From my friend Christina Polcari:

What if Obama announced a plan today that promised green jobs for our urban youth, window panes and lower energy bills, urban gardens and lower medical bills, clean air and clean streets?

The Yes Men dare us to think so. They dare us to imagine the world is as we wanted it just for a minute. Earlier this week in Copenhagen, Canada dropped jaws when it announced a radical reversal of its climate change policy at the COP15. It was exactly the kind of action the world has been waiting for–bold and badass. But it was all a prank, compliments of the Yes Men.

We wanted a global deal out of the COP15. The Yes Men put the spotlight on countries standing in the way to publicly humiliate them. Because the people, the media, and the UN responded, and for a moment, we saw the change we believe in.

Last night, Jayme and Mahfam sat on the rogue Yes Men stage at the “Good COP15″ to tell our leaders about how urban communities are building a better environment and a better economy. People working together on projects like Green the Hood are the true agents of change.

This week, Mahfam has made us realize we need to go back home and “blow up our efforts and take them to the next level…to scale the movement.” She’s absolutely right. Coming from a global conference, to me, the next level looks more local. Our leaders can and must take bolder action but we have to do even more at home to show them exactly what that action looks like. Here’s to the next steps for our communities, the ones to scale the movement and to give our leaders no room to budge.

Heather Box and Jayme Montgomery on Davey D’s Hard Knock Radio

Check out this interview about COP15 and the talks in Copenhagen, aired on 12/17/2009 on Davey D’s Hard Knock Radio. Jayme and Heather talk about the mood of the conference as well as some of the intense protests they saw. Hard Knock Radio airs every day at 4PM on KPFA: check out the page for the show here!

Also, check out this clip from Heather, interviewed on 12/18/2009 on the KPFA Morning Show:

Heather Box on the KPFA Morning Show - 12/18/09

Heather talks about the general atmosphere in Copenhagen and the mood after President Obama’s speech about the climate negotiations. The KPFA Morning Show airs every weekday at 7:00 AM Pacific time on KPFA: check out the page for the show here!

This message comes from Josh Lynch, an organizer with AVAAZ Action Factory:

Friends -

On Tuesday morning I posted this note on facebook: “If you could see what is happening here in Copenhagen you would be outraged. After two decades of negotiating climate change policy to death, wealthy countries are blocking a real deal with weak targets and loopholes. The next 72 hours I will need you to act to seize the moment of Copenhagen. Please be prepared to act.”

Now is the time to act. First I will ask for what is needed. Then I will explain some context.

1. This is going to sound crazy. I need as many of you who possibly can to organize a sit-in in your Senator’s office to read 12 millions names of global voices demanding a fair, ambitious, and legally-binding climate treaty in Copenhagen. The first sit-in of this kind was a nine-hour act of civil disobedience by 19 international youth outside the main plenary in Copenhagen. This sparked solidarity reader sit-ins at the Canadian Prime Minister’s office and the U.S. State Department on Thursday. On Friday youth are calling for a non-violent civil disobedience to demand a fair, ambitious, and binding climate treaty on the final day.

Here is a guide to help you pull it off: http://itsgettinghotinhere.org/2009/12/17/solidarity-sit-ins-spread-resources-for-your-own-event/

The original story: http://itsgettinghotinhere.org/2009/12/17/live-blog-youth-activists-refuse-to-leave-before-everyones-voices-are-heard/

1. Call President Obama (202-456-1111) to urge him to “support the call of the most vulnerable nations for a 350ppm carbon reduction target and a goal of keeping temperatures below 1.5 degrees celsius in the global climate treaty.” This has been a critical demand of vulnerable nations in Copenhagen fighting for their survival.

That’s it. Now some context as promised. Read the full story

Follow all of Jayme’s copenhagen coverage at http://youngvoter.org/cop15

Cold, Snowing, 100’s of police, 1000’s of marchers, banners, Amerie on the radio…

Angry, frustrated, trains shut down, young, old, global climate movement.

All words used to describe my experience at the Reclaim Power protest. While folks in the U.S. were safely tucked in their beds, thousands of young people from around the world gathered in the streets of Copenhagen to demand access to the Bella (convention) Center. To demand real policies that will reverse climate change and save planet earth.

It saddened me to see a man, eyes fire-red from being peppered sprayed, snot hanging from his nose, talking about how all he wanted was to have his voice heard. It was at that moment that reality set in. There are millions of people around the world already suffering from climate change. Their frustration is not unlike the thousands of displaced workers in Milwaukee looking for something to put them back to work. These protesters were just trying to express what they know to be right, but don’t have access to do so.

From my viewpoint, the world is going to hell in a handbasket. Global warming, increasing unemployment, and escalating wars all the while people around the world are crying, “enough!” And our leaders can’t let go long enough to listen and figure out a way to push the stop button. This, like so many other similar experiences, come down to the same thing…POWER.

No matter how disempowered I might feel right now, I will be up tomorrow to do it all again.

Just hopped off a video announcement from Lisa P. Jackson, Administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency and definitely a top pick on the short list of D.C. insiders who are really taking their title/mission to heart.

On what is coincidentally (purely surely) the first day of the international COP15 summit, the EPA announces that their thorough (musta been really thorough) analysis of all the available facts leads to one simple conclusion: greenhouse gases “threaten the public health and welfare of the American people.”

There’s more:

“These long-overdue findings cement 2009’s place in history as the year when the United States Government began addressing the challenge of greenhouse-gas pollution and seizing the opportunity of clean-energy reform,” said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson.

Great talking point from Mrs. Jackson and my instinct thinks she’s legit. When asked on the call about the timing of the EPA’s announcement, when House reps have indicated no movement on environmnetal legislation until early Spring (months from now), Lisa Jackson said the EPA did not want to wait to get the ball rolling and hoped that Congress would “follow the ball.”

Translation: watch out, world. Apparently it’s not a pre-requisite of American political power to actually lose total touch with the land and your people!

Keep it up, Mrs. Jackson.

This is a few days old i.e. another epoch in internetz time but I bet when society crashes and we burn our laptops for plastic scented warmth, we’ll kill for the chance to one more snarky blog post, to tag one more pic of the person we were before Nature takes our headphones off and smacks us back to the Ice Age.

By which I mean, is anyone really surprised that not only do we have to confront the awesome, shame-on-us specter of global destruction as a simple truth - we are consuming the world, will we do anything about it? - but also as a classic opportunity for government conspiracy, what we don’t know will kill us, of course the Man is savvy to the fact that famine and hedonism are mutually exclusive and you’ll catch more of us flies if you act like the honey is gonna flowwwww forever.

Turns out “[t]he world is much closer to running out of oil than official estimates admit,” with the United States quite specifically called out for encouraging a false representation of 1.) how much oil is undiscovered [how do they know?!] and 2.) how much we’ve got left in our fields.

Consensus is growing that this roller coaster we call Life™ is already over the hump, we’re hurtling down hill to a NEW epoch the people at the Center for Egregiously Named Memetics call Peak Oil. When you hit Peak Oil, your oil production enters a phase called “terminal decline….” yeah, it looks kinda like this:

Read the full story

I am disgusted to learn that Van Jones resigned from his position of Green Jobs czar for the Obama Administration.  I do not know what to think about our country.

I am a Southern Man, born in North Carolina, raised in Mississippi.  My history is slavery, is grits, is catfish and racial distrust, confederate flags and soulful music that hits you in your guts.  I am not an anarchist, and I dare you to come inside the ‘conservative stronghold’ of Mississippi and call me one.  I am no radical, I am a lover of freedom and truth, of intelligence and change meaning growth, meaning the desire to do what is right even in the face of incalculable danger.

I was not born loving America, but it grew on me.  I was born like all organisms, outside of identity, inheriting the genes and attitudes of my forefathers and for that I thank my parents, two beautiful, wonderful Mississippi natives who grew up in a time when family, when community, meant everything.

Sound familiar?  That’s the America we all love, right?  The America that has been co-opted by certain individuals, people who hide behind some cloak of political party, hide behind the walls of commercial entities that, increasingly, appear to me to be the threats and dangers to Truth, to Justice, that we are so afraid of.

America, what have we become?  Honestly, honestly, does anyone think Glenn Beck is the answer?  He sits behind his desk.  His interns - unpaid, low paid, low wage sycophants - develop our news and Glenn Beck adds the fire.  But he is no pastor, this is no religion and this is nothing we can believe in.  His language is the language of oppression, of fear, and I refuse, I absolutely refuse, to be afraid.

I am America.  I am some small and burning part of it, and I am flawed, I am self centered but I try to uphold the greatest tradition, the most beautiful idea of which humanity ever conceived: the belief in Honor. Read the full story

Saw something crazy over on Huffington Post today about midwestern states and ten degree rises in temperature by 2010; farmers will be effed, oh they will be seriously effed (and what do farmers grow? Food. And who eats food? We do!), but the best part of the article is the classic regurgitation of what could surely be the epitaph on civilization’s uncelebrated tombstone: “[S]enators from Kansas, which will be most ravaged by climate change, are unlikely to support legislation addressing it.”

Let me try to understand. And yes, it has been said; I know I beat my head against it with nearly every environmental article I read. The planet is boiling, and our elected officials ‘are unlikely’ to support legislation addressing it?

What should we do to pull their heads out of the clouds and get them down here on the ground where the birds and bees are dying, crops are failing and all of Earth’s alarm bells are shrieking out our danger? Not that many of us can can hear, we’ve all got fingers in our ears, we use our chemically whitened teeth to rip the plastic off our burgers/ipods/American Apparel V-neck Summer Tees.

Feels kind of like life in an ivory tower; close the shutters, turn on your central air, and you can easily forget that your kids’ kids’ kids are gonna spend their days dressed in retro leather drinking irradiated water and scrounging pre-apocalyptic twinkies from the ruins of this little thing called Life.

Read the full story

Who says we can only farm in rural areas? Despite the obvious challenges of urban farming, community gardens are popping up in parks, vacant lots, and even on rooftops across the nation.

And with good reason. While it may be difficult to find space, fertile soil, and even people interested in the cause, the benefits are endless. Researchers have found that urban farming can foster good health and community involvement, while being easier on the wallet. In fact, every $1 invested in community garden results in $6 of vegetables.

Yet saving money is just the beginning. Urban farming increases the sustainability of our cities, promotes concern for the environment, and fosters community involvement. Considering that most urbanites hardly even know their next-door neighbors, we certainly can’t expect to always know who produces our food. Urban farming, however, can alleviate both problems simultaneously.

Read the full story

Bet you’re used to hearing about how bad McDonald’s stance towards the environment is, about how the corporation razes the rainforest to make room for cattle and creates millions of tons of waste each year. But have you heard the latest? A new McDonald’s restaurant opening in North Carolina on July 14th will have a station to charge your electrical car in the parking lot.

Yup, it’s true. You’ll soon be able to order a burger and charge your car at the same time. Granted, it’s just one restaurant out of the more than 30,000 McDonald’s around the world. And electric cars probably won’t even be on the roads in any great number until 2011. At this point, it seems more of a symbolic gesture than anything that will impact change.

But you’ve gotta start somewhere, right? Give McDonald’s credit; it’s installing the first charger of its’ kind in the United States. Plus Ric Richards, the owner of the innovative McDonald’s in Cary, North Carolina, has gone even further and constructed the entire building using environmentally-friendly materials. I’d say that’s a step in the right direction. Read the full story

Countless men and women across the country will agree with this one: your first ride was your first love. You probably remember it as junky and cheap, prone to breaking down every morning, but you loved it just the same. Let’s face it: even though it probably guzzled gas like Gatorade and needed to be started just the right way or else it might have blown up, it was still yours. In the near future, 16 year olds will remember the first time they plugged their car in, rather than the first time they filled up the gas tank.

Let’s hear about some electric cars and green jobs, after the jump!
Read the full story

As a red-blooded, patriotic American male, I take it as my civil right to eat cheeseburgers and french fries. I’m totally aware that it’s not necessarily good for me, but hey, it tastes good and it’s cheap. I wouldn’t call myself a burger aficionado, but let’s just say that every now and then, a Big Mac totally hits the spot.

I sense that some of you out there are jonesing for some Mickey D’s right now. Maybe you should reconsider. The meat that comes from fast food places comes from factory farms, which John Salley, former NBA star and contributor to 99Problems.org, has beef with in this promo video for the documentary Food, Inc:

Okay, I get it. Bad for the environment. But it’s cheap. Actually, you’re paying a higher cost than simply environmental health. Let’s hit up the dollar menu, after the jump! Read the full story

Today’s story reminds us that every day, the things we do to bring change to the world will have lasting repercussions. Ken Saro-Wiwa was an environmental activist from Nigeria, who brought about non-violent protests against the Shell Oil company, who led a group called Movement For The Survival of the Ogoni People.

In Nigeria, the Ogoni’s health were endangered by the massive amounts of pollution shell was generating by extracting oil. As the movement was gaining traction, the fear of Shell Oil was rising. It is widely speculated that Shell paid off security officials, who subsequently tried and executed Saro-Wiwa along with several of his fellow activists on false charges.

However, all was not lost. Fifteen years later, the Ogoni are starting to make some traction against the oil company. Check out this news from Treehugger:

The [Ogoni] brought [a case] against the company under an obscure US law that allows foreigners to sue companies for human rights abuses has just been settled out of court. Though $15 million may seem a paltry sum to repay the vast injustices done to their people, and the murder of some of their brightest, perhaps the international attention garnered from this case will draw some attention to their plight. And even though Shell hasn’t publicly admitted any wrongdoing, sometimes, actions speak louder than words.

Chalk this up as a hard fought victory for the little guy against multinational corporations. Ken’s legacy will live on in the hearts of anyone who wants to bring change to the world.

According to a study released by the Natural Resources Defense Council, if California were to implement a few widespread water saving techniques, “they could save more than enough water to meet the needs of the three major cities of San Francisco, San Diego and Los Angeles”.

Water conservation plays a key factor in environmental health. The Natural Resources Defense Council stated that if business were to adopt a few new tactics in terms of how they are run, individual mechanisms can reduce water use by over 50 percent.

Take a look at some of the specifics after the jump and stay tuned for a pretty interesting Youtube video:

Read the full story

When Isaac started his voter registration campaign, he quickly came to realize there were many more issues to tackle in Colorado. Like the struggle of single mothers to hold jobs and raise their kids. Or ex cons who can’t find a job, anywhere.

What is it that sometimes turns us against the needs of our neighbors? We must look past the superficial, past our varied histories or roads taken, and see that we need each other to get where we want to go: a healthier community, with equal rights, and neighbors who help you get what you need.

The League was there on the scene at Power Shift 2009 and we want to congratulate all the participants for the biggest, most inspiring energy conference yet. Van Jones was on the scene, The Roots were on the scene…for a few days D.C. was the home of ten thousand kids from across the country, and the passion and inspiration we saw is all the motivation we need to know that Green Jobs are the way of the future, and we’ve got to spread the word.

So, without further ado, we present LYVEF’s Power Shift 2009 coverage.

Astronauts can see trash in the ocean from space? That’s insane. We have got to get up for our planet, make a stand like this ol’ world deserves. We’re not just gonna talk at you, though; this week we’ll be bringing you info you can use to start tipping the balance from pollution to people power.

This is our world, and we gotta stand up in the greatest tradition of American society; stand up for change when it seems impossible, when all the odds are against us. The world is at stake, and everything that we have is imperiled. There’s never been a more important moment to be on the right side of history!

President Obama is tackling our nation’s economic troubles from the top, but we have to work from the ground up, empowering our communities and shouldering the burden of recovery together.

The Green Jobs movement is founded upon the notion that the health of our nation, the health of our economy, depends upon the health of our planet. Urban revitalization and industrial efficiency go hand in hand. As Taili Thompson says, the Green Jobs movement is a holistic approach that will give back as much as we put into it.

Happy Earth Day 2009, everyone.

We here at the League of Young Voters Education Fund and 99problems.org have covered so many issues affecting our communities over the last three months. Education is one that we always return to. The root of many problems, great and small, is ignorance and fear.

We’ve all seen the wonder of a child’s innocent mind without judgment, without prejudice. When does prejudice take hold? How do we teach our children to never judge without reason, and to fear no person because of his or her race, gender, or social background?

The fact is, we don’t know. But it must begin with awareness. Teach compassion, teach bravery and understanding, and we will open up the possibility of discussion, of cross-cultural conversation, as we begin to work together across the world to fix the problems we have caused and face the challenges of tomorrow.