Hot off the press comrades! Of course, us SEACers have known for a while that Al Gore and climate scientist James Hansen have encouraged young people to use civil disobedience to stop proposed coal fired power plants.

Not that we needed their advice to do so. Grassroots efforts wouldn't have stopped 59 plants in 2007 if people hadn't already been working with every tool across all social and age boundaries to fight for climate justice.

However, since we still have around 100 coal plant proposals left to shut down, I think it's time that Al Gore learns that while young people are incredibly effective and smart at civil disobedience, we are also really good at organizing our communities, lobbying, promoting efficiency and conservation and other measures that are less fun but just as important as locking our necks to dozers.

And really, while us young folks are pretty darn smart and pretty dang powerful, it would sure help the cause if Al Gore would encourage the older folks, and all folks, to do civil disobedience, as well as community organizing, lobbying, promoting renewables, and so on.

It takes a village to raise a child, but it takes a movement of all ages and kinds to stop and destructive man-kind munching dirty coal industry force from decimating our ability to sustain human life on the plant.

Civil Disobedience helps, but it's not the only answer, Mr. Gore.

The AP article is below.

Gore urges civil disobedience to stop coal plants

Wed Sep 24, 2008 2:21pm EDT

By Michelle Nichols

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Nobel Peace Prize winner and environmental crusader Al Gore urged young people on Wednesday to engage in civil disobedience to stop the construction of coal plants without the ability to store carbon.

The former U.S. vice president, whose climate change documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" won an Academy Award, told a philanthropic meeting in New York City that "the world has lost ground to the climate crisis."

"If you're a young person looking at the future of this planet and looking at what is being done right now, and not done, I believe we have reached the stage where it is time for civil disobedience to prevent the construction of new coal plants that do not have carbon capture and sequestration," Gore told the Clinton Global Initiative gathering to loud applause.

"I believe for a carbon company to spend money convincing the stock-buying public that the risk from the global climate crisis is not that great represents a form of stock fraud because they are misrepresenting a material fact," he said. "I hope these state attorney generals around the country will take some action on that."

The government says about 28 coal plants are under construction in the United States. Another 20 projects have permits or are near the start of construction.

Scientists say carbon gases from burning fossil fuel for power and transport are a key factor in global warming.

Carbon capture and storage could give coal power an extended lease on life by keeping power plants' greenhouse gas emissions out of the atmosphere and easing climate change.

But no commercial-scale project exists anywhere to demonstrate the technology, partly because it is expected to increase up-front capital costs by an additional 50 percent.

So-called geo-sequestration of carbon sees carbon dioxide liquefied and pumped into underground rock layers for long term storage.

(Additional reporting by Timothy Gardner; Editing by Christine Kearney and Xavier Briand)

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