The Road to Power Shift Starts in Grand Rapids

It is one month and 13 days left before Power Shift and the Michigan Student Sustainability Coalition is beginning to rev it's electric-biodiesel hybrid engine in preperation. In one week, January 23rd-25th, the MSSC will be holding it's third annual summit on, but unlike past years, this summit will carry national implications.

www.msscsummit.org

While the rest of the country has slid into an economic crisis over the past year, in Michigan we have been feeling the pain of misguided energy and climate policies for years. In fact, between 2000 and 2005, Michigan lost 218,000 manufacturing jobs. For the MSSC, now is the opportunity to make an impact. Starting just three days after the inauguration, the MSSC is using this years summit as the perfect opportunity to send a message to the United States' newly established Presidential and congressional administrations that Michigan needs a new economic vision, built on clean technology and the development of green jobs.

The event will feature keynote speeches from Appalachian community organizer Judy Bonds, Detroit Environmental Justice Organizer Rhonda Andersen and Energy Action Coalition's own Jessy Tolkan. Jessy had this to say about the summit: "As the economic crisis continues to hit hard in Michigan, its great to see these young people putting forward real solutions. MSSC knows that investing in clean energy means creating thousands of new green jobs that can help rebuild the economy in Michigan and across thecountry. I am excited for these young people to let their vision for a clean energy economy ring throughout the state of Michigan, and for them to bring this demand for a power shift to Washington, DC in late February."

More info about Regeneration: The 2009 Michigan Student Sustainability Coalition Summit.

Regeneration 2009 is much more than a conference. It is part of a process of building people power around a vision for a clean energy economy and a sustainable future that can unite youth and students with labor leaders, unite rural farmers, inner-city residents, small businesses, students, and local governments. It is a recognition of our own role in making change, bridging the gaps between our personal lives and the sweeping changes that must be made. The Summit is intended to empower Michigan youth to demand the state of Michigan invest in sustainable energy and transportation technology at all levels.

Regeneration 2009 is about building a strong community and giving back to that community. Our goal is not a student conference, but an intergenerational gathering, with everyone from middle school students to local activists and nonprofit leaders participating in the activities. The conference has a focus on service and building community- the community and friendships that will make a transformation possible and make working with each other both more productive and more fun.

A massive service project is being organized for the summit by Toni Jones of the Grand Valley State University Sustainable Community Development Initiative and Sarah Chartier of GVSU's Student Environmental Coalition as part of USA Service's National Day of Service. The service project will be held January 24th from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. and will include service with 14 non-profit organizations in the Grand Rapids area.

Regeneration is about going beyond “drop-in-the-bucket” solutions – its about transformation. It is about recognizing our crucial role as change agents, not just to improve our own local communities, but to build models for change that generate more economic, social, and political power for the global transformation while inspiring other local groups, students, small businesses, and local leaders around the world. Regeneration acknowledges the importance of both policy and technology, but also that neither will be adequate or effective unless they focus on empowering we, the people, to actually implement the solutions we need to reorient our lives and our neighborhoods for a sustainable future. It is literally a shift in power: from fossil fuels to clean energy, from an economy controlled by large centralized entities to one that emerges from the vibrant relationship of local producers, from seeing ourselves as victims of the turbulent changes facing our future to seeing ourselves as collaborative creators of the future we want to see.

Join us January 23-25th in Grand Rapids for Regeneration! Visit www.msscsummit.org for registration, donation, and sponsorship.

Polar Explorers and Michigan Youth Climate Activists:

By Michael Collins
Michigan Student Sustainability Coalition

(cross posted from http://www.thelongestsummertour.org)

Most students on a Friday night are out celebrating a hard earned break from classes or resting up for the morning football tailgate. Not the Michigan Student Sustainability Coalition or students at Grand Valley State University. This past weekend the Michigan Student Sustainability Coalition (MSSC) caravanned throughout Michigan with the Will Steger Foundation (WSF) for their Longest Summer Tour. The Michigan leg of the tour kicked off in Grand Rapids with presentations all day and a Friday night program at Grand Valley State’s downtown Grand Rapids campus. The Friday evening event literally moved climate change from the lecture hall to prime time, as over 100 students filled a packed room to see polar explorers share the stage with professors, students from the Michigan Student Sustainability Coalition and Steve Chester, Director of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. Student representatives from various colleges in Michigan and MSSC coordinators had the honor of sharing the floor with arctic explorers and climate change solutions activists Will Steger and Toby Thorleifsson. Conversations ranged from how individuals and governments can combat climate change to the first hand accounts of arctic explorers on the effects of global warming on the polar regions of the world.

As MSSC activists traveled the state with Will Steger, Toby Thorleifsson and the rest of the group it immediately became clear that a unique relationship had been forged with the wonderful folks at Will Steger Foundation. I personally first met Mr. Steger about 10 minutes prior to a presentation at Calvin College in Grand Rapids on Friday, and what struck me most was his respect for the undertakings of young activists and students here in Michigan. Many people are almost immediately dismissive of youth groups, “what foolish idealists and kids” some say, others approach us less cynically but sometimes it is as if their eyes are telling me “awww isn’t that cute, the kids are organizing, lets give em a cookie”. Mr. Steger and entourage on the other hand were immediately respectful of our work and at times even seemed impressed. I didn’t feel a burden to them, except when badgering Jim the AV tech with only seconds to spare before show time.

Over the last few days we traveled with the tour to the great Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Once there, it was evident that we had entered more familiar territory for the Minnesota based Will Steger Foundation. U.P. there we were closer to many friends of Will Steger and this could be evidenced by the fact the crowds that gathered grew in strength the farther north we traveled. A Sunday night event in Marquette, home of Northern Michigan University, drew 200 people and added Brandon Knight of Global Exchange and Northern Michigan University activist Michael Rotter as speakers at the event. The youth climate movement literally grew in mass at the event, as NMU students flocked to a Power Vote table set up outside the event and the crowd lingered for an hour after the event to continue networking.

The MSSC connection with WSF continued to grow through the tour. On Monday we were even able to share in a hike with Abby and Ellie, two of WSF’s tour organizers. This was an amazing event itself, though at the time we weren’t reaching out to crowds of dozens with our message, it was tremendous for me, a Michigan native, to be able share the near metaphysical nature of the North Woods of Michigan, if only for a moment.

The culminating event in Michigan was at the tip of the state in Houghton at Michigan Technical University. Will Steger’s name attracted a crowd of over 500 Michiganders. While I was sweating profusely during my entire speech about youth climate activism in Michigan, Mr. Steger and his fellow explorer/friend Toby seemed as at ease in front of the crowd as they do in subzero temperatures surrounded by wolves. Maybe this is because the one thing I really took away from the whole experience is that this stuff matters. Aside from being able to hang out with cool people all weekend drinking craft Michigan spirits and hiking our trails, I left with a sense of renewed passion for the work I do.

The folks at the Will Steger Foundation have all been working for climate justice and fighting for a great global awakening for years and some of them for decades, yet their spirit is as unwavering and determined as ever. Toby at one point commented on “the real world work” that many young activists fear having to enter into, abandoning their foolish and idealistic ideals, saying goodbye to their friends and welcoming a so-called corporate 9-5 lifestyle. If I learned anything this week it was that this is the “real world” and it is the only one we have. Our planet and economy demands that the youth of this country rise up and demand a clean and just energy future. Otherwise as the Longest Summer Tour states, “You’re gonna miss it when it’s gone”.

Power on the Streets of Detroit - Part 1

Each person and idea I have encountered in the Youth Climate Movement has altered the lens through which I view the world. Preconceived notions of identity, privilege, value, power, love and what is good or right have been reshaped, strengthened and shattered.

Last August, I drove my parents' Toyota Camry 500 miles to New Hampshire for the Sierra Student Coalitions summer leadership gathering – Shindig. Five days later I drove home with new friends, renewed inspiration, and new understandings. Among those I met was Ivan Stiefel. He's the sort of human that radiates community. His is the energy that fills a room, and rather than sucking people to him, it floods the room with a shared joy. At Shindig, he and another climate justice leader, Timothy Denherder-Thomas, - for whom I also hold immense respect - co-led a training on community organizing and power. It was a brilliant combination of insight on the nature of power and the strength of communities and the tools with which to leverage power. The most empowering idea and tool I internalized can be represented in a simple diagram, and it looks like this:

Power is simply the ability to do. Perhaps this is an old hat to all you organizers out there.

It is interesting to think about these power dynamics in the abstract, but every day I experience each dynamic in some capacity. My experience as a participant in Sunday's Freedom From Oil rally at the North American International Auto Show brought each of these power dynamics into sharp contrast and revealed the tangible connections between them. This is part 1 of my narrative, reflections, and analysis of a moment in the movement.

I arrive in Detroit with the University of Michigan student contingent at 10:30 AM. On the fifth floor of the Central Methodist Church of Detroit is a small gymnasium with two crooked basketball hoops illuminated by hazy sunlight filtering through warped glass windows. I wonder what the people on the fourth floor think when people play basketball up here? On this Sunday morning in January it is filled with my brothers and sisters from the Michigan Student Sustainability Coalition, Global Exchange, Rainforest Action Network, and Co-Op America. A sister from Central Michigan University hands me a large industrial coverall. Somehow I fit in it, coat and all (layers are key on a cold day like this!). Bucket-drummers warm up as signs are painted, and a banner that says "Toyota, Pull Up Your Prius, Your Tundra Is Showing" is raveled up for special delivery to the North American International Auto Show media luncheon.

At noon we march down the streets of Detroit's commercial district. Walk, bike, or drive a few miles from here and you'll see the gross inequities of wealth produced by Detroit's rampantly capitalist industrial legacy. And that's why we're here, marching down these streets, proudly wearing our industrial coveralls and green hard hats, rallying to the chant of "Green Jobs." We know that if the auto industry puts fuel efficiency (or elimination) above decadence, greenhouse gas emissions from cars will decline as employment in manufacturing, research, development, and engineering blooms. But these days, the premium is on profit, not people. We are the vanguard of a transformational movement.

Cole Smith, from Michigan State University, is beating away on his bucket-drum with three others (Zack Brym leads the way, here). It'd be inappropriate to refer to our procession to the Auto Show as a march. I'd call it a mobile dance party. I slow my dancing to talk with Cole.

"Remember the Power diagram I shared at the Michigan Student Sustainability Coalition Fall Conference… With power over, power to, power with, and power within?" Cole's drum sticks are still moving, but he's listening.

"Yeah."

"I'm feeling some major Power With. And that's feeding my power within. We're in one of those spirals."

Cole laughs, nods, and drums a little faster. The drumming quartet is a musical manifestation of the power dynamic I just tried to articulate. "One of those spirals." These are beautiful occurrences. Each one of the 60 students I'm marching with is a leader – a powerful individual striving for change in their community. When we come together, there is a synthesis of power. Whether it is in discussion or action, we give generously of our energies. Individual power flows from each of us, and like each drummer's beats, meets in a collective, dynamic pool of pulsing energy on which we ride, gaining momentum with each step. It is impossible not to dance. We do.

We round a corner. The Cobo Center, home of the Detroit Auto Show, is in sight.

So are ten squad cars.

More approach quietly – coming from Cobo.

The dance party is met by three unmoving police men. They deliver the automaker's ultimatum. "We have our orders, you can't come within two blocks of the Auto Show." The line is marked by a blockade of four police cars. There are at least six more, one at each corner of the intersection, two in the middle, and a few more patrolling the area.

The auto industry forcefully silenced the voice of Michigan's youth. No doubt this is a mark of my privilege, but I have never personally experienced power of this scale wielded so arbitrarily or illegitimately. It shook me. What is the logic, or the moral reasoning that forcefully attempts to keep the voices of peaceful ralliers out of sight and mind? Was this a moment for civil disobedience? It was certainly not a moment for capitulation. Who capitulates in mid power-spiral? Certainly not the Michigan Student Sustainability Coalition.

We dance, chant, clap, and sing for two hours. In the midst of our celebration we pause when Maia Dedrick asks us "What brought us together today?" The consensus she elicits from us is a possibility of new transportation systems that build community and do not rely on fossil fuels. We convey this hope through song. Queen's bicycle anthem "Bicycle Race" and others, all to the beating bucket drums. Though police attempt to keep us from the press, the press comes to us (Brandon Knight with Channel 13). We wave our signs at passing cars. Some respond with irony tinged honks of solidarity. Two hummers sneer, as we condemn the passing climate criminals. Despite the heavy police presence we maintain an air of hope in our demands for a transformed auto industry. I am proud. The power spiraled on.

I now carry a renewed determination to fight corporate greenwashing. However, this determination emanates from a source I have never felt.

I had experienced a loss of agency.

We came with a message of hope and to be met with threatened violence. We were victims of the power over dynamic. No dialogue drew the line two blocks from Cobo. It was drawn by the auto industry and enforced by the police. We march across the street with the right-of-way. The police forcibly turn us back. In response, Cole and I led a chant of "Protect the People, Not the Corporations." Other chants that afternoon were chants of hope. As I screamed "protect the people, not the corporations" into the bull horn I directly addressed the illegitimate force wielded against us...

That's part 1.

In part 2 (maybe 3 as well) I will give my perspective on "Fuck the police vs. Free the police" in a framework of power dynamics and privilege, strategies of resistance and tactics for change in a semi-democratic police state, and tie up any strings I left hanging.

This is a movement. This is a struggle. Meet injustice at every turn. Model the society you wish to create. Do not compromise your values. We will win.

To peace and solidarity,
Andrew Munn

Make Michigan Energy Policy Strong!

Michigan students from around the state took the message of "clean energy now!" to state legislators Wednesday at the capitol in Lansing.

Students attended the House energy committee meeting before spending the day lobbying with members of the Sierra Club for a Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard of 20% by 2020, Energy Efficiency increases of 2% per year and no new coal plants.

The days events were covered in the State News, check out the story - Students lobby Legislature

The next lobby day will be December 12th, in Lansing with the Sierra Club & members of the Michigan Student Sustainability Coalition.

Currently Energy Legislation is being taken up by the Michigan House of Representatives making this a crucial time for us to influence this package of bills. Proposals in Michigan include 7 NEW coal-fired power plants that will keep Michigan locked in the energy dark ages - - emitting and keeping funding for clean energy projects - we need our legislators to change this course by voting in Energy legislation for our state that would;

• Enact a strong renewable energy standard that requires energy providers to generate 20 percent of their electric power from renewable sources by 2020.
• Enact aggressive, statewide, utility-funded energy efficiency programs that reduce energy consumption in the state by at least 1 percent per year.
• Protect consumers from having to absorb the skyrocketing future costs of coal burning.
  Implement a long-term energy plan that guarantees energy efficiency and renewable power are used before any more outdated coal plants are built.
• Develops new standards for controlling the emission of CO2.

Here’s the plan for next Wednesday’s Blitz:
Please try to arrive in Lansing so we can get started by 8:45am. We’ll meet at the Central United Methodist Church at 215 N. Capitol, kiddy-corner from the capitol and right across from the Anderson (House office) building (same place we’ve met for Lobby Day). We will be providing coffee, rolls & donuts in the morning. We’ll go over our message at the morning orientation at 8:45am at the church and we’ll be working in teams with 8-10 offices to visit assigned per team. More details on our message and materials will be coming soon!!!!! Let us treat you to lunch…and we should be completed around 1-ish. NOTE-Carpooling will be happening from many locations…so we can do our part on saving energy! Sign up and we’ll tell you who is coming from your area.

Here’s the link to the parking map: http://www.cityoflansingmi.com/Lansing/pnd/parking/docs/downtown_map.pdf

Please contact jan.oconnell@sierraclub.org or 616-956-6646 to RSVP or get more details.

Invitation: The Transportation Weekend Getaway

Hello Michiganders!

In January, many of you will have completed your first semester as leaders of the Transportation Challenge Campaign! No matter how far along you are in achieving your campaign goals, no matter how many bike lanes have fresh paint or roads you've closed, you have taken the first step toward sustainable transportation on campus and for that you deserve a pat on the back.

The Freedom from Oil team at Global Exchange and Rainforest Action Network would like to celebrate with you and offer a weekend of additional training to help you shift the Challenge into high gear this spring. PLEASE JOIN US in Detroit, January 11-13 for the first ever Transportation Challenge Weekend Getaway!

Register online: http://ran.org/transportationchallenge <http://ran.org/transportationchallenge>

We will check in with you by phone to determine the kinds of training your group desires - from facilitation to organizational development to recruitment to media, we want to give your work a boost!

The weekend will be jam-packed with workshops and networking to enhance skills that will be useful in ALL of your work across all issues. Additionally, you will have an opportunity to network with the other schools that are running the Transportation Challenge and share successes, difficulties, advice and plans for the next semester.

Then, on Sunday, we will take our concerns to the automakers! The North American International Auto Show opens on Sunday, November 13 at the Cobo Convention Center in Detroit. We will rally to announce our concerns about oil, climate change, car culture, the economy and green jobs directly to the industry that has the most influence over these issues in Michigan --- the auto industry.

With a fun and creative rally that YOU will design and build, let's tell the automakers that the next generations of car buyers WILL NOT SETTLE for anything less than the cleanest, most ultra-efficient, oil-free vehicles. Let's bring the youth voice forward yet again to keep the pressure on our worst polluters and keep our struggle in the public eye.

Please register NOW to secure a place for a weekend of training, activism and fun with RAN and Global Exchange! There is a requested $15-50 sliding scale registration fee. Some scholarships are available. Food, accommodations, and some rides will be provided. Visit: http://ran.org/transportationchallenge to tell us you're coming.

**Note that this event is open to all - there will be an introductory track offered to students who are not currently working on transportation issues - but slots will be reserved for students already working on the Transportation Challenge who wish to learn new skills and give existing work a boost in the New Year.

Thanks all. We can't wait to see you in January,

Jodie Van Horn and Brandon Knight

Freedom from Oil Campaigners

"My Ideal Community" Campaign

Submitted by Sarah Duffy

A week ago I sent out an email to the MSSC about a campaign that the Environment Committee of the UofM College Democrats is starting. I have received quite a few responses asking for more information, so I thought it'd be better to just post on our blog so that all who are interested can take a look and respond if they wish.

The idea came from our interest in transportation and land use issues, especially in southeast Michigan. After speaking with Conan Smith from the Suburbs Alliance, we decided to take advantage of our age and status as part of the demographic that Michigan is most in need of to influence how Michigan will develop.

Everyone is aware that we have one of the worst in-state college graduate retention rates in the country and that Detroit is hardly a magnet for young professionals. We believe that this is strongly linked with many of Michigan's environmental problems, and we want to
show Michigan policymakers that we take those issues seriously when deciding where to move after college.

We also wanted to do something creative. A video is more personal and is just a fun, fresh way to do this. It is consistent with the future-oriented perspective of the campaign, using a modern method to portray our vision for our future.

This isn't supposed to be just what we want to see from Michigan, but from whatever community we choose to live in. We also want to make sure that the focus is on aspects that affect quality of life so that there is a personal and economic motivation for sustainable
practices and policies, not just ecological. The interviews will focus on what young people want from their future residence and what makes a place or community attractive for them, covering everything from clean air to transportation, walkable business/nightlife areas and available
outdoor recreation. Hopefully this will send the correct message that sustainability can lead to economic growth.

Ideally, we would like to start filming pretty soon. We've worked out a few base questions for the first set of interviews which will probably change depending on the reactions we get. We've also created postcards that simply read "My ideal community:" and let people draw/color/write on them with markers. If we collect enough of them, we were thinking of
making them into a collage or something to show at the event associated with the video.

We want to show the video at an event probably much later this year and invite panelists from non-profits and some local and state-level officials (we have some good connections through College Dems). If other people around the state are seriously interested, I think it'd be great to get everyone at this event and show all the videos, with each school/group having taken a slightly different interpretation of the main idea.

If people are really interested, please post back and start talking to other people at your school about it. If it's really needed, we could try to organize a conference call at some point too.

Don’t Just Sit There, Do Something

Congress has a choice: They can stop global warming and ignite an energy revolution or they can keep doing nothing to stop the coming climate disaster. Everyone knows that Congress needs to act but they won't unless we turn up the heat. That's why we've created Project Hot Seat. Our mission is simple: Push Congress to become champions to stop global warming.

In Marquette: We are asking Congressman Bart Stupak to co-sponsor the Safe Climate Act. Congressman Stupak has been a powerful champion of the Great Lakes; we’re asking him to continue that support and commit to legislation that makes real changes in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

Upcoming Events:

November 27: Call-in Day to Manistique office
November 28: Town Hall meeting in Gladstone with Congressman Stupak

How can I help? By asking your congressman to co-sponsor the Safe Climate Act. Whether you write a letter or start your own campaign, every voice is important and makes a difference. Join Project Hot Seat today and help us light a fire under Congress!

For more information contact Betsy Ott (bott@nmu.edu) or visit http://members.greenpeace.org/hotseat/