350 Updates

ONergy shows us how we can get beyond coal

Chaitanya Kumar
Posted by Chaitanya Kumar - 11/10/12, 8:40am

Our friends at ONergy in Kolkata, India are helping implement the solutions we need to move India Beyond Coal.

 
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It has begun! India Beyond Coal

Chaitanya Kumar
Posted by Chaitanya Kumar - 11/10/12, 2:19am

All across India today, people of all ages and backgrounds are rising up to share a common message -- we want an India Beyond Coal! Photos are just starting to stream in from all over, and you can track the latest on Flickr here.

Already, it's pretty astonishing. Here's one of several troops of students taking to the streets in Ranthambore:

And in Ramnagar, students worked with the Corbett Foundation to spell out the solutions for moving India Beyond Coal...

More to come...

 
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New Phase of the Global Climate Movement

Will Bates
Posted by Will Bates - 11/09/12, 9:46am

We're touring across the US, launching India Beyond Coal, and helping jumpstart the Arab Youth Climate Movement. Watch Bill McKibben's video below and help us grow the movement by spreading the word.

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India Beyond Coal

Arab Youth Climate Movememnt

 
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Turkey: Changing local governments instead of the climate

Will Bates
Posted by Will Bates - 11/08/12, 4:12am

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We're entering some extraordinarily busy and exciting days across the 350 network. Do the Math in the US, India Beyond Coal, the Arab Day of Climate Action, and so much more. Well, yet another inspiring element of that "more" is the exciting plan being led by 350 Ankara and 350 Antalya along with their partners across Turkey outlined below. The following is the translated post of their plans for this coming Sunday (more in Turkish here: http://350ankara.blogspot.com.es).
 
Our goal is to make climate change one of the defining issues of the approaching local elections. We want local governments and candidates who choose the climate over fossil fuels. We are aware that this is only possible when those who desire this change make themselves seen and heard.
 
Our reasons are obvious: fossil fuel dependent policies make our planet inhospitable. These policies are closely connected to the extreme weather events we have had in the past year. Even more incredibly, we enable the fossil fuel dependence of our local governments. Carbon based city infrastructure costs money and causes extreme climate disasters. Just think about Ankara, where the maintenance cost of asphalt roads for 2012 alone is 200 million US dollars!
 
We propose to take the first step on 11.11.12 with simultaneous action in Ankara, Antalya and Yalova. Join us to make our demands for more climate friendly municipality policies and approaches heard!
 
For more about this weekend's action led by 350 Ankara and 350 Antalya in Turkey visit: http://350ankara.blogspot.com.es.

 

 
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If you're in the United States ... Vote!

Jamie Henn
Posted by Jamie Henn - 11/06/12, 1:10pm

If you're in the United States and haven't already done so, please go vote.

Democracy is a crucial part of the fight for climate justice -- so please exercise your right to vote tomorrow!

Find your polling place and ballot summary here.

It’s hard to find politicians who are perfect on climate. But there are decisions to be made about the future of our planet, and let’s be honest: some leaders will be better than others at making them. So please vote. Then on Wednesday -- because we know electing the right people isn't enough -- we're launching a new phase of the climate movement.

Here's a preview:

 
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An inspiring story from India

Chaitanya Kumar
Posted by Chaitanya Kumar - 11/02/12, 6:04am

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Building a movement around climate change requires fighting the strong forces of fossil fuel power. Peoples movements world over are taking to creative forms of protest in challenging the status quo. India has a history of peoples movements that have taken on big infrastructure projects impacting their way of life, and currently, coal mines and power plants are a major driver behind a lot of these struggles in the country. The reasons are obvious given the highly destructive impacts of coal on peoples health, livelihoods and environment. From hunger strikes & dharnas to foot marches and halting coal trains, impacted communities have worked with little resources to varying results.
 
But unlike many protests against coal in India, a very unique approach has been adopted by organizers in the remote village of Sompeta in the state of Andhra Pradesh. The locals have been fighting a proposed thermal power plant (2600 MW) over the last 3 years. An indefinite relay hunger strike has been on for the last 1060 days where individuals from the village take turns to go on a full day fast! In 2010 & '11, police firing on the protesting crowds led to the death of 4 innocent villagers which sparked a major debate in the state assembly. The plant has since been put on hold but the Government order (GO 1107) is yet to be revoked to ensure the village lands will not be grabbed.
 

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Over the last 6 months, the villagers have turned to solar energy to answer their energy needs. Defeating the logic that coal is a necessity to power their homes, solar energy has come as a boon to the villagers. 160 families have adopted solar and after witnessing a dramatic drop in their electricity bills, almost 2000 families are signed up to go solar in the coming few months. With banks offering loans and small subsidies from the state Government, locals are adopting solar energy at a remarkable pace. Speaking to one of the local organizers Dhilli Rao had this to say, " We have plans for a 1 MW solar plant to power the entire village. We are talking to different solar companies to install it. Opposing a power plant does not mean we are against development, our experience with solar energy shows we can also develop without a risk to environment".
 
Sompeta is an example that villages across the country can emulate. With the right policies and ambition in place, we can ensure that the new energy needs of a rapidly growing India can be met by renewable sources of energy. As we move towards our national day of action on November 10th as part of India beyond coal, such examples are a source of inspiration for many. We will strive to share such stories with organizers and impacted communities across the country to spur the positive energy transformation that India desperately needs. 
 
Image 1: Top right reads 1053 days - Indefinite relay hunger strike in Sompeta
Image 2: Bottom left - Local organizers Dhilli Rao with the solar panel on his roof top. 
 
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Sweden Shifts the Power!

Emma Biermann
Posted by Emma Biermann - 11/01/12, 11:29am

A big shout out to all of the organisers of Power Shift Sweden 2012!  Swedish organisers spent months getting ready to bring 200 young people together to Stockholm in late September to both learn about climate change, energy and the environment and to build together their vision for a sustainable Sweden.  They've just released their Power Shift video (below) and given the recent coverage and impacts of Hurricane Sandy from across Cuba, the Dominican Republic and the east coast of the United States, it shows more than ever how important it is that our vibrant movement is coming together to speak out and show that we're not going to be part of a climate silence.

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Hurricane Sandy

Jamie Henn
Posted by Jamie Henn - 10/30/12, 10:57am

We woke up this morning with a deep sense of sadness.

Hurricane Sandy has brought serious hardship to many of the people we love and places we treasure. Large parts of New York City are underwater, millions are still without power, and tens of thousands have been evacuated from their homes. Last night the floodwaters were swirling around the bottom floor of our Brooklyn offices. 

Right now, the most important thing we can do is come together as a community and support the relief efforts that are already underway. 

But we're not going to simply mourn our losses. The images coming out of the Atlantic seaboard, and from the refugee camps in Haiti, made us not just sad but angry. This storm was literally unprecedented. It had lower barometric pressure, a higher storm surge, and greater size than the region had ever seen before. It's as out of kilter as the melting Arctic or the acidifying ocean. And if there were any poetic justice, it would be named Hurricane Chevron or Hurricane Exxon, not Hurricane Sandy.

These fossil fuel corporations are driving the climate crisis and spending millions to block solutions. Instead of buying climate silence, the fossil fuel industry should be funding climate relief. 

We’ve set up a page where you can donate to relief efforts, as well as call on Big Oil, Coal and Gas to take the money they’re spending on political campaigning this election and put it towards disaster relief instead:

www.350.org/sandy

The fossil fuel industry has spent over $150 million to influence this year’s election. Last week, Chevron made the single biggest corporate political donation since the Citizens United decision. This industry warps our democracy just as it pollutes our atmosphere. And we’ve had enough.

In the coming year, we’re going to fight both forms of this pollution. Our biggest organizing effort ever begins one week from tomorrow, the Do the Math tour that will, we hope, ignite a long-lasting campaign to force the fossil fuel industry to change. We need you to get involved -- by coming out for the show, by spreading the word and joining this fight. 

Sandy is what happens when the temperature goes up a degree. The scientists who predicted this kind of megastorm have issued another stark warning: if we stay on our current path, our children will live on a super-heated planet that's four or five degrees warmer than it is right now. We can't let that happen.

So let's get to work.

 
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