Climate change inaction the fault of environmental groups, report says

[xchrom]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/jan/14/environmental-groups-climate-change-inaction?intcmp=122

A Harvard academic has put the blame squarely for America's failure to act on climate change on environmental groups. She also argues that there is little prospect Barack Obama will put climate change on the top of his agenda in his second term.

In a research paper, due to be presented at a Harvard forum next month, scholar Theda Skocpol in effect accuses the DC-based environmental groups of political malpractice, saying they were blind to extreme Republican opposition to their efforts.

Environmental groups overlooked growing opposition to environmental protections among conservatives voters and, underestimated the rising force of the Tea Party, believing – wrongly, as it turned out – they could still somehow win over Republican members of Congress through "insider grand bargaining".

That fatal misreading of the political realities – namely, the extreme polarisation of Congress and the Tea Party's growing influence among elected officials – doomed the effort to get a climate law through Congress. It will also make it more difficult to achieve climate action in the future, she added.

[deutsey]

1. Can someone give a link to some groups that are doing something about climate change?

[tama]

2. ...

http://www.foe.org/

[deutsey]

3. Thanks!

I'll check this out.

[Stevepol]

4. Thanks for the source but more specifically . . .

Here's a few names the article mentions:

http://www.foe.org/news/news-releases/2013-01-conservation-groups-ask-obama-for-a-suspension-of-ar

[bananas]

5. SourceWatch, Sierra Club, NRDC, Greenpeace, Rainforest Action Network, etc etc

I'll post links in a few minutes.

[bananas]

6. SourceWatch: Nonviolent direct actions against coal

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Nonviolent_direct_actions_against_coal

Nonviolent direct actions against coal

Around the world, nonviolent direct action—a term which, in contemporary social movements, is usually used to refer to acts of civil disobedience, in which activists blockade or occupy public or private space—has become an increasingly common tactic of anti-coal climate activists since 2004.

<snip>

For details, images, and videos of specific direct actions, see the following:

Nonviolent direct actions against coal: 2004-2007
Nonviolent direct actions against coal: 2008
Nonviolent direct actions against coal: 2009
Nonviolent direct actions against coal: 2010
Nonviolent direct actions against coal: 2011
Nonviolent direct actions against coal: 2012
Coal Finance Day of Action
Coal Activist Videos
Coal Activist Videos: Direct Action
Coal Activist Videos: Mountaintop removal

Contents

1 Definition and history of nonviolent direct action
2 Al Gore speaks out in favor of direct action
3 Resources
3.1 References
3.2 Related SourceWatch articles
3.3 External links

<snip>

[bananas]

7. Coal Swarm

http://coalswarm.org/

The purpose of CoalSwarm is to create a collaborative information clearinghouse for the worldwide citizens’ movement to address the impacts of coal and move to cleaner sources of energy. Containing over 6,000 articles on coal-related topics posted on the SourceWatch wiki, this open-source reference provides a constantly expanding body of information that anyone can utilize and contribute to.

[bananas]

8. Sierra Club: Coal Victories Across the Nation

The Sierra Club played a major role in getting coal plants shut down,
while anti-science pro-coal pro-nuke trolls were attacking the Sierra Club right here on DU.

http://www.sierraclub.org/environmentallaw/coal/victories.aspx

Coal Victories Across the Nation!

Power4Georgians Cancels Plans for Ben Hill Coal Plant in Georgia
Mississippi: State Supreme Court Remands Permit for Kemper Coal Plant
LS Power Abandons Plans for Longleaf Coal Plant in Georgia
Michigan: Consumers Energy Abandons Plans for Coal Plant in Bay City
Proposed Ohio Coal-to-Liquid Refinery Dead
Minnesota: Public Utilities Commission Cancels Plans to Convert Steam Boiler to Coal
Arkansas: Eighth Circuit Upholds Preliminary Injunction Against Turk Coal Plant
Georgia: Court Remands Air Permit for Longleaf Coal Plant
West Virginia Air Quality Board Remands Air Permit for Coal-to-Liquids Plant
150! Plans for 150 New Coal Plants Scrapped: Transition to Clean Energy Picks Up Steam
Georgia Judge Rejects Air Permit for Proposed Coal Plant in Washington County
Texas: Fifth Circuit Rules Sandy Creek Coal Plant is Violating the Clean Air Act
East Kentucky Power Cooperative Agrees to Halt Plans for Smith Coal Plants
Arkansas: Federal Judge Orders SWEPCO to Stop Construction on Turk Coal Plant Site
ODEC Delays Plans to Build Massive Coal Plant in Virginia
Michigan Denies Air Permit for Holland's Proposed Coal Plant
Kentucky Sends Cash Creek Water Permit Back to Drawing Board
Michigan Denies Air Permit for Wolverine's Proposed Coal Plant
Arkansas Supreme Court Invalidates Permit for Turk Plant
Toquop Coal Plant Abandoned in Favor of Cleaner Natural Gas and Solar in Nevada!
NRG Officially Abandons its Plans to Expand the Big Cajun II Plant in Louisiana!
Seminole Electric Cooperative Abandons Plans for Massive Coal-Fired Power Plant
Eastman Chemical Co. Drops Plans for Coal Gasification Plant in Texas
AMP Abandons Proposed AMP Generating Station in Meigs County, Ohio!
Utilities Pull Plug on Big Stone II Coal Plant Project
EPA Remands Air Permit for Desert Rock Plant
Otter Tail Pulls Out of Big Stone II Coal Plant Project
Michigan Public Service Commission Rules State does not Need New Coal-Fired Power
South Carolina: Santee Cooper Cancels Plans for 600 MW Power Plant
100th Coal Plant Defeated!
Arkansas Appeals Court Rejects Permit for Turk Plant
LS Power Cancels Plan to Build 750 MW Coal Plant in Michigan
EPA Seeks Remand of Desert Rock Power Plant Permit
Louisiana: Entergy Puts Little Gypsy Project on Hold for At Least Three Years
Iowa: Alliant Energy Drops Plans to Build Marshalltown Coal-Fired Plant
Nevada: LS Power "Indefinitely Postpones" the White Pine Energy Station!
Northern Michigan University's Air Permit is Remanded Back to MDEQ to Consider CO2 Emissions
Oklahoma: Shady Point II Plant Dropped. Two is too many!
Nevada: Ely Energy Center "indefinitely postponed"!
Montana: Southern Montana Electric Opts for Clean Energy, Abandons Highwood Coal Plant
Wisconsin: Climate and Costs Force Commission to Deny Plants' Documents
Illinois: Sierra Club Wins Long Fight Against EnviroPower Plant!
Oklahoma: Another Plant Loses in Court
Georgia: Judge Rules Coal Plant Must Regulate Global Warming Emissions
Kansas: Yet Another Major Victory Against Holcomb Coal Plant
North Dakota: Company Suspends Efforts to Build Gascoyne 500 Coal Plant
Missouri: Proposed Norborne Plant Put on Hold
Utah and Wyoming: PacifiCorp Pulls the Plug on Western Coal Plants
Washington: Proposed Coal Plant Put on Hold
Iowa: Sate Regulators Rule Against Coal Plant Application
Oklahoma: State Regulators Rule Against Coal Plant Application
Arizona: Community Succeeds in Preventing New Coal Plant
Florida: Another One Bites the Dust
Kentucky: Court Says No to Peabody Coal
Florida: On a Roll Against Coal
Florida: In Landmark Decision, Florida Pulls the Plug on Massive Coal-Fired Plant Proposal
Missouri: Sierra Club and Utility Agree to Landmark Global Warming Plan
Texas: TXU Cancels Plans for 8 of 11 Proposed Coal-Fired Plants
Illinois: Major Clean Air Victory in Chicago
Illinois: Historic Settlement with Springfield Utility
Michigan: Community Succeeds in Keeping Polluting Coal Plant Out

[bananas]

9. Sierra Club: Clean Energy Solutions: Repower and Rebuild America

http://www.sierraclub.org/energy/

Clean Energy Solutions: Repower and Rebuild America

Fixing our economy, transforming our energy future, slowing and ultimately reversing climate change and its consequences will require a clear agenda and aggressive timetable that will allow us to repower and rebuild America.

<snip>

[bananas]

10. Union of Concerned Scientists: Global Warming

http://www.ucsusa.org/global_warming/

Global Warming

The Earth is warming and human activity is the primary cause. Climate disruptions put our food and water supply at risk, endanger our health, jeopardize our national security, and threaten other basic human needs. Some impacts—such as record high temperatures, melting glaciers, and severe flooding and droughts—are already becoming increasingly common across the country and around the world. So far, our national leaders are failing to act quickly to reduce heat-trapping emissions.

However, there is much we can do to protect the health and economic well-being of current and future generations from the consequences of the heat-trapping emissions caused when we burn coal, oil, and gas to generate electricity, drive our cars, and fuel our businesses.

<snip>

[bananas]

12. Audobon Society

http://web4.audubon.org/globalwarming/

Global warming is the biggest environmental threat of our lifetime.
The time to act is now!

Leading scientists around the world agree that man-made greenhouse gases from fossil fuels are causing global warming. Effects are already being seen worldwide. And long-term consequences are devastating, pointing to a darker future each day we fail to act.

But if each of us takes action — in our homes, in our communities, and in our nation — there is still time to reduce global warming pollution and help safeguard our environment for birds, wildlife, and our children.

<snip>

[pscot]

13. Posts 5 thru 12 deserve

their own thread. People want to know what they can do; where they can plug in. This sort of thing offers more hope than pie in the sky, technocratic fixes or passive doomerism.

[Kolesar]

14. I agree, but a kick will have to do for today...eom

[bananas]

11. James Hansen and Daryl Hannah have both been arrested numerous times in protests

against coal, tar sands, etc.