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One of the most exciting aspects of the international negotiations is the level of solidarity between international youth and other under-represented groups. A couple of days ago I reported on the solidarity action with the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), a negotiating block of nations whose existence is currently and increasingly threatened by sea level rise. For these nations and for young people it’s all about survival. None of the delaying arguments and economic excuses brought up by developed and developing nations make sense to us when survival is at stake.
Another amazing display of solidarity came with the issue of tar sands. Tar sands are the most destructive industrial project on earth and consist of massive deforestation, excavation, and toxic refining in order to extract oil from the oil-drenched soil. All of these steps take place in indigenous lands and are a key factor in Canada’s continued obstructionism to the climate treaty. Check out this video of an exciting action organized in collaboration between the Canadian Youth Climate Coalition, the Indigenous Environmental Network, and some american youth:
Canada’s Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, hails from the tar sands province of Alberta and has a long history of association with the oil industry. Tar sands are to Canada what Appalachia is to the United States. Both are regions where local rights are trampled for the sake of the short term profits of fossil corporations and where local politics have a history of intimidation to dissenters, misinformation of the public, and extreme corruption.
But this isn’t only our northern neighbor’s problem. Canada has repeatedly used U.S. inaction and demand for oil as an excuse for their continued development of this destructive project that is visible from space. Without stronger action on climate and voiced opposition to the tar sands from the United States, Canada will continue to have a handy excuse for their continued poisoning and exploitation of indigenous communities.
Check out Tar Sands Blow for more information. A call to your senators saying that you oppose our use of tar sands oil would also be appreciated by all of those communities directly impacted by our continued addiction to fossil fuels.
The first day went fast and was extremely busy. While official national delegations were busy talking about decision making processes and approving agendas, young people were working on organizing fun and effective actions. Check out my video highlighting a couple of actions I attended!
I was also on a PodCast with Deputy Field Director of the Energy Action Coalition Whit Jones. Check it out here:
(sorry for my bad performance in this first video, I’m still getting used to being in front of a camera!)
I got to Copenhagen on December 4th and will be hanging out here at the United Nations international climate negotiation until the 20th. In this time, delegates from all nations in the world and many world leaders will swing by to either try to move the process forward or put roadblocks to climate action.
Official delegates aren’t the only ones here. Over 1,000 young people and tens of thousands of other NGO, business and industry representatives are here to try to get their voices heard amidst the chaotic negotiation process.
This first week, negotiators from different countries will begin drafting an outline of the proposal that should emerge. As the end of the conference draws nearer and the agreed upon aspects of the proposal are finalized, Environmental Ministers (i.e. secretaries) from each country will join their negotiators for the tougher part of the talks. Finally, on the last day where only few details need to be finalized Prime Ministers and Presidents will join in on the fight, ending the negotiations in a high-level high-stakes battle over words. The whole process happens over consensus and thus every nation must agree in order to come up with a viable proposal or treaty.
Unfortunately due to the delays brought about by the Bush Administration in the past eight years we are no-where close to finalizing a treaty, but hopes are high for a meaningful structure to be finalized over the next year and some strong commitments decided upon by some of the biggest polluters.
In my time here, I will be working with partner organizations in planning media saavvy actions, document them on this blog, and help U.S. young people take action through the Energy Action Coalition’s Rapid Response Network. If you wish to help us spread the word in your community about the U.S.’s behavior during the negotiations, sign up here to join my team of Rapid Responders.
If you have thoughts and ideas about what I should be covering while here, please leave me a note in the comments!
The battle to make college more affordable has come down to a critical few weeks in the Senate. The banks and student loan companies already have spent millions of dollars on lobbying, PR firms, and advertisements in their attempt to stop reform and hang on to wasteful government subsidies. This would mean $87 billion less for programs to make college more affordable and accessible.
Now Campus Progress is taking action. We’ve raised money to put this :30 second spot on cable TV and on Hulu in key states across the country:
We don’t have the kind of money student loan companies have, so we’re going to need your help spreading the ad on Facebook, Twitter, and email if we’re going to get the word out. Click here to help us spread the word.
This Wednesday at 11am, the UC Regents will convene at UCLA to vote on fee hikes. This vote will determine whether or not UC students, which account for nearly 220,000 students in California, will face a 15% increase in tuition this year.
While decisions about college affordability have impacted the lives of students across the country, students in California are hit particularly hard with the current deficit looming over the state. The vote to take place on Wednesday to raise student fees is a result of the state budget crisis, which has left the UC with a shortfall of $982.2 million in the last two years. As the state continues to cut funding from the UC system, the UC Regents have proposed raising fees year after year to subsidize those cuts. For the 2009-2010 year, they have proposed an overall 30% increase, which would put tuition over $10,000 for the first time.
There is a state-wide call to action to defend public education in California. As of now, an estimated 600 students from the UC system plan on arriving at UCLA Wednesday morning to join in solidarity and to tell the UC Regents that this proposal is unacceptable.
The push for health care reform is moving fast and furiously, so I thought it’d be helpful to have semi-daily “Health on the Hill” updates that should help you keep track of the reform debate and get to the meat of the issue. Enjoy!
Today’s Updates – 11/6/09:
The House of Representatives is scheduled to begin debate on their health care bill, The Affordable Health Care for America Act – H.R. 3962, this weekend. The final House legislation was released a couple weeks ago and is now ready to be voted on by our Representatives. However, as has been the case throughout this entire health care reform process, there may be some delays that would push the vote back to Monday or Tuesday — “some delays” meaning: more discussions about abortion and immigration to stall the way-bigger-than-those-two-issues health care bill.
This bill, which — among many other things — will contain costs, end discrimination based on pre-existing conditions or gender, extend coverage for young adults under their parents’ plan, and provide a public insurance plan that will compete with private plans, has not included language about keeping illegal immigrants from buying insurance in the new insurance marketplace, and this one omission is bothering many Representatives. However the bill does state that illegal immigrants will not be eligible to receive federal subsidies to purchase insurance. So even though the bill requires illegal immigrants to buy insurance or be fined with a penalty tax, it is not going to help them purchase it. Awesome — makes perfect sense.
Another reform deal-breaker for many Reps is abortion, and although the House bill clearly states that federal funds given out under reform will not be used to cover abortion, this language isn’t good enough for some and they are fighting to include amendments that strengthen the prohibition for abortion funds. Why abortion cannot be covered like any other medical procedure we have a right to is beyond me, but my opinion, and that of millions of others, is apparently neither here nor there in this debate.
Another topic of discussion that is sure to be included in tomorrow’s debate is the GOP’s alternative health care bill. Or, what I like to call, a plan only insurance companies could love, or the bill that will leave 52 million people uninsured and actually charge more for people with pre-existing conditions. Way to go guys. Luckily, the Republican bill has no chance of passing, but they had to produce something since all they were doing all these months was saying “no” to the other bills on the table.
So this is it. After the GOP bill gets laughed off of the stage and immigrants and abortion likely barred from being covered, the House will vote to pass their first piece of health care reform legislation. But while they decide their vote they have to hear from you. Especially after hearing from anti-reform crowds led by our favorite Rep. Bachmann yesterday.
A man at the Bachmann protest yesterday holds this sign –which doesn’t even make any sense.
It’s your turn to make your voice heard: Contact your Rep NOW and urge them to pass the House Health Care bill, H.R. 3962!
This week, climate activists from Washington University organized a flash mob at a coal funded “America’s Energy Future” forum. Check out the video of their extremely successful action:
At the forum there was no representation from clean energy industries and most of the panelists came from coal corporations that recently joined the board of the St. Louis Missouri university. This is what the student activists had to say:
Students wish to highlight the close relationship between the university administration and the coal industry. Students have already expressed unease that the University is “too cozy” with coal… The University has dedicated $60 million in financial resources to the creation of a Consortium for Clean Coal Utilization. The name of this consortium has sparked controversy among many students and faculty, who have argued that the industry term “clean coal” has no place in scientific research.
The students also highlighted a new report released by the National Academy of Sciences that calculated the hidden costs of coal consumptions to be over $60 billion dollars per year in health, environmental, and social costs and a report by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance demonstrating that Missouri could meet its energy needs entirely through renewable energy.
But it doesn’t end there! Newsweek and the American Petroleum Institute recently partnered to launch their own forums on clean energy, despite API’s continued efforts to undermine climate legislation and deceive the general public. Petroleum companies have much to gain from the ‘clean coal’ insanity due to their expertise in drilling and their extensive pipeline infrastructure. Unfortunately, the rest of the world doesn’t as Carbon Capture and Sequestration is an untested technology with no proven record and that is expected to be extremely expensive to implement even if possible.
Newsweek’s journalistic integrity is at stake when they partner with organizations who’s whole purpose is to push disinformation and halt honest conversations about the energy future of the United States. I have crashed a Newsweek energy event already and I was the only young person in the audience. We will be present and numerous at these forums, possibly borrowing some tactics by the young climate activists at Washington University.
One year ago, my generation -adults ages 18-34 – saturated the voting polls across the country, casting their votes in record numbers with hope that things could change.
One year later, Congress is making progress on several of the issues that weighed on our minds as we stood in line to vote; one of them being health care, which is close to having a piece of legislation aimed at resolving our broken system.
On November 4th, Campus Progress and a coalition of 20 youth organizations that form the Y.I. Want Change Coalition, hosted a national day of action called Y.I. (Still) Want Change. This day marked the anniversary of last year’s historic election and made a strong, collective demand for comprehensive health care reform in events across the country.
Young people gathered in more than 20 states to participate in 44 events (representing our 44th President), including states such as Connecticut, Massachusetts and Montana – states represented by Senators that have a big stake in the health care debate. These events ranged from film screenings, to photo petition drives, to phonebanks and rallies.
Y.I. Still Want Change also engaged thousands of young health care reform supporters on Facebook, where they signed a photo petition demanding reform from Congress.
You can still participate in the Y.I. Want Change petition now by signing the photo petition on Facebook and changing your status to read:
Health care reform is one of the most pressing issues facing our country, yet there has been little discussion about the health care needs of young adults. Young people make up one third of the uninsured, but our voices are not being heard in the health care debate. November 4th’s national day of action had a mission to change that.
As Erica Williams, our Deputy Director here at Campus Progress, has said, “Young people have fought for months to make our voices heard in this debate. At this critical moment, on campuses and in communities across the country, we are showing our leaders that we are engaged and ready to hold them accountable for delivering real, comprehensive, health care reform.”
In addition to calling attention to young Americans’ health care needs, the Y.I. Want Change coalition supports a set of policy priorities to ensure that health care reform addresses those needs. The coalition formally announced these policy priorities at a press conference with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi a few weeks ago.
Some of these policies include removing the “Young Invincibles” plan – the catastrophic insurance plan written into the Senate Finance Committee’s bill- from legislation, extending coverage under your parents’ insurance plan until age 26, and securing funding to educate young adults on the benefits of their new health care system after reform.
As I mentioned in a previous post, Secretary of Energy Steven Chu is an energy efficiency geek and that’s why he is loved by anyone that has a rational view on energy policy.
Today he gave us efficiency geeks another reason to gloat by writing a fantastic piece on HuffingtonPost explaining in plain words the importance of home weatherization (or ”saving money by saving energy” as he likes to say) and outlining new federal programs to help average Americans cope with the high upfront cost that comes with reducing residential energy use.
Just like Berkeley’s fantastic solar initiative, the new Department of Energy plan will make low-interest loans available for people investing in efficiency improvements in their homes. The loan will be tied to your property taxes and therefore stay with the house.
The homeowners might pay an extra $400 per year on their property tax bill but save $500 a year on their utility bill. Since the financing would be attached to the property tax bill, both the savings and the loan payments stay with the house if the owners decide to sell.
These are the type of programs that will make sustainability improvements accessible to everyday Americans and that result in saving people money, reducing harmful carbon pollution, cleaning up our air, and creating millions of new jobs.
Unfortunately, all the programs announced by the Secretary of Energy are backed by a token sum that isn’t nearly enough to rapidly and effectively reduce our emissions at the levels they need to be.
What time did you wake up yesterday morning? I woke up at 5:00 a.m. to go down to the Dirksen Senate Office Building and attend the first hearing for the new climate bill. The bill, co-sponsored by Senator Kerry (D-MA) and Senator Boxer (D-CA), is called the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act — aka CEJAPA and is similar in many ways to the recently passed American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES) in the House.
Along with other 10 young people, dressed in Halloween garbs or green t-shirts , we tried to get into the hearing room to show that young people are paying attention and are ready to hold our elected officials accountable. Unfortunately, due to corporate hired linestanders, we weren’t able to get in. Linestanders you ask? Yup, here is how it works:
Hearing rooms are small, especially considering that most seats go to Senate staffers (from offices of Senators who aren’t on the committee) and press. Most hearings are held with barely any ordinary citizen in the room, but some contentious ones — like recent healthcare, defense and climate hearings – fill up pretty quick. The few spots left are open on a first-come, first-serve basis meaning that people need to make sure to get there early if they care to have a seat in clear view of the senators and the CSPAN cameras.
Just like young people desperately want legislators to see them (and we make sure they do by wearing bright green t-shirts, holding hard hats on our laps, and holding small 8.5 x 11 signs), so do the lobbyists that bring so much money to their election coffers. Thirteen line-standers for corporate lobbyists were in line ahead of us, but there were only nine seats were available in the room so we weren’t successful this time around. Young people waiting in line made a pretty big splash nonetheless by talking to Senators and press as they were making their way into the room.
After making sure that the young people who came from as far as Maryland were OK with going to the overflow room, I darted back to the office to listen to the hearing through the Committee website (more hearings are going on today and tomorrow, check them out here if you are interested).
The hearings were surprisingly interesting. For minute-to-minute summary, check out my live-blog about the opening remarks and about the testimonies. There were three things that came up during the hearing that every person concerned about the climate crisis should know:
Funding our Future is a campaign to pass a progressive federal budget for 2010 and ensure that our nation.s key economic choices invest in our education, spark reform of our health care system, and address climate change through cap and trade and clean energy investments. Click here for more info.
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This Wednesday at 11am, the 
A man at the Bachmann protest yesterday holds this sign –which doesn’t even make any sense.
One year ago, my generation -adults ages 18-34 – saturated the voting polls across the country, casting their votes in record numbers with hope that things could change.
As I mentioned in a