( – promoted by odum)

Come join Moving Planet Vermont, the largest climate action ever held in Vermont at the State House in Montpelier at 2pm on Saturday Sep. 24.

Let’s show our support for a bold vision for a just transition to a sustainable future.

After Irene, Beth Sawin, a mom, biologist, and co-director of Climate Interactive, who lives in Hartland asked:

How to make good decisions, under pressure of time and in the face of loss, suffering and immediate need?

She answered her own question:

There is no perfect formula, of course, but from my community a few key messages emerge:

We can connect the dots between events we just lived through and global rise in greenhouse gases concentrations, and we can work together with others around the world to help phase out the pollution that makes future Irenes ever more likely. And, as we rebuild, we can make Vermont a stronger, smarter place, powered by clean energy and ready for the extremes our already destabilized climate will likely send our way.

The unique political dynamics of Vermont put us in an optimal position to enact bold climate legislation. In so doing, Vermont can show other states that such policies invigorate communities, encourage healthy lifestyles, do not hurt business, and raise our collective consciousness about our natural environment, all while allowing us to move into a healthy future.

Vermont has the opportunity to lead the nation — the world, frankly — in progressive climate legislation. Moving Planet Vermont is our opportunity to show our support for a bold vision for a just transition to a sustainable future.

WHEN: September 24, 2-6:30pm

WHERE: State House, Montpelier

See www.350vt.org for more information.

* Are you in middle or high school, ready to be a leader on climate change & to take a stand for your future?

* Looking for more powerful ways to make a difference & join a youth-powered movement that’s rising up in every corner of the world?

* Do you want to help organize a mega huge climate rally for iMatterMarch this Mother’s Day?

Come join the iCare, iOrganize, iMatter — a 350 Vermont Youth Leadership Workshop, in Montpelier on April 23rd, for aspiring young leaders from all regions of Vermont.

The aim of this workshop is to bring together many new and emerging climate leaders from around the state to arm them with the tools and connections to be dynamic and effective climate organizers — both in their schools, communities, and as a statewide force for change.

Join us for a full day of training, networking, collaboration and the making of big plans for the future. Beyond the workshop, you’ll all have a chance to work together right away by organizing for iMatterMarch’s May 8 nationwide day of youth-powered climate activism.

Following May 8th, we’re looking forward to working with and supporting this emerging power group to unite a movement of young people for real change across Vermont.

Solving climate change is about safeguarding your future, and a planet you deserve to live on. Ultimately, it will be the youth who inspire humanity to rise to this challenge — and right we now we need your voices loud, clear, and bolder than ever before.  

Registration form: Click HERE

Through this workshop you will:

   * Get to work with EXCITING Young leaders (YOU), PRESENTERS, and other great PARTICIPANTS.

   * Build momentum for a campaign and lead.

   * Explore new online and offline campaigning techniques.

   * Organize and put your ideas, skills, and inspiration to use with new friends.

Food: Snacks and Lunch will be provided

Cost: This event is free!

Got questions?

Bring ’em on. Please email Jenna Whitson, Jenna@350vt.org

Details at a glance:

Youth Climate Leadership Workshop

Date: April 23rd, 2011

Time: 10am-5pm

Location: Montpelier, Vermont

Registration deadline: 19th April 2011

Registration form: Click HERE

Who: Middle and Highschool students with a passion to lead action and change in their communities

(I can’t make this (prior commitment) but it’s a good cause.  Thanks for posting! – promoted by JulieWaters)

Vermont Climate Action Day is Thursday, February 3, and we’ve got a bus for the ride to the Statehouse in Montpelier!

Our community bus will leave:

Brattleboro at 7.50 am (from the Elliot Street Cafe, which will open at 7.30 on Feb 3)

Putney at 8.10 am (from the Putney Food Co-op).

We should get to Montpelier in time for the rally at the Statehouse at 10 am, with music and speakers. We’ll meet up with friends and neighbors from around the state.

The bus will leave Montpelier by 4 pm, and we should be back in Putney and Brattleboro before or around 6 pm.

Email Paulina at celebrate350@gmail.com to reserve seats or if you have any questions. Suggested donation is $10-20/person (we’ve got some of the cost covered already, and any surplus will go toward a Transition Putney bus stop community art project).

Vermont has an incredible opportunity to help create a future built on what we care about (justice, equality, community, health, respect, hard work, open minds), not just tweaks to the status quo. Let’s keep demonstrating the civic engagement we need to make the whole so much more than the sum of its parts! If you’re interested, bring excitement (and food, if you want!) to share and…Get On The Bus! Let’s fill the bus and lift every voice!

Click here for the full schedule: http://on.fb.me/VermontClimate… (schedule copied below, in case the link doesn’t work).

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Full schedule for Vermont Climate Action Day in Montpelier

Join Vermont’s Climate Champions as we build a powerful statewide movement for Climate Action. Our coalition – from grassroots activists to grasstops leaders – believes regaining and preserving a stable climate is the most important thing we can do to preserve healthy life on this planet, today and for all future generations. Vermont can be an important national climate leader, and 2011 is the year Vermont’s Climate Action movement gathers to support a powerful mandate for bold local solutions to our increasing climate-related challenges.

Vermont Climate Action Day, Thursday, February 3 Vermont Statehouse Room 11, 109 State St, Montpelier

8:30am – Registration opens

9:30am – Rep. Jason Lorber runs a mini-workshop on how to meet with our legislators.

10am – Rally with music, speakers, art, and a press conference.

Noon – Take your Representatives to lunch in the Statehouse Cafeteria.

1:30pm – Climate Community Schmooze and Strategy Session. Folks from all over the state get a chance to meet each other, share stories of their work, and strategize about how we create a diverse, effective, and unified movement.

Potential discussion topics include:

Statewide climate and peak oil response plan which matches the scale of the challenge

Vermont joining the United Nations Climate Neutral Network

Solutions that are equitable, universal, accountable, transparent and participative

Forming a climate change cabinet or agency to implement state plans

Environmental costs of fossil fuel use reflected in our economy

Stronger focus on developing funding sources for clean energy solutions

Higher priority to green jobs in state economic development programs

Bring your self, your art (Really! Bring your art to decorate the Statehouse!), your vision, your innovative ideas, your passion, and help make Vermont a shining beacon of hope and possibility.

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Vermont Climate Action Day Press Release

Vermonters set to pack the Statehouse for Climate Action Day

on Thurs, Feb 3, 2011.  Vermont Statehouse, Room 11 9:30am-3:30pm

10 am rally with speakers, music and art calling for bold Climate Action solutions.

Numerous Legislative Representatives and Governor Shumlin are expected to

express support for strong state climate change solutions at this public forum.

A coalition of grassroots groups, nonprofits, and impassioned citizens will gather at the Statehouse in Montpelier on Thursday, February 3, 2011 in a collective call for bold and comprehensive statewide action on climate change.  

Conscious that Governor Shumlin intends to take on climate change as part of his legislative agenda, and wanting to ensure that the scale of the state’s response reflects the magnitude of the risks posed by escalating climatic instability, this event will serve as the first step in building a powerful statewide movement calling for immediate and sweeping state climate action.

Registration begins at 8:30am, and at 9:30, Representative Jason Lorber will lead a brief training on How To Meet With Your Legislator.  From 10-11, there will be a rally with speakers, music, and a surprise gift for Governor Shumlin, followed by a press conference.  At noon, participants are encouraged to take their legislators to lunch and share the climate-related work they’ve been doing in their communities.  At 1:30, the group reconvenes for an open strategy session around collectively building a long-term statewide climate action campaign.

Organizing supporter David Stember, a volunteer with 350.org, notes that “this coalition is uniting around a shared belief that regaining and preserving a naturally stable climate is the most important step we can take to sustain healthy life on this planet. And,” Stember adds, “the time is now to build up the effort to match the scale of the challenges and risks we face.”

Actor and Transition Town Charlotte member Kathryn Blume is also one of the event’s organizers, and will be serving as MC for the rally. “Vermont can be an important national model for visionary, effective climate action,” says Blume, “and a wide range of people recognize that fact. Which is why we’re so fortunate to have such a diverse cross section of leaders speaking at the rally.”  

Blume adds, “When you’ve got everyone from business leaders to health care professionals to musicians to high school students to organic farmers to State Legislators to Town Planners-all throwing their passion and commitment behind helping to make Vermont cleaner, greener, and more resilient, then you know you’ve got a bold and rising social movement on your hands.”

For more information on Vermont Climate Action Day, please visit www.vtclimateday.org.  

( – promoted by JDRyan)

Some consider the fact that we Vermonters repeatedly elect Jim Douglas as well as Bernie Sanders a positive, healthy feature of politics in the Green Mountain State, a sign our democratic process is as healthy as our outdoorsy, covered-bridgey, and still, at times, despite average winter temps increasing four degrees in the past few decades, wonderlandy image.

I beg to differ.

The fact that Vermonters elect Douglas is evidence of the failure of our democracy. Vermont has, in the past, elected Douglas because we are comfortable with him, because he seems like a friendly guy. (Sound familiar?) But he only seems like a friendly guy because he has a master PR organization (funded by our tax money). Douglas has installed PR people in every important state department, and they control public access to information.  Anything positive is trumpeted, anything potentially controversial is buried and all the rest is spun.

Gov. Douglas, you want this year’s election to be about public relations and spin? You got it. Because this time around, you’ve made the largest public relations mistake of your career.

As with all Republican spin, it’s hard to know where to start.

Because Douglas’ PR mistake and serious error in judgment has to do with his dear colleague and friend, Gov. Palin of Alaska, it’s even harder.

First of all, Vermont Public Radio had Douglas on the air right after McCain announced the Palin choice on August 29. Douglas found Palin a very good choice. His reasons:

Palin has brought real leadership to Juneau.

She has brought ethics reform.

She has a strong commitment to combating greenhouse gas emissions.

She has spoken strongly of the need for energy independence and getting away from Big Oil companies.

A little later in the program he even called her an “environmentalist”…

Let’s see:

So, is that what you call an environmentalist?

Gov. Douglas added insult to injury a few days later when he insisted:

I think a lot of Vermonters will identify with her.

Err, no. Quite a few–a majority, I’m willing to bet–of us Vermonters:

are not under investigation for ethics violations;

do not make a habit of lying to the entire American people about our experience and record;

do not believe 20% of the domestic energy supply comes from Alaska (heck, Palin, far from knowing more about energy than anyone else in the US (McCain, incredibly, claimed she did), seems to know less than any Vermonter (except, perhaps Gov. Douglas?);

would not put a mining industry attorney in charge of a Sub-cabinet on climate change;

are very concerned about greenhouse gas emissions, whereas Palin does not “blam[e] the changes in our climate on human activity“;

And while many of us support hunting and are hunters, the whole aerial hunting thing…(see video above)? Wouldn’t go over very well.

I could go on, and I know you could too.

So, while a fair number of Vermonters do self-identify as…well, community organizers with real responsibilities…we’re not all that likely to “identify” with Palin.

But…says Douglas:

She’s bold and at the same time she is very respectful of other people and very polite.

Dear Governor Douglas, that’s not what Vermonters call bold, respectful, or polite.

Then again, Governor Palin did unconstitutionally use her office to support mining interests on a very recent ballot initiative. And I know one Vermonter who can identify with using the governor’s office to support special polluter interests.

But enough about Douglas, what are other friendly neighborhood Republicans saying about Palin?

( – promoted by odum)

Come join the rally!

From MoveOn:

“Gas prices are off the charts, the situation in the Middle East is unstable, scientists are warning that global warming is at a tipping point, and last month, MoveOn members decided that “clean, sustainable energy” should be one of our key goals. That’s why we’re launching a major push for an “Oil-Free Congress.”

“This is going to be a big campaign for us. Together, we’ll spend the next month exposing the ties between oil companies and politicians in Washington and pushing Congress to go “oil-free.” A critical part of our strategy is spreading our message to folks when they’re feeling the effects of oil-dependence the most—at gas stations.

On Wednesday, June 28th—right before the 4th of July when gas prices will be front and center as folks plan for the long weekend—we’re going to be holding rallies at gas stations across America. We’ll expose how Congress is tied to Big Oil and urge your representative to lead the way to an oil-free future.”

Since 1990, Big Oil has given more than $190 million to members of Congress and 75% ($142,635,314!) of those donations have gone to Republicans. That money has guaranteed energy policy that serves the oil industry rather than the public interest.

Until we stop politicians from taking money from Big Oil, it’ll be hard to stop global warming and move into a clean-energy future. We need Democrats to fight oil-corruption in Washington and lead the way to an “Oil-free” Congress.

Over 300 rallies are planned nationwide. One of these is in Brattleboro!

Come rally in Brattleboro for an oil-free Congress so that we can work toward homegrown, renewable, and safe energy!

For info about the Brattleboro rally:
http://political.moveon.org/event/events/event.html?event_id=9629