Solidarity to stop dirty coal in Kosovo
UPDATE: This campaign is now out in French, German, and Spanish as well.
SOLIDARITY ACTION: Help communities in Kosovo overcome a proposed coal plant beign pushed by the World Bank and the United States State Department: https://www.350.org/kosovo
We're harnessing the power of this movement to stop a proposed coal plant in Kosovo. And it’s not just any coal, it is lignite coal, the dirtiest kind. We need to support the people of Kosovo in their struggle to move beyond coal and enter a new phase of development based on clean, renewable energy and energy efficiency.
Kosovo is a tiny country in the Balkans that sits on the fifth largest reserve of lignite coal in the world. It doesn’t quite match the scale of Canada’s tar sands in terms of total carbon, but for a country as small as Kosovo, the proposed coal plant there, being pushed by the United States government and World Bank, is most definitely their version of the Keystone XL pipeline.
Right now we have just a one week opening to try and dissuade the World Bank from going ahead with the proposed coal plant. Already the movement calling for alternative energy solutions on the ground in Kosovo has been gaining steam, and it is aided by new reports detailing the clean, more affordable alternatives available to Kosovo. Unfortunately the World Bank and the US State Department have not sufficiently considered those alternatives and are bent on burning this dirty coal. That’s where we come in.
Click here to send a message to the World Bank telling them to back off coal in Kosovo.
This week is critical because right now an “expert panel” from the World Bank is reviewing the proposal and assessing whether to move forward with the financing and planning process for the plant. They are due to report their assessment next week, and it’s essential they get the message that our movement is prepared to stand together with the community there fighting for alternatives to coal. We need to raise the alarm on Kosovo’s carbon bomb now.
Click here to add your voice calling for no new coal in Kosovo today: www.350.org/kosovo
The victory over the Keystone XL pipeline demonstrated the power of standing in solidarity across the globe against climate injustice. The struggle was led by local communities in Canada and the United States along with hundreds of North Americans willing to put their bodies on the line and go to jail for the cause. But we all have a stake in keeping Canada’s tar sands oil in the ground, and we effectively added our voices together, through petitions, photos, sharing articles and updates online, visiting US embassies, and more. We have tremendous power when we act together.
This week we’re standing with Kosovo. Next week or next month it could be anywhere else on the planet. Many of you are involved in your own local climate struggles: fighting fossil fuel projects, creating local solutions, and advocating for new policies that will move your city or country beyond fossil fuels all together. 350.org exists to help catalyze, coordinate, and connect these efforts. And when there are critical moments when this global movement can unite around a common cause -- whether it be stopping the Keystone XL pipeline or pushing to phase out fossil fuel subsidies -- we will.
One thing’s for sure: the struggle for climate solutions is going to require that we all work locally in our own communities, and that we stand together globally when we can. Right now, for Kosovo, we can. Please sign on today.
In solidarity,
Will and the 350.org team
P.S. To build a global groundswell against Kosovo's Keystone, we need to spread the word far and wide -- can you take a second to share the action with a couple of clicks on Facebook and Twitter? Many thanks in advance.
Tuesday: Blowing the Whistle on Congress
We just sent out the following media advisory for the big "Blow the Whistle" protest in Washington, DC tomorrow. It's not too late to join in the action, you can sign up here: 350.org/refs. Thanks!
Keystone XL Protest on Capitol Hill Tomorrow
500 Referees “Blow the Whistle” on Big Oil’s Corruption of Congress
WASHINGTON – Keystone XL pipeline protesters will go on the offensive this Tuesday with a rally on Capitol Hill featuring 500 people dressed as referees “blowing the whistle” on fossil fuel funded corruption in Congress.
Who: 500 referees, a marching band, Senator Bernie Sanders, Representative Steve Cohen, 350.org founder Bill McKibben, Energy Action Coalition Environmental Justice Director Lili Molina, Greenpeace Executive Director Phil Radford, and peace and justice advocate Rev. Graylan Hagler.
What: A great photo and video opportunity featuring 500 referees blowing whistles, throwing penalty flags, and holding signs that call out individual members of Congress for the amount of money they have received from the fossil fuel industry. After the event on Capitol Hill, protesters will march to the American Petroleum Institute to protest the industry front group.
Where: West Lawn, US Capitol Building
When: 12:00 – 2:00 PM, Tuesday, Jan 24
Why: Despite President Obama’s rejection of the Keystone XL permit, Speaker Boehner and certain members of Congress continue to push the pipeline, in large part because of the millions of dollars in campaign contributions they’ve received from Big Oil. This sort of bribery wouldn’t be allowed at the Super Bowl – let alone a high school football game – and it shouldn’t be allowed in our democracy. One day before Congress holds new hearings on Keystone XL (and two weeks before the Super Bowl), protesters will “blow the whistle” on this fossil fuel funded corruption and use Keystone XL to hold politicians accountable for their ties to Big Oil.
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More information:
The “Blow the Whistle” rally is being organized by 350.org, Center for Biological Diversity, Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Energy Action Coalition, Greenpeace, Natural Resources Defense Council, Oil Change International, and the Sierra Club.
Quick Snippets from Bill’s Road Trip
Tours like this one are filled with sobering bits of information. Here's one now: 2010 was the hottest year for which we have record. This year is set to be the hottest year recorded in a cooling la nina cycle. Pakistan hit the all-time Asia land temperature record last year, at 129 degrees Farenheit. An entire quarter of Pakistan flooded last year, leaving 20,000,000 people homeless. Texas, Oklahoma and some parts of New Mexico are currently experiencing a drought worse than the dust bowl. Obviously, this planet is a different one than the one we evolved on.
But it's not just Asia. It's not just Brazil, or the glaciers, or the south west, any other distant locale that "doesn't affect us". The future existence of humanity hinges on what we do with the few years left to us to act.
Greeting from Durban
It's that time of year. Government delegations have gathered from around the world for the next round of United Nations climate negotiations. In fact, it's their 17th such conference -- COP17.
And well, the picture in front of us here isn't all that pretty. We all remember the massive failure to reach a fair, ambitious, and binding treaty in Copenhagen in 2009. And now some wealthy countries are talking about delaying any sort of new treaty for another 4 to 9 years. 4 to 9 years!
Our allies at AOSIS (the alliance of small island states) described such talk as "reckless and irresponsible." That's putting it lightly.
And though some countries are trying to downplay expectations for the negotiations, in no way are we giving up on what science says in truly necessary to ensure the survival of all countries and peoples. We can't wish away the physics and chemistry that tell us we have to act urgently to get back below 350 ppm CO2 in the atmosphere. So that's what we'll be fighting for here in Durban.
To introduce a bit more about our work during these weeks of the UN meeting and to invite your help to get the message out Winnie Asiti, a 350 organizer from Kenya who journeyed overland with over 160 African youth to be here, recorded this video...
We have our work cut out for us here. We're doing all we can to support the most vulnerable countries who will stand up for what science and justice demand, and more than ever we're going to take on the forces that are holding back progress -- most notably the corporations trying to stall progress.
That's not nearly all we're up to. Youth already came together for a hugely inspiring gathering the last few days. We joined together with folks form Occupy Durban for the first Occupy COP17 general assembly outside the conference venue today, and more creative action is still in the works.
But as always, what we do here in Durban alone won't suffice in creating the change we need -- that can only come through grassroots movement the world over, and that's where you come in. With so much attention concentrated on the African continent during this conference we're uniting with organizers across the continent to spread the message of our movement through song and stories on radio -- an essential media form far more widely used than internet here in Africa. Join us for Radio Wave here: https://radiowave.350.org.
Onwards!