A few things happening down here:

1. Earth Hour - yesterday in Australia. Should have blogged about it earlier, but yes, “last year it was a Sydney event, this year was a global movement”. Hmmm. I’m interested to know how much prominence it received in the rest of the world’s media. Here it was a big, big deal. I was on my balcony with some mates and candles, and watching most lights go out - and the Sydney harbour bridge dim - was pretty cool. There is some controversy around Earth Hour as it is focused on individual’s behaviour - turning off their lights - rather than calling for government action - but it’s a good educational event as people become aware of the link between electricity (lights) and climate change. Hopefully they will then make the link to COAL which is what powers their lights.

2. Fossil Fools Day - we’ll do it FIRST! Because of the time difference, as many of you know, everything happens earlier in Australia than most of the world. So we will have the absolute honour of kicking off Fossil Fools Day. Lots of actions are planned, and you can see a list of some on our website.

An example of an action that’s taking place near me:

From a group in Sydney: “We’re using this day to promote positive change in our cities to lead away from a car-dominated Sydney and towards a cycle and pedestrian-friendly Sydney, where the streetscape is used in more vibrant and creative ways, by the local people who live there!

So… we decided to create a park. In the streetscape. In a metered car parking space, to be precise - an urban ‘car-free oasis’ of lush green turf, plants, colour, … and best of all, people! Creatively using and engaging with the public open space that is ours, and raising awareness of these issues by welcoming passers-by to share and enjoy the space, and come to appreciate just how different the streetscape could be.

With the release of the Gehl report for Sydney last year, City of Sydney’s exciting new plans to improve the public open space of our urban environment, and with the ongoing imperative need for action on climate change we think the time is perfect to tap into this positive energy and continue to generate public interest and support for these issues. Hey, it IS our city, right??! “

I recently had the pleasure of shepherding a group of elementary school children around a Water Festival. The day’s myriad events focused on everything from salmon habitats to sea kayaking lessons. It was great to watch little kids get excited about nature in its most basic forms. I think it’s something that I, and maybe others, forget when we’re working on globe spanning issues like climate change. Remember that we were once little kids too, our minds being blown by the simplest joys nature could offer. To watch a room full of a hundred kids all imitating the sounds of a Killer Whale is pretty awesome.

The day made me realize/remember how important it is to reach kids at this young age when a love of nature is still embedded deep within their inherent nature. Kids dig nature. It’s important that we recognize that love and connect it to the bigger picture so that as they grow older and are bombarded by life’s million other messages, they also grow in understanding of the entire cycle of life; the fact that Killer Whales, the slimy worms and the seashells are all part of a bigger picture that we must also protect.

It is also important that we as educators work to strive towards living the lessons we teach. I watched educators drinking bottled water (in Washington state where we have some of the best tap water in the country) and others throw away mountains of recyclables. As educators of the younger generations, we have to walk the talk or they will see right through us.

If we’re not careful and considerate of the generations behind us, we could be seeing a repeat of what we’re currently fighting so hard against.

Ever since unveiling “An Inconvenient Truth,” Al Gore has become a symbol for the fight against climate change. The image of him standing on his pedestal, Earth in peril looming large in the background, has etched itself permanently on our minds. Gore’s film raised environmentalists’ whisper-warnings to shouts coming from the mouths of elites. Given his immense contribution of elevating the importance of the climate challenge, it’s easy to forget that Gore had a political career that predated his current one as environmentalist advocate.

Gore the environmentalist

But the former vice president has been many things over his political career, and one of those permutations is worth revisiting. Al Gore the high-tech aficionado may have been the butt of jokes for his claim that he “invented” the internet, but what he actually said was true:

During my service in the United States Congress I took the initiative in creating the Internet. I took the initiative in moving forward a whole range of initiatives that have proven to be important to our country’s economic growth and environmental protection, improvements in our education system.

His 1991 High Performance Computing and Communications Act led to what is now known as the “Information Superhighway,” and was a springboard for the development of the commercial Internet. The “Gore Bill,” as it was often referred to, played a major role in helping to hoist an obscure military project across the technology valley of death, and Gore has been hailed as the first political leader to recognize the Internet’s importance. His early support of the Internet — which dates back to the 1970s — is evidence of wise foresight.

A younger Gore

Gore should call upon these faculties in his work on climate change. The best he has been able to offer us in terms of a solution are small, individual acts like “use less hot water” and “drive less” — acts which don’t even begin to address the huge challenge he characterizes so vividly in “An Inconvenient Truth.” The heavy emphasis on sacrifice doesn’t leave any room for big, aspirational goals like investing in a new clean energy economy (see Breakthrough’s “The Investment Consensus”). Where is the faith in human ingenuity he displayed back when he was romping around “inventing” internets? It’s certainly not to be found in his statement that the truth about climate change is “an inconvenient one that we are going to have to change our lives.” Nowhere does he suggest that he means a change for the better.

Gore frames the issue as one that will require great sacrifices if humanity is to have a chance at survival; it’s ironic, then, that he also underestimates what it will take to address the climate change. He emphasizes that global warming is not really a technological challenge — in other words, global warming wouldn’t be such a big deal if more people would just trade in their Hummers for Priuses already. As Roger Pielke pointed out earlier this month, Gore has suggested that $2 billion dollars is all we need to invest in clean energy technology. That paltry sum betrays Gore’s optimism for technological complacency — all the more frustrating given his tech-savvy background.

Of course, if we follow Gore’s logic out to it’s end, he’s absolutely right: if we’re as naive as Pollyanna about what it will take to confront this problem, the outcome might well look like doomsday. His sacrifice-focused agenda underestimates human ingenuity, undermines the aspirations of those in the developing world, and is not enough to stop climate change. At the Breakthrough Institute, we don’t think we have all the technology we need, but by investing in improved technology, we offer up our own dream: equalizing worldwide living standards and defeating global warming. A tall order, to be sure, and while light bulbs and Priuses can play their part, they won’t be enough. It’s the visionary, techno-savant, expansive dreamer that should be up there on the pedestal.

Cross posted from The Understory, official blog of Rainforest Action Network.

How often do you get to witness a band of activists deploy a direct action and successfully pressure the CEO of a corporation into agreeing to their demands - before the police even arrive on the scene?

On Friday afternoon, student activists with Ohio Student Environmental Coalition and members of Mountain Justice Spring Break occupied the lobby of American Municipal Power and forced an impromptu meeting with CEO Mark Gerken – who was not a happy camper.

AMP is planning to build a 1000 MW pulverized coal power plant in Meigs County, Ohio – one of the most impoverished counties in the state, with some of the highest lung cancer and premature death rates due industrial pollution in the country. There are already 4 coal power plants within 10 miles of Meigs and the coal barons of the Midwest are planning on building five more – the largest and dirtiest being the AMP project.

Determined to put an end to this economic and social injustice, concerned Meigs residents have been working with student and youth activists to organize and empower communities to break out of the socio-economic slavery of king coal. Mountain Justice Spring Break - an event where many students, rather than spending their holidays in Florida or Cancun, have opted instead for more meaningful pursuits in building solidarity, developing consensus, discovering affinity and exploring nonviolent direct action - showcased this collaboration over this last week.

Today marked a watershed moment in the movement against King Coal in Ohio. The activists’ demands were simple: cancel plans to build the coal plant, fund renewable energy, and schedule a meeting between the AMP Board of Trustees, local students, and frontline community activists to discuss how AMP can best chart a course towards these goals.

So, Friday morning, about fifty student and youth activists – most of whom had never participated in a direct action – marched to AMP headquarters in Columbus, Ohio, at which point a group of four negotiators entered the building and demanded a meeting with Gerken. Even when confronted by irate AMP employees, the youth negotiators kept their cool and stuck to their demands. They not only managed to meet with Gerken, but also got him to commit to a meeting between students, Meigs County activists and the AMP Board – and to agree that AMP wouldn’t begin construction on the plant until after this meeting has taken place.

This action was part of an ongoing campaign by activists – including residents of frontline communities, and student activists from groups like Mountain Justice, Ohio Student Environmental Coalition, Earth First, and Student Environmental Action Coalition – against AMP’s plans to bring further destruction to Southern Ohio. On a Sunday morning in early March, a group of concerned citizens visited the home of CEO Marc Gerken, and demanded that AMP reconsider its plans to move forward with the plant. (At that point, Gerken brushed off their requests for a meeting.) Earlier this week – as part of the Listening Project – several students visited the homes of Meigs County residents, listened to their concerns about the AMP project, and empowered them to take action and join the campaign against the coal plant.

Today’s action was the biggest step to date in this campaign, and has laid the groundwork for even bigger victories against King Coal in Ohio. Stay tuned for updates on what this collaboration will do next!

Adrian & Ananda in Columbus