Sudipta Sarkhel has been coordinating a RAN group out of West Bengal and doing some amazing work! I am pasting here a report from a public meeting they held last week where citizens from the area came to express their concern over pollution in West Bengal and its impact on the climate. It’s so amazing to me that we are now working with groups as far away as India and Nigeria. Stay tuned for more reports!

From Sudipta:

The speakers while addressing the audience expressed their grave concern over the growing environment pollution in West Bengal. They expressed disappointment and ventilated their grievances over the indifferent attitude and reluctance of the West Bengal Government to take appropriate action to prevent environmental pollution. They urged the people to be united and raise their voices in protest against the inaction of the state government in implementing the court’s order to reduce vehicles emissions. They said the state government has, however, failed to contribute in a big way in curbing pollution and phasing out old and polluting vehicles. They expressed apprehension that if global warming is not checked and the sea level continues to rise at its present rate, an area of 100 sq km covering Kolkata, Hooghly, parts of North 24 Parganas, Midnapore, Nadia, entire South 24 Parganas would be submerged in the next 50 years. They said vehicular pollution has hit photosynthesis of plants robbing the city of precious oxygen. Kolkata is extremely vulnerable to climate change impacts. For a city that often experiences intense cyclonic activity, the rising sea level is a big threat.The Sundarbans is already a victim of rising sea level. On an average, 2.5mm of the Sundarbans is sinking annually due to erosion, deforestation, and destruction of Mangrove forests. They said the city’s highly polluted air is leading to the growing number of lung cancer patients. Kolkata’s air pollution results from the horribly high level of auto emissions, which the authorities have failed to control so far. If this is not checked with a heavy hand, the impact on the health of Kolkatans, particularly children, will be devastating.

As for our future plans, our prime aim is to spread the mission and message of Rainforest Action Network among the students throughout West Bengal. Our next steps will be reaching out to the students, mobilizing and getting them involved in RAN’s activities. We have decided to hold events in schools and college campuses. At the same time we will continue our campaigning on different local issues, as we have already been requested by the local people and clubs from different parts of the state to organize meetings on local environmental issues.

With Warm Regards,
Sudipta Sarkhel

Abigail: Thursday, June 26

Activists in Charlotte paid a visit to B of A’s headquarters today, holding a banner that read “DIVEST FROM COAL” and passing out information on the bank’s dirty energy investments to bank employees and passers-by. We were visited a few times by some cops on Segways (you know, those electro-gyroscopic scooters), cops on foot, and cops on bicycles, all seeming very concerned about just how much public sidewalk we were taking up outside B of A’s monstrous building downtown. We spoke with a bunch of Charlotte residents, some of whom were genuinely surprised to hear about B of A’s involvement in financing the coal industry, and were interested to learn about the campaign against them. We were having so much fun that some local high school students joined us in handing out fliers and talking with folks as the business day ended and the street filled with busy businesspeople. A rousing day of public education and outreach was had by all.

Activists from around North Carolina have come together in Charlotte to take citizen action against Bank of America in their own company town. To highlight the socio-economic abuses perpetrated by the bank against the communities and ecosystems of Appalachia, several ATMs and bank branches have been shut down, roped off and declared “global warming crime scenes.” Bank employees have been witnessing their employer being called out for its role in financing the wholesale destruction of the Appalachian Mountains and supporting King Coal’s ongoing tyranny over the Appalachian people. People were cautioned about our common proximity to the impacts of global warming – as a reminder of our common responsibility towards climate justice.

Activists in Chapel Hill, NC took further action against climate change and mountain top removal, this time bringing the message to Bank of America Director W.Steven Jones - also the Dean of Kenan-Flagler Business School at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Posters were put up in and around the UNC business school with pictures of Jones’ colleague - CEO Ken Lewis and information on the bank’s socially unethical and environmentally disastrous investment portfolio.

Activists also postered climate disaster posters in the boroughs of Charlotte’s finest – to remind them of our common future. We hope they will appreciate this effort to reach out to them directly, and choose to use their positions of power and influence to call on Bank of America to end its financing of massive social and ecological destruction during this critical time of global climate change.

One of B of A’s many large-scale coal investments is a loan to Duke Energy for the construction of their new Cliffside coal plant, located between Charlotte and Asheville, NC. This plant is currently facing several legal challenges and massive citizen opposition. The climate disaster posters call for the cancellation of Cliffside as well as an end to all of B of A’s investments in dirty energy projects.

Abigail

More from today’s Dynegy shareholder’s meeting in Houston today. CEO Bruce Williamson, a finalist for Fossil Fool of the Year, told his company’s shareholders “that only a few of the proposed coal-fired power plants in the United States will be built due to soaring costs and financing hurdles.”

He said that only plants that have “already started construction, have an EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) contract or equipment committed to them,”"

Pretty big news. That sounds like we’re winning. Does mean that King Coal is going to pack up and call it a day?

Not bloody likely. Sooner or later they will initiate the backlash.

Keep up the pressure.

Environmental activists from six states -Michigan, Nevada, Georgia, Texas, Iowa, and Illinois - converged today to urge the Houston-based Dynegy corporation to halt construction on its six proposed coal plants.

Outside the meeting 100 activists rallied to speak truth to Dynegy’s power.

40 activists from Georgia, Texas and Alabama staged a “die-in” inside the Westin where the meeting was being held. They held space until police and security got them out of the building.

Video here
More pix here

From their press release:

“Coal is a ticking time bomb for investors and the climate. From the destruction of Appalachian mountaintops to the millions of tons of carbon dioxide, mercury and other toxic pollutants emitted from power plants, coal plants are the country’s top source of global warming and mercury pollution. Yet Houston-based Dynegy plans to build six new coal-fired plants—more than any other company in the country.”

In conjunction with the international release of a report by Greenpeace today – that identifies the ridiculous risk, uncertainty and cost associated with industry-driven plans for carbon capture and sequestration (CCS),

Public interest groups (from across the country) sent the following letter to Congress, demanding that taxpayer subsidies be disallowed CCS, and that safe, affordable and market-ready energy technologies such as wind and solar be funded instead.

Dear Members of Congress

On behalf of our members and supporters we are writing to express our opposition to any policies that promote or provide taxpayer subsidies for carbon capture and storage (CCS), the practice of trapping carbon dioxide from fossil fuel combustion and storing it below the sea or beneath the surface of the earth.

As you know, global warming is one of the greatest challenges facing the planet today. To avoid the worst impacts of global warming scientists have warned that we need to reduce global warming pollution by at least 80 percent by 2050. Climate stabilization, national security and economic prosperity depend on substantially reducing our use of fossil fuels. That means no new investments in major infrastructure that increases fossil fuel dependence. Every dollar invested in CCS is a dollar unavailable for investment in renewable energy, efficient vehicles and energy efficiency.

CCS raises a number of serious financial, environmental and safety concerns:

· CCS cannot deliver in time. The best-case scenario is that the technology would be ready by 2030. Every decision made about new power plants today influences the energy mix for the next 30-40 years. We need to make the smartest choices to address the global warming crisis and invest in proven solutions as soon as possible.

· CCS is cost intensive. It increases the cost of power generation by 40 to 80 percent compared with conventional coal plants. Current research shows electricity generated from coal equipped with CCS will be more expensive than other less polluting sources, such as, wind power.

· CCS technology reduces the efficiency of power plants. Up to 30 percent more fossil fuel must be burned when CCS is used to achieve the same power output.

· CCS poses a risk of carbon dioxide leakage. Continuous leakage, even at very low rates, could undermine the climate benefit of CCS and large releases of carbon can also pose significant risk to human health.

As evidenced by mountain-top removal and dangerous emissions, CCS cannot make coal clean. Renewable energy sources are already available without the negative environmental impacts that are associated with fossil fuel exploitation, transport and processing. It is renewable energy together with energy efficiency and energy conservation that has to increase so that the primary cause of climate change – the burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas – is stopped.

We strongly urge you to oppose any policies that provide mandates or taxpayer funded incentives for CCS. We should instead fund clean, renewable, domestic sources of energy, energy efficiency and conservation. Congress must prevent the construction of new coal-fired power plants that are inconsistent with an energy future that is good for the economy, the environment, national security, and safe for communities.

Sincerely,

ActionPA • Alliance for Appalachia • Appalachian Voices • Black Mesa Water Coalition • California Communities Against Toxics • Canary Coalition • Cape & Islands Self-Reliance Corporation • Center for Coalfield Justice • Co-op America • Chesapeake Climate Action Network • Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana • Clean Power Now • Coal River Mountain Watch • Cook Inletkeeper • Energy Justice Network • Environmental Alliance of North Florida • Environmental Research Foundation • Friends of the Earth • Global Exchange • The Grand Canyon Trust • Green Delaware • Greenpeace • Heartwood • Help Our Polluted Environment • Indigenous Environmental Network • Jefferson Action Group • Kentuckians for the Commonwealth • Meigs Citizen Action Now • Mountain Watershed Association • North Carolina Waste Awareness & Reduction Network • Nuclear Information and Resource Service • Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition • Palm Beach County Environmental Coalition • Protect Biodiversity in Public Forests • Rainforest Action Network • Residents Against the Power Plant • Rising Tide North America • Save It Now, Glades! • Save Our Cumberland Mountains • Southern Energy Network • Valley Watch

How often do you get to witness a band of activists deploy a direct action and successfully pressure the CEO of a corporation into agreeing to their demands - before the police even arrive on the scene?

On Friday afternoon, student activists with Ohio Student Environmental Coalition and members of Mountain Justice occupied the lobby of American Municipal Power and forced an impromptu meeting with CEO Mark Gerken – who was not a happy camper.

AMP is planning to build a 1000 MW pulverized coal power plant in Meigs County, Ohio – one of the most impoverished counties in the state, with some of the highest lung cancer and premature death rates due industrial pollution in the country. There are already 4 coal power plants within 10 miles of Meigs and the coal barons of the Midwest are planning on building five more – the largest and dirtiest being the AMP project.

Determined to put an end to this economic and social injustice, concerned Meigs residents have been working with student and youth activists to organize and empower communities to break out of the socio-economic slavery of king coal. Mountain Justice Spring Break - an event where many students, rather than spending their holidays in Florida or Cancun, have opted instead for more meaningful pursuits in building solidarity, developing consensus, discovering affinity and exploring nonviolent direct action - showcased this collaboration over this last week.

Today marked a watershed moment in the movement against King Coal in Ohio. The activists’ demands were simple: cancel plans to build the coal plant, fund renewable energy, and schedule a meeting between the AMP Board of Trustees, local students, and frontline community activists to discuss how AMP can best chart a course towards these goals.

So, this morning, about fifty student and youth activists – most of whom had never participated in a direct action – marched to AMP headquarters in Columbus, Ohio, at which point a group of four negotiators entered the building and demanded a meeting with Gerken. Even when confronted by irate AMP employees, the youth negotiators kept their cool and stuck to their demands. They not only managed to meet with Gerken, but also got him to commit to a meeting between students, Meigs County activists and the AMP Board – and to agree that AMP wouldn’t begin construction on the plant until after this meeting has taken place.

This action was part of an ongoing campaign by activists – including residents of frontline communities, and student activists from groups like Mountain Justice, Ohio Student Environmental Coalition, Earth First, and Student Environmental Action Coalition – against AMP’s plans to bring further destruction to Southern Ohio. On a Sunday morning in early March, a group of concerned citizens visited the home of CEO Marc Gerken, and demanded that AMP reconsider its plans to move forward with the plant. (At that point, Gerken brushed off their requests for a meeting.) Earlier this week – as part of the Listening Project – several students visited the homes of Meigs County residents, listened to their concerns about the AMP project, and empowered them to take action and join the campaign against the coal plant.

Today’s action was the biggest step to date in this campaign, and has laid the groundwork for even bigger victories against King Coal in Ohio. Stay tuned for updates on what this collaboration will do next!

Adrian & Ananda in Columbus

This week, General Motors Vice Chairman, Bob Lutz, defended his remark dismissing global warming as a “crock of s**t.”

For a moment, the remark felt like a refreshing glimmer of honesty—a break from the company’s misleading eco-pr and green concept cars. But Lutz took it a step further by insisting that his global warming denial has no bearing on GM’s product development, which he oversees.

Honestly, if a 911 operator told you they thought your heart attack was a crock of s**t, do you think your ambulance would be coming on time?

As gas prices soar and temperatures rise, the last thing we need is a corporate leader stuck in the past; someone who lacks the humanity and the forward thinking to address the real problems associated with global warming. As product development chief of GM, does Lutz expect us to believe he is the best candidate for developing innovative solutions to a problem he doesn’t think is real?

And we wonder why America’s largest car company is unwilling to take the lead in better fuel efficiency and alternative fuel sources?

Last week I told you that RAN supporters shut down interactive features on General Motor’s new greenwashing website, gmnext.com.

We posted pictures of student activists at the Detroit auto show protesting automakers on the site and thousands of RAN supporters flooded GM with comments supporting the students and asking the giant automaker to take real steps, not just greenwashing PR, on climate and green jobs.

Within a matter of hours GM shut down comments on the site.

Then, Christopher Barger, Director of Global Communications Technology for GM, came to our blog and wrote that they turned of the interactive features because “‘dialogue’ does not mean ‘open to demagogues.’” One of his employees–who it seems didn’t realize that her IP address identified her as part of the GM PR machine–going by the name “betty” also commented on our blog and started a lively conversation.

I know, hilarious.

Anyhow, Mr Barger also promised that they “are planning to have an open forum — possibly even a series of them – in the coming weeks where we will address green jobs, the quest for 100 mpg cars and other pressing environmental issues.”

Well, to give him credit, GM has announced the first of those forums.

Mr. Barger left a note on our blog and everyone who left a comment on the site got an email today announcing that:

“GM executive Brent Dewar will be on hand to answer your questions about GM’s environmental policies and initiatives. The chat will take place Wednesday, February 6 from noon to 1 p.m. EST. To access the chat, go to http://www.gmnext.com/LiveChat.aspx and register with your e-mail address. On the day of the chat, click the “Enter Chat” button and join the conversation.”

Great! Let’s ask some questions! I’ll be in the chat and I hope to see lots of RAN supporters there asking GM why they are doing so little about global warming, green jobs and social justice.

Don’t expect a lot of candor or honesty, we are, afterall, dealing with the PR apparatus of one of the biggest corporations in the world. Instead, I expect more of the same–greenwashing slogans and little real action.

According to a new Naomi Klein piece in the Nation, the “smart” money these days is on guns, not green. Private security companies, weapons makers, and disaster-response contractors can expect brisk business in the fast-arriving era of climate chaos.

Anyone tired of lousy news from the markets should talk to Douglas Lloyd, director of Venture Business Research, a company that tracks trends in venture capitalism. “I expect investment activity in this sector to remain buoyant,” he said recently. His bouncy mood was inspired by the money gushing into private security and defense companies. He added, “I also see this as a more attractive sector, as many do, than clean energy.”

Got that? If you are looking for a sure bet in a new growth market, sell solar, buy surveillance; forget wind, buy weapons.

According to Klein, the private war economy ramped up after September 11 is being re-geared to help the wealthy defend themselves from the angry, unwashed masses during the coming crisis. As she points out, it’s a much more reliable way of making money than actually trying to avert disaster in the first place:

Of course, there is still money to be made from going green; but there is much more green–at least in the short term–to be made from selling escape and protection. As Lloyd explains, “The failure rate of security businesses is much lower than clean-tech ones and, as important, the capital investment required to build a successful security business is also much lower.” In other words, solving real problems is hard, but turning a profit from those problems is easy.

In a way, the current administration’s refusal to engage with international efforts to curb global warming could be seen as yet another sweetheart deal for groups like Halliburton and Blackwater–they’re the ones who will benefit from destabilization resulting from climate change. There’s no shortage of perverse incentives, especially while governments allow polluters to externalize the true cost of their activity.

All this goes to show that we should be skeptical of claims that the markets, left to their own devices, will lift us out of this crisis. For many, it might be more profitable not to.