Comments blue canary has made

  • Great post! So what do we do about it? As you said, Congressional procedures are pretty boring, and I can't see any sexy celebs doing a Feed-the-World style singalong about filibusters.On The real reason the climate bill is going to suck posted 4 weeks ago 29 Responses
  • I'm loving all the comments to this article. It's great to see thoughtful discussion of such a critical issue. I am incredibly skeptical of the climate bills for the reasons cited above. The half-assed emissions reductions targets in the bills aren't exactly inspiring. It would be one thing for a developing nation to commit to weak targets, but for the most powerful nation in the world? We can do so much better, and I think the rest of the world knows that. Besides, if the climate bill won't even be signed by Copenhagen, why are we rushing to support a weak bill? As far as movement-building goes, I don't think we're going to win any respect or power by saying "Strengthen this bill!!! Or, pass it anyway because we'll take whatever you give us!" The political left has taken the environmental community for granted, it's time to show them we're a force to be reckoned with.On Calling all radicals: Unite for Kerry-Boxer posted 1 month, 1 week ago 32 Responses
  • Way to go! I'm glad more national media is paying attention to what's going on in Appalachia, as it's arguably one of the worst human rights and environmental disasters in the US right now.On Coalfield uprising leads to arrests at W.Va. gov's office posted 1 month, 1 week ago 6 Responses

  • right on

    I, too, spent a few weeks canvassing for Ohio PIRG, but quit because I was so disillusioned. Ostensibly, the point of our canvassing was to generate letters against a polluting industry in the area. However, since our paycheck was 50% of whatever money we collected, and we had bills to pay, that tended to be at the forefront of our canvassing. We were poorly educated on the subject, and who has time to write an entire letter while you're standing on their doorstep? I think the entire time I was working there I got maybe two letters. It seemed like the only thing I was raising money for was for me to continue handing out more hastily-made factsheets.

    Fast-forward to several years later, I was working as a community organizer for Americorps. This time, our door-to-door canvassing was to get people to tell us their concerns about the neighborhood, to hear what they wanted to do, to learn their strengths, to invite them to community meetings and get involved. Even in a low-income neighborhood like the one I was working in, after residents started to get involved, they started to donate as well.

    Of course money is important. It pays for the websites, the fliers, the postage, the campaigners. But the environmental movement is about more than that. Hand out as many factsheets as you want, but if you're not getting that person at the door to call their congressperson, attend a protest, vote on a referendum, it doesn't matter how much money you're raising.On Why green-group canvassing operations need an overhaul posted 3 years, 6 months ago 28 Responses

  • environmental justice

    My undergraduate thesis was focused on this very subject: environmental justice in the coal fields. The most difficult question I found, and one that is at the core of most environmental justice battles, is how do we sacrifice jobs for the environment?

    While coal mining has employed declining numbers of Appalachians for decades, it is still a major player in many eastern Kentucky communities. I believe that there are other opportunities for employment in the region that have yet to be fully explored (eco-tourism and recreation are at the top of the list), but that's not going to happen overnight. A common response I got from residents in these communities was, "The coal companies may be dirt bastards, but at least I got a job."

    Coal mining can be done in less-destructive, more environmentally friendly ways, but the chances of coal companies using those methods without being forced to by the government are about as good as Bush joining Amnesty International.On Mountaintop-removal mining is devastating Appalachia, but residents are fighting back posted 3 years, 9 months ago 10 Responses

  • environmental justice

    My undergraduate thesis was focused on this very subject: environmental justice in the coal fields. The most difficult question I found, and one that is at the core of most environmental justice battles, is how do we sacrifice jobs for the environment?

    While coal mining has employed declining numbers of Appalachians for decades, it is still a major player in many eastern Kentucky communities. I believe that there are other opportunities for employment in the region that have yet to be fully explored (eco-tourism and recreation are at the top of the list), but that's not going to happen overnight. A common response I got from residents in these communities was, "The coal companies may be dirt bastards, but at least I got a job."

    Coal mining can be done in less-destructive, more environmentally friendly ways, but the chances of coal companies using those methods without being forced to by the government are about as good as Bush joining Amnesty International.On Mountaintop-removal mining devastates Appalachia, but residents fight back posted 3 years, 9 months ago 10 Responses

  • environmental justice

    My undergraduate thesis was focused on this very subject: environmental justice in the coal fields. The most difficult question I found, and one that is at the core of most environmental justice battles, is how do we sacrifice jobs for the environment?

    While coal mining has employed declining numbers of Appalachians for decades, it is still a major player in many eastern Kentucky communities. I believe that there are other opportunities for employment in the region that have yet to be fully explored (eco-tourism and recreation are at the top of the list), but that's not going to happen overnight. A common response I got from residents in these communities was, "The coal companies may be dirt bastards, but at least I got a job."

    Coal mining can be done in less-destructive, more environmentally friendly ways, but the chances of coal companies using those methods without being forced to by the government are about as good as Bush joining Amnesty International.On An excerpt from Missing Mountains, a new book about mountaintop-removal mining posted 3 years, 9 months ago 10 Responses