1Sky Blog Posts about everything

Out of chaos, hope in South Carolina

Adi — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0800

guest post from 1Sky field team member Jason Kowalski

As the numbers roll in, and the victory speeches are made, the 1Sky field team is taking a breather after a few hard weeks of campaigning in South Carolina alongside the candidates. Uniting with students and conservation groups across the state, the 1Sky team brought green jobs into the debate at a time when the economy is on the tip of everyone’s tongue.

In South Carolina, the candidates sparred on center stage, but the real battles took place outside candidate events – in line, in parking lots, and on the television in people’s homes. For us, each day was a battle of two two-word slogans, namely: "Green Jobs" vs. "Clean Coal." In a state with two particularly unclean proposed coal-fired power plants, the coal lobby has invested millions of dollars to try and convince South Carolinians that building dirty plants is the only way to meet our energy needs. We said otherwise.

The truth is of course that renewable energy and energy efficiency investments produce more jobs than the coal industry would in SC. Our message was one of hope and empowerment and unity. Fortunately for us, most people recognize the hypocrisy of the "clean" coal lobby – at one point some hard-hat wearing youth even led a tripartisan "No New Coal" chant just outside the Myrtle Beach debates.

At candidate events the grassroots 1Sky team emerged victorious ona regular basis, but it’s going to take much more work to counter the efforts of a $35 million dollar "astroturf" campaign that can afford to sponsor CNN debates. Fortunately our message is one of promise and hope, not pessimism and fear.

Democrats and Republicans alike are interested in the connection between green jobs and renewable energy, especially if they provide an alternative to a new coal plant in their backyard. "I’d rather unplug my airconditioner, and use a fan, than make my grandkids grow up next to a coal plant" said one SC resident in an exit poll interview. "As a loyal Republican, and a good Christian, I just want to keep my family safe."

Presidential candidates call for green-collar jobs

Adi — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0800

From the debates to the campaign trail to the pages of the Washington Post, the Democratic candidates for President are all calling for massive green-collar jobs programs to create a clean energy economy and stabilize our climate. Our 1Sky field team in South Carolina has been pushing the issue at every turn! Here’s a report from 1Sky field team member Jamie Henn on a recent Hillary Clinton event at Furman University:

"I was at Hillary’s speech on the economy this morning — we had six people there with green hard hats and ‘green jobs’ signs that Clinton pointed to and talked about in front of the crowd. Green Jobs was the first thing she mentioned when talking about her long term plan!"

The Presidential candidates are increasingly drawing connections between our nation’s economic recovery and investment in clean energy and green jobs. This discourse reflects 1Sky’s ongoing advocacy efforts around the economic stimulus bill. Here’s a great quote from Clinton at the aforementioned Furman event:

"I really hope that as part of this recovery package, we start getting serious about the future. We have to stop the crisis but then we have to plan for an economy that will keep generating good new jobs, and clean energy is our best bet."

It seems pretty safe to say that the idea of green-collar jobs is entering the political mainstream. But what exactly do we mean when we talk about green-collar jobs? Our longtime ally Van Jones of Green for All (whose work we have previously highlighted on this blog) has a great piece on the Huffington Post exploring this very question. Van believes that green-collar jobs must serve both people and the planet, providing pathways out of poverty, building local economies, and revitalizing urban and rural communities. As he concludes, "It is exciting that the Presidential candidates have taken up this banner. We must thank them for their leadership, and we must help them ensure that the green jobs of tomorrow build a green and prosperous economy for everyone, here and around the world."

1Sky joins call for Presidential action on climate

Adi — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Implementing solutions to climate change that are at the scale of the challenge before us will take strong leadership from our next President. In conjunction with our allies in the Presidential Climate ActionProject (PCAP), the 1Sky team is excited today to promote a new State of the Climate report. Published by PCAP to coincide with President Bush's final State of theUnion address next Monday, the document was delivered to the White House today to send a strong message that delaying action on climate change is no longer acceptable.

The long list of signatories to the State of the Climate message includes two Nobel Laureates, a number of the nation's top scientists and policy experts, and a good number of business leaders and Mayors. As an individual you can also sign on to support the report here. The document outlines the current impacts of climate change, the poor state of U.S. climate policy, and the need for the next President to act boldly in the first 100 days of his/her term. PCAP has done groundbreaking work in this area as well, developing a Presidential Climate Action Plan outlining over 300 recommendations for actions the next President can take in the first months of 2009.

Despite the lack of action from the current administration on climate change, 1Sky and PCAP are both excited and encouraged by the level of grassroots support for climate action. We recognize the transformative potential of green-collar jobs in a new clean energy economy, and with millions of people gearing up for involvement, we will continue working toward a society-wide mobilization that matches civilian activation of eras past. Stay tuned to our website for an action alert calling upon current Presidential candidates to commit to bold action on climate change!

Tell Congress: we want a green economic stimulus bill!

Adi — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Forty years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, at a time in his life when he was organizing a multi-racial alliance of the poor and working class to demand equal economic opportunity and equal protection. As we pause today to honor the memory of this great American hero, we also have a unique opportunity to re-dedicate ourselves to Dr. King’s dream of justice and opportunity. As Congress works to craft an Economic Stimulus Package, it is time for us to send a clear message to our elected officials: Go Green and Go Equal in the stimulus!
Targeted investments in energy efficiency, mass transit, and a Clean Energy Corps as part of an economic stimulus bill can provide green pathways out of poverty, putting hundreds of thousands Americans to work while strengthening our economy, enhancing our energy independence, and tackling climate change. 1Sky has been working with a coalition of organizations to develop media and advocacy strategies to put pressure on Congress to take up these issues. We have signed on to a letter that will be circulated to top Congressional leadership this week, and we have developed an online petition to show Congress that Americans everywhere are calling for a clean energy economy that provides opportunity for all. Take a moment to sign the petition today, and stay tuned to this blog and our action page for information on future opportunities to make your voice heard!

1Sky hits the South Carolina campaign trail

Adi — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0800

1Sky has hit the ground running in South Carolina! Our friends Phil Aroneanu, Kelly Blynn, Jamie Henn and Jason Kowalski (formerly of Step It Up 2007 fame) are working to build visibility and support for the 1Sky solutions in conjunction with the Presidential primaries. They welcome your help — if you are interested in joining them to support the 1Sky platform, click here to get in touch at southcarolina@1sky.org. For information on future events and updates from the campaign trail, stay tuned to this blog and our South Carolina page. Read on below for a first-hand account from Phil!

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"My friends," John McCain said methodically as he stood in front of a WWII bomber, "We will not surrender." The event, his last before the South Carolina GOP primary he won yesterday, took place aboard the USS Yorkville, an aircraft carrier. It wasn’t a typical school gym rally,with basketball hoops peeking out between campaign signs, and yet the 1Sky climate visibility team was there. While McCain talked about theIraq war, we held signs and wore green hard hats. We spoke with veterans, many of whom understood the connections between climate change and foreign policy, and talked with reporters about our dependence on foreign oil.

In the days leading up to the Republican primary, we heard a lot about "good conservative values" and "moral leadership," which are sometimes contrasted with progressive positions on climate and the environment. But as our friends at the Evangelical Environmental Network revealed on Friday in a press conference we attended , 84 percent of evangelicals nationally support legislation to limit greenhouse gases; 54 percent are inclined to support a candidate who advocates some solutions.

And despite being a significant voting block in an overwhelmingly conservative state, Evangelicals are not alone in their concern over the climate issue. In exit polls we conducted yesterday in Florence, SC — an extremely conservative district — more than 80 percent of voters polled wanted the state legislature to promote energy efficiency and alternative energy, and 55 percent would be against building new coal-fired power plants in South Carolina if they did not have technologies to prevent pollution.

All of this, from the vets to the exit polls, shows that climate change is not a partisan issue. People with vastly divergent views on other issues speak with one voice when it comes to the climate. And the 1Sky primary visibility team is going to make sure that Democrats get the same message. We’ll be attending candidate events here, leading up to the Democratic primary on January 26. Click here for a list of upcoming events in South Carolina, and make sure to join us at our big Myrtle Beach event tomorrow, where we’ll be wearing green hard hats to support the new clean energy economy and green jobs. Here’s all the information you need to know:

***MYRTLE BEACH ACTION ALERT***

On Monday, January 21 we’re off to the Democratic debate in Myrtle Beach to continue our call for a clean energy future. Please join us for a press event and celebration!

Where: Palace Theater, Broadway at the Beach, 1420 Celebrity Circle, Myrtle Beach, SC

When: Monday, January 21, 12 noon

See you on the campaign trail!

1Sky Interns at Middlebury Invite Your Climate Wisdom

Ada — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0800

This is a guest blog from the students of a January-term Middlebury class devoted to 1Sky research. It was compiled by Bonnie on 16 January 2008:

Global warming may be everyone’s problem, but everyone can get in on the solution, too. In the spirit of the "silver buckshot," 10 students at Middlebury College in Vermont are interning with 1Sky this January to explore carbon reduction from a range of perspectives. And we want your help.

Religious Messaging
The climate movement needs more than another issue-advocacy group for global warming, we need an inspiring vision of the future that unifies all Americans. The 1Sky coalition is working to develop this vision and to coordinate the movement around it. Religious institutions contribute substantially to both our national identity and our politics at all levels. Robert McKay is exploring the landscape of American religion to produce a list of organizations that 1Sky might seek to bring into the coalition, as well as a set of recommendations for how to create deep and mutual dialog with people and institutions of faith. He is looking for the input of religious leaders on this project, in order to communicate the value of their expertise to 1Sky. Please contact Robert at rjmckayiv if you are a religious person working to spread the word about climate change in faith circles, or if you have ideas about religious organizations working on other social and political issues that might be interested in 1Sky.

Clean-Energy Investment for Jobs and GDP
"We’ve gotta cut carbon" is reminiscent of slogans five years ago. Looking for new excitement? Try "How do we best evolve our economy from a gas-engorged fossil into a green, lean, and clean prosperity machine?" There are hundreds of professional studies out there that propose such policies and predict their macroeconomic effects on our gross domestic product and employment rates. But which research do we turn into national legislation? Pier LaFarge, Chester Harvey, and Bonnie Frye Hemphill are distilling such studies into a white paper that identifies major trends in policy proposals and macroeconomic predictions. We hope our research helps 1Sky determine–and recommend to policymakers–the blueprint our nation needs for effective carbon reduction and economic stimulation. We would greatly appreciate your insight, and can be reached at <bhemphil>.

Mapping Coal Communities with Green-job Potential
As our country invests in clean energy and transitions to a carbon-free economy, a national global warming policy must ensure that all Americans benefit. Though it is our dirtiest and most carbon-intensive source of energy, some claim that jobs in the coal industry are at stake as the US moves beyond coal. The coal industry, however, provides relatively little employment, even fewer opportunities for "good" jobs worthy of America’s traditional standards of living, and fail to give back substantially to state and local governments. Julie Erickson (<jerickso>) is gathering the details on what’s at stake for coal in the face of a clean-energy revolution, focusing on the demographics of Americans affiliated with its company towns. What are the employment statistics of coal? The Wages? Working conditions? Community benefits? Tax revenues? Furthermore, Julie is compiling case studies and models of job growth and clean-energy deployment. She hopes to paint a picture of the future for those communities dependent on the coal industry, and to show that climate-change policies can be winning propositions for everyone. Mitigating warming can benefit the global population while developing our economy can ensure that even the smallest coal-based communities share in the prosperity of a clean-energy future. Weaning ourselves from coal will be easier–and more politically appealing–when we see the process as a win-win proposition.

Primary Visibility for Mountaintop Removal
Marty Schnure and Emily Adler are jointly interning with 1Sky and Appalachian Voices this January. They traveled to the NH primaries to bring mountaintop removal coal mining (MTR) into the energy debate, and ensuring that NH voters knew where their candidates stood on coal issues. They were able to talk to many candidate staffers and members of the press, and were even able to get flyers into the hands of both front-running candidates: Barack Obama and John McCain. Highlights included debating MTR with over 700 Obama ralliers, and McCain hugging Marty to thank her for "working for a cause greater than herself" while promising to end to MTR. Now Marty and Emily are lobbying VT Representative Peter Welch to co-sponsor the Clean Water Protection Act, the only current bill that can substantially curb MTR. They will also hold a letter-writing party alongside a gallery opening to display stunning large-format photographs of West Virginian MTR sites. Contact them at <mschnure> with ideas for more actions on mountaintop removal.

Cap-and-Rebate by Region
Brian Schwartz and Jamie Hand are studying the distributional effects of Peter Barnes’ SkyTrust model (a cap-and-rebate carbon market) across different regions of the US. The SkyTrust proposal caps total US carbon and auctions all permits to emit it. The revenue from selling such permits (to coal-fired power plants, etc.) is then distributed evenly to every American. At the same time that the SkyTrust would significantly cut carbon, it would be progressive across national spending patterns and allow some 60% of the population to benefit financially. But such gains may not hold true for each region of the US because of variations in regional infrastructure like electricity sources. The system will remain progressive in each region, but may not provide a net benefit to as many segments of society. For example, since the Midwest uses coal for most of its electricity and because rural lifestyles require more gasoline, the poorest 30% may benefit from SkyTrust implementation while the richest 70% of family budgets are hurt. We hope to identify these differences across America, and perhaps draw comparisons between rural and urban results. Quantifying these differences may indicate how the overall SkyTrust plan can be tweaked for politically palatable across the US. Brian and Jamie would appreciate your input and can be reached at <jrhand>.

We hope you’ve got ideas to help us out on these moral, ecological, political, and economic understandings of global warming. Maybe you’ve even got some of your own; we’re all part of the problem, and now everyone has the chance to be part of the solution.