Feb 17 Call to stop Keystone XL

Come join the largest climate demonstration in U.S. history on February 17th on the National Mall in D.C. Tens of thousands of people will come together to call on President Obama to move our country forward on climate in his second term -- beginning with decisive action to reject the Keystone XL tar sands oil pipeline.

RSVP to join us Feb 17th. Call on President Obama to stop Keystone XL and move our country forward on climate.

President Obama’s legacy will rest squarely on his leadership in the face of the climate crisis. It's time for him to lead on the scale and with the urgency needed to phase out carbon-intensive fossil fuels, get moving on energy efficiency, and fire up clean, renewable energy sources.

The first big step for President Obama is to reject the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. The State Department is working to finalize its environmental review of Keystone XL -- a decision is coming soon. The fossil fuel industry and their backers in Congress are doing all they can to pressure the president to do the wrong thing.

RSVP to join us Feb 17th. Call on President Obama to stop Keystone XL and move our country forward on climate.

Everyone will be gathering on the National Mall by the Washington Monument at noon. You can get more information at http://forwardonclimate.org.

Apply for Greenpeace Semester

The Greenpeace Semester

 Do you care about the environment and want to learn skills to make a real difference?  Greenpeace is looking for the next environmental leaders who want to:

-Learn the practical skills of environmental activism, effective communication, leadership, and strategic campaigning in a supportive environment. 

-Travel to witness environmental destruction first hand and put new knowledge to use

-Get necessary experience that can give them a foot in the door to a career in environmental or social change

During the Greenpeace Semester, young adults learn what it takes to save the planet and gain career experience to become an environmental leader.  The program combines intensive workshops, groups projects, and real experience working on important issues in different communities, working side-by-side with Greenpeace staff. 

     You will:

• join in conversation on critical issues with experts on climate change, protecting our oceans, nuclear energy, forest conservation, toxic pollution, and corporate abuse of the environment
• learn the skills of environmental advocacy, strategic campaigning, communication, and grassroots organizing to win real victories for the planet
• discuss the philosophy of non-violence as a means of making change in the world

Click here to apply!
  

Over 400 participants have joined the Greenpeace Semester to learn the skills of organizing, campaigning, and environmental leadership. Alumni have become leaders on their campuses, secured jobs in the environmental and social justice fields, and some have even started their own organizations.

We invite you to review information about the Greenpeace Semester, including the curriculum, travel details, and the application process.  Please visit http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/semester/ to learn more about the Greenpeace Semester

Mountain Justice Spring Break in VA and WV

Friends of the Appalachian Mountains,

What are you doing for spring break?

Come to Appalachia and join the fight against mountaintop removal coal mining and hydrofracking for natural gas!  Meet awesome community activists and student leaders organizing in their communities to save their beloved Appalachian Mountains from blasting!  Have fun while while learning about coal mining, fracking, Appalachian music, culture and heritage - do community service work - go hiking in the mountains - see mountaintop removal and hydrofracking and learn about the death cycle of coal - hang out with other concerned, aware young people supporting local communities in their struggles against extractive industry.


This year, Mountain Justice is offering two Mountain Justice Spring Break weeks:

Virginia Mountain Justice Spring Break March 3-11, in Appalachia, Virginia - a historic town in the beautiful mountains of far western Virginia that has mountaintop removal coal mining very nearby.  Residents of the town and the community group SAMS (Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards)  are fighting to protect Ison Rock Ridge from mining.  You will see mountaintop removal up close, and meet with local residents who have lived in the mountains for a lifetime.  Workshops, organizing skills, trainings, site tours, mountain music and dancing.

To learn more and to register for Virginia Mountain Justice Spring Break, go to http://mjsb2012.wordpress.com/

From March 21-28, Mountain Justice Spring Break (MJSB) will be in northern West Virginia near Clarksburg, in the middle of the Marcellus Shale geological formation.  Driving in you will see dozens of active natural gas drill sites and hundreds of hydrofracking tanker trucks going up and down the highway.  This is a scenic and remote area of West Virginia that is getting drilled to death.

To learn more about hydrofracking, check out Steven Colbert's explanation of the issue.

Our West Virginia MJSB site is in a very comfortable and modern heated building with bunk beds, warm showers, and great home-cooked food lovingly prepared by volunteers.  The week will offer workshops, trainings and community-led presentations that focus on building bridges between the anti-hydrofracking and the anti-mountaintop removal campaigns.  Everyone is welcome and we have some awesome local West Virginia speakers lined up. 

We will offer site tours to see hydrofracking in nearby Wetzel County, West Virginia, and see mountaintop removal at Larry Gibson's famous Kayford Mountain.

Please note that the West Virginia MJSB begins and ends on a Wednesday - There will also be lots of activities and site tours (and possibly housing) before and after the camp.

MJSB is high-energy, youth-led and it's always exciting.  Check out this video from MJSB in 2007, when community members and college students entered the office of WV Governor Joe Manchin, demanding that a safe new school be built for the children at Marsh Fork Elementary, whose school was beneath a giant lake of toxic coal waste:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jqENyow0cQ

Registration for Mountain Justice Spring Break includes all food, workshops and lodging - it's low cost and no one is turned away for lack of ability to pay.

To register and for more information on the West Virginia MJSB, go to
http://www.mjsb.org/index.php

Student Leadership Development/ Community Service Opportunity with the Sierra Club

From the Sierra Club:

Tar Sands are a really toxic form of oil extracted from Canada, and a company called TransCanada has proposed a pipeline that would bring it through America’s heartland to be refined along the gulf coast of Texas.

The fight to keep tar sands in the ground and stop the pipeline, called Keystone XL, is in full swing!  We must be sure our voice is heard during the next few weeks- we have the greatest chance of influencing the decision on KSXL right now, and in the near future.

There are many ways to be involved and be sure that we make our message clear: We do not want dirty fuels like tar sands oil in our future! Keystone XL is a step in the wrong direction. We need to invest in a clean energy economy, not allow foreign companies to keep us dependent on oil, and pollute our communities!

TransCanada wants profits; we need a healthy and sustainable future!

Here is what you can do:

Photo Petition Drive
-Between now and November 21st we will be collecting photo petitions that will be dropped off at the White House on December 1st. Young Americans will send a message directly to President Obama:  If he permits the KSXL pipeline to be built, he places our future in jeopardy. Table on campus or in your community and ask people to take a stand against KSXL by taking a photo with a sign! Examples of possible slogans can be found here Tips for Planning a Photo Petition.   Check out what students in Michigan did with their photo petition. Example!
-Post your photos on our flickr page so we can print them out and get them into the right hands. Sign up here I want to Stop Tar Sands & KSXL! for the log in and password info!

November 6th White House Protest

-Our goal is to recruit 5,000 people to circle the White House in a peaceful, legal demonstration of our opposition to this atrocious plan. We will join hands around the White House to send a message to President Obama that he should not allow the KSXL pipeline to be built. This event will be historic- nothing like this has ever been done before!  Join us.
Visit the Sierra Club website to RSVP, or for more information.
http://www.sierraclub.org/

Students need to be represented! For help recruiting people for the event on your campus, e-mail me at Jackelintrevino@sierraclub.org, or sign up above to help us stop tar sands!

Thank you!

Tar Sands Action: Next Steps

Tar Sands Action: Phase Two
Monday, September 26, 2011 Butler Conference Room 7:30 PM

Eco-Sense and SIS Global Environmental Politics Program
presents:

Join students and faculty as they share their experiences taking direct action against the Keystone XL pipeline, educate the campus community about the issues involved with Tar Sands Oil, and the next steps to stop the Pipeline!
For access questions and disability support contact au_eco_sense@yahoo.com

Greenpeace Internships Available Spring 2012

Build skills while making a difference!

Intern with GREENPEACE for Spring Semester 2012

Who is Greenpeace?  Greenpeace is the leading independent environmental campaigning organization that uses peaceful direct action and creative communication to expose global environmental problems and to promote solutions that are essential to a green and peaceful future.

Why intern with Greenpeace?

As a Greenpeace intern you can:

·      Promote solutions to the global warming crisis

·      Stop the destruction of the world's last ancient forests

·      Empower consumers and shareholders to hold corporate polluters accountable

·      And yes - save the whales!

A Greenpeace Internship is a great way to learn first-hand how an international environmental campaigning organization works. You’ll gain issue expertise, build valuable career skills and make connections.  In addition to job training, you’ll have the opportunity to take part in trainings such as corporate campaigning, non-violent direct action, media relations and grassroots outreach. You’ll get to meet awesome people and work alongside experienced staff in a casual, high-energy environment.

Apply now for a Greenpeace internship!  Go to: http://www.greenpeace.org/internships

Available Internships:

Global Warming, Toxics, Campaigns, Grassroots Organizing, Student Organizing, Activist Recruitment, Actions, Strategy, Media, Photography, Video, Online Organizing, IT Support, Human Resources, Membership, and more! Visit our website for a full list and details on the specific tasks and requirements for each internship.

Locations:

Positions are available in Washington, DC, San Francisco, Austin, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Cincinnati, Denver, LA, New York City, Philadelphia, and Tampa. Not all internships are available in all locations. Visit our website to see details on where each internship is offered.

Program Details:

Our fall internships start January 30th and end May 4th. Part time and full time positions available. We are flexible with your schedule and can help you receive class credit. All internships are unpaid. Unfortunately Greenpeace cannot provide travel or housing.

Requirements:

Applicants must be over 18, but do not have to be current students. We’re looking for people with excellent verbal and written communications skills, strong online research skills, the ability to work well independently, commitment to non-violence as a means of affecting change and enthusiasm for protecting the environment.

Diverse perspectives and experience enhance the way Greenpeace selects and approaches issues, as well as the creativity and effectiveness of our campaigns. Greenpeace strongly encourages applications from women, people of color, and other under-represented communities.

Apply now for a Greenpeace internship!  Go to: http://www.greenpeace.org/internships

Amazon Watch Forum: Friday, September 23, at AU

AMAZON IN PERIL: INDIGENOUS STRUGGLES AGAINST HYDROELECTRIC DEVELOPMENT IN THE SHEYLA JURUNA HEART OF THE AMAZON 

Friday September 23rd 5:00 to 6:30PM 
Ward Building, Room 1 

SHEYLA JURUNA

The Brazilian Government is moving ahead “at any cost” with plans to build the third-largest dam in the world and one of the Amazon’s most controversial development projects- the Belo Monte dam on the Xingu River in the state of Para.

Mega-projects like these confront indigenous communities with massive displacement, disease, loss of food and clean water sources, cultural disintergration and serious human rights abuses. Sheyla Juruna has been active in the struggle to defend the Xingu River since the landmark victory in 1989 that stopped the Kararao Dam Complex. She has since become an important leader in the indigenous rights movement, working to insure “health, culturally appropriate education, land demarcation, and respect for indigenous rights” for her people.

Alta Gracia Workers to Speak at AU - Thursday, September 22 at 4 pm

Saturday, September 3rd: Tar Sands Action at the White House

As many of you know, Bill McKibben spoke last night about the two-week action at the White House in protest of the proposed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.

The last day of action is tomorrow, Saturday September 3rd.

For those of you would like to take part without risk of arrest, there will be a rally at Lafayette Square Park beginning at noon. You will be part of "aerial art," so the organizers are asking that rally-goers wear black shirts and bring water bottles. For more information about the rally and the pipeline see http://www.tarsandsaction.org/

Event: A Student Activist's Guide to the Galaxy

Dear Friends:

Are you a student who wants to make a bigger impact on your campus, community and world? Are you interested in advocating for global health and women's rights, or impacting climate change and water scarcity?

Build skills to make yourself heard at 'A Student Activist's Guide to the Galaxy' - a free advocacy and issue training on Feb 5-6, hosted by Americans for Informed Democracy.

When/Where:

Saturday February 5, 9-30-5pm (Lunch provided). George Washington University, Marvin Center Room 308
Sunday February 6, 1:30-4:30. George Washington University, Phillips Room 109
How: RSVP on Eventbrite: http://aidemocracydcconference.eventbrite.com/. The event is free, but space is very limited!

If you do not live in DC, transportation and housing scholarships may be available. Please email Priti@aidemocracy.org for more information.

Workshops and training include:

SPECIAL ADDRESS by Heather Hurlbert, National Security Network: Snapshot of the global system - what role for the US moving forward?
Health in Crisis- includes an on-the-ground update from Haiti
Organizing and leadership for social change
Healthy moms, healthy communities: Maternal health and development
What's sex got to do with it? Reproductive health and environmental sustainability
Strategic Communications 101: messaging, narrative, audience, outlets and more. With ReThink Media. (Sun 2/6,1:30-4:30pm)*
Advocacy Day on Capitol Hill! (Mon 2/7, 8am-2pm)
Speakers include: The Sierra Club, CARE, International Women's Health Coalition, Population Action International, ReThink Media and more!

Space is limited so get your ticket now: http://aidemocracydcconference.eventbrite.com/). And RSVP and share with friends on Facebook!

See you soon,

AIDemocracy Team

Student activism training from Greenpeace

Greenpeace is offering another semester of life-changing training this Spring 201.

The Greenpeace Organizing Term is the best hands-on training and leadership program available to college-aged students.

Not only will you learn how to organize environmental campaigns more effectively, but it will also give them skills and a network of activists and peers with whom they can work when they return to campus and work alongside after graduation.

The Greenpeace Organizing Term (http://www.greenpeace.org/got) is a semester-long program packed with rigorous training, travel, and action.

Contact info: got@wdc.greenpeace.org or call Linda Capato at 877-450-3517 ext. 320