Clean Air-Cool Planet is the Northeast's leading nonprofit organization dedicated to finding and promoting solutions to global warming.
Clean Air-Cool Planet is the Northeast's leading nonprofit organization dedicated to finding and promoting solutions to global warming.
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For the Leaf-Peeper in You
GLOBAL WARMING SOLUTIONS 2005: Website Spotlight
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Keep on Making Me Care! For the third consecutive summer, climate activists from around the country gathered to spend a weekend on Boston’s beautiful Thompson Island, getting down to the nitty-gritty details of one burning question: HOW can we effectively advocate and organize for responsible energy and climate policies?
These attendees of the 2004 Global Warming Speaking and Organizing Training—jointly hosted by Green House Network, Clean Air-Cool Planet, and Massachusetts Climate Action Network—dove into consideration of said question with the same collaborative fervor and creativity that TI “alumni” have demonstrated at the workshop in the past. As in previous years, the group was electrified by experts like Ross Gelbspan, (whose newest offering, Boiling Point, was released in July); engaged by small informational breakout and q-&-a sessions; and challenged to present their ideas to peers for critique and brainstorming.
Attendees this year had some unique experiences as well. For starters, we were often ON CAMERA, thanks to the film artists Judith Helfand and Dan Gold, makers of the award-winning Blue Vinyl and the upcoming global warming “toxicomedy” Melting Planet. They joined us for the entire weekend, intrepidly gathering potential movie material, and inspiring (among other things) our wrap-up MAKE ME CARE session, challenging everyone to give a compelling “elevator-speech”—that difficult but crucial two-minute-or-less case for global warming action—for the cameras.
The context of this year’s workshop was also unique: given the upcoming election, activism in the political arena was an inevitable focus of the group’s time and discussion. The political will of the group, the heightened creative energy sparked by the movie-makers, and the depth of expertise brought to bear on the subject from many sectors and locales, all added up to a tightly focused and wonderfully exciting workshop – and a remarkable commitment on the part of everyone there to “walk their talk” in the weeks and months following our gathering.
Offered by our workshop participants, the box below contains a look at what some of you and your fellow climate activists are up to these days. Getting the sense yet that you’re not alone? Let us know what YOU’VE been doing to “fight the good fight,” so we can spread the word! Our message is getting out there, featured prominently in Fortune, Business Week, National Geographic, all in the past two months. Now is the time to press forward—up to the November elections and, of course, beyond… —Jennifer Schroeder I have 2 voter registration booths planned and working on more! I also have one confirmed talk to the Aveda Institute on "Carb Counting" followed up with voter registration. These are young future hair dressers and their clients, a perfect opportunity to get out the vote! I have 2 more tentative global warming talks scheduled for October and beyond. - Gigi, MN [Since the July training] I have spoken with at least one new person a day about global warming and entered into conversations about what candidates and office holders are proposing to do about it. I still find myself sometimes feeling awkward, but each time more engaged. I'm participating in Clean Power Now (working to get a wind farm on Cape Cod). - Susan, MA Aside from the month in a swing state [spent campaigning for the] Kerry-Edwards campaign, I went to a NYC Kerry-Edwards meeting, to get materials to sign up for a registration effort here in town. I’ll begin scheduling global warming talks after election. - Charles, NY My commitment is as follows: Campaign in Ohio (my home state) and Florida (My daughter's home state); Speak to church groups (including Pentacostal churches), Rotary Clubs, and congresspeople. - Jane, MA 1. Submit our proposal to a major potential funder: “What Works? Sharing Information and Building Networks for the New Climate Movement” 2. Submit a new paper, to the journal Action Research: “From Civic Engagement to Social Movement: How Action Researchers Can Push Climate Change Activism towards a ‘Tipping Point.” - Jon and Sissel, VT and CA I [gave] a presentation…at the end of August in a state-wide Cities for Climate Protection meeting where I [spoke] about Stamford's action plan. In addition, politically, I plan to get involved with students campaigning for Kerry. I am also attempting to set up a meeting between Fordham faculty and/or administration with Ned of CA-CP to work with the school to make it a campus for climate action. - Kim, MA/NY I'm wrapping up a huge petition drive to get on the ballot a law making it mandatory for large providers of retail electrical service to include an increasing percentage of energy from renewable sources. In August, I [gave] my now-perfected talk to about 25 people gathering in Crestone. - Nicole, CO On July 28 I did an interview for UMASS radio WMUA on GW and Green Electricity. I plan to do follow-up interviews, more on global warming, and to explore other progressive radio shows. Also: Send email to friends and family about my work as a "stop GW" messenger, naming some actions they can take immediately to have an impact; talk to my nephew Todd about the importance of acting now against GW...working for an environmental group instead of staying in corporate culture to make more money; work on Kerry Campaign in NH with my mother; discuss with CACP how to get Northampton paying attention to their membership in the ICLEI project; organize to do a series of community access TV shows on Global Warming and what we can do about it; figure out how to take the tapes to other communities. I [organized] a display on technologies (Hybrid car, green electricity, wind, solar) that offset GW at a large community block party on September 11…. - Peggy, MA 1) I hope to make a short presentation to my neighbors in the beach community (Mattapoisett) where I have a house close to the water. Right now I'm a couple hundred yards back, but expect my son to have beach front property.2) I will be making the 'big' pitch as part of a seminar series at a Yoga center here in Franklin, October 1.3) I am putting a video about wind power on my local cable access.The rest of the time this fall, I will devote to settling a small matter with G.W. Bush. - Ted, MA I have scheduled my first talk on Global Warming at Berkshire Community college for this fall. Climate Crisis Coalition (CCC) will have an informational/sign up for action table at the Green Festival in Washington DC, Sept 18th, and CCC is planning a street vigil there as well. – Tom, MA (CCC Director)
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