Brandeis SJSF finished up its semester with a bang and hopes to return next year with the same strength we left off with. On Dec 5th, we partnered up with Waltham Alliance to Create Housing (WATCH) and National Collegiate Volunteers (NCV) for a very successful energy barnraising in Waltham. (An energy barnraising is an event in which volunteers come together to weatherize a home, reduce fuel use, and cut down energy bills.) Home Energy Efficiency Team (HEET) of Cambridge Mass provided team leaders for the process.

It was great to see three organizations with such very different missions come together to accomplish something real. WATCH, a community organization, works to create affordable housing and empower Waltham residents. NCV promotes community service to help disadvantaged community members. SJSF promotes clean energy and energy efficiency to reduce CO2 emissions and global warming. But all three came together: to plan, advertise, fundraise, and provide manpower for a very successful event.

The event took place Sunday, Dec 5th in a three-story Waltham home, and from 11am-4pm 30 volunteers worked diligently to weatherize the house. The process included sealing up cracks and holes around windows and doors, properly insulating the basement and attic, changing out lightbulbs for high efficiency CFL bulbs, and… installing a kitty door (nice job Harrison)! The process cut down on the heat that escapes the home and reduced the home’s fuel use–reducing emissions and saving the homeowner money on monthly energy bills.

Special thanks to Transatlantic Climate Bridge and Brandeis’s Center for German and European Studies for generously donating funds for our barnraising! They were also great to include us in their Climate Change Campus Weeks, a two-week series of events on Brandeis campus at the end of November. The weeks, put on by the Center for German and European Studies and funded by the German Embassy, were part of an effort “to foster transatlantic cooperation and partnerships between Germany, the US and Canada on climate and energy policies.”

The Climate Change weeks culminated in the Green Unity Gala, at which Dorian made a powerful speech about the work of SJSF and the youth energy movement. The weeks stimulated conversation among many branches of the environmental movement on Brandeis campus, and widened my view of the issue. Whether across town or across the ocean, these are the kinds of partnerships we need to forge to make this movement work. WATCH, NCV, HEET, German Studies, SJSF crew–many thanks to all who contributed to a successful semester and I can’t wait to keep working with you all!

Hello again, climate hawks,

Here is the most recent update from the SJSF Board.

First of all, the Board has officially begun operating with additional members from the Campaign Team. This has already helped to broaden our discussions and to spread information more quickly, which is awesome.

Second of all (and more importantly), yesterday we were joined by student leaders from Connecticut and New Hampshire in the first of several discussions on how to move forward as a multi-state organization. We agreed to start hashing out a list of values and principles around which SJSF branches in all states can coalesce. This will be a work in progress, though we hope to have something more solid early next semester. We also agreed that the conversation on working together will continue predominantly through the To Infinity and Beyond Committee (contact Chris Freda at Northeastern for details) as well as, potentially, through a New England meeting. In all, we’re hoping to determine soon enough what SJSF will look like above the state level and how – and to what extent – we want to coordinate our actions on a regional scale beginning next semester.

I’ll keep you posted!

- Nick Dahlberg, MA SJSF External Communications Coordinator

Wow. I just got back from SJSF’s Student Conference of the parties (SCOP) in collaboration with the Pricing Carbon Conference. I was utterly impressed with and inspired by both halves of the event.

The Pricing Carbon Conference took place on Wesleyan University campus in Middletown, CT, November 19-21st. The event was co-hosted by Wesleyan’s newly established College of the Environment and the Price Carbon Campaign. Partners in the Conference included the Climate Crisis Coalition, Citizen’s Climate Lobby, Carbon Tax Center, Future 500, Progressive Democrats of America, and our very own Students for a Just and Stable Future.

SJSF held its Student Conference of the Parties during workshop sessions and overtime, diligently amending, debating, and deliberating on our final product: a Declaration to be sent to our leaders at the international Conference of the Parties in Cancun, Mexico next week.

The process of creating the declaration filled me with a sense of empowerment and renewed dedication to complete our part in the solution. The declaration consists of 3 parts: the first, a picture of climate change– a view of the alarming state of the world we will see unfold if we continue on the road before us; the second, a commitment on our own behalf to act in very specific, deliberate ways to lead us to a clean energy future; the third, a strong and sincere call to action that we demand from our local, state, and world leaders. I give extra kudos to the students who worked on the first of the three parts; the first read-through of their revised version sent goose bumps through the room.

The Pricing Carbon Conference itself was fascinating. Key note speeches were given by James Hansen, leading Climate Change scientist, and Bill McKibbon, founder of 350 movement (350.org). The conference focused on the immediate necessity of pricing CO2 emissions. Speakers and attendees reflected a shift in the majority support in terms of pricing carbon options; while the Cap & Trade method was discussed, most prominently supported was the method of Fee & Dividend. Under Fee & Dividend, a fee would be placed on products based upon the inherent carbon costs of their production, and then the full amount of the revenue (or a majority percentage, if so decided)  would be returned to the consumers by way of a check/electronic deposit. The revenue money would be returned evenly to all consumers, and so those who consume less carbon-intensive products will end up saving money, while those who consume more may lose money in the end.

A sincere thanks to everyone who made this conference possible and to the organizers who invited SJSF students to attend! I look forward to SJSF working alongside the other sponsoring organizations in building up the fight against climate change!

On November 13, 2010 members from Students for a Just and Stable Future road bicycles with a coalition of other organizations from Davis square to The Salem Harbor Power Station in Salem Massachusetts. The goal of the ride was to spread awareness about the health risks and environmental risks posed by the burning of coal at the facility.

The ride was over 18 miles long and weaved in and out of local communities on the way to the plant. Many watched the group of 50+ riders and read their Quit Coal flags. People cheered, waved, and told riders to keep up the good work as they rode by on a beautiful day. Once the group of riders arrived in Salem they joined a welcoming rally organized by Healthlink and S.A.F.E.

For many students, this was the first time they seen a coal plant up close.  Now, they could not miss the unpleasantly large smokestacks or the coal piled stories high. . The plant is located right along the harbor and is surrounded by a quiet neighborhood of homes, schools and hospitals.  Salem Harbor Power Station is owned by Dominion Resources, a Virginia based company which gets a majority of their coal from open pit mines in Columbia.

Roll Against Coal was an exciting way for students and community groups to show solidarity and make their voices heard.

For more information about other events or to learn how you can get involved in the Coalition, please email Mike Green at Green.mi@neu.edu.

Photos attached by Elli Blaine

On the week of November 1st, the Wellesley SJSF group organized a Coal Action Week to bring awareness of the harmful effects of coal to the Wellesley campus. Throughout the week, 120 calls were made to Lisa Jackson of the EPA requesting to deem coal ash as a hazardous material and 60 calls were made to Governor Patrick to encourage the closing of the Salem coal plant. On Wednesday night, they hosted a viewing of Dirty Business and a discussion panel on coal use in Massachusetts that 50 outside members attended and where rallied up against coal. By the end of the week, plenty of buzz about SJSF and Coal Action Week was going around campus; everyone from students to faculty members were talking about it. On Friday the 5th, 25 Wellesley women spent thirty minutes on the ground in the cold to symbolize a die out. As people were on their way in or out of the student center, voices became silent, steps were taken more softly and the impact of coal was made on every individual who was walking by.

The success of the die out was unexpected and Coal Action Week couldn’t have gone any better!

Two major highlights of my Climate Summer experience were 1) the things I learned through conversation and experience and 2) the moments I shared with the community members that I met, moments of deep connection, hospitality, or excitement as we planned events. But it was not until later that I realized that these two things are inherently connected in “organizing” — a loaded term, I’ll admit, but one that became much less daunting to me one sunny afternoon a few weeks ago.

I was in Raleigh County, West Virginia, volunteering for Sludge Safety Project. SSP works to get clean water for West Virginians through a number of ways, including working to eliminate coal sludge impoundments and underground coal slurry injections. One afternoon, we drove to the next holler, Horse Creek, to bring over papers with the results from some water testing. Instead of merely dropping the papers off, we were invited to sit on the patio. We discussed the state of the water, upcoming actions, and the nature mountaintop removal mining. “You think they can only get those upper coal seams from blasting?” Ernie asked me. I told him I wasn’t sure. “Well that’s what they tell the public; that’s how they get away with it,” he explained, “but I was a coal miner, and any miner can tell you they could get that same coal from underground mining, they’re just too cheap.” Sharon served us dessert, even though it was the afternoon. A cake made from a twinkie, with cool whip, bananas, and maraschino cherries, plus a bottle of orange pop. Richer and sweeter than I was able to finish, but perfect for the afternoon, mountain above us, Horse Creek below, sun shining down, discussing how Sharon, a member of her town government, could encourage the town to fight for clean water and an end to the destruction of the mountains.

We made another stop in Horse Creek. Here, we sat in rocking chairs on Elmer’s porch. He told us about the water problems he faced. “Since they started mining up on the mountain two months ago, I’ve had to buy bottled water. When I made coffee with my well water, I couldn’t add cream, because the cream would curdle.” I couldn’t help but feel startled at just how much it sounded felt like some documentary. These things actually happen? In the United States, 2010? We then discussed evidence we could use in court to get the state or the coal company to pay for city water to be extended to folks whose well water was contaminated.

After having spent the past few weeks doing mainly computer work, I was completely invigorated by my afternoon of community engagement. I realized then just how much I love organizing; it allows me to combine the sort of beautiful moment involved in getting to know someone and hear their story with helping to build our movement through empowering others to join. The effect of this new understanding is very visible in my life. Not only have I been attempting to organize everyone around me (be it my friends or the person sitting next to me on the train) but I’m pleased to be working to expand the SJSF network one school at a time on the North and South Shores of Boston. I’m very excited to visit different campuses and collaborate with some of the really awesome groups already plugging away. Stay tuned to hear how it goes!

Hello, climate activists!

Here is the most recent update from the SJSF Board.

Last week, the Board met via conference call with the Campaign Team to discuss our method(s) of moving forward through the end of the semester and into 2011. The first part of our call focused on the Leadership Campaign’s goals and on how best to solidify our message. Namely, we tried to determine which is the more immediate goal around which to rally in the short run – 100% clean electricity by 2020 or, instead, no coal in Massachusetts by 2015 (with 100% by 2020 as a general end). We will continue the discussion this week, but we expect that amongst all of us involved in the campaign, the joint decision will direct our legislative and organizing efforts for January and beyond.

The second part of the discussion focused on SJSF’s structure. In order to keep the Board and the campaign in more regular cahoots moving forward, we will most likely merge the Board and the Campaign Team in the near future (and in so doing amend the Bylaws). This will hopefully streamline our decision-making processes and ensure better communication throughout the organization.

Feel free to contact me with any and all questions. I’ll keep you posted!

- Nick Dahlberg, External Communications Coordinator