International Day of Climate Action

On Saturday October 24th, over 60 Colby students participated in an Enviro Co event that featured an aerial photo from Miller tower of everyone spelling out 350 (in the rain), followed by a gathering in the Pugh Center to view 350 video clips, write letters to our senators, read literature about global warming action, and enjoy some fall-related treats. The event was part of the International Day of Action, and some 5,200 actions occurred worldwide. It was organized by 350.org, an organization pushing for international climate legislation that is based on science: 350ppm of CO2 in the atmosphere as a maximum.

VIDEO: Bill McKibben on The Colbert Report

Phew!  This August 350.org director Bill McKibben went head-to-head with –the conservative (and totally fictional) anchorman who hosts the nightly show The Colbert Report.

Everyone was a bit nervous and excited to see Bill get raked over the coals–many environmentalists have withered under Colbert’s steely gaze and acerbic wit.  We’re happy to say that Bill held his own, and emerged from the interview with his dignity intact.  If you missed it last night (or if you just want to re-live the glory) check out the video below:

Check it out at 350.org

http://www.350.org/

350 Event Planned for Colby College!!!

We’re calling on people around the world to organize a 350 action for October 24 at an iconic place in their community and upload a photo of their event to 350.org website.

We’ll collect these images from around the world and, with your help, deliver them to the media and world leaders.  Together, we can show our world and it’s decision-makers just how big, beautiful, and unified our movement really is.

To help you take part in October 24’s international day of climate action, we will:

• Lift public awareness on the need for an international climate treaty to reach 350.
• Assemble a coalition of hundreds of organizations committed to this vision of a more sustainable world;
• Connect you with others in your community and across the planet who are building this movement;
• Provide on-line resources and tools that make pulling together an event easy;
• Link your October 24 event with hundreds of other actions at iconic places around the world;
• And leverage the day of action for meaningful political change.

350.org is an open-source campaign: it’s your ideas, input, and energy that will make October 24 and this movement for change a success.  Have something to contribute?

350_general_poster_ltr_compressed

America’s Energy Future Forum

America’s Energy Future Forum

Saturday 25th April, 2009

11am -12.30 pm, Diamond 122

This year may be our last, best chance to do something about global warming.

In just 7months, leaders from every country in the world are meeting to write a new treaty about what we’ll do to stop global warming. If the United States is leading the way, we can succeed. If our country isn’t, we’ll fail. It’s that simple.

To be a leader, we have to pass strong global warming laws in the U.S. this year. That effort will come down to just one or two votes in Congress.

One of the people who everyone is looking to to be a hero and vote the right way will be OUR senator from Maine, Susan Collins. We can not pass a strong global warming law without her support.

On Saturday, April 25, we’ll be having a forum at Colby called the “America’s Energy Future” forum, and Senator Collins’ key advisor on global warming will be there. She wants to hear what WE have to say about global warming and clean energy. We have to show up with a huge force to show her that we want to switch to clean energy to green our economy and save our climate.

It is not only important that you attend and voice your support for the Congress to pass a strong climate change bill that ensures a sustainable and equitable future, but that you rally everyone you can to convince our representatives that we need action NOW.

Help send that message by showing up to this forum not alone and invite everyone on your list to this event!

Panelists:

Amy Carroll, senior energy and environment aide to Senator Collins

Rosemary Winslow, Intergovernmental Liaison to Congressman Michaud

Jeremy Pare, Selectman of Manchester, ME

Prof. John Joseph, Thomas College, Mid-Maine Sustainability Coalition

Lisa Pohmann, Deputy Director of NRCM

Rob Brown from Opportunity Maine

Contact Li Yu lychan@colby.edu or 207 312 7598 for further details

Directions:

http://www.colby.edu/college_cs/visitor_center/directions.cfm

Map:

http://www.colby.edu/college_cs/visitor_center/campus-map.cfm (park in Lunder Lot)

A cool video showing some scenes from Powershirt and including some of our very own Enviroco members:

What Ppl have learnt from Power Shift

"The Power Shift conference all too clearly illustrated the serious
challenges we face in the fight against global warming. While the
consequences of climate change are dire, it's clear that all too often
competing interests take priority in both personal and societal action.
Perhaps the most compelling failure of our carbon-belching economy presented
at Power Shift is that of the tremendous human cost. While polar bears and
ice caps seem to receive most attention in the news, the environmental
burden on people is strangely overlooked. Thousands of miles from the poles,
coal-fired plants spew carbon and harmful chemicals into the atmosphere. One
Ohio resident spoke of her rural community surrounded by 7 such plants; the
rate of cancer in her county is the highest in the state. In West Virginia,
hundreds of thousands of acres of mountain tops have been leveled to reveal
coal seams; the fill is then pushed into valleys, damming streams and
poisoning the water. Residents live in constant fear of the collapse of any
one of the hundreds of earthen dams in the state, each retaining some of the
billions of gallons of slurry waste produced by the mining operations. One
resident related how a neighboring town was destroyed after a dam breached,
killing a family in their own home; another explained how such a dam was
built just above an elementary school. While it's clear that our dirty,
fossil-fueled economy must be transformed for environmental reasons, Power
Shift also demonstrated that switch to green is essential from a social
justice standpoint"
- Chris Van Alstyne 

"From Powershift, I learned how many ways there are to be involved
in the "green movement." From environmental education to international
policy to farming to engineering, there is a huge need for innovation
and change. I was really empowered to pursue environmental initiatives
while still at Colby, and a career in an environmental field upon
graduation. I also learned just how big this movement is. 12,000 people
were there, and the energy was just surging through the conference
center. I feel like I gained a sense of the urgency taking action, but
also the feasibility of it, so I hope to hold on the the energy I (and
EnviroCo) have gained and really make a difference this semester and
the years to come"
- Rachel Baron 

"I am pretty cynical about climate change and our gross consumption
practices; however, seeing so many enthusiastic, young
environmentalists, gave me hope that this will be the year that
corporate interests are pushed aside. The most important thing I
learned at Powershift (while talking with Sen. Snowe's staffer) was
that the US government will give $40 billion dollars in tax incentives
for big oil companies. This needs to change. When energy efficiency,
such as storm windows and efficient appliances, can reduce electricity
consumption by 30%, I don't understand why our national weatherization
fund (energy efficiency) is merely $5 billion dollars. Our government
needs to stop giving oil companies, that are making historic profits,
tax incentives. It's ridiculous! Corporations should only be allowed to
give the equivalent to an individual's gift during campaigns (250$??),
so the link--business and government-- will be broken, and we can be
governed and led correctly"
- Alex Place

"I learned that methane capture in landfills is more and more
considered to be a negative impact on the ecosystem and climate than an
ordinary landfill"
- Steve Erario   

Power Shift Resources

So we’re back at Colby? What now?

Take Back the Tap - campaign for tap water

Sustainability Vision for Waterville through Steve Erario

Earth Week

Also, Power Shift resources uploaded under Useful Resources

Power Shift 2009

Ready to change the world!

Past Events

2008/2009

October Sustainability Month

Trash Audit- dissecting and decoding Colby’s waste heaps

Evening for the Environment at the League of Progressive Voters, Portland

Take Back the Tap – protesting against the commodification of water and the continued legal action against the people of Fyreberg.

Used Clothes Drive for the Mid-Maine Homeless shelter

Power Shift 2009!

Power Shift 09 is an amazing 4 day national summit where young people all over the country will demand bold climate and clean energy policy.  It will be held on Feb 27 – March 2 in Washington D.c. Here, students will attend workshops (on topics such as community mobilization and activism)  and listen to movers and shakers of national policy.

Enviro-Co is organizing students to attend this event. If you are interested, please contact Li Yu Chan (lychan@colby.edu) or Sarah Sorenson (jssorens@colby.edu) for details. Enviro-Co is currently raising funds to cover the cost of attending to ensure that any willing student is able to attend.

“At this conference, leaders of our generation will share ideas, learn new skills, make new connections, establish a national voice for our generation, and send a united message to our national leaders: we are moving beyond the same old special interests, empty promises, and inadequate results to embrace a new paradigm that leverages our strengths and achieves what is possible for our future. With new leadership, we are presented with a fresh opportunity to harness solutions to the climate crisis, record unemployment rates, and a depressed economy. But we must unite in a collective call for change.”

– Power Shift 2009

Highlights from Power Shift 2007: