Fighting Global Warming Right Here, Right Now

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The Convergence for Climate Action’s Southeast gathering is happening quietly this week in the mountains near Asheville.

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This is the first of what the organizers hope to be an annual event. The primary goals, according to a handout, are “to overcome feelings of isolation and helplessness by bringing people together to create a community of resistance. We hope the convergence inspires people to take action, share ideas and start organizing in their own localities and spheres of interest. (For details, you can check out their web site. For background on the issues and ways to plug into the movement, see the Nuclear Information and Resource Service’s Web site.)

The week’s schedule is packed with workshops designed to grow awareness and build organizing skills among participants, who came from as far as Florida and DC to join the gathering. Workshops included media and fundraising training, puppet building and street theater, and panel discussions on a variety of topics.

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Network Director Brett Bursey chats with Mary Olson, director of Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS).

On Friday, Brett was invited to speak on a panel titled “Elders of the Movement.” He and the others on the panel talked about how and why to fight the fallout of corportate greed and environmental exploitation that is destroying our country. The panel held court in a campfire circle that included kids as young as 10 and seniors old enough to nod out during the discussion.

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Event organizer Glenn Carroll, center, directs preparations for a Nagasaki remembrance Friday evening.

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Vegetarian meals were eaten al fresco.

As fellow organizers, we were gratified and energized by our time at the camp. With so much work to be done and such paltry resources to do it, we take strength in knowing there are more of “us” (people who care about the health of the planet and all of its residents) than “them” (corporate and political interests that benefit from the current power structure). We just need to mobilize and harness that energy.

We look forward to next year’s gathering.

Becci Robbins

Collaborative Again Makes News

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There is good news about the Collaborative for Community Trust in today’s paper. I’m glad to learn that the Simkins house will be saved and, perhaps, put to good community use. But how did this situation get so bad in the first place?

Cleve Sellars, who is on the board, wouldn’t comment on Catherine Fleming Bruce – who has badly mismanaged the Collaborative. Question is, where in the world has he and the rest of the board BEEN all this time? Seems to me that Bruce is not the only one to blame for running the Collaborative into a ditch.

Warren Bolton, who is on the editorial staff at The State, has been a longtime Collaborative board member. Sadly, he with the bully pulpit wasted an opportunity to shed light on the matter before it got to this point.

If you missed it, here’s a link to the story.

And if you haven’t seen the Simkins house, you can take a nifty virtual tour here.

Here is a letter from Ms. Bruce that ran in last week’s Free Times after the paper ran an editorial skewering her.

Simkins Restoration Requires Public-Private Partnership

I write today to personally acknowledge the support and encouragement shown by individuals, organizations, municipalities and corporations over the years to the Collaborative for Community Trust in its efforts with regard to the Modjeska Simkins House (City Watch, “Modjeska Simkins Deserves Better,” July 18). This has been a long and arduous journey for myself and for the Collaborative board, with our only concern being the preservation of a historically significant civil rights building that once bore an “uninhabitable” notice and whose legacy was on the brink of being lost forever. It is this passion that has kept the Simkins project afloat since 1995.

It is our wish and our agenda that our community have the civil rights centerpiece that we have worked all these years to bring to fruition. We took action so that Columbia might join the ranks of other Southern cities in embracing our role in the American civil rights movement through this facility.

The purchase, restoration and operation of a historic site is a gargantuan task, and even more so with a paucity of staff support and resources. Many would never have attempted it, as historic preservation is most often taken up these days by developers or well-financed institutions. But had the Collaborative not stepped up 12 years ago, the Simkins House would not be here today.

Even so, the restoration of the Simkins House could never have been accomplished by the energies of any private individual or private group alone. The nature of historic preservation mandates a public-private partnership. It cannot, nor was it ever intended to glorify, enrich or exalt any one person. When I got involved, I considered this preservation work to be a public service to the community. I had guidance from our board, help in submitting appropriate reports from our accountant and the encouragement of many friends. I hope that other ordinary people will continue to step out on faith to preserve history in their communities. The Collaborative board and myself took the risk, and while it required extreme personal sacrifice and challenge, I am grateful for their commitment.

I, along with the full board of the Collaborative for Community Trust, continue to pledge our full efforts to a successful Modjeska Simkins House as it benefits from ever broadening levels of support and partnerships.

Catherine Fleming Bruce
President, Collaborative
for Community Trust

NC Passes Clean Elections Reform

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Big news from North Carolina yesterday! After the House passed the Voter-Owned Elections Act (VOEA) earlier this week, the state Senate followed the House’s lead and approved the VOEA, which will bring Clean Elections campaign reform to three of North Carolina’s Council of State seats. Once the governor signs the bill, and it looks like he will, candidates for State Auditor, Insurance Commissioner and Superintendent of Public Instruction will have the opportunity to opt in to a full public financing for their campaigns. (Candidates for the Supreme and Appellate courts in the state do now.)

North Carolina, which has pioneered the judicial public financing program, has been looking to expand their Voter-Owned Elections policy to other offices. After a series of pay-to-play scandals, which just recently led to the conviction of former House Speaker Jim Black, the state is anxious to take action against corruption and this bill is a great first step. Just as judicial public financing paved the way for this bill, so too should this program lead to Clean Elections for all Council of State races and, eventually, legislative and statewide races.

Toward Truthyness in Sex Ed

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Title V Abstinence-Only Funding Proposal to Reauthorize with Important Fixes

Yesterday, as part of the Congress’ consideration of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), the U.S. House proposed reauthorizing part of Title V of the Social Security Act, which provides states with $50 million in funding for abstinence-only-until-marriage programs. The program is set to expire next month. The proposed reauthorization has improvements that would:

* require funded programs to contain medically and scientifically accurate information;
* give states the flexibility to use funds for more comprehensive programs which discuss abstinence, but may also include information on birth control;
* require funded programs to have been proven effective at decreasing teen pregnancy, STD, and HIV/AIDS rates.

“We commend the Democratic leaders in the House for tackling this difficult issue and recognizing that the future will not hold unlimited federal funding for the failed and extreme abstinence-only-until-marriage industry,” said William Smith, vice president for public policy at the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS).

The measure passed the House 225-204. The Senate has not yet acted on Title V reauthorization.

Congratulations, Lewis and Spoma!

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Those of you who followed Brett’s free speech case will remember Lewis Pitts, the lead attorney. Lewis is a public defender who has dedicated his career to protecting the environment, promoting civil rights, and representing the most vulnerable clients in the system. You can read about him in a story in INDY.

Lewis worked tirelessly on Brett’s case and, although we lost on appeal in Richmond, we won in the court of public opinion, judging by the outpouring of support during and after the trial. The story touched a nerve in the lefty community as it was dawning on us just how dangerous the Bush Administration had become.

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Spoma Jovanovic

On Saturday, Lewis married Spoma Jovanovic, a university professor, at her home in Greensboro, NC. It was a lovely ceremony celebrated by family and friends, many of them longtime soldiers for civil rights. What a privilege it was to gather for such a joyous occasion with so many great minds and large hearts. We wish the newleyweds a lifetime of happiness and continued success making our corner of the world a better place to live.

Becci Robbins

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(from left) Lewis Pitts, Brett Bursey and Columbia attorney Jay Bender rally the troops during the Pay-In outside the courthouse in Columbia.

Stop Fat Cats

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This is from Public Campaign:

Tell Congress to Support the Fair Elections Now Act

When will elections be about voters instead of campaign donors? Clean elections systems have worked in Arizona, Maine and elsewhere. If we want progress on national issues, it’s time for public financing of congressional campaigns.

It’s no secret that the skyrocketing costs of congressional campaigns have turned our political system into what amounts to legalized bribery. Politicians feel compelled to raise huge sums of cash from special interests – often the very same people they’re supposed to be regulating.

Continue reading →

Time for a Moratorium on Children?

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Thank you, Al Guess, for saying that which few dare to speak, even by the greenest of environmentalists. In a letter to the editor in last week’s The State, he wrote:

Bob Guild of the Sierra Club espouses the “conservationist” approach to global warming and says we must start now. I agree — with two caveats:
1. “Now” is at least 100 years too late.
2. Population creates demand for fuel use. No amount of conservation will be effective unless we curb worldwide population. That includes by each individual in the United States.

Since the traditional attempts have failed, the only workable solution I see is a worldwide monetary incentive program. I wish the Sierra Club and others would take a leap forward from their slow-moving, somewhat politically correct approach.

AL GUESS, Columbia

His letter prompted this one, which ran today:

Al Guess writes Saturday that we need to “curb worldwide population” to fight global warming. Regardless of how much this tactic may help reduce greenhouse gases, I am disturbed by the inhumane nature of this suggestion. Does not promoting “curbing of the population” indicate a belief that human beings are some kind of disease? Human beings are the reason that we should be trying to improve the environment. The more, the merrier!

GREG GOEBEL, Columbia

I’m afraid Mr. Goebel makes Mr. Guess’ point, but that’s neither here nor there.

The point is, with all this talk about global warming, perhaps it’s time to question our casual attitude toward making babies. Lord knows there are more than enough already here, many without homes. Don’t we have a moral obligation to tend to them first? And don’t we owe Mother Earth a break? She is already drowning in our waste.

Every baby adds to the strain on the environment. Their diapers alone are a problem. Consider these numbers, posted on the cloth diaper service web site Punkin Butt.

For every baby diapered with single-use diapers for a 2 1/2 year period, over 2 tons of waste is generated. Disposable diapers make up the 3rd largest single consumer item in our waste system – following newspapers and beverage containers. They account for nearly 4% of the total amount of solid waste, and 30% of the non-biodegradable waste. It takes 500 years for one disposable diaper to decompose. Yes, while a cloth diaper, if it is ever thrown away, will become one with the earth within six months, a disposable diaper will just sit there and do what it was made to do: absorb. Ever seen a disposable diaper get wet? A child’s disposable diapers sit in a landfill and continue to swell and absorb water.

So why isn’t population control a topic worth debate? It seems past time we give it serious thought. The forward-thinking Alice Walker has.

Her latest book, We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For, includes a graduation address she gave to students at Agnes Scott College in 2000. She said, “I believe there should be a moratorium on the birth of children. That not one more child should be born on this planet until certain conditions are met.”

She goes on to list the ills of the world weighing heavily on her mind (poverty, plutonium, pollution, animals in cages). In the end she concedes, “You will have children, the majority of you. Some of you may already have them. You will not listen to me at all… Have your work in the world, and have your children. Only one, please, out of respect for the weight we are to our Mother. But be aware that the other children of the world are your responsibility as well. You must learn to see them, to feel them, as yours. Until you do, there is no way you can make your own child feel safe.”

Amen, sister Alice. Amen.

Becci Robbins