Green Options

Chief Prosecuting Attorney for the Hudson Riverkeeper and President of Waterkeeper Alliance, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. gave an impassioned a solar energy event held at Coors Field in Denver during the Democratic National Convention.

Big Oil, Big Money, Big Slap in the Face.

Unfortunately, I fear that slap won’t register properly with enough people in the status quo, those who cling to oil and more oil as if it’s the only way forward.

During a commercial break from MSNBC’s coverage of the final night of the Democratic National Convention held in Denver, the American Petroleum Institute, the trade organization for the Oil and Natural Gas Industry, ran a spot touting domestic oil and gas reserves that Democrats are keeping us Americans from reaching.

While the two Democrats on the panel obviously had a pony in this race, historian Beschloss addressed the issue quite succinctly by saying, “[T]here are lots of qualities that make a good President, but the number of terms in Congress is not usually one of them.”

Are you admiring the crafty hats donned by democratic delegates at this week’s convention? They get patriot points for glitter, but MSNBC’s Chris Mathews took the cake with his kinetic hair sculpture. It reminds us all of the important part wind power can play in our renewable energy needs.

That’s not exactly what I had in mind for the focus of this post though. Protests are a great example of craftivism that easily tips the scale to activism. After all, you can’t buy “Fuck the War” signs at Wal-Mart.

Organizers of the Democratic National Convention now in full swing in Denver have taken a lot of steps to reduce both the event’s carbon footprint and its overall impact on the environment. In fact, they say their mission is to produce "the most environmentally sustainable political convention in modern American history."

Among the green innovations presumptive presidential nominee Barack Obama, Democratic leaders and and delegates are encountering:

Plans began a year ago for a green convention and will address all aspects of the event, from construction, travel, energy, waste recycling, sustainable materials, carbon footprint, and “decommissioning”; right down to the biodegradable balloons and a fleet of experimental cars powered with clean fuel made from Coors beer - and it’s all I can do to resist the obvious joke on that one - the DNCC is pulling out all the stops.

The Democratic National Convention Denver Host committee has released a statement clarifying an earlier position about the requirements for the food service at the August convention. After receiving lots of unwanted attention, officials now say the requirements are only “guidelines.”

My colleague Jennifer Lance recently wrote that both of the major parties would be trying to “out-green” each other for this summer’s national conventions. Republicans and Democrats alike have made efforts to green (or appear to green) what is, for all intents and purposes, a very non-green affair. But Democrats want this August’s convention in Denver to serve as a blueprint for not only how to make a convention greener, but how to make the host city greener long after the convention has ended.

“We are hoping that everything we are doing for greening (the convention) has some legacy value,” said Parry Burnap, “greening” director for the host committee. The committee has launched plans for local river clean-ups, tree-planting and tree care events, and is sourcing its food from local and organic sources. Other programs aimed at leaving a legacy include (after the jump)…