bill to ban the use of organophosphates in pet products. The Legislative Assistant in the office who handles animal issues and the Legislative Director both support the bill and feel that it will have the backing necessary to at least get drafted. So, I mostly wrote a bill. It will be controversial, as the companies that make the products won’t want to discontinue making money. But hopefully animal lovers will give it the momentum and support it needs to pass so that helpless animals will no longer be harmed by the products. But even if it isn’t passed or never comes close to getting passed, if it even saves one life from a pet caretaker knowing the danger from hearing about the controversial bill, it will be worth every second I spent working on it and then some. <br />
<br />
My time here at the CPC is coming to an end in the next couple of days. This was an incredible experience for which I am incredibly grateful. I was welcomed in this office by its many staff members as well as the Congressman, and I was able to work on interesting and timely issues, as well as issues important to me.STEVE CHASEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17712508109127357832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30592115.post-9503195808112441832010-08-28T13:45:00.004-05:002010-08-28T13:57:48.141-05:00Beck and King Are A Like Oil and Water--They Don't Mix. But Then Neither Do Obama and King.It was a little painful, of course, but I did have to laugh this week when right-wing TV entertainer Glenn Beck said that he and people like Sarah Palin were responsible for creating the US Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s. While Beck and Palin will be making that same claim today on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial--on the very Anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Justice where King gave his famous "I Have A Dream" speech--there are big, big differences between their supporting the U.S. military invasions and occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan and opposing universal health care, economic stimulus, anti-poverty, and federal jobs programs and what King and the 1960s Civil Rights Movement would advocate.<br />
<br />
Still, it is all too easy to point out the differences between King and a radio and TV "shock jock" like Beck. The more important distinction to be made is to the real gaps between King's position and President Obama's--and most of the Democratic Party. While Beck hates the whole idea of "social justice" and "community organizing," which were central to the Civil Rights Movement, we will likely need to focus on both and turn the heat up on the current administration in order to move it in a stronger, more positive direction.<br />
<br />
To get a sense of what Martin Luther King would be saying to us today if he were alive, take a look at this 30 minute clip of King on <i>Meet the Press</i> from Augustin 1967. We've got some real work to do folks.<br />
<br />
<object width="369" height="239"><param name="movie" value="http://www.hulu.com/embed/mvnnOtwk6MQJHk4XKZzY3Q"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.hulu.com/embed/mvnnOtwk6MQJHk4XKZzY3Q" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="512" height="288" allowFullScreen="true"></embed></object>STEVE CHASEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17712508109127357832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30592115.post-16222152892947394332010-08-06T15:55:00.003-05:002010-08-06T16:03:31.859-05:00A Quick Transition Movement VideoI not only teach about the Transition Movement as part of the core curriculum of the Environmental Studies master's concentration in Advocacy for Social Justice and Sustainability, I'm also a co-founder of the Transition Keene initiating group. The last few nights I have been working on creating a wordpress.com website for the group entitled <i>Relocalization: The Keene Transition Movement's Interactive Website and Blog</i>. That's not ready for prime time yet (though it will be announced here soon I think). Yet, today, I wanted to share a good video I found for the local Transition Movement's homepage. I would love people to write up some comments about the strengths and weaknesses of this short video.<br />
<br />
<object width="360" height="284"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/sDdv_z_DgMg&hl=en_US&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/sDdv_z_DgMg&hl=en_US&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="360" height="284"></embed></object>STEVE CHASEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17712508109127357832noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30592115.post-26838226217683972942010-08-05T13:32:00.000-05:002010-08-05T13:32:09.725-05:00Antioch University New England Wins Green Business Award<b>A Letter To The Antioch Community From Abigail Abrash Walton... </b><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.antiochne.edu/directory/headshots/AbrashwaltonAbigail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.antiochne.edu/directory/headshots/AbrashwaltonAbigail.jpg" /></a></div>Dear Friends,<br />
<br />
Our sustainability efforts are being recognized! AUNE has won Business NH's Lean & Green 2010 Award for large companies. We're featured in the August 2010 issue of Business NH, now on newstands, and we'll be honored at an event in Portsmouth on September 14.<br />
<br />
Thanks to everyone who has contributed to this success (by turning off lights, switching to CFLs, powering down your office equipment, composting, recycling, etc.). Those small individual actions all mount up to some significant hard numbers in terms of reducing our collective institutional carbon footprint -- and we're saving money doing it.<br />
<br />
Stay tuned: our next initiative focuses on helping all of us who commute to campus to do so in less carbon-heavy ways (and, yes, there will be prizes involved).<br />
<br />
All the best,<br />
<br />
Abi<br />
<br />
Abigail Abrash Walton<br />
Faculty, Department of Environmental Studies<br />
Assistant to the President for Sustainability & Social Justice<br />
Antioch University New England<br />
40 Avon Street<br />
Keene, NH 03431<br />
TEL: 603/283-2344 (direct line)<br />
603/357-3122 (general number)<br />
FAX: 603/357-0718STEVE CHASEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17712508109127357832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30592115.post-21179838998217241922010-07-26T11:53:00.002-05:002010-07-26T12:34:24.259-05:00EAOP Graduate Wendy Stott's 1st Report on Her Summer Fellowship with the Congressional Progressive Caucus<b>A Report on My Summer Fellowship with the US Congressional Progressive Caucus</b><br />
<b><i>by Wendy Stott</i></b><br />
<br />
I can hardly believe that I have already been here for almost two months. <br />
<br />
DC as a whole is great. It’s very hot and humid, but I love taking public transportation to work every day (even if it isn’t always incredibly smooth). It’s also great to be somewhere where there are so many people who are passionate about issues. Also, I have always been a bit of a political nerd so being in the thick of the political scene is really fun.<br />
<br />
The past few weeks have gone by in a whirlwind. From the beginning, I have had the task of updating the daily email that goes out to the staff of the U.S. Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) members. The email has the “Dear Colleagues” (which are letters from the members requesting support for legislation or events, briefings, etc.) of other CPC members, and there are always new things to put in, take out and update. Coordinating this daily communication has oriented me quickly to the work of the Caucus and introduced me to the variety of issues and initiatives that CPC members are addressing. I have also done a lot to prep for the CPC member and staff meetings, which are every other week. Andrea, the Caucus’s executive director, has been taking me to other relevant meetings as well. I also have extensively updated the CPC website, which has been a great learning experience for me. Check it out at <a href="http://cpc.grijalva.house.gov/">http://cpc.grijalva.house.gov/</a><br />
<br />
My favorite things that I have done thus far include a letter that I drafted on behalf of the CPC chairs to the U.S. House of Representatives’ Democratic leadership asking the Speaker to support legislation to create jobs. I also researched and wrote up a one-pager on the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform (a.k.a. the Debt Commission) which was convened by President Obama earlier this year to bring the national debt down to a more manageable level. The informational one-pager was just meant to give the basics to the CPC members on what the commission is supposed to do, how, and when, and who sits on the commission. Well at the CPC meeting, a member complimented the document and said that he hadn’t seen all the information put together like that before and it was incredibly helpful just to have such a great summary and background. Of course, Andrea and I were the only people in the room who knew that I was actually the one being complimented. But all the same, it still meant a lot. I have continued to work on this CPC issue, and we are planning to schedule briefings soon in order to bring attention to the fact that entitlement cuts will likely come from this commission, which could end up being even more destructive to our slowly recovering economy. What we need to be doing right now is putting people to work, not taking away government support. <br />
<br />
I have also been able to work these past couple of weeks on the proposed Resolution Copper Mine that mining multinationals Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton are trying to create in the Tonto National Forest. Rep. Grijalva is opposed to the mine, and as Chair for the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands, he has asked me to provide him with background information on the issue to assist in the hearings that will be forthcoming. It is great to continue the research and advocacy on mining that I began during my coursework at Antioch. My Advocacy Clinic projects and our Environmental Justice field studies trip prepared me well to take on this challenge.<br />
<br />
I will provide more details on life in DC and on Capitol Hill in my next report!STEVE CHASEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17712508109127357832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30592115.post-28904913481473964982010-05-05T19:59:00.001-05:002010-05-05T20:03:23.810-05:00Popular Education Workshop at Highlander CenterThe Highlander Center was the main inspiration for the eight year old Antioch University New England Environmental Studies master's program track in Advocacy in Social Justice and Sustainability. Here is a chance to go to Highlander for a great workshop at a very low cost.<br />
<br />
<b>United For A Fair Economy's Popular Economics Education Institute: An intensive Bilingual Training of Trainers program for activists working for social and economic justice.<br />
<br />
</b>UFE’s Popular Economics Education workshops transform dry economic statistics into memorable learning experiences that connect with people’s lives and lead to action. This 3 1/2-day bilingual Training of Trainers Institute will give you an opportunity to explore the methodology behind the workshops, practice leading a presentation, and give and receive constructive feedback, as well as to review information about the roots of economic inequality and what we can do to move the struggle for economic justice forward. <br />
<br />
We will demonstrate UFE’s most recent workshop on the current economic crisis, “Bankers, Brokers, Bubbles & Bailouts” as well as “Economic Refugees: Immigration and the Growing Divide.” Also, participants should be prepared to have fun and share diverse cultural perspectives.<br />
<br />
TRAINERS: Jeannette Huezo & Steve Schnapp, UFE Senior Education Coordinator<br />
WHERE: Highlander Education & Research Center, New Market, TN<br />
WHEN: Thursday, May 27, 2010 - Sunday, May 30, 2010<br />
REGISTRATION DEADLINE: May 11th.<br />
COST: Registration has been reduced to $125, thanks to very generous contributions by UFE supporters. Fee includes training, room & board, and materials. Limited scholarships available. Transportation NOT included. Limited scholarships available. Visit UFE's website to register and to apply for scholarship (if needed):<a href="http://www.faireconomy.org/issues/economics_education/tot_application_2010" target="_blank"> http://www.faireconomy.org/issues/economics_education/tot_application_2010</a><br />
<br />
For more information contact:<br />
<br />
• Jeannette Huezo, 857-277-7881 or <a href="mailto:jhuezo@faireconomy.org" target="_blank">jhuezo@faireconomy.org</a><br />
• Steve Schnapp, 857-277-7868 or <a href="mailto:sschnapp@faireconomy.org" target="_blank">sschnapp@faireconomy.org</a><br />
• Susan Williams, Highlander Education Team Coordinator, 865-933-3443 x229<b></b><br />
<b><br />
</b>STEVE CHASEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17712508109127357832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30592115.post-31756423002553462192010-03-20T13:18:00.001-05:002010-03-20T13:22:41.680-05:00My "Creative Maladjustment" Talk Now OnlineI was just updating my resume for my annual performance review and was double checking the dates of the Psychology-Ecology-Sustainability conference at Lewis and Clark College--where I gave one of three keynote addresses in 2007. Well, by doing that web search, I learned that my entire talk, which was entitled "Creative Maladjustment: Activism as a Way of Healing Self, Society, and Planet," has been put online at Google Video by Lewis and Clark. <br />
<br />
It is one of my favorite and most comprehensive public talks, so I'm including the video below in case anyone is interested. You really have to want to watch it to click on it, though, as the talk is about 75 minutes long and the first four or five minutes are plagued by some minor sound problems (which can be skipped though). Still, once I get rolling, I tell some of my best stories and I speak fairly comprehensively about the politics of creating a "psychologically smart" social movement for ecological sustainability and environmental justice. So, hey, I'm just putting it out there for folks in case any of you are interested...<br />
<br />
<embed id=VideoPlayback src=http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=-7354244467851978810&hl=en&fs=true style=width:400px;height:326px allowFullScreen=true allowScriptAccess=always type=application/x-shockwave-flash> </embed>STEVE CHASEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17712508109127357832noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30592115.post-42458900427219524922010-02-28T14:43:00.002-05:002010-02-28T14:45:26.254-05:00What A Win It Was! The Vote Against Vermont Yankee Last Week<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.valleyadvocate.com/sortable/image/briek-nuke.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="224" src="http://www.valleyadvocate.com/sortable/image/briek-nuke.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><b>A Reflection By ES Advocacy in Social Justice and Sustainability<br />
Faculty Member Abigail Abrash Walton</b><br />
<br />
Many of the advocacy students and I spent last Wednesday's snow day watching, listening to, and analyzing (via our online chat feature) the Vermont State Senate's discussion and debate of Senate bill <a href="http://www.leg.state.vt.us/docs/2010/bills/Intro/S-289.pdf">S-289</a> to approve or disapprove the extension of Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant's license to operate for another 20 years. (What a great live, online learning experience!)<br />
<br />
The vote was 26 against 4 to close the leaking and decaying plant in 2012 when its license expires. Vermont is the only state legislature in the country that has reserved the right to authorize or deny any extensions to a nuke plant's original license.<br />
<br />
There's a long history of advocacy on this issue, and a number of our Antioch students have been involved in shutting down Vermont Yankee, including Peter Alexander (ES EAO '04), who served as ED of New England Coalition, one of the three leading groups that has campaigned for closure of the plant. Today's 4.5-hour-long Senate process was both a terrific live case study of legislative advocacy in action, as well as an excellent look at the democratic legislative process at work.<br />
<br />
For those of us who understand that progressive change typically comes from the bottom up, this excerpt from a first-hand report by ES EAO alumna Carrie Abels ('06), who was at the Statehouse for the debate and vote, was welcome confirmation that what we teach in the advocacy & organizing program here at Antioch is both relevant and effective:<br />
<i></i><br />
<blockquote><i>At the lunch break, I ran into Sen. Peter Shumlin as he was walking alone outside the Statehouse. I thanked him for actually having the guts to take a stand on something, given how Congress is operating these days. He said he couldn't do it without the kind of people in the gallery [[i.e., the hundred or so grassroots & professional advocates who braved the weather to be there in force for the decision]].</i></blockquote><i></i> <br />
Our current students will welcome SIT professor Jeff Unsicker and long-time close VY campaign advocate to our Advocacy Clinic class next Friday morning for a debrief and discussion of next steps in the Vermont Yankee campaign.STEVE CHASEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17712508109127357832noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30592115.post-30063932207111099072010-01-30T11:18:00.006-05:002010-01-31T14:37:01.651-05:00In Transition--A Movie and A Movement<object height="150" width="200"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=8029815&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1" /><embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=8029815&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="400" height="300"></embed></object><br />
<a href="http://vimeo.com/8029815">In Transition 1.0</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user2731852">Transition Towns</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br />
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OK, say you are not a ostrich with your head buried in the sand. Say you are really wondering how can we create strong, vibrant, resilient, and sustainable communities in the face of increasing challenges like peak oil, climate change, and an unstable and often unjust global economy.<br />
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Well, I suggest that you learn more about the international movement of local Transition Initiatives and explore getting directly involved in this creative and positive work in your local community. My own trajectory is clear. I first read <a href="http://www.chelseagreen.com/bookstore/item/the_transition_handbook:paperback"><i>The Transition Handbook</i></a> last year, then checked out the new Transition US <a href="http://www.transitionus.org/">website</a>, and attended a training in Boston for potential Transition activists back in the fall. I also started teaching the Transition Movement organizing model as part of my class on “Patterns of Environmental Activism” at Antioch and shared with my students the new online video describing the movement, called<i> <a href="http://vimeo.com/8029815">In Transition</a></i>. <br />
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More recently, I have attended a few public meetings of Transition Putney, just across the Connecticut River in Vermont, and that group of adventurous people inspired my New Year’s Resolution for 2010 to start an initial organizing group for launching an official Transition Initiative in Keene, New Hampshire, which I and some other Advocacy for Social Justice and Sustainability grads--along with various other neighbors in Keene--are now putting together.<br />
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What might be the right next step for you?STEVE CHASEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17712508109127357832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30592115.post-34574270319844281952009-12-29T12:57:00.006-05:002009-12-29T13:19:55.099-05:00Advocacy Grad Goes To Washington... For Gulf of Maine<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://c3.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/74/s_7f233e66291146d99587e4d05403dc7e.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 90px; height: 84px;" src="http://c3.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/74/s_7f233e66291146d99587e4d05403dc7e.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a>The <span style="font-style:italic;">Portland Daily Sun</span> ran the following <a href="http://www.theportlanddailysun.com/cgi/story.pl?storyid=20091222051153829">editorial</a> about Peter Alexander's work to restore the health and vitality of the Gulf of Maine on December 23, 2009. Peter was in the very first cohort of Antioch University's Environmental Advocacy and Organizing Program... and has been making us all proud ever since.<br /><br /><blockquote><span style="font-weight:bold;">Great Waters effort will need folk singer skills<br />Saving our watershed is too important to be interesting </span><br /><br />Peter Alexander has an Interest-Significance Ratio challenge.<br /><br />The ISR, as regular reader may recall against all odds, holds that the more significant something is, the more boring it becomes: The United Nations Summit on World Hunger could not be more important, yet is mostly followed by bloggers seeking new insomnia treatments. However, find a receipt for recently rented porn in your neighbor's recycling box — riveting. You can make your own list, but it's a national trend: C-Span's daily coverage of Congress spending billions and determining who gets health care? B-o-r-i-n-g. <br /><br />American Idol's weekly controversy over which judge said something stupid or a "reality" TV show about rich housewives proving that money doesn't come with directions? B-o-f-f-o.<br /><br />Alexander, a sort of Swiss Army Knife of environmental activists, is out to adopt a regional water master plan.<br /><br />Many in our local music scene know Alexander primarily as a folk singer, and his "change" songs have become important enough to the national health care debate that groups fly him around the country to play at rallies. But he's also been involved in the Great Lakes restoration and other water conservation efforts and recently visited Washington D.C. to for a series of meetings with congressfolk and EPA officials.<br /><br />We gather he sleeps little.<br /><br />The D.C. work includes his role as a leader of the Gulf of Maine Restoration & Conservation Initiative, a push to make the Gulf of Maine a part of the America's Great Waters ecosystem programs.<br /><br />Okay, already I sense even dedicated enviros mentally wondering how they can crawl to the nearest coffeehouse. Do not drive or operate heavy equipment after reading the previous sentences. But hang in there -- the next step involves big money and I'll name-drop Obama.<br /><br />Last month, President Obama appropriated $641 million for implementation of restoration plans in the Great Lakes, Puget Sound, Chesapeake Bay and several other systems. The Gulf of Maine was not among those honored with funding, and locals suspect it's because the region does not have a "go-to agency" -- or that Sen. Snowe didn't know somebody was loosening purse strings.<br /><br />In a letter to Lisa Jackson, administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, signed by about 20 regional groups, the Initiative noted a Congressional report urging the EPA to "undertake a study of pollution and water quality issues in the Gulf of Maine with the assistance of regional stakeholders to determine whether a comprehensive plan should be developed for this region."<br /><br />Say what? Whether a plan should be developed? Study issues? We have been studying issues for years. We have your plan right here.<br /><br />In what amounts to a smack-down in the genteel word of such things, the letter responds to the urging: (To Administrator Jackson) "You may know that for nearly a year diverse stakeholders in the Gulf of Maine, including state and federal agencies, the NGO (non-governmental organizations), and business interests have been working together to create a comprehensive restoration and conservation plan ... In an effort to capitalize on the past work and move forward, we in the Gulf of Maine believe further study is not necessary but instead are poised to work with the Environmental Protection Agency starting today to implement the next phase -- the Gulf of Maine Restoration and Conservation Plan."<br /><br />Translation: No way we should have been left out, you don't even know that we've done the work some committee directed us to do, and let's get on with it.<br /><br />And did we mention we're from Maine? Maybe you've heard of our senators? They are rumored to have some clout around Congress.<br /><br />Okay, if you're of a certain political mindset, the idea of a new "comprehensive plan" sends shivers up your spine, in a bad way. But this effort more or less mirrors efforts for other large watersheds, and the emphasis is on building from existing groups -- really, packaging an array of existing efforts under an umbrella that will get us included in future Great Waters funding.<br /><br />Let's see -- a large bureaucracy, a coalition of two dozen groups, a huge effort to preserve one of nature's great watersheds, and oh yeah we'll have to include Canada sooner or later.<br /><br />Mr. Alexander may need to plug in an amp on this one, but it's a heck of a tune.</blockquote>STEVE CHASEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17712508109127357832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30592115.post-84419065097035229862009-11-17T15:06:00.002-05:002009-11-17T15:09:15.260-05:00Another Student Letter to the Editor on Health Care<span style="font-weight:bold;">Health Care Problems: A Curable Disease</span><br /><br />To the Editor:<br /><br />There is a new disease on the horizon threatening all of us called uninsurance. A recent study by the Cambridge Health Alliance conducted by Harvard researchers reported that 45,000 people in the United States will die each year due to lack of health insurance often from skyrocketing insurance premiums. The study, published in the American Journal of Public Health, states uninsured Americans have a 40% greater risk of dying than their privately insured counterparts--and the number is rising. <br /><br />The point is this—even one death attributable to the unavailability of quality health care is unacceptable; yet people are dying because they can’t afford health insurance! Politicians say they understand the needs of “the American people”. Why aren’t they taking a united stand on behalf of the American people? <br /><br />Here’s the good news--this is a curable disease, one of which our lawmakers are losing sight of while they waste valuable time and energy in partisan politics. This is not a time for divisiveness; but time for “we, the people” to join together to make our voices heard. Please, I encourage you to put pressure on Congress to support a health care reform bill with a public option today! <br /><br />Karen RoseSTEVE CHASEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17712508109127357832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30592115.post-73441697825382050362009-11-16T11:06:00.003-05:002009-11-16T11:19:40.134-05:00Vermont Environmental Action 2009<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnRtNeEfetR0XwXi-B024uzN5IfBQ-LDnfq3Y1GAPNsaMvEMY1K8tEzfMLGasokAehFenUCoBlCbNpI8RyWvv3RKf9kpjBEaPq3Gv-B-O2P2jdLsof-kAWO3Cstmt4AsrpVwbJ/s1600/VT_Enviro_Action.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 132px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnRtNeEfetR0XwXi-B024uzN5IfBQ-LDnfq3Y1GAPNsaMvEMY1K8tEzfMLGasokAehFenUCoBlCbNpI8RyWvv3RKf9kpjBEaPq3Gv-B-O2P2jdLsof-kAWO3Cstmt4AsrpVwbJ/s200/VT_Enviro_Action.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404736662575420674" /></a><span style="font-weight:bold;">A Report By EAOP Student Michael Goudzwaard</span><br /><br />On the heels of the 350.org day of global action, Vermonters met at the Environmental Action 2009 Conference on Saturday, November 7, to explore the key issues facing the Green Mountain State. I was thrilled to be joined by Antioch EAOP master’s candidate Liz Newman, EAOP Director Steve Chase, and EAOP alumna Aja Lippincott, who now works for <a href="http://www.globaljusticeecology.org/">Global Justice Ecology Project</a>.<br /> <br />Liz and I first learned of the conference working on an environmental justice project for a Vermont client through the ANE <a href="http://www.antiochne.edu/es/eao/clinic.cfm">Advocacy Clinic</a>. We planned to meet some advocates we had talk to on the phone and to further explore possible collaborations for our client.<br /><br />In addition to networking and eating great local cheese, we were representing Antioch in two primary ways. First, equipped with banners, literature and free pens, we were recruiting potential students. Second, we engaged potential clients of the Advocacy Clinic to think about how our pro bono advocacy work could be help them take innovative and strategic environmental action.<br /><br />I talked to a group that was fighting a big box store development in their town. I explained that Shapleigh, Maine and other towns have passed a local ordinance that gives rights to nature and allows citizens to defend those rights against corporate exploitation. Shapleigh passed the ordinance to protect its drinking water from being sold off to a transnational bottled water company. We were both excited about using this new ordinance to protect against sprawl and bringing self-determination back to the people of a VT town. <br /><br />The afternoon offered some excellent workshops. I attended a session on Funding Real Change, comprehensive funding strategies for grassroots action. Ginny Callahan from the <a href="http://grassrootsfund.org/">New England Grassroots Environmental Fund</a> walked us through the grant application process giving tips and encouragement from a funder’s perspective. Mia Moore, Finance Director for <a href="http://www.democracyforamerica.com/">Democracy for America</a> and Alyssa Schuren, Development Director of <a href="http://www.environmentamerica.org/">Environment America</a> presented donor-funding strategies and tools to increase giving and diversify funding for campaigns and organizations. I walked away with a new understanding and excitement for donor funding. <br /><br />Finally, after lunch we heard from five gubernatorial candidates about their positions on environmental issues. All five committed to closing the aging and unsafe Entergy Nuclear Power Plant, supporting Vermont agriculture, and creating a clean energy, green-collar economy. I am thoroughly impressed and slightly jealous of the candidates Vermont has for its next governor.STEVE CHASEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17712508109127357832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30592115.post-17648692372268383872009-11-11T10:45:00.001-05:002009-11-11T10:47:25.343-05:00Another Student Letter to the EditorTo the Editor:<br /><br />As a local graduate student who has health insurance and a limited income, I am forced on a regular basis to choose when I can afford to see a doctor. I struggle to pay my health care premiums yet my health insurance does not include many of the things that should be covered services, such as vision and dental care or even office visits to see a physician. A case as simple as strep throat or a sprained ankle could leave me without rent or groceries. <br /><br />I would like to thank Senator Jeanne Shaheen and Representative Paul Hodes for supporting the healthcare reform bills so far. Seeing the cooperative efforts put forth to gain bipartisan support to move these bills forward gives me hope that soon I will be able to afford a health care plan that actually covers my needs.<br /><br />As these bills move forward, I encourage Senators Shaheen and Gregg and Representative Hodes to support a public option and not the trigger option. Not only would a public option make health coverage more affordable, it would provide insurance coverage to a greater number of citizens. This would reduce overall costs of health care as people receive the medical attention they need, while also improving our quality of life. However we cannot wait for a “trigger” that would enact this public option in five or ten years, if ever. Our health care system is already not working for me and many Americans. Giving private insurance companies even more time will not fix the system. <br /><br />Please contact Senators Shaheen Gregg and Representative Hodes to tell them that Keene residents support an immediate public option that will sustain all Americans into the future. Thank you.<br /><br />Angela MrozinskiSTEVE CHASEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17712508109127357832noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30592115.post-69844312397832483332009-11-06T08:44:00.004-05:002009-11-06T08:49:15.706-05:00Animal Rights Letter to the Editor<span style="font-weight:bold;">One of the ways that the Environmental Advocacy and Organizing Program helps students hone their persuasive writing is to encourage them to write lots of letters to the editor. Here's a letter to the editor on animal rights recently published in the <span style="font-style:italic;">Keene Sentinel.</span> It was written by Wendy Stott, one of our second year students:</span><br /><br />To the Editor:<br /><br />Recently Kenny Crammer wrote to the editor about the horrific treatment that animals are forced to endure during their brief yet excruciating lives on factory farms. Mr. Crammer made the case for a vegan diet based on these facts. I would like to thank Mr. Crammer for his letter on behalf of the animals and also add to it by making the case that veganism is also better for your health and the environment.<br /><br />I think most of us are aware that eating foods packed full of fats and cholesterol can clog up our arteries and lead to illnesses such as diabetes and heart disease. Those are good reasons to stay away from cheeseburgers and fried chicken but now there are new reasons to think twice about everything animal-based that you eat.<br /><br />New research is being done by T. Colin Campbell, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus at Cornell University and author of The China Study, what may be the most comprehensive study of health and nutrition ever conducted. Dr Campbell was raised on a dairy farm and originally set out to prove how nutritious dairy is for humans. However, his extensive research found exactly the opposite conclusions. <br /><br />Among other things, Dr. Campbell discovered that what you eat during the promotion stage of cancer can have a huge impact on whether the cancer spreads or is reversed. “The nutrients from animal-based foods, especially the protein, promote the development of cancer whereas the nutrients from plant-based foods, especially the anti-oxidants, reverse the promotion stage.” <br /><br />Dr. Campbell discovered that casein, which makes up 87% of milk protein, modifies enzyme activities, increasing cholesterol and enhancing atherogenesis, which is the early stage of cardiovascular disease. Dr. Campbell stated, “Our work showed that casein is the most relevant cancer promoter ever discovered.”<br /><br />Animal agriculture is destroying our planet as well. The EPA has stated animal agriculture is the single largest non-point source water polluter in the nation. According to the Audubon Society, more than 1/3 of our fossil fuels and almost ½ of our water in the US is used for animal agriculture. <br /><br />University of Chicago geophysicists Gidon Eshel and Pamela Martin calculate that each American meat eater produces one and a half tons more greenhouse gasses every year than each vegan.<br /><br />There is much more to learn on these topics and I encourage you to do further research. Here are a few websites to get started: GoVeg.com, vegan.org, massanimalrights.org.<br /><br />And for the full article with information on Dr. Campbell’s findings: <a href="http://http://www.alternet.org/healthwellness/142875/is_eating_a_plant-based_diet_a_cure_for_cancer/">http://www.alternet.org/healthwellness/142875/is_eating_a_plant-based_diet_a_cure_for_cancer/</a><br /><br />Wendy StottSTEVE CHASEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17712508109127357832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30592115.post-69171372733209092092009-10-28T16:54:00.003-05:002009-10-28T17:01:13.579-05:00<div style="text-align: center;"><object height="265" width="320"><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/noPcVKf24rk&hl=en&fs=1&" height="265" width="320"></embed></object></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:medium;"><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><b>KEENE, NEW HAMPSHIRE JOINS GLOBAL DAY OF CLIMATE ACTION</b></span><b><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">TO SPREAD MOST IMPORTANT NUMBER IN THE WORLD</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">One of Over 5,000 Simultaneous 350 Events in Over 180 Countries</span><br /></b></div><b><br /></b></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:medium;"><b>Keene, NH: October 24th—Over 80 people from Keene State College, Antioch University New England, and the wider Keene community gathered Saturday for a downtown rally, a march along Main Street, and a concert at the Keene State College Student Center. At the Student Center, they also took an areal photo of people assembled to make the number 350 to represent the Keene community as part of the largest international day of climate change activism ever. These participants joined more than 5,000 communities in over 180 countries as part of a global day of action coordinated by 350.org to urge world leaders to take bold and immediate steps to address climate change and reduce carbon emissions.</b></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:medium;"><b>“There’s no doubt now that the citizens of Keene want to see real action from the world on global warming before the problem gets any worse,” said Anastasia Dubrovina, student at Keene State.</b></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:medium;"><b>Around the world today—from capitol cities to the melting slopes of Mount Everest, even underwater on dying coral reefs—people held rallies aimed at focusing attention on the number 350 because scientists have insisted in recent years that 350 parts per million is the most carbon dioxide we can safely have in the atmosphere. The current CO2 concentration is 390 parts per million.</b></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:medium;"><b>“That’s why glaciers and sea ice are melting, drought is spreading, and flooding is on the increase,” said Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org and author twenty years ago of the first major book on climate change. “And it’s why we need a huge worldwide movement to give us the momentum to make real political change. Our leaders have heard from major corporations and big polluters for a long time—today, finally, they heard from citizens and scientists.”</b></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:medium;"><b>These global actions come six weeks before the world’s nations convene in Copenhagen for the United Nations Climate Change Conference to draw up a new climate treaty. 89 countries have already endorsed the 350 target, as well as the chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Rajendra Pachauri, the world’s foremost climate economist, Sir Nicholas Stern, and Nobel prize-winner Al Gore.</b></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:medium;"><b>Images of the events from around the world, including the rally at Keene State College, were featured on giant video screens in Times Square in New York as part of a 350 countdown, and are accessible at 350.org as part of a online photostream. Visual documentation From the Day of Action will be delivered to the United Nations on Monday.</b></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:medium;"><b>“People have said the science of global warming is too confusing for average citizens to understand,” said McKibben. “Yesterday’s events prove that millions of people understand exactly what is at stake in the next few years, and that they want swift action to safeguard the future.”</b></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:medium;"><b>Even though the forecast predicted heavy rain all day, over 80 Keene State students and Keene community members gathered together to act on our need for climate action.</b></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:medium;"><b>ABOUT 350.ORG</b></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:medium;"><b>Founded by author and environmentalist Bill McKibben, 350.org is the first large-scale grassroots global campaign against climate change. Its supporters include leading scientists, the governments of 92 countries, and a huge variety of environmental, health, development and religious NGOs. All agree that current atmospheric levels of CO2—390 parts per million—are causing damage to the planet and to its most vulnerable people, and that government action at the Copenhagen climate conference is required to bring the earth’s carbon level swiftly down to 350 ppm.</b></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:medium;"><b>350.org is member of a global alliance of faith groups, non-governmental organizations, trade unions and over a million individuals calling for a fair, ambitious, and binding international climate change treaty.</b></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:medium;"><b>For more information, visit <a href="http://www.350.org/">www.350.org</a>.</b></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div>STEVE CHASEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17712508109127357832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30592115.post-53921144883484525362009-08-18T19:34:00.001-05:002009-08-18T19:41:07.488-05:00Bill McKibben on The Colbert Report??!!!?!?!!!Check out this interview with environmental writer Bill McKibben on the Colbert Report, the Comedy Channel's fake right-wing news program. The interview is about McKibben's new climate action effort called <a target="_blank" href="http://www.350.org/about">350.org</a>.
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<br /><table style='font:11px arial; color:#333; background-color:#f5f5f5' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' width='360' height='353'><tbody><tr style='background-color:#e5e5e5' valign='middle'><td style='padding:2px 1px 0px 5px;'><a target='_blank' style='color:#333; text-decoration:none; font-weight:bold;' href='http://www.colbertnation.com'>The Colbert Report</a></td><td style='padding:2px 5px 0px 5px; text-align:right; font-weight:bold;'>Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c</td></tr><tr style='height:14px;' valign='middle'><td style='padding:2px 1px 0px 5px;' colspan='2'<a target='_blank' style='color:#333; text-decoration:none; font-weight:bold;' href='http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/246941/august-17-2009/bill-mckibben'>Bill McKibben<a></td></tr><tr style='height:14px; background-color:#353535' valign='middle'><td colspan='2' style='padding:2px 5px 0px 5px; width:360px; overflow:hidden; text-align:right'><a target='_blank' style='color:#96deff; text-decoration:none; font-weight:bold;' href='http://www.colbertnation.com/'>www.colbertnation.com</a></td></tr><tr valign='middle'><td style='padding:0px;' colspan='2'><embed style='display:block' src='http://media.mtvnservices.com/mgid:cms:item:comedycentral.com:246941' width='360' height='301' type='application/x-shockwave-flash' wmode='window' allowFullscreen='true' flashvars='autoPlay=false' allowscriptaccess='always' allownetworking='all' bgcolor='#000000'></embed></td></tr><tr style='height:18px;' valign='middle'><td style='padding:0px;' colspan='2'><table style='margin:0px; text-align:center' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' width='100%' height='100%'><tr valign='middle'><td style='padding:3px; width:33%;'><a target='_blank' style='font:10px arial; color:#333; text-decoration:none;' href='http://www.comedycentral.com/colbertreport/full-episodes'>Colbert Report Full Episodes</a></td><td style='padding:3px; width:33%;'><a target='_blank' style='font:10px arial; color:#333; text-decoration:none;' href='http://www.indecisionforever.com'>Political Humor</a></td><td style='padding:3px; width:33%;'><a target='_blank' style='font:10px arial; color:#333; text-decoration:none;' href='http://www.colbertnation.com/video?keywords=health+care+protesters'>Health Care Protests</a></td></tr></table></td></tr></tbody></table>
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<br />Here is what Bill said about it all in a letter today to friends and supporters:
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<br /><i>Dear Friends,
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<br />It's rare that public humiliation and movement building come in one package, but my appearance on The Colbert Report last night was a bit of both.
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<br />The interview lasted all of four minutes, but I managed to make my pitch and survive the interview with at least 40% of my dignity intact. If you have friends who aren't necessarily inclined to earnest environmental preaching, this might be a good clip to send them as you try to recruit new activists for the big day of Climate Action on Oct. 24.
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<br />You can see my interview with Colbert--and pass it on to your networks--by using the link below:
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<br /></i><a target="_blank" href="http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=HCG4glxo7c6oXXKzeefEafS2p3FHEJqd"><i>http://www.350.org/billoncolbert</i></a><i>
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<br />In the span of just a few years, Stephen Colbert and his Colbert Report have become institutions in the American media landscape. But interesting institutions--the show is comedy, and it's also slightly anarchic. Colbert is brilliant, and more than a little wild: it's not like going on normal, predictable television. That's the drama, and it's why people tune in.
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<br />It's also why I was a little more nervous than usual as my evening in the guest's chair approached. i can usually predict the questions I'll be asked--I've heard most of them before. But last night they were coming fast and furious, and out of left field. "What if I start 349.org?"
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<br />With a lot of help from friends who'd coached me and psyched me up, I got through just fine--and even made Colbert laugh when I inquired if his self-styled Nation wanted to join the 80 other governments that are backing our target. Best of all, it worked--our servers hummed with thousands of new colleagues.
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<br />We're enormously grateful to Stephen and his crew for helping us spread the word-now let's keep this movement moving!
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<br />Onwards,
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<br />Bill McKibben
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<br />P.S. My younger and more technologically adept colleagues assure me that if you click the links below you'll be able to share the video on Facebook and Twitter-give it a whirl:
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<br /></i>STEVE CHASEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17712508109127357832noreply@blogger.com1