Student Environmental Action Coalition - SEAC blogs

Why are Big Greens Supporting Carbon Sequestration?

Thu, 15 May 2008 17:04:33 -0400

I received an email from Ranger Rick today, asking me to support the Lieberman/Warner Climate Security Act. Check out NWF's Website to see the unfortunate truth.

NRDC and League of Conservation Voters, Environmental Defense, and Clean Air Task force are supporting this bill as well, which would give $515 Billion among other negatives which Brian has outlined so well here. Once we start funding Carbon Sequest-crap-tion it will be more difficult for grassroots community groups to stop coal plants in their neighborhood, as well as to stop dirty coal extraction and production. $515 billion dollars could do a lot for green jobs and renewable energy (which actually exist).

Burning the Future Documentary (Featuring SEACers at MJSB!)

Fri, 02 May 2008 12:22:38 -0400

SEAC is proud and excited to say that our actions at Mountain Justice Spring Break 2007 (helped out by many other coalfield groups, of course) are featured in the new Documentary "Burning the Future: Coal in America"

It will be airing on the Sundance Channel, May 13th, 16th, and 18th. In addition, the DVD's will go on sale next week on the film's website: www.burningthefuture.com

Here’s the film’s short synopsis:

In Burning the Future: Coal in America, writer/director David Novack examines the explosive forces that have set in motion a groundswell of conflict between the coal industry and residents of West Virginia. Confronted by an emerging coal-based US energy policy, local activists watch the nation praise coal without regard to the devastation caused by its extraction. Faced with toxic ground water, the obliteration of 1.4 million acres of mountains, and a government that appeases industry, our heroes demonstrate a strength of purpose and character in their improbable fight to arouse the nation’s help in protecting their mountains, saving their families, and preserving their way of life.

Spoiler Alert: One of "our heroes," SEAC National Council Member Sarah Kidder, is the final scene, being dragged out of the West Virginia State Capitol building after taking a stand with community members to say that building coal silos within breathing distance of elementary schools is not good for kid's health. We love Sarah!

Southeast Convergence for Climate Action: July 30 - August 5th

Sat, 26 Apr 2008 15:28:37 -0400

Southeast Convergence for Climate Action

July 30 - August 5 Central VA

This summer, join people of all ages and backgrounds from throughout the
southeast and beyond for the second annual Southeast Convergence for
Climate Action. After the resounding success of last year's convergence we
are excited to continue the struggle for climate justice in the southeast
with an engaging week of workshops, strategizing, and direct action! This
year's convergence will be hosted in Virginia where communities are
fighting uranium mining, nuclear power, mountaintop removal coal mining,
and new (as well as old) coal plants. Once again we will unite to fight

Good for Farmers, Good for Finals!

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 23:49:36 -0400

Here at St. Mary's College of Maryland this semester, tons of rad stuff has been going down -- we just met with our college president and got her to sign onto the President's Climate Commitment (finally, whew, now that we've already fulfilled most of the requirements for it!). We're in the ongoing process of developing a Sustainability Strategic Plan, and just submitted a mission statement outlining our goals and objectives for the near future.

One of our main local campaigns at the moment is to switch our on-campus coffee shops from selling Starbucks to Equal Exchange 100% fair trade coffee. Equal Exchange buys only sustainably grown coffee from fairly compensated small farmers, as opposed to Starbucks (whose "Fair Trade Blend" is only about 10% fair trade). We've been toting around coffee machines to trustee meetings, community and student events, offering free EE coffee samples and building support for the campaign in time to hopefully make the switch over the summer.

Job Opening! SEAC Appalachian Organizer

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 13:32:34 -0400

Student Environmental Action Coalition (SEAC)
Appalachian Organizer

The Student Environmental Action Coalition (SEAC) is seeking an experienced and motivated individual to join our organization as a youth, student and community organizer on environmental justice and climate change issues in South Central Appalachia. This position is full time and is preferably based out of Charleston WV, covering West Virginia and Kentucky.

Focus:
The top priority for this position is to continue building a vibrant youth environmental justice movement in South Central Appalachia, which means bringing new youth and new youth groups into the Student Environmental Action Coalition (SEAC), and supporting existing organizations (who may or may not identify as a “SEAC Chapter”) that are engaged in similar and valuable work, and connecting these youth groups to regional environmental justice issues (such as Mountain Top Removal).

SEACers Pressure and Educate the Obama Campaign on Mountaintop Removal

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 12:50:40 -0400

On March 29th, Danny Chiotos (SEAC) and Vernon Haltom (Coal River Mountain Watch) educated a room full of grassroots Obama volunteers and staff on Mountaintop Removal and broader coal + green jobs issues. By the end of the event, more than half of the room was wearing SEAC buttons and left encouraged for more action!

Danny Chiotos Presenting:

WV Young Democrats Say "No New Mountaintop Removal Permits"

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 19:30:41 -0400

This post is in addition to the post that Sarah Kidder wrote:

The youth organization of the most powerful political party in West Virginia passed a multi-pronged resolution on coal & green jobs that included a call for No New Mountaintop Removal Permits. Our generation knows that Mountaintop Removal takes mining coal too far and we have safer ways to mine it as we transition to renewable energies & energy efficiency. This resolution passed in the midst of an above-the-fold article in the Washington Post, the Presidential Campaigns closing in on the May 13th WV Democratic Primary, and a record showing of grassroots involvement in the WV Democratic County Conventions. The political machine in West Virginia is getting scared of what true grassroots organizers are building here in West Virginia and we are in the year of a lifetime to build our movement for justice here!

Rebirth of a Dream

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 17:57:24 -0400

This blogpost was co-authored with Amy Ortiz.

This past weekend, April 4-6th, something historic took place in Memphis, Tennessee. During the same few days where people from across the nation gathered in the place where Martin Luther King Jr’s was assassinated forty years ago to honor the man, his legacy, and his dream for America, a thousand people, the majority of them people of color, came together to take part in rebirthing MLK’s vision. At The Dream Reborn, visionaries, artists and leaders came together to “create ecological solutions to heal the earth while bringing jobs, justice, wealth and health to all our communities.” We saw environmentalism re-defined, re-vitalized, re-energized and re-imagined, and witnessed not just the rebirth of MLK’s dream, but also the birth of a transformative movement with the power to bring the kind of change that we so desperately need.

The Dream Reborn was a weekend charting a new environmentalism that isn’t so new: the marriage of movements for social justice and the environment. Environmental Justice and other groups have been working at this intersection for years. Racial and Economic justice organizations strive to put an ecological lens on their organizing, just as Environmental organizations strive to put a racial and social justice lens on their work. But this weekend was the birth of that organizing with new language that is gaining influence in the mainstream of society, energy around program such as Green Jobs, and forcing major institutions and even presidential candidates to take notice. In more ways than one, the time for a new environmental movement, one for justice for both people and the planet, has come.

We spent our time at Dream Reborn coordinating and participating in Rainforest Action Network (RAN) – and it’s youth arm RAN Youth Sustaining the Earth (RYSE)’s youth delegation. 13 amazing people aged 13-22, along with 4 RAN staff, came together from across the nation. We represented many different communities, ages, and interests. We came to Memphis to connect, learn, grow, share and ultimately leave with the tools and the inspiration to go back to our communities and build a just, sustainable future. It was a chance not only to bring diverse youth to the table as stakeholders in conversations around green jobs and movements for environmental social justice, but to offer ideas and leadership to RAN’s growing network and the evolution of RYSE.

Click below to read more!

Make Spinning Windmills Props from Garbage!

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 00:28:02 -0400

Every kid wants one! Spice up your next garden party, coal plant blockade, earth day event or visit to your granny's with a great big spinning windmill replica.

These do not generate energy, you'll be disapointed to know -- EXCEPT Crowd and Media energy.

They look great on the evening news. Don't believe me? Go to www.mjsb.org to find out for yourself.

If you find issues with these directions or have improvements, please email dana [at] seac.org as they are a work in progress.

Fossil Fool Don Blankenship Assaults ABC Reporter and Other Coal Thuggery

Sat, 12 Apr 2008 20:00:35 -0400

This is so crazy. What may not be completely clear from this clip is that Blankenship actually pushes the reporter about a hundred feet while the reported says "Please let go of me" about 12 times. All the while Blankenship has this creepy grimacey smile on his face.

In other news of coal thuggery, "Friends of Coal" recently busted up a prayer vigil for the mountains in Ansted, WV. They brought about 30 folks, including small children, to heckle, make rude comments and physically threaten the pastors, priests, grannies and other citizens that had come out to pray and sing Amazing Grace together on the mountain side. Despite the determination of the Fiends of Coal who brought their small children to participate in a fun morning of verbally abusing people trying to pray, it actually turned into a useful dialog when the Pro-Mountain folks explained to them that they want to see a clean, just West Virginia with more jobs for coal miners. Indeed, Mountain Top Removal has lost WV about 110,000 jobs since the 70's and an immediate ban on Mountaintop Removal would create up to 2,000 deep mining jobs.

Save the Date! Summer Gatherings

Sat, 12 Apr 2008 18:27:40 -0400

I'm excited about a lot -- this fall's upcoming plans for Power Vote which involves bird-dogging every candidate we can (Presidential, City Council, Student Government) till they go to sleep and see "Stop" on one eyelid and "Global Warming" on the other, and dream all night about stopping coal and the potential for Green Jobs to revitalize our economy.

And the PowerShift 2009 conference next winter which will involved 10,000 young people gathering on Capitol Hill to scare the pants off our newly elected reps and president, as well as build a powerful grassroots network that can the uproot systems of oppression that cause environmental injustice with its right hand while stopping global warming with its left.

But first, lets get ourselves sharpened up, inspired, and connected with other amazing, amazing Environmental Justice Activists! We have a lot of work to do, if we're going to like, save the mountains and the planet and stuff.

Mountain Justice Summer Visit www.mountainjusticesummer.org to learn about Mountain Justice Summer May 17-23 in Harlan County KY!

SEAC/RAN/RYSE are going to be hosting two really amazing regional gatherings this spring and summer, and we really hope you can attend! The first one will take place this May 29-June 1, in the San Francisco Bay Area. In Mid-August (dates to be determined soon), there will be a second gathering in the Midwest.

So, if you're interested in building the RAN/RYSE/SEAC community, building your organizing skills, and building a movement, save the date!

Energy Action Coalition and Ruckus Society Mega Direct Action Camp focusing on skill building, climate justice and election protection in Minnesota July 2-9 Stay tuned at www.ruckus.org

Energy Action Coalition Mega Election and Organizing Camp!
Learn how to run Power Vote www.powervote.org and organize for clean energy, green jobs initiatives and no more fossil fuels. August 11-17 and location TBA
www.powervote.org

SPROGS Our friends with the Sierra Student Coalition with some help from SEN are hosting Summer Programs -- SPROGS -- all summer, all over the US (and in Puerto Rico !!) there are 300 slots available for these incredible weeks of training. Check it -- www.ssc.org/sprog

Climate Convergences http://www.climateconvergence.org/ These week long action training camps in the Northeast, in Virginia and in Washington state (and in the UK!) They still need help (lots!) planning the Southeast Climate Convergence in central VA, email risingtide@mountainrebel.net to get involved in that.

GreenPeace Change It! http://www.changeit08.org/ In Boston July 16-21 and Seattle, July 26-31 Led by GreenPeace, sponsored by Seventh Generation cleaning products.

Citizens Direct Action Training Camp against Global Warming in Montana June 6-11th This camp will focus on direct action skills especially for campaigns against tar sands and new coal. Get more info here: jr@globalwarmingsolution.org

And of course, all of the summer internship possibilities with SEAC and SEAC's partners in the coalfields of Appalachia.

More Summer training camps will be developing in the next month, There are more trainings coming up in the Midwest and elsewhere. but this is the most up to date info. To receive more info, hop onto SEAC's mailing list - -see below.

To be added to SEAC's mailing list (3-4 emails a month) just visit www.seac.org/getinvolved/join

If you would like to help plan MJSB 2009 (you know it!) We can add you to the planning collective list and you will receive periodic updates all summer about how to plug into MJSB 2009.

Eco-Res brings Environmental Justice/Climate Justice to the forefront!

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 14:16:23 -0400

As SEAC continues to work on environmental justice and climate change issues, it seems that more and more folks are waking up to the realization that our work and our lifestyles don't occur in a vaccuum--that the way we extract resources and waste energy doesn't just affect the natural environment but also the livelihoods of people in our communities and all over the world.

Beginning TODAY! and running through April 24, Eco-Res is holding an awesome online conference to think seriously about Energy Justice and Climate Justice (EJ/CJ)-- about causes, effects and solutions.

Check out this quote, posted today to kick off the conference:

WV Young Dems Pass MTR Resolution!

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 22:15:07 -0400

Earlier this year SEACers organized a trip for the West Virginia Young Democrats Environmental Caucus to witness mountain top removal first hand and to hear directly from affected citizens. That day at Kayford Mountain was especially windy and made for a disturbing scene as we gazed onto the massive expanse of exposed rock and swirling dust. It seemed as though hell had opened up and was pelting us with rocks, literally! Many had never seen it before and left the mountain with a new found understanding of "mountain top removal".

Their angst soon turned into action at the West Virginia Young Democrats convention where SEACers in the Environmental Caucus were instrumental in the creation of a resolution addressing mountain top removal.

Holy Mountain Justice Spring Break Batman!

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 18:10:19 -0400

200+ people from 17 states participated in 7 direct actions in 4 states along with 100+ workshops, 6 service projects, 4 concerts, 5 climb trainings, 2 listening projects, 1 lobbying event, 1 canvassing project, and 1 square dance all packed into 18 days in March 2008 that earned more than 60 media hits. All of this excitement was planned by a mostly volunteer collective of ~15 youth from 6 different states during more than 50 hours a conference calls.

We were trying to stop power plants and send out a strong message that youth in America want NO NEW COAL! We dropped by two Bank of Americas to play old time mountain music for them, and to let them know that funding coal global warming is killing our mountain traditions. Several students shut down their bank accounts so that their savings weren’t funding dirty coal.

We worked with community groups across Virginia trying to defeat proposed coal plant in Wise County, telling the Department of Environmental Quality to deny the permit and give the Citizen's Air Pollution Control Board decision making power over the coal power permit. This is wonderful news as the Air Board is committed to holding the permit to a much higher standard than DEQ.

We worked with community groups in Ohio who are fighting 5 proposed coal power plants as well as 40 years of proposed underground coal mining in Meigs County, Ohio. Residents said that they wanted a chance to sit down with the board of AMP-Ohio, which is trying to push through a dirty coal plant, and tell them about the effects that the 4 coal plants in their area are having on their health and quality of life. We showed up at the AMP-Ohio headquarters, demanded politely, if a bit loudly, and they gave us exactly what we wanted.

Charleston, WV Fossil Fools Awards

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 16:29:42 -0400

Lunch time as usual was interrupted in the Capitol Building of West Virginia today when a spontaneous Fossil Fools Awards Ceremony began. The ceremony was held to celebrate West Virginia governor Joe Manchin and Coal Baron Don Blankenship receiving the prestigious award of Life Time Achievement in Fossil Foolery in Appalachia. Unfortunately, neither Manchin nor Blankenship were able to collect their awards in person, but news cameras from several local TV stations were there as stand-ins accepted the awards in their honor.

Unfortunately, Manchin and Blankenship were beat out by Bush and Cheney for the International Fossil Fools Lifetime Achievement Award. Because of their hard work, however, we decided to award them a special Appalachian Fossil Fools Award. Our own boys can certainly brag that they’ve done more than their share for a small state when it comes to advancing the cause of enhancing the profits of big coal at the expense of our economy, our mountains, and our future.

Activists showed up with 8 foot high model wind turbines and a functional mobile solar panel to show alternatives to fossil fuel use, advocating for a clean just energy transition away from the toxic coal industry that has crushed West Virginia’s economy. Several thousand green jobs in wind turbine and solar panel manufacturing are just across from the West Virginia border in Pennsylvania and Maryland. Governor Manchin’s insistence on being a fossil fool has not allowed industry like this to employ West Virginia workers.