The following letter was sent in by our close ally, Nezir Sinani, in Prishtina, Kosovo working with a coalition of groups to lead the fight for alternatives to coal in Kosovo.

Dear friends around the world,

It is with great delight that I write this post. I write to thank the 350 international network for standing together with our communities here in Kosovo, and for everyone who signed the online petition at 350.org to the World Bank, The US Embassy in Kosovo and to the Kosovan Parliament to oppose a proposed lignite coal power plant. (It’s not too late to send your support if you haven’t already. Sign here: www.350.org/kosovo).

My name is Nezir Sinani, and I am a Kosovan activist working with the Institute for Development Policy, based in Prishtina, Kosovo’s capital. In fact, it was just a few years ago that I was working for the state-owned power company. I often served as a representative to the media describing the frequent power outages that plague our country. Over time, I came to learn about more than just the inconveniences of our energy infrastructure -- I learned about the damages to our country’s health, environment, and our global climate. Eventually, I couldn’t continue to be involved in the continuation of our coal-based energy system, and I began to search for ways for our country to move beyond coal.

At the same time, our government, in collaboration with the United States State Department and World Bank, began a process to try and build a new coal plant here. In response, a number of groups in Kosovo and internationally, including my organization, who believed that alternatives to coal were possible joined together to explore the alternatives to coal. What we discovered is that the alternatives aren’t only possible, but they are faster, stronger, and cheaper options for ensuring a secure energy future for our country, not to mention cleaner and safer for our health and climate. If you’re interested in the details you can download the most recent and most definitive report by Dr. Daniel Kammen of the University of California Berkeley here.

Just last week we were joined by Dr. Kammen here in Prishtina, and we held meetings with the Head of Parliament in Kosovo, the Ministry for Economic Development, the World Bank, and others to make the case for investing in alternatives not in coal. And let me tell you, your support is having an impact on these meetings as well. The media in Kosovo has picked up on the news of international activists around the world joining in against the proposed coal plant here, and the institutions pushing for the coal plant are increasingly aware that their actions are being held accountable not just by those of us here on the ground, but by an international movement.

Click here to continue reading.

Perhaps the greatest sign of progress to date came from the meeting with our head of parliament. In that meeting he agreed that it was time for parliament to reconsider our energy policy, which currently is an out-dated policy based almost entirely on coal. Now we’ll begin to look at alternatives in earnest. That’s a huge step forward, but sadly the current coal plant proposal puts at risk any real progress we might have in re-thinking that policy.

Unfortunately, an “expert panel” at the World Bank just released a crucial internal report on Wednesday announcing their recommendation to the World Bank directors to proceed with the proposed coal plant. No doubt, that report makes our efforts far harder than they were just one week before. But in no way does it diminish our resolve to achieve an energy future for Kosovo that moves beyond coal. It’s a tremendous boost to us to know that at the same time that the “expert panel” report was released, nearly 6,000 messages from 120 countries were also delivered to the World Bank directors via 350.org standing in solidarity with those of us on the ground fighting for clean energy solutions.

Rest assured, the movement will charge ahead here in Kosovo. We have protests planned for this weekend (weather permitting -- we’re possibly expecting our second blizzard in two weeks!), and we charge ahead with increased strength thanks to all of you who stand together with our struggle.

Oh, and we should hopefully have fresh action photos to share in the days and weeks ahead, but for now we thought you might enjoy seeing a few of our faces behind the work here in Kosovo. The photo to the right is from our Moving Planet cycle mobilization this past September and you can see more on Facebook here.

A big thanks to all again, and on we go.

In solidarity,

Nezir Sinani

On October 5th 2010, President Obama announced that he would be installing a solar array on the White House roof in the spring of 2011. This announcement came as a triumph to many in the climate movement, who earlier in the year had written letters, sent in petitions and, along with our very own Bill Mckibben, embarked on a Solar Road Trip across the U.S. to convince the Obama administration to re-install the solar panels that were on the White House's roof during Jimmy Carter's presidency. The White House initially declined the offer, much to everyone's disappointment, so Obama's statement a month later was a welcome surprise that meant we had one less world leader to convince to Put Solar On It.

Over a year has passed since Obama's promise, and as of yet there are no solar panels on the white house.  However, according to this article in the Green Prophet, HH Mohammed bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan - the crown prince of the oil-rich gulf state of Abu Dhabi - has beaten Obama to the punch and installed a solar array in record-time on the roof of his court. Not only are these photovoltaics fully operational, but the electricity they produce also feed into Abu Dhabi's national grid.

If oil-rich Abu Dhabi can symbolically commit to renewable energy, one is left to wonder why the White House cannot follow through with its promise?

 

 

350 Ohio Field Organizer, Danny Berchenko, had the following to say about their trip to the Speaker of the House, Rep. John Boehner's district office Thursday afternoon.

It's become clear that Speaker of the House, John Boehner, is more interested in filling his pockets with dirty energy's money than in representing his constituents and ensuring ecological and economic security for Americans (and the rest of the planet). So yesterday morning, a group of twenty citizen referees braved the cold and rain to pay his district office in West Chester, Ohio a visit and call foul on his dirty dealings. The office, which is supposed to be open Monday-Friday during normal business hours, was mysteriously closed with no explanation on the door or their answering machine as to why. I guess the Speaker doesn't like being called out for blatant corruption.

Rep. Boehner has taken over 1.1 million dollars from the fossil fuel industry and in turn fights tooth and nail for their interests and against the interests of the American people and the planet. The Speaker invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in Big Oil companies involved with dirty Tar Sands extraction. He then held the payroll tax extension hostage to expedition of the Keystone XL pipeline decision, and is threatening to hold it hostage again to the pipeline’s approval. Holding solutions to the climate crisis and relief for the struggling middle class hostage in order to advance his own financial interests is an egregious abuse of the Speaker’s power.

So climate and Occupy activists teamed up in West Chester yesterday to blow the whistle on the Speaker’s corruption. It’s a natural fit for our movements to work together. Occupy is out to end corporate domination of our public policy-making process and obstruction of our democratic rights; to create a level playing-field where we the people have a say in our economic, political, and cultural destiny. The climate movement has long had to deal with obstruction of solutions to one of the greatest threats humanity (and all other living species on the planet) has ever faced, by the wealthiest and most powerful industry on Earth. Our struggles are one: end the collusion and corruption that has essentially replaced American democracy with American oligarchy. Establish true democracy in which the voices of the 99% calling for economic justice are heard over the checks flying into representatives pockets from Goldman Sachs, and the voices of 99% of the world’s scientists calling for an emergency response to the climate crisis are heard over the bribes from fossil fuel industry lobbyists.

Dressed up in referee uniforms and literally blowing whistles and throwing penalty flags, we headed to Speaker Boehner’s district office in West Chester, but when we got there the door was locked. We looked inside and could see that no one was home. It was 11am on a Thursday and their morning paper was still on the ground in front of the door. The office is supposed to be open Monday through Friday, except on federal holidays; that’s why our tax dollars are paying for this office. This is supposed to be a representative democracy in which we the people are afforded our right to lobby our representatives without having to travel all the way to Washington D.C.; that’s the purpose of Rep. Boehner’s district office. It concerned us that the office was closed for no apparent reason. It was an insult to the whole of Boehner’s constituency.

But then again, the Speaker has already shown us time and time again, most recently through his scheming to push through the Keystone XL pipeline against the will of a vast, diverse movement opposed to the destructive project, that he’s perfectly happy to ignore the interests of the American people and to shill for Big Oil and Big Money instead. So why would he want to keep his district office open if he has no respect for real democracy and isn’t going to work for his constituents anyway?

We call foul on Boehner and Big Oil for obstruction and corruption of our democracy and we’ll keep blowing the whistle on them and other members of congress who sell us out. We’ll keep growing this movement and organizing our communities and we won’t stop until we see an end to the corruption, an end to the billions in government handouts to the fossil fuel industry, an end to the selling out of our voices and our votes, an end to the destruction of our global climate system, an end to holding back our clean energy future, an end to the struggling of the many so that the few may prosper.

This is our democracy and our future, and we’re taking it back!

 

We just sent out this email to our folks in Canada. Not getting our emails? Sign up here.

It's time to fight back. Prime Minister Harper and Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver are waging a dirty campaign to discredit anyone who is opposed to burning the oil sands or building Enbridge's Northern Gateway Pipeline.

Sign the petition to help build a groundswell of Canadians who are ready to stop the oil sands:

www.350.org/canadian-groundswell

Dear friends in Canada,

I've been visiting Canada all my life, but I'm a little worried about my upcoming trip.

In late March I'm supposed to come to Vancouver to give a couple of talks. But now I read that Joe Oliver, your country's Minister of Natural Resources, is condemning "environmental and other radical groups that would seek to block" Enbridge's Northern Gateway pipeline from the oil sands of Alberta to the Pacific.

I think he's talking about people like me.

So I’m pushing back a bit, and I need your help. Let’s tell Joe Oliver that preventing the combustion of the second-largest pool of carbon on the planet isn’t “radical” -- it’s exactly the opposite. It’s rational. It’s responsible. And it’s just plain right.

Click here to sign the petition to Prime Minister Harper and Joe Oliver, and help show that Canadians everywhere are committed to stopping the oil sands.

 

Here’s the thing: I've spent much of the last year helping rally opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline from the oil sands to the Gulf of Mexico. I was arrested outside the White House in August, and emceed the demonstration that brought thousands of people to circle the White House in November. And just yesterday, I helped lead a crew of hundreds of "climate referees" to blow whistle on the influence that Big Oil has over our democracy. But this fight knows no borders, which brings me back to my concern about my trip to Canada in March. 

When I come to British Columbia, I'll urge everyone I meet to join a growing movement standing in solidarity with First Nations Peoples across Canada who oppose Enbridge's Gateway project. Since a majority of Canadians, according to the polls, also oppose the pipeline, I'll be in good company. But Oliver, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the organizers of the “Ethical Oil” campaign don't want any outside voices. As the latter explained on its website, "It's our pipeline. Our country. Our jobs. And our decision."

Fair enough. But you know something? The atmosphere belongs to all of us. There's not some wall at the 49th parallel that separates Canada's air from everyone else’s. Since the oil sands is the second biggest source of carbon on the planet, that makes their development everyone's business. As NASA's James Hansen, the planet's premier climatologist, put it recently, if you heavily develop the oil sands, it's "essentially game over for the climate." That's why I'm doing everything I can do build this movement -- and that's why I need your help to unite a groundswell of activists in Canada. 

Click here to add your name to the petition saying you're ready to take a stand to stop the oil sands -- if we can get 10,000 Canadians to sign on, we’ll stage a high-profile delivery that Joe Oliver, Prime Minister Harper, and the oil companies won’t be able to ignore.

It's much easier for Ottawa to pretend that anyone who raises doubts about the oil sands are ideological extremists who hate Canada, much easier to demonize the scientists and citizens who ask uncomfortable questions. You can judge for yourself, but I don't think I'm some kind of extremist. I'm a Methodist Sunday School teacher who happened to write the first book for a general audience on climate change.

To me, the extremists are the ones running the oil companies, because they're willing to alter the chemical composition of the atmosphere; those of us who want to keep the planet a little like the one we were born on seem more like conservatives.

I know I don't hate Canada. I spent five years living in Toronto as a young boy, while my father worked for Business Week magazine. I remember with great fondness Mrs. Reesor, Miss Beer, Miss Conway and Miss Wright, who taught my first four grades. I remember rooting for Davey Keon, the Toronto Maple Leafs centre, and I remember waiting with great impatience each summer for the CNE to open.

In later years I've traveled the country stem to stern, written about fishermen struggling in Newfoundland, hiked the mountains above Jasper, skied the trails of the Gatineau. The Canada I remember was open to the world: It welcomed the rest of the planet to Expo 67, it hosted the Olympics, it helped crack the Great Wall of China.

I don't know how that changed, but my guess is that the wealth of the oil-sands had something to do with it. Canada's government doesn't want to hear from the rest of the world because paying attention to their legitimate fears might cost it some money.

To judge from Oliver's nasty little letter, those vast pits of bitumen across Alberta aren't just dirtying the sky, they're starting to do some damage to the country's soul.

Help start to undo that damage, and sign on today.

Onwards,

Bill McKibben for 350.org

P.S. If we're going to have any shot at stopping the wholesale burning of the oil sands, we're going to need a massive movement of Canadians willing to take a stand. Please help spread the word on Twitter and share it on Facebook -- it only takes a couple of clicks. Many thanks in advance.

MORE LINKS AND INFO

- Oil Lobby Lagging Reality - Financial Post

- An open letter from Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver - The Globe and Mail  

UPDATE: This campaign is now out in French, German, and Spanish as well.

SOLIDARITY ACTION: Help communities in Kosovo overcome a proposed coal plant beign pushed by the World Bank and the United States State Department: http://www.350.org/kosovo

We're harnessing the power of this movement to stop a proposed coal plant in Kosovo. And it’s not just any coal, it is lignite coal, the dirtiest kind. We need to support the people of Kosovo in their struggle to move beyond coal and enter a new phase of development based on clean, renewable energy and energy efficiency.

Kosovo is a tiny country in the Balkans that sits on the fifth largest reserve of lignite coal in the world. It doesn’t quite match the scale of Canada’s tar sands in terms of total carbon, but for a country as small as Kosovo, the proposed coal plant there, being pushed by the United States government and World Bank, is most definitely their version of the Keystone XL pipeline.

Right now we have just a one week opening to try and dissuade the World Bank from going ahead with the proposed coal plant. Already the movement calling for alternative energy solutions on the ground in Kosovo has been gaining steam, and it is aided by new reports detailing the clean, more affordable alternatives available to Kosovo. Unfortunately the World Bank and the US State Department have not sufficiently considered those alternatives and are bent on burning this dirty coal. That’s where we come in.

Click here to send a message to the World Bank telling them to back off coal in Kosovo.

This week is critical because right now an “expert panel” from the World Bank is reviewing the proposal and assessing whether to move forward with the financing and planning process for the plant. They are due to report their assessment next week, and it’s essential they get the message that our movement is prepared to stand together with the community there fighting for alternatives to coal. We need to raise the alarm on Kosovo’s carbon bomb now.

Click here to add your voice calling for no new coal in Kosovo today: www.350.org/kosovo

The victory over the Keystone XL pipeline demonstrated the power of standing in solidarity across the globe against climate injustice. The struggle was led by local communities in Canada and the United States along with hundreds of North Americans willing to put their bodies on the line and go to jail for the cause. But we all have a stake in keeping Canada’s tar sands oil in the ground, and we effectively added our voices together, through petitions, photos, sharing articles and updates online, visiting US embassies, and more. We have tremendous power when we act together.

This week we’re standing with Kosovo. Next week or next month it could be anywhere else on the planet. Many of you are involved in your own local climate struggles: fighting fossil fuel projects, creating local solutions, and advocating for new policies that will move your city or country beyond fossil fuels all together. 350.org exists to help catalyze, coordinate, and connect these efforts. And when there are critical moments when this global movement can unite around a common cause -- whether it be stopping the Keystone XL pipeline or pushing to phase out fossil fuel subsidies -- we will. 

One thing’s for sure: the struggle for climate solutions is going to require that we all work locally in our own communities, and that we stand together globally when we can. Right now, for Kosovo, we can. Please sign on today. 

In solidarity,

Will and the 350.org team

P.S. To build a global groundswell against Kosovo's Keystone, we need to spread the word far and wide -- can you take a second to share the action with a couple of clicks on Facebook and Twitter? Many thanks in advance. 

 

We just sent out the following press release about the amazing action that took place in Washington, DC this afternoon. The action is still continuing, as our referees march over to the American Petroleum Institute to protest the Big Oil front group. We'll try and get more photos and video up soon, but here's the initial report: 

WASHINGTON – At a protest on Capitol Hill this afternoon, hundreds of people dressed as referees called "foul" on members of Congress for supporting the Keystone XL pipeline while taking millions of dollars in campaign contributions from the fossil fuel industry. The protest was the first of many similar actions across the country as reformers go on the offensive against Big Oil and its political allies in Congress who have given billions in handouts to fossil fuel companies while slowing down progress on the nation’s transition to 100 percent renewable energy.

"People's chief demand today was that Congress stop giving the fossil fuel industry gifts in the form of billions in useless subsidies just so politicians can cash in the favor for campaign contributions," said 350.org founder Bill McKibben, who has led protests against the Keystone XL pipeline. "We're really hopeful that the President will echo that call in his State of the Union address tonight."

At the rally this afternoon, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) pledged to introduce legislation to end fossil fuel subsidies. The exact amount of subsidies the coal, oil and gas industries receive each year are difficult to calculate, estimates range from $4 billion to $41 billion annually. (1)

“The most profitable corporations in the world do not need subsidies from the American people,” said Sen. Sanders. “We need to end Big Oil subsidies and tax breaks, and I'm going to introduce legislation to do it.”

Grassroots environmental campaigners hope to make politicians’ ties to dirty energy money and the subsequent billions of dollars in taxpayer funded subsidies the industry receives each year a key campaign issue in 2012.

"Young people are not taking on record student loan debt only to graduate into a world in which corporations are buying our politicians, polluting our planet, and sealing our climate's fate,” said Maura Cowley, Executive Director of the Energy Action Coalition, the largest youth clean energy coalition in the country. “We can do better, and we demand that our representatives pick us over their Big Oil backers."

At Tuesday’s protest, hundreds of people dressed in referee outfits blew whistles, threw penalty flags, and held placards with slogans like: “Penalty, Big Oil for Obstructing Democracy.” The rally was organized by 350.org, Center for Biological Diversity, Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Energy Action Coalition, Greenpeace, Natural Resources Defense Council, Oil Change International, and Sierra Club. 

The referees also called out individual members of Congress for their ties to dirty energy money. According to public records compiled by Oil Change International, members of Congress who support the Keystone XL pipeline have received $41 million in contributions from the fossil fuel industry. (2)

"Congress has been flagged for ‘holding’ because it continues to hold our country hostage to the interests of Big Oil and the 1 percent," said Steve Kretzmann, Executive Director of Oil Change International. "The penalty is loss of legitimacy and the trust of the American people."

According to McKibben, 350.org has already received reports of more activists across the country purchasing referee shirts and whistles. 

"This just may be the start of something," he said. 

 

A guest blog from our friend Steve Kretzmann, cross-posted from our friends at Oil Change International.

On Tuesday, January 24, as Washington readies for the annual State of the Union address, more than 500 people in referee outfits are converging on Capitol Hill to “blow the whistle” on Congress. Why? Consider these two facts:

1. The American people believe (rightly) that Members of Congress are more responsive to their campaign donors than to their own constituents.

2. Americans of all affiliations clearly favor ending fossil fuel industry handouts.

Americans are sick of watching Congress receive bribes from the fossil fuel industry to vote for scams like the Keystone XL pipeline and fossil fuel subsidies. We see what’s happening, and we’re declaring it out of bounds and unsportsmanlike from this point forward.

The five biggest oil companies alone have made more than $1 trillion in profits over the last decade. It’s absurd that these companies still demand, and still receive, handouts from Congress paid for by taxpayers. This isn’t about energy or jobs – it’s about greed and corruption.

Listed below is some useful information about the cycle of dirty energy money corruption going on in Congress.

Money In – Campaign Finance

(All data is from Oil Change International’s Dirty Energy Money campaign which uses public data made available by the Center for Responsive Politics.)

Since 1999, the coal, oil and gas industries have shelled out more than $93 million to current members of Congress.

The trend is increasing with each election cycle, and current members of Congress took over $25 million in campaign contributions from the oil, coal and gas industries in 2009-2010.

Through October of 2011, dirty energy interests had given this Congress $7.8 million in this cycle alone.
Speaker Boehner has received the most money from the fossil fuel industry during this term, with more than $287,000 received from the oil, gas and coal industries.

It is worth noting that direct contributions to candidates are only one way that the fossil fuel industry exerts influence. Substantially larger sums of money are mobilized by SuperPacs and other entities.

Money Out: Subsidies

Each year that the President has submitted a budget, it has included eliminating $4 billion in annual subsidies to the dirty energy industry. Each year Congress has been unable to eliminate the subsidies.

In a vote in May of 2011, the reason was clear. Senators who voted to preserve subsidies took an average of five times more dirty energy money than those who voted to stop handouts to the oil industry.

In October of 2011 a large coalition called on the Super Committee to eliminate $12 billion annually in fossil fuel subsidies.

Our tax dollars also fund billions in fossil fuel projects around the world, via institutions like the World Bank and the US Export-Import Bank.

Dirty Energy Money and the Keystone XL Pipeline

Earlier this month American Petroleum Institute President Jack Gerard threatened President Obama with “huge political consequences” if he rejected the Keystone XL pipeline. This threat was unusual only because it was public, but the industry clearly continues to implicitly threaten all of our elected Representatives.

In July, the House of Representatives voted on the Keystone XL pipeline. Those Representatives who voted for the pipeline received 513% more from the oil and gas industry than those who voted against it.

In total, those who voted for the pipeline have received $10,922,161 from the oil and gas industry while those who voted against the pipeline have received only $717,552. In other words, those that voted for the pipeline have received 15 times more money from the oil and gas industry.

In December, the House held another vote with similar results. Members of Congress who supported the measure have received $41 million from the fossil fuel industry, while those who voted against the bill have received only about $8 million from oil, gas and coal interests.

An analysis by ThinkProgress of lobbying disclosure records for the first, second, and third quarters of 2011 suggests that the lobbying expenses of the 20 or more business and labor interests who backed the project was $60 million compared to $1 million by the seven organizations that actively opposed the measure. TransCanada’s lobbying efforts alone over the first three quarters of 2011 totalled $920,000, just under the total amount spent by its opponents..

Political Return on Investment

Buying Congress is a great investment for the oil, gas and coal industries. During the last two year cycle, they put in $25 million, and they got out at least $4 billion annually – $8 billion. In other words, for every $1 that the fossil fuel industry invests in Congress, they get at least $320 back.

We just sent out the following media advisory for the big "Blow the Whistle" protest in Washington, DC tomorrow. It's not too late to join in the action, you can sign up here: 350.org/refs. Thanks! 

Keystone XL Protest on Capitol Hill Tomorrow
500 Referees “Blow the Whistle” on Big Oil’s Corruption of Congress

WASHINGTON – Keystone XL pipeline protesters will go on the offensive this Tuesday with a rally on Capitol Hill featuring 500 people dressed as referees “blowing the whistle” on fossil fuel funded corruption in Congress.

Who: 500 referees, a marching band, Senator Bernie Sanders, Representative Steve Cohen, 350.org founder Bill McKibben, Energy Action Coalition Environmental Justice Director Lili Molina, Greenpeace Executive Director Phil Radford, and peace and justice advocate Rev. Graylan Hagler. 

What: A great photo and video opportunity featuring 500 referees blowing whistles, throwing penalty flags, and holding signs that call out individual members of Congress for the amount of money they have received from the fossil fuel industry. After the event on Capitol Hill, protesters will march to the American Petroleum Institute to protest the industry front group.

Where: West Lawn, US Capitol Building

When: 12:00 – 2:00 PM, Tuesday, Jan 24 

Why: Despite President Obama’s rejection of the Keystone XL permit, Speaker Boehner and certain members of Congress continue to push the pipeline, in large part because of the millions of dollars in campaign contributions they’ve received from Big Oil. This sort of bribery wouldn’t be allowed at the Super Bowl – let alone a high school football game – and it shouldn’t be allowed in our democracy. One day before Congress holds new hearings on Keystone XL (and two weeks before the Super Bowl), protesters will “blow the whistle” on this fossil fuel funded corruption and use Keystone XL to hold politicians accountable for their ties to Big Oil. 

###

More information:

The “Blow the Whistle” rally is being organized by 350.org, Center for Biological Diversity, Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Energy Action Coalition, Greenpeace, Natural Resources Defense Council, Oil Change International, and the Sierra Club. 

 

Last week, one of the most respected journalists on TV, Bill Moyers, talked about the importance of the Keystone XL victory for President Obama and the growing climate movement. Check out the powerful segment here:

Dear President Obama,

It has been an interesting couple of years. We had so much hope for you and the possibilities for a new beginning in Washington- And you did too. Yet the reality of America’s economic and intellectual recessions have made your presidency less than ideal.     

Today though, I’m writing to say thanks. At the beginning of last summer, the Keystone XL pipeline seemed like a done deal. It was strange that the same energy we harnessed in 2008 to support you, was the energy we used in 2011 to work against State Departments approval of the project. But yesterday you listened to us and denied the permit. Thank you, because I know that it took you a lot of courage to stand up to Big Oil. They’ve got more money than anybody and they’ve always gotten their way. You were the President who decided that they wouldn’t, even when they were threatening you with “Huge Political Consequences.”

When you were first elected, I heard somebody say, “We cannot ask Obama to do what we are unwilling to do ourselves.” And during the pipeline protests, many of my friends were willing to get arrested, were willing to take time away from their work and families, were willing to take a stand. But we took those risks, and now you have too.

As campaign season heats up, you can expect my support in 2012. Remember though, that we will only support good policy, not just a promise or a man. The more that you stand up for what you truly believe in- not just what is convenient, the more you can expect for people like us to have your back.

Sincerely,

Russell Evans

Russell Evans is a 350.org leader in Montrose, CO, USA. This represents the opinions of the writer. 350.org does not have an official position supporting or opposing political candidates.

Over the last few days, 350.org co-founder Bill McKibben and Bold Nebraska's Jane Kleeb took to the airwaves to spread the good news about the victory on the Keystone XL pipeline. One of the best clips comes from the good folks at Democracy Now -- check it out:

Bill McKibben just sent this email to 350.org supporters in the United States and Canada

Dear Friends

We wanted to share with you the news: this afternoon the Obama Administration announced that they are denying the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline. You did good work, against some of the longest possible odds.

For years, the knock on the President Obama was that he backed down too easily in the face of opposition. Not here. When Republicans in Congress forced the issue again by passing a 60-day time limit on the President's final decision, he stood strong and denied the permit. And that was despite the most explicit threats from Big Oil: that they would exact ‘huge political consequences’ if he did the right thing on Keystone. Make no mistake—this is a brave decision.

And make no mistake about this either—Big Oil will do everything it can to overturn that decision, because they are not used to losing. They have one weapon—money. They’ve used it to buy the allegiance of many Representatives and Senators and now they’ll use Congress to try and get their dirty work done. That’s what happened when the President delayed the permit last November, and we should expect them to try again now.

That’s why we’re going to Congress and Big Oil, beginning next Tuesday the 24th. If you can join us, we’re meeting at noon on the West Lawn, and you should wear a referee’s shirt. We’re going to ‘blow the whistle’ on the corruption that passes for business as usual on Capitol Hill, where people take money from companies whose interests they vote on. If this happened at the Super Bowl it would be a national scandal; we’ve got to make sure it’s seen that way in our political life too. We know it’s short notice, but we hope we can get at least 500 people there. Not to get arrested, at least not this time, but to make quite a noise.

If you can make it, click here to join the action in DC.

We’ll be fighting to prevent Keystone, but we’ll also be fighting to shut off the flow of handouts to the oil, gas, and coal industries, and to take away their right to use the atmosphere as an open sewer into which to dump their carbon for free. This industry, simply because it iss rich, has been cosseted too long. Time to fight back.

What you’ve done these past eight months is quite amazing—and against all the odds. We’ve won no permanent victory (environmentalists never do) but we have shown that spirited people can bring science back to the fore. Blocking one pipeline was never going to stop global warming—but it is a real start, one of the first times in the two-decade fight over climate change when the fossil fuel lobby has actually lost.

Rest assured they’ll fight like heck—their world-record profits depend on it. We better fight just as hard, because the world depends on it.

-Bill

350.org founder and Keystone XL protest leader, Bill McKibben, had the following reaction the news that the State Department is expected to reject the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline later this afternoon:

"Assuming that what we're hearing is true, this isn't just the right call, it's the brave call. The knock on Barack Obama from many quarters has been that he's too conciliatory. But here, in the face of a naked political threat from Big Oil to exact 'huge political consequences,' he's stood up strong. This is a victory for Americans who testified in record numbers, and who demanded that science get the hearing usually reserved for big money.

We're well aware that the fossil fuel lobby won't give up easily. They have control of Congress. But as the year goes on, we'll try to break some of that hammerlock, both so that environmental review can go forward, and so that we can stop wasting taxpayer money on subsidies and handouts to the industry. The action starts mid-day Tuesday on Capitol Hill, when 500 referees will blow the whistle on Big Oil's attempts to corrupt the Congress." 

Photo Credit: Josh Lopez

We're expecting some big news from the State Department on the Keystone XL pipeline. From early reports, it looks like the White House is standing strong in the face of Big Oil intimidation and will be denying the current permit for the pipeline, but allowing TransCanada to reapply with a new route through Nebraska.

Make no mistake, for all of us who have been protesting the project, this is a major victory. As late as October, a poll of 300 ‘energy insiders’ in Washington by the National Journal found that 97% thought the pipeline permit would be granted. We tipped the balance in a major way. 

Photo Credit: Christine Irvine

Clearly, this fight isn't over. Big Oil will do everything it can to overturn that decision, because they are not used to losing. They have one weapon—money. They’ve used it to buy the allegiance of many Representatives and Senators and now they’ll use Congress to try and get their dirty work done. 

The expected decision also leaves TransCanada the option of reapplying with another application for the pipeline. Let's be clear: a re-route through Nebraska will help protect the Sand Hills and the portion of the Ogallala Aquifer that's in the state -- that's a huge victory for our friends and allies in Nebraska who have been leading this fight from the start. But the re-route will do nothing to address the climate impacts of burning tar sands, the economic downside of continuing our addiction to oil, the risks the pipeline poses to other states along the route, or the political influence Big Oil continues to use to override the interests of the American people. If this pipeline comes back, so will we. 

Stay tuned for more info throughout the day on the impending decision, as well as our official response from Bill McKibben and others. 

It's a good day for people power.

First, after a fearless campaign from an astonishingly diverse coalition, we've got some good news: the Obama administration's State Department will formally reject the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline. This is a huge victory for the climate, and it belongs all of you: the thousands upon thousands of people who have gotten arrested, signed petitions, attended rallies, encircled the White House, called Senators, filed comments, and on and on. This moment deserves to be celebrated, but we're not resting on our laurels. Big Oil feels threatened now, and their spin machine is already kicking into overdrive. So on we go. The next round of this fight: Tuesday in Washington DC. Bring a whistle.

Second: you may have noticed that the web seems a bit dimmer today. Major websites are "blacking out" -- among them Wikipedia, Craigslist, Tumblr, and literally thousands more. This web-powered protest is targeted at a couple of proposed laws in the US Congress: "SOPA" and "PIPA" -- two bills that ostensibly target online piracy, but contain ticking time-bombs that threaten to destroy the free and open internet.

As you likely know, 350.org has relied upon the web to amplify and enable our work to build a global climate movement. While we know this fight demands that we hit the streets, the web has undoubtedly helped to get us organized, inspired, and activated. By unlocking the potential of the open web, 350.org has been able to find and empower activists around the world -- and we've all linked up to do big things together that none of us could have done alone. That's why we're standing in solidarity with a broad coalition opposing these bills -- and why our front page logo looks like this today:

350.org - Censored Logo

While 350.org isn't truly censored today, we're damn sure not going to let it be censored in the months and years to come. Head on over to AmericanCensorship.org to learn more and fight back.

Below is the email we just sent to our list of folks near Washington DC -- if you're at all close by, please do sign up ASAP! 

Dear Friends—
 
Hate to do this, but the holidays are well and truly over and I fear that if we want to stop the Keystone pipeline, not to mention climate change, we’ve got to get back to work. January 24—a week from Tuesday, gulp—is the date we need you to circle, especially if you’re somewhere along the East Coast.
 
Here’s the story--things in Washington are getting weird.  We don’t have super-secret inside information, but as far as we can tell the administration is still committed to calling Big Oil’s bluff—we think they’ll deny the permit for Keystone sometime before the February 21 deadline.
 
But that seems only to have enraged the fossil fuel industry. The head of the American Petroleum Institute promised ‘huge electoral consequences’ if Obama denies the permits; meanwhile, the fossil fuel harem on Capitol Hill is planning to introduce legislation that would take away the president’s right to make the decision and simply grant the permit themselves.
 
So: we need to make a stand. A stand against the big money that’s polluted this process: remember, the 234 Congresspeople who voted to expedite Keystone had taken $42 million in dirty energy money. (This week the Maplight Foundation laid it out in even more graphic detail—you can see the details here.)

We need to be outraged—if this is what business as usual looks like, then business as usual isn’t acceptable and has to stop before the planet cooks. No one would countenance this kind of corruption at a high school gymnastics meet—it’s simply not right to take money from a company and then vote on its interests.
 
Here’s the plan: Instead of circling the White House, this time we’re going to show up at Congress. And we’re going to do it in…referee’s uniforms.

On January 24, the day they return to business, we’ll be there at 3 in the afternoon, ready to blow the whistle on their corruption. The demonstration will start on Capitol hill, and then we will head to the headquarters of the American Petroleum Institute, the oil industry's #1 lobby. We’re going to call penalties—forget facemasking, this is vote-buying. Forget unsportsmanlike conduct—this is undemocratic conduct.

Click here to sign up to join the action, and we'll be in touch very soon with more details.

This time we plan to get up close and personal with some of the worst folks on Capitol Hill. Not only will we be sending an unavoidable message (I don't think a gaggle of refs is a common sight in DC), we also hope to make a media stir that will be a counterbalance to the flood of ads and propaganda unleashed by the industry over the past two weeks.

Warning: it won’t work right away. These guys have been having their way for so long that it won’t dawn on them quickly that the game is us. We’ll have to fight them all spring long to prevent Keystone, and to take away the billions in subsidies that they present each year to the oil industry (with our money). But if we’re going to take back our country we’ve got to start somewhere, and January 24 is the day.

I know it’s absurdly short notice. I know it’s a workday. I know it’s winter. And I know that if it’s humanly possible you’ll do what you can to get there. Here’s the link to click to sign up: act.350.org/signup/dc-keystone-refs/

As we referees are prone to say: Game on.

-Bill

UPDATE: Our friends from Bulgaria just shared the exiting news with us that the Bulgarian parliament banned fracking today. After nationwide public protests and education campaign the Bulgarian parliament dcided to ban fracking based on environmental concerns. Good example how People Power can make a difference.

Photo: Mihail Georgiev

Thousands and thousands of people protested against fracking all over Bulgaria last Saturday with a many solidarity events being organized in other European capitals. 

Fracking is a term that is often used to describe the extraction of shale gas. In more and more places all around Europe governments are currently deciding to look into possible shale gas projects. As with so many unconventional fossil fuel projects the extraction process fracking is linked to huge environmental concerns. 

Bulgarian protestors seek a moratorium against unconventional drilling for shale gas and at this stage it looks like they made their voices heart with mass protests all over the country - the Bulgarian government is now considering a ban on shale gas drilling. 

We will keep you updated on how the fracking protests in Bulgaria are going. 

This blog is cross-posted from Huffington Post and is written by Heather Box, former East Asia Coordinator at 350.org and current organizer of the Million Person Project.  This story profiles Landry, incredible 350 Coordinator for French-speaking Africa.  The Million Person Project is currently conducting story-telling trainings with 350 organizers in Vietnam, South Africa, and now Uganda, trainings very similar to the workshops offered by 350.org.

I was on the edge of my seat hanging onto his every word. Landry Ninteretse, a climate activist from Burundi, was speaking in front of hundreds at the United Nations Climate Negotiations in Durban, South Africa at 350.org's African Youth Voices event last month. I closed my eyes, trying to send him the message, "Your feelings Landry, share your feelings." Landry is one of the 400 people that I worked with over the past two months through a public speaking and storytelling workshop that my boyfriend, Julian Mocine-McQueen, and I run through a project called the Million Person Project. The Million Person Project is an international project about love, globalizing relationships and supporting change-makers who are working to protect the environment.

   

Landry wrapped up his talk: great visuals, good story flow but very little emotion. Our storytelling workshop is designed to work with change-makers around the world to support them to become better public speakers and better organizers. It's developed out of the belief that if someone wants to change the planet they have to be able to be an effective communicator and be willing to inspire people with their story. A key part to being able to inspire comes from the willingness to share personal history, feelings and emotions about the path that has brought someone to do the work they do.

Landry smiled as we walked down the hall after the event. "I know, I know, Heather I need more practice. I'll be back tomorrow." Landry attended three workshops over the course of the two week climate negotiations and the last time he shared his story in front of the group, I had tears in my eyes. Landry's story is an incredible story of perseverance, commitment, dedication and love, love for his family, love for his country and love for the earth.

He remembers, when he was young his father used to take him for nature walks and bird watching in beautiful valleys of southern Burundi. Landry remembers running in the fields with packs of children in the rural north of Burundi where his grandfather lived. It was the time of his life when he felt the most freedom. He thought of those times often when he sat cooped up in his home in Gitega during the brutal political unrest that Burundi faced throughout the 1990s and early 2000s. He felt he had nowhere to go, but into his memories. When the conflict ended and he was able to return to his grandfather's village, the place that he had held so dear, it looked very different through his young adult eyes. He recalls a conversation that he says he will never forget. He and his uncle were sitting in front of his grandfather's house and his uncle told him about the changes of climate resulting in loss of harvests, hunger, poverty and the lack of clean drinking water. Landry thought back to his friends and neighbors in Gitega and Bujumbura, so many had fled the country. They had gone in search for a more peaceful life and for education in North America or Europe. He knew that was an option for him, but sitting there with his uncle that day he committed himself to Burundi. He paused and said, "I could go find a better life for myself, but what would that mean if my family and my people were in Burundi struggling to survive? Nothing, I am Burundian, and I am committed to the betterment of my country, my people and the world."

The group broke out in applause. I have been doing this training for weeks, with people from all over the world, but for some reason as I looked around at people's faces in the room as they clapped for Landry I felt this overwhelming, almost panicky, sense of understanding, like there was something universal in the room. Like there was something universal in what fueled each person to clap their hands together. It just felt like if our hands can clap like that, our hearts can all beat like that, and our stories can resonate with such magnitude then maybe we do have a chance at global understanding. It felt audacious for me to feel that way but as I looked around the room I couldn't help it. There were organizers representing 12 African countries, 3 European countries and an organizer from Indonesia, Canada and the United States. As each person, one after another, got up to share their story I could only imagine what would be if everyone in the world could sit in a room like this and listen to dramatically different stories and hear that common root in each person's story. That root of each person's love, their personal determination and desire to be heard and understood.

At the beginning of each workshop we start off by sharing a few quotes. One is by Ben Okri, a Nigerian poet and author, "Stories can conquer fear, you know. They can make the heart larger." I thought of that quote a lot that evening after that workshop. As I walked down the crowded South African street back to the United Nations Climate Conference I knew one thing for sure, that workshop made my heart larger, made me more excited than ever to be doing this work and more hopeful for our world.

In news that will surprise just about no one, US Chamber of Commerce president Tom Donahue hosted a pres conference today where he offered full-throated support for the Keystone XL pipeline, that 1,700 mile Big Oil scam that would take tar sands oil from Canada down to the Gulf Coast of Mexico. Over the last few weeks, Keystone XL has become a major political fight as Congress and Big Oil (now there are two popular institutions) have tried to slam the project down the American people’s throats, despite the fact that President Obama already delayed the project for at least a year over environmental and safety concerns.

   

In his speech this morning, Donahue said:

“There is no legitimate reason, none at all, to subject it to further delay,” Donohue said in his annual address on the state of business and the economy. “Real leaders understand that Americans can have big differences in philosophy but still find common ground. They wouldn’t tell us that solutions have to wait until after the election.”

No, Tom, real leaders stand up to Big Oil and protect the American people from scams like Keystone XL, a fuse to the “largest carbon bomb in North America,” the Canadian tar sands. But it’s no surprise, I guess, that the US Chamber of Commerce isn’t concerned about the climate or the interests of everyday Americans. As Bill McKibben wrote this morning,

“The US Chamber of Commerce, two years ago, filed a legal brief arguing that if the planet warmed humans could alter their physiology’ to cope with the heat. So I guess there’s no reason for them to worry about the climate impacts of opening up the second-biggest pool of carbon on the planet. For those of us who plan to keep our current anatomy, however, their assault on basic environmental review is one more sign they’re nothing but a front for the fossil fuel lobby.”

It’s no real surprise that the Chamber of Commerce is pushing Keystone XL, but it does help clarify what we’ve been saying all along: this pipeline is a scam and the only reason politicians are pushing it is because they’re on the payroll of Big Oil and front groups like the US Chamber.

Councilor Lucky Mdlalose's of KwaMashu's phone was ringing non-stop on Friday as activists from all over the world phoned in as part of a Global Day of Action to support a community from KwaMashu, South Africa that had been evicted because of the COP17 Climate Conference in November. This Global Action, with people calling in from the United States, India, Belgium, the UK and others, also included a protest in London at the South African Embassy.

“I called because no one should have their home stolen from them, especially not by their own Government” reported Anna Collins of the UK.

Activists from “Occupy COP17”, who came to Durban for the COP17 conference, had developed a close relationship with the community. “In our General Assembly, someone told us of how a community had been illegally evicted because of the COP17, so we called them.” said Kevin Buckland of 350.org, “two days later, some of us from Occupy COP17 went to meet with them. As soon as we arrived we were moved to tears by hearing about the injustice that had occurred. They told us their story on the very place where there houses had stood just weeks before. Now all that was left were piles of broken roofing and scattered objects."

 

On the last day of the COP17 Climate Change Conference, community members attended a “Vigil For Climate Justice” just outside the ICC Center where the Climate Negotiations were being held. At the vigil, they shared their story and young members from the community performed a play reenacting the illegal eviction. Many of the people who witnessed the performance were among those to call-in on Friday.  Community member Jabulilie Mdlalose said “They destroyed our houses. They destroy our lives. They took our food. They took out clothes. They took everything from us. And they said we are messing up the place because of the COP17. Today we don't have a shelter. ”

 

“Now that we have met them and heard their story,” said Buckland “we cannot let them suffer alone, and we will not abandon. Councillor Lucky Mdlalose: people all over the world will be watching how you act on this. We will stand by our friends from KwaMashu until justice is served.”

This community of 31 families had originally been evicted in 2007 to build a road for the World Cup. They were given no alternative housing and eventually built homes in KwaMashu, District 7. On November 23rd the community, consisting mostly of women and children, were illegally evicted without an eviction order and without an assessment required by the PIE act of 1998.

 

Shortly after the illegal eviction the community appealed to local authorities to let them sleep in a public hall. They were barred from entering the hall, and so, having nowhere else to go, they returned to the site where there homes had been and huddled under plastic sheets. In the torrential rainstorm that night, one man, Mwempi Caka, caught a chill and died soon after. The community has until now received no attention from local authorities despite attempts to deliver legal documents and repeated requests for meetings.

 

Anna Collins, an organizer from OccupyLondon who was in Durban for the Climate Negotiations and helped to organize the Action at the South African Embassy said, "We decided to organize this solidarity action at the South African Embassy because one death is already too much. Many of these community members are grandmothers and small children, they should not have to beg to sleep on neighbors floors any longer. One grandmother is very sick, and a young girl will be having a heart operation this month. They need their homes back, they need immediate action!”

 

The feeling of betrayl is strong among the community, many of whom had recently voted for Councillor Lucky Mdlalose and are hoping he will follow through on his promises to bring improved living conditions to KwaMashu. "The municipality said we were messing up the community and they didn't want the people coming to Durban for the United Nations conference to see us," said Jabulile Mdlalose. "They are ashamed of us. We have nowhere to go in our own country. The worst part is that the order to destroy our community came from a councilman who had come campaigning in our neighborhoods just months before, promising that he would get us running water and electricity if we voted for him. We voted for him expecting something better and we got this."

 

“We stand in solidarity with OccupyKwaMashu because this is not just the story of 31 families, but the story of a government who is not looking out for its own people. Our constitution was created to protect our people from injutices such as this. If our government violently evicts its own civilians from public land without offering them an alternative is not the South Africa that Nelson Mandela and others worked so hard to create,” reported Nkyaniso Madlala of Durban. 

 

For more information please visit www.occupycop17.org or follow on #occupyCOP17 or www.facebook.com/occupyCOP17