Power Shift 2009

[Emit]

While talking heads served us Limbaugh, CPAC and tea party protests, seems they missed Power Shift 2009 (did anybody see M$M cover this?). I didn't even hear about this Power Shift 2009 stuff going on last week and over the weekend until one of our local progressive radio hosts mentioned it. Anybody else catch this?

Billy Parish is an original co-founder of the Energy Action Coalition, the organizers of the historic Power Shift 2009 conference that has brought 12,000 young people together from the across the country this weekend in Washington D.C. this weekend. Billy is currently an Ashoka fellow working with Green for All, 1Sky, Energy Action Coalition and Black Mesa Water Coalition to help align efforts to advocate for a clean, just and sustainable energy future. I spoke with him Sunday evening as the thousands of young Power Shifters attended trainings where they prepared to ascend Capitol Hill tomorrow for the largest climate and clean energy lobby day in U.S. history.

~snip~

http://itsgettinghotinhere.org/2009/03/01/size-diversity-and-power-billy-parish-on-the-growing-youth-climate-movement-at-power-shift-2009/

Beyond Caffeine: the energy of 12,000 people
Published by Alisha Fowler, March 1st, 2009 Power Shift , Power Shift 2009 , United States , Video , Youth Leaders , global warming
Yesterday was a long day. From 8:00 am - 11:00 pm Power Shifters roamed the DC Convention Center to attend panels, workshops, network (sleep on the floor occasionally), and hear from speakers like Jerome Ringo, Jessy Tolkan, and Rep. Ed Markey.
~snip~

http://itsgettinghotinhere.org/2009/03/01/beyond-caffeine-the-energy-of-12000-people/



Pictures from Powershift09
Posted by Henri Makembe on Sat, Feb 28, 2009 @ 3:20 pm
Pictures from the middle of the action
http://powershift09.org/node/901

[Veritas_et_Aequitas]

1. I only heard about it on Democracy Now! earlier today. nt

[Emit]

2. And the day might end in jail for the more than 2,500 students ...

Thousands of Youth Descend on D.C. to Demand New Climate Change Policy
By Jessica Lee, Indypendent
Posted on March 2, 2009, Printed on March 2, 2009
http://www.alternet.org/story/129580/

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Just blocks away from Capitol Hill, a new conversation is sweeping the streets. Within the crowded sidewalks and cafes along H and 7th Streets, certain words likely will catch your ear: environmental sustainability, green economy, direct action, colonization, coal power plants and capitalism.

All weekend, more than 12,000 college and high school students traveled across the country for the second Power Shift conference, a meeting-of-the-minds for students serious about taking leadership roles in not only confronting climate change, but also taking on Washington attitudes and business-as-usual.

As a blizzard pounds the East Coast, students are preparing to take the Capitol by storm Monday.

The day begins with scheduled meetings with their elected officials -- many of them in their first trip to the Capitol -- in what organizers are calling “the largest-ever lobby day on climate change and energy.” More than 350 meetings for youth lobbying have been scheduled within Congress.

And the day might end in jail for the more than 2,500 students have signed-up to put their bodies on the line to shut down a nearby power plant that uses coal to produce nearly 50 percent of its energy. Climate scientists, such as NASA’s James Hansen, warn that the only way to mitigate climate change is to completely stop burning coal to make electricity.

~snip~

http://www.alternet.org/rights/129580/thousands_of_youth_descend_on_d.c._to_demand_new_climate_change_policy/

[Peace Patriot]

3. Sounds like a great project! Go, Power Shifters!!! nt