Nine months ago today a small group students at the University of Cincinnati sent a letter to President Gregory Williams announcing the official formation of the Beyond Coal Campaign. Now, not even a year later, we have reached the crucial moment, we have made our final ask. Just days ago, the administration formally announced that the first of the two coal fired boilers on our campus is scheduled to be retired by 2015 before the EPA MACT Rules (Maximum Achievable Control Technology) go into effect. On the heels of this good news, we decided to make the final demand: a commitment for the second boiler to be retired no later than 2019.
by Ash Lauth, Tar Sands Campaign Organizer, Energy Action Coalition
Everyday when I wake up, I wonder sardonically, what new surprises will Keystone XL bring me today. Sure, it's a zombie pipeline that just won't die; it's a whack-a-mole pipeline that pops up everywhere; but I'm surprised and saddened to say that today, it's a presidential pipeline.
This morning, I woke up to the A-Team. And seven other alarms I had set for myself. Because today was not a day to sleep in. Today mattered.
One month ago, I and a bunch of other students from Wooster launched a campaign to kick coal off of our campus. The coal plant–towering, glowering, and practically invisible–had to change, or it had to go. And today was the day where it all came down to the line. The College of Wooster's Board of Trustees arrived on campus yesterday to make all the important decisions about the problems plaguing this campus: housing, discrimination, classroom quality, new facilities, and the coal plant.
Recently in Ohio, we have been working very hard to support the EPA’s strong Mercury Rules, that will crack down on levels of toxic mercury from coal plants. High levels of mercury are linked to serious developmental disorders and learning disorders. Currently, power plants are permitted to pump unregulated and obscene levels of mercury into the environment, regardless of the devastating neurological impacts.
by Whit Jones, Campaign Director, Energy Action Coalition
This weekend, over 400 youth leaders from across the Midwest converged in Cleveland, Ohio to do some political organizing. Ohio is a critical swing state in the 2012 election, but these activists weren't coming to knock on doors for Mitt Romney or phone-bank for Barack Obama.
Instead, their mission was two-fold: continue to work together building the clean energy economy in the heartland, and two, stand up against the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, a major setback and threat for the Midwest.
On Thursday a press conference was held in Cincinnati, OH as a call to action, to city and state alike, demanding clean air and protections from pollution for children and families. As I entered Cincinnati proper for the event, the city's advisory level escalated from Heat Advisory to a Smog Advisory. Unfortunately, for both city and state, smog advisories have been rather common, and according to data from the American Lung Association's "State of the Air 2011," report released in April, asthma and other respiratory illnesses plague 127,000 on average in Hamilton County.
For any organizer under 25, we get hit with this question all the time. As a little social experiment, I always answer with the question, “how old do you think I am?” Without fail, people assume I’m 5 or more years older than I actually am. When I organized my first campaign with a group of fellow 16 year olds, everyone assumed we were all juniors in college. When I worked with NOI to put on the largest organizing training in history at Power Shift 2011, someone guessed I was nearly thirty. (In reality, I’m just barely a twenty something.)
This shouldn’t be all that shocking. We live in a society where young people are so powerless that they spend the first couple decades of their lives raising their hands to get permission to take a trip to the restroom. So when we see the same young person build and leverage power over elected officials, corporate powers, or school administrators, it flies in the face of what society tells us young people are capable of.
In reality, we fresh-faced change makers are capable of contributing to, and in fact can even run our own, strategic, hard-hitting campaigns, if given a chance and tools. A quick survey of the organizing taking place around climate change, as well as a peek at the historical record, and you too will be convinced that we young’ins can do much more than canvass.
As we gear up for Power Shift 2011, a lot of things are going on. Next month, 10,000 young environmental activists will come to DC to make their voices heard, learn about environmental organizing, and make change happen. Yesterday, a group of young Ohioans, Sierra Club organizers, and Ohio's Energy Action Coalition got the ball rolling on this power shift.
The group convened in front of Speaker John Boehner's field office in Cincinnati, OH, to protest Boehner's support of anti-EPA legislation. In 2009, the EPA issued a finding declaring that six key greenhouse gases are dangerous for our public health. The republican-proposed legislation would strip the EPAs ability to regulate these greenhouse gases as outlined in the Clean Air Act.
Katie McChesney, the Ohio representative for the Energy Action Coalition, said, "Protecting the Clean Air Act is an essential way of protecting the healthy of children and families in Ohio and across the country. We hope that Congressman Boehner will listen to the call of young people in Ohio and put our interests before those of corporate polluters."
This shouldn’t be all that shocking. We live in a society where young people are so powerless that they spend the first couple decades of their lives raising their hands to get permission to take a trip to the restroom. So when we see the same young person build and leverage power over elected officials, corporate powers, or school administrators, it flies in the face of what society tells us young people are capable of.
The group convened in front of Speaker John Boehner's field office in Cincinnati, OH, to protest Boehner's support of anti-EPA legislation. In 2009, the EPA issued a finding declaring that six key greenhouse gases are dangerous for our public health. 
