Click here to view the embedded video.

“I’m not trying to take away jobs or ruin our economy,” Gleichman said. “I’m fighting for everybody, even the people who are the oil company lobbyists. They need to breathe clean air just like the rest of us.”

Check out the article (and the lively comments following it) HERE.

Ready to take action yourself?

• Learn how to write a Letter to the Editor of your own
• Submit a comment to the U.S. Department of State opposing the Keystone XL
• Sign the petition to Obama today!

Are you a Michigan student wanting to get involved with the Michigan Students Against Keystone XL campaign? Like our facebook page and contact me at alex.costakis644@gmail.com

The editorial page is the second most widely read page of the newspaper after the front page and an excellent way to bring attention to any issue. Here are some tips on how to write one:

1. A letter to the editor should be short- no more than 250 words (varies with paper) -clear, direct and simple, with a maximum of two or three points.
2. Try to find a local angle. Why should people in your area care about the issue?
3. Sign it and include a way for the press to contact you to confirm that you wrote the letter.
4. Check out local newspapers and research the proper way of sending the letter.
5. Keep your fingers crossed and wait for your letter to get published!

Check out this example Letter to the Editor that was written for a campus newspaper. The writer, Chloe Gleichman, was recently arrested at the Tar Sands Action in DC and uses her experience to bring a sense of seriousness and urgency to her letter.

Dear Editor,

I was arrested. Not for the reasons one might assume when considering a student at a school recognized for its parties, but for protesting a proposed tar sands pipeline that would cut our nation in half, carrying the world’s dirtiest oil all the way to Texas for energy-intensive refinement.

The pipeline would threaten enormous water supplies, poison our air, and emit greenhouse gases in such high quantities that leading scientists have deemed it “game over for the climate.”  While it was not my dream to get arrested, I chose to risk arrest in front of the White House because it is far past time our leaders defend our planet in the name of a clean and livable future.

For too long, we have protected the interests of corporations that profit from irresponsible destruction of life-sustaining resources and it is imperative this comes to an end.  I was arrested in the effort to stop the development of this abominable practice in hope and in struggle for a better world, one that embraces sustainable practices instead of relying on short-term, short-sighted solutions that ignore the well being of all life.

In a world suffocated by the selfish interests of the privileged few, we must build an oppositional culture — a resistance of sorts, to boldly stand against those who seek only to profit from destruction.  I was arrested last Monday to create exactly that.  So when the next generation asks me what I was doing when the powers-that-be were systematically destroying our world, I will be able to say I was fighting back.

Sincerely,

Chloe Gleichman
(Address)
(Phone Number)
(Signature)

For more Letter to the Editor examples, check these out!

• Government should oppose Keystone Xl Pipeline, by Mike Specian Phillipsburg
• Protesting the Keystone Xl, by Dean Hulse
• Tar Sands and Carbon Numbers

Photo by Ben Powless, used with Creative Commons License via tarsandsaction flickr

After a weekend break out of respect for the state of emergency declared due to hurricane Irene, The Tar Sands Action demonstration in Washington D.C. resumed its normal schedule Monday 8/29where three dedicated Michigan students, Chloe Gleichman, Anna  Grabowski, and Chris Corrigan laid their bodies on the line to send the serious message that the Keystone XL pipeline is not in our nation’s interest.

The Michigan students were just a small part of the 140 people who were arrested that Monday morning. The group also included students and Americans from across the country, a large group of religious leaders, and America’s top climate scientist James Hansen who has been quoted saying the Keystone XL pipeline would be “Essentially game over” for the climate.

Photo by Josh Lopez, used with Creative Commons License vis tarsandsaction flickr

Because they had experienced the devastation of a tar sands oil spill first hand, The Michigan students were especially determined to protest the Keystone XL pipeline. Just over one ago, the Enbridgepipeline gushed 1 million gallons of tar sands oil into Michigan’s Kalamazoo River watershed. The clean up process has been a nightmare, with the EPA discovering more and more contamination every day. Today, over 40 miles of waterway remain contaminated by submerged tar sands oil.

The Keystone XL pipeline would not only carry tar sands oil, one of the dirtiest and costliest fuels on the planet, 2,000 miles from Canada through America’s heartland, but promises to raise gas prices in the Midwest. TransCanada, the company proposing the pipeline, has testified to this fact themselves.

For these reasons, and many others, Chloe, Anna, and Chris decided that it was time to take action. They travelled over 12 hours to Washington D.C. and though the Tar Sands demonstration was cancelled over the weekend when they had originally planned to participate, they stayed in D.C. until Monday, more determined than ever to participate fully in this historic action.

Chloe described the action as “the best thing I’ve done in my life to date, no exaggeration.  And that is because finally I was fighting for something. My overwhelming desire and restlessness to fight for the planet was finally matched through my actions, and that is something so fulfilling, it is hard to even describe in words.”

In short, Michigan students are ready to continue to rally against the Keystone Xl pipeline and are in a prime position to do so. Michigan will likely be a key battleground for the 2012 election and a decision from Obama to reject the pipeline would reinvigorate and inspire youth voters in the state and help mobilize their support for his presidential campaign.

Photo by Josh Lopez, used with Creative Commons Licence via tarsandsaction flickr

It is clear that the Tar Sands Action participants aren’t going to let a hurricane stop them. This morning there was a rally in Lafayette Park (minus the civil disobedience) and there will also be an “Artists for Climate” event this evening. Sunday’s demonstration is cancelled “in the interests of safety, and out of respect for everyone dealing with the immediate effects of this monster storm”. The demonstrations are continuing as scheduled starting this Monday.

Four Michigan students arrived in D.C. last night ready to participate in the action this morning, ready to put their bodies on the line to send the serious message that the Keystone XL pipeline is not in our nation’s interest. While disappointed that the demonstrations would not be continuing as planned, the news of hurricane Irene only increased their determination. Thus, the decision to stay in D.C. until Monday to fully participate in the action was made.

The news of Hurricane Irene has deepened the commitment of others as well. “It does not escape our attention that storms of this size and character will be the new normal on a warmer planet”, says the Tar Sands Action weather update.

Please reach out to our Congressional leaders and demand that we protect communities, wildlife and our natural resources before rushing dangerous tar sands pipeline projects, like the Keystone XL.

Stay tuned for live updates from Monday’s action!

The action, organized by 350.org’s co-founder Bill McKibben, is not just a single day but rather a two-week wave of extended civil disobedience that began this past Saturday, Aug 20^th. While arrests are a potential outcome of the action – being arrested is not the goal. The intent is to send a message that stopping the Keystone XL Pipeline from being approved is so urgent and serious that thousands of people are willing to escalate their commitment and pressure on the Obama administration.  In all, over 2,000 people from all 50 states are expected to participate.

And it’s no wonder so many are concerned about the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline. The controversial 2,000 mile project would carry tar sands oil, one of the dirtiest and costliest fuels on the planet, from Canada through America’s heartland. The reasons against exploiting Canada’s vast tar sands resources are too many to count, but here are some of the finer points:

1. Mining and extracting tar sands destroys enormous swaths of important ecosystems, produces lake-sized reservoirs of toxic waste.
2. Compared to conventional crude oil production, tar sands production creates an estimated 82 percent more greenhouse gas.
3. Transporting this dirty fuel to U.S. markets has also proven to be extremely dangerous, unpredictable and uncontrollable with frequent spills that are even harder to clean up, because oh yeah, tar sands sink.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Michiganders are especially apt to be against any expansion of tar sands oil use because many of them have experienced the nightmare of a tar sands oil spill first hand. A full year after the Enbridge pipeline gushed 1 million gallons of tar sands oil into the Kalamazoo River watershed, 40 miles of waterway remain contaminated by submerged tar sands oil.

Chloe Gleichman, the president of Central Michigan University’s Student Environmental Association (SEA) is one of the Michigan students planning on participating in the Tar Sands Action this Saturday the designated “youth” day of the action. Washington D.C. is almost a full 12 hour drive from where the students are leaving from. When asked why she was willing to travel so far and risk arrest on top of it all, Chloe responded:

“I am going to the Tar Sands Action because it is far past time that our leaders defend our planet in the name of a clean and livable future.  For far too long, we have protected the interests of corporations that profit from irresponsible destruction of life-sustaining resources. Every single person is affected by the toxic emissions caused by the most destructive industrial project ever to begin: tar sands.  I am willing to risk arrest to stop the development of this abominable practice in hope and in struggle for a better world, one that embraces sustainable practices instead of relying on short-term, short-sighted solutions that ignore the well being of all life.  I want future generations to look back at us with thanksgiving rather than resentment.  If we don’t stand up and defend the planet on which we all so desperately rely, then who will?”The group of Michigan students will be leaving Thursday night of this week. Stay tuned for live updates from the D.C.!

The group of Michigan students will be leaving Thursday night of this week. Stay tuned for live updates from D.C.!

Please reach out to our Congressional leaders and demand that we protect communities, wildlife and our natural resources before rushing dangerous tar sands pipeline projects, like the Keystone XL.

Chloe Gleichman, the president of Central Michigan University’s Student Environmental Association (SEA) has taken the lead on planning the event, is calling on all students to come and join the fight for our earth:

Click here to view the embedded video.

“Sick of corporate tyranny?  Fed up with the destruction of our precious earth in the name of profit?  Had enough of political corruption?  We have, too.

“And we want others to be just as tired of the profit-over-planet precedent, so we’re holding the first Reclaim Earth March on September 18 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. If we’re going to win this fight, then we’re going to need consistent and relentless action all over the nation.  The Reclaim Earth March is proof that we don’t need an emblematic city such as DC of a bunch of nationally known climate activists to make a statement. All we need is a cause, our passion, and our voices!

“So come to Ann Arbor on September 18 and participate in the march! We are the leaders for which we have been waiting.”

For more information or to assist in planning, please contact Chloe at gleic1ce@cmich.edu and visit/invite others to the Reclaim Earth March Facebook page!

(Photo © Flickr user mrjor (Joey Rozier), used with Creative Commons Liscense)

A while back, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed the first ever standards for mercury and other air toxics emissions from coal-fired plants. When I first heard that these pollutants had never been regulated before, I was shocked! Surely they were limited under the Clean Air Act? So I decided to do some research, and what I found was pretty scary.

The first thing I found was the laundry list of severe health effects pollutants like mercury and arsenic can have, even when present only in small amounts. These toxins are extremely harmful and have been linked to cancer, heart disease, neurological damage, birth defects, asthma attacks and even premature death.

Mercury, a neurotoxin, is particularly harmful pollutant because it settles from the air onto our lakes, rivers and forests, polluting the environment and accumulating up the food chain as fish and wildlife consumes the contamination. Most Great Lakes States have posted warnings about eating the fish due to mercury contamination.

What scared me most of all was that limits for pollutants like mercury, arsenic, acid gases, and other air toxics have never been set and that every year, coal-fired plants emit hundreds of thousands of tons of this stuff into the air we breathe every day.

Thankfully, the EPA recently proposed new standards that would limit up to 90% of harmful emissions by requiring power plants to install widely available, proven pollution control technologies and protect our health, our children, and our environment. To read more about the rule proposal, check out the EPA’s press release.

Polluters are definitely fighting this rule which is why we need to show the EPA that we support their tough new standards. Send a comment directly to the EPA urging them to protect people and wildlife from mercury poisoning using our simple change.org petition!

We also would like to hear your stories about your experiences with mercury and other pollution in your community. Do you have asthma from living near a coal plant? Are you no longer able to eat the fish you catch? Tell us your story by commenting on this blog below!

You have until August 5^th to protect America’s health, wildlife, and economy by telling the Environmental Protection Agency you support strong limits on mercury and other toxic air emissions. Please take action today and send your comments to EPA!

This Sunday, May 15^th at noon, youth from across the state of Michigan will be traveling to Ann Arbor to take part in the iMatter March. The youth-run march will raise awareness about the current climate crisis and ask the U.S. government to stop prioritizing corporations and give our atmosphere and planet the protection necessary for a healthy and prosperous future.

The Ann Arbor iMatter March is one of dozens of other marches being organized by youth across the globe. As the generation most affected by the climate crisis, young people around the world are standing in solidarity, letting their governments know that they matter, they have a voice and they’re going to use it to promote the urgency of putting an end to climate change by transitioning to an economy based off of clean energy.

Chloe Gleichman, the student organizer of the march said “The iMatter March is an opportunity for youth to engage in protecting their future and the future of the earth.  In today’s society, there are so many messages telling youth that we don’t matter.  That is simply wrong.  We are each powerful individuals and as a group, we are unstoppable.  This Sunday, we will take to the streets to demand that the government protects our right to exist and begins to govern as if the future matters.”

Youth take to the DC streets to march for a clean energy future at Power Shift 2011- Just as we'll do at the iMatter March Ann Arbor

The Ann Arbor iMatter March route will begin at 12pm at the corner of North University St. and State St., then it will travel in a loop leading through Ann Arbor’s busy downtown streets and ending in the diag. In total the march will cover approximately 1.7 miles. The march kicks off at 12pm but come as early at 9am to help make those all important signs to march with.

Join the iMatter March this Sunday, May 15^th at 12pm, to show your support for a more healthy and sustainable future!

As I think back on all that happened that weekend, my brain is constantly reassessing and recalculating, struggling to understand the magnitude of what we accomplished over those fleeting four days in DC.

At first, the scientist in me clung to the numbers of the event as a way of understanding.  I knew what a room full of 200 people looked like; I could imagine it in my head. I tried desperately to multiply that room to prepare myself for what a crowd of 10,000 people would look like. I probably got close to imagining the numbers correctly; however, what I didn’t account for was the simply enormous amounts of energy that can only come from thousands of people gathering together to fight for one, collective cause.

Next, my mind focused more narrowly on the individuals attending Power Shift. A farmer’s son who drove 20 hours from Minnesota on his own dime; a privileged and wealthy university student who lives by the motto “To whom much is given, much is required”; a resident of Louisiana who walked to DC in protest of the gulf coast oil spill disaster; a youth leader just like me attending Power Shift for the first time, eyes wide, taking in all that they possibly can.

Click here to view the embedded video.

To this day, my head is still swimming with all the different stories I heard from people that weekend and the diversity and dedication of the individuals within our movement stood out like a shining beacon of solar power.

In the end, the thought that absolutely blew my mind was the connection between the massive numbers I saw and experienced with the personal stories I heard. Listening to each of those story tellers, I realized that each of them planned to go back to their homes, their campuses, their communities and continue to the fight for clean energy, for our planet. All of the sudden I was overwhelmed with an image of 10,000 dots spread across the country, slowly mushrooming larger and larger until the entire map was completely covered.

And you know what, it was beautiful. It was Green.

This year, at the Energy Action Coalition’s national Power Shift 2011 conference, the Midwest brought a huge delegation of motivated young leaders ready to fight and win the battle for a 100% clean energy economy and a more sustainable future.

IL, MI, MN, MO, and OH alone brought over 1200 youth, together with the other Midwest states the region brought just over 1500 attendees to fill the halls of the DC Convention Center, and on Monday 4/18, the streets of the city itself.

Throughout the four days of the conference, it seemed every which way you turned there was another Midwesterner not merely attending the event but participating in various leadership roles such as leading a training, handing out pamphlets, leading a workshop or participating on a panel.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Midwest was also instrumental in helping Power Shift 2011 pull off the largest grassroots training in history. Back at the beginning of April, the Midwest put together the largest regional training for trainers and even recruited over 70 additional facilitators during the training just by phone banking! Those who went through the regional training for trainers went on to lead one of the many Power Shift 2011 Organizing trainings that occurred both Saturday and Sunday morning of the conference and gave students the fundamental knowledge and skills necessary to create any grassroots movement.

All the hard work of the Midwesterner’s did not go unnoticed, much of the media coverage on the Power Shift 2011 conference included quotes from Midwest students and organizers.  Many of the quotes were centered on disappointment and disagreement with president Obama’s energy policies thus far.

Michigan State University student, Ashley Hall was quoted in The Nation article saying “Obama really needs to address the urgency of getting [the country] off coal and fossil fuels if he wants us to get out the vote for him in 2012.” And Brandon Knight of Detroit Energy Network shared a similar sentiment with the writers of The Los Angeles Times even mentioning the slogan he and his friends came up with regarding president Obama- “With or without you.”

Additionally, two Midwesterners, Connor Klausing and Matt Kazinka, both students from Minnesota, were quoted in The New York Times article on the conference.

All in all, the Midwest youth clearly showed their dedication to the national green energy movement and now these leaders stand inspired and ready to create real change in their local communities all working towards the goal of a 100% healthy, clean energy economy.