Green Options

NASA’s Dr. James Hansen joined in an act of civil disobedience against mountaintop removal mining by attempting to trespass on the property of Massey Energy near Coal River Mountain in West Virginia, and was arrested along with other protesters including Darryl Hannah and former US Representative Ken Hechler (D-WV).

About 500 activists blocked coal shipments into Australia’s Hunter harbour yesterday by paddling kayaks and homemade rafts made from milk crates and innertubes into the water.

The action, which lasted 11 hours, is the fourth successful blockade against shipments of coal into Australia. More coal is received at that particular harbor than any other in the world.

Did the Capitol Climate Action succeed before it even began?

Well, sort of.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid sent a letter to the Capitol Architect asking the Capitol Power Planet to switch from coal to natural gas by the end of 2009. The proposal has been made in the past, but shut down by pro-coal legislatators.

Friday February 27^th will begin the four day Powershift 2009 conference, which is set to become the largest ever youth conference on climate change. But history will be made on Monday, March 2^nd, when thousands of youth lobby Congress and thousands of others march to the Capitol Coal Plant to take part in what should become the largest ever act of climate change related civil disobedience.

Over 10,000 high school and college aged students are expected to turn out to this year’s Powershift conference. 2007’s conference had thousands of attendees and speakers such as Van Jones, Ralph Nader and Nancy Pelosi. This year is expecting some of the same big names, and more.

Power Past Coal has been putting together an extensive list of actions across the country that are happening in the next 100 days to put an end to our coal-dependent economy. As the slew of recent coal disasters has shown us, the time to put an end to coal use is now.

NASA Climate Scientist James Hansen has put it eloquently:

“We must halt all new coal plants now, and we must begin shutting down existing ones as soon as possible. Otherwise, we should face up to the truth– as a world, we are driving off the edge of a cliff with the accelerator pressed to the floor. Power Past Coal is the wake up call we need to put on the brakes.”

Hundreds of activists are currently blocking a departure gate at Heathrow Airport in England. The group is protesting the planned third runway at the airport, which is expected to be approved by the government this week.

The peaceful act of civil disobedience was organized by Climate Rush, the same group that shut down Parliament when they rushed the building in October. In addition to environmental activists, residential neighbors to the airport have been vocal in their opposition to the third runway.

Tim DeChristopher, the student who won over 22,000 acres of land at a Bureau of Land Management Auction, is on his way to purchasing the land, which was originally intended for sale to oil companies.

[Creative Commons photo by Wolfgang Staudt]

DeChristopher infiltrated a Bureau of Land Management auction on December 19th. Because the agency threw the auction together so hastily, he was able to get inside, grab an auction paddle and bid against the oil companies. He successfully raised the $45,000 by today in order to hold onto his claim.

On March 2^nd, 2009, over 1,000 activists are poised to take part in a mass sit-in in Washington DC at one of the nation’s most prominent coal plants. The action will coincide with PowerShift 2009, a demonstration and conference being put on by Energy Action Coalition, which is expected to draw over 10,000 people in an effort to make climate action a priority of the incoming administration.

The act of civil disobedience will take part at The Capital Coal Plant, which provides power to the Dictrict’s Capitol Complex and to Congress. The House of Representatives has resolved to get their power from cleaner sources, but the Senate continues to obtain their power from the coal plant.

Thousands of anti-nuclear campaigners have assembled along a train route in Germany to protest the annual convoy carrying tons of nuclear waste from France to a storage facility in northeastern Germany.

In what is becoming an annual ritual of civil resistance and direct action in Germany, more than 15,000 anti-nuclear protesters turned out along the route to Gorleben on Sunday—twice the number at a similar protest at the site two years ago—in the largest and most violent anti-nuclear protest in Germany since 2001.

Gore said for the carbon lobby to be trying to convince their stockholders that renewable energy is risky business and that climate change is a hoax, they are purporting a type of stock fraud that should be addressed by attorneys general across the country.

Image source: Nature.comEditor's note: This week, Shirley and Jimmy take on the subject of radical environmentalism. Are acts of vandalism, break-ins and civil disobedience always wrong, or do they sometimes serve a greater purpose?

Shirley: Fake blood tossed onto socialites wearing fur coats. Late-night liberation of laboratory animals. Wholesale destruction of Hummers and gas-guzzlers in California parking lots. The lists of exploits by some radical animal-rights and extreme environmental groups reads more like rap

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