Hey Everybody:

I just got back from a summer spent working on a non-profit, non-partisan organization called Powervote in and out of St. Paul, MN. I am now trying to bring this amazing idea and campaign to campus at State. The idea is to work for Climate and Environmental Justice...I am trying to get at least 3500-5000 students interested and signed up. This is our generation's calling, no joke, we have to do something to change the direction America and the world is headed in. One of the fundamental changes needs to be away from things like fossil fuels. Here is a brief description of what I stand for through representing Powervote. If you read this and are interested in helping me organize on campus contact me at smdalton@ncsu.edu or go to http://www.powervote.org and just sign the pledge.

Powervote is committed to environmental and social justice. We recognize that a global problem such as climate change requires a global solution, one that takes the human rights of all people into account regardless of race, class, gender, sexual orientation or nationality. We believe in standing up for environmental and climate justice in our policies and in our work. Power Vote is a campaign to make sure all people and the land we live on, is respected and treated fairly as are the people. We are working to build an economy that not only cuts our dependence on dirty oil and coal but also amplifies the voice of all people and creates jobs that are secure and strong enough to lift people out of poverty.
As we fight for immediate solutions on our campuses and in our communities, it is important for us to learn about the forces of privilege and instiutional bias that we have grown up with and for us to work to be active in the movement for equity and justice. Imagine what can be possible when people realize that young people everywhere will no longer allow communitieis anywhere to be sacrificed.
As we strive to broaden our base and make our movement as diverse as possible, we recognize that we have a lot of work to do before we can effectively re-center the movement. It is important that we continually engage in education and training around privilege and justice and learn how to be effective allies for people with less advantage in our society and our movement.

Think about the changes we can accomplish with students across America united in this stand!
If you are interested in helping to organize contact me at smdalton@ncsu.edu or sign up at http://www.powervote.org (There are also mad parties all over the nation through this that have travel paid for for people interested, one definite party and get together of students throughout the nation is in DC during February '09, 6000 students came last year. )

8/20/2008 11:55:40 PM

too many words

8/21/2008 12:04:36 AM

too many words

8/21/2008 12:11:43 AM

too many words

8/21/2008 1:41:35 AM

alright thanks, I'll repost it a lot shorter

8/21/2008 10:54:49 PM

(you don't need to make a new thread)

8/21/2008 10:55:43 PM

The environment is already a lost cause, let it go bro.

8/21/2008 11:10:03 PM

some chick on the street the other day asked me if i wanted to help save the environment, i think it hurt her feelings when i said 'no'...which, it's not like i don't like the environment, but i had stuff to do--asking people on the street is prolly not the best way

/my story

8/21/2008 11:17:56 PM

this seems like another thinly veiled cross between socialism and GreenPeace.

The whole notion of the article on the website practically condemning Warren Buffet and Bill Gates for considering investing in an oil refinery is silly. Do you enviro-retards realize that oil is used for FAR more than energy?

Even if we make it to 100% "green" energy production, all that equipment will require billions of tons of oil for parts, lubrication, repair and upkeep. No OIL means NO modern world.

Social Justice? I think you should stick to one thing at a time. And if you want to move away from Coal Power, go talk to the ENVIRONMENTALISTS who worked to have Nuclear energy halted almost 25 years ago. If we had legal Nuclear reprocessing and modern reactors, construction, and subsidies, the Coal problem wouldn't exist.

8/21/2008 11:58:51 PM

Okay to address each of your many arguments.....I am not defending socialism or GreenPeace.

The article you read about Warren Buffet and Bill Gates is by an author I do not know and the fact they would invest in oil refineries is not going to happen. Warren Buffet just came out talking about the future of energy.......it's not oil.

What do you mean by 100% green, I need some disambiguation.

I assume you think there is only one type of lubricant out there and it is oil based? You are wrong there are many substitutes, one of the substitutes being Silicone grease another being
US Patent 4626367 - Water-soluble metal-working lubricant composition.....

Social Justice is so closely tied to Coal power that it is saddening.....Look at New Mexico and the Appalachian Mountains where Native American reservations are. There are coal plants that destroy their land health and economy. An increasing number of them have cancer, asthma, unfertile grounds for farming, and the money from the plants is exported. This is social injustice directly caused by coal.

8/22/2008 12:28:55 AM

[Edited on August 22, 2008 at 12:55 AM. Reason : not worth saying]

8/22/2008 12:31:19 AM

^ You're new here, you seem like a nice person, and I think that your cause of helping the environment is an extremely noble one. I've got some people I'm going to introduce you to that are experienced with building social movements on college campuses.

That being said I'm going to warn you, and you should definitely take this into consideration. The Wolf Web is full of people that love to argue. Many of them will argue for days, even when they know that they are wrong. They do it just for fun. Noen is not one of those people. If you make the mistake of getting into an internet pissing contest with him, you will lose.

Good luck with your cause.

[Edited on August 22, 2008 at 12:38 AM. Reason : blah]

8/22/2008 12:37:53 AM

noen's point (correct me if i'm wrong) is that even if domestic energy production magically became carbon-neutral tomorrow, oil reserves would still be developed for other purposes (e.g. fertilizer to make biodiesel) for the foreseeable future.

the article undoubtedly portrayed gates and buffet in a negative light simply for considering investing in a refinery that will be built whether they foot the bill or not.

and finally, to be clear, the states with the largest indian populations are: california, oklahoma, and arizona; which get 1, 50, and 23 percent of their power from coal--respectively.

[Edited on August 22, 2008 at 1:09 AM. Reason : &]

8/22/2008 12:57:44 AM

The Four Corners plant, one of the largest coal-fired generating stations in the United States, is located on Navajo land in Fruitland, New Mexico, which serves about 300,000 homes in New Mexico, Arizona, California, and Texas.[3] The American Lung Association estimates that 16,000 people in the region (15 percent of the population) suffers from lung disease probably caused by plant emissions. Each year the plant emits 157 million pounds of sulfur dioxide, 122 million pounds of nitrogen oxides, 8 million pounds of soot and 2,000 pounds of mercury.
The common challenges of land and resource development are exacerbated by the poor economic situation of many of the tribes, which raises questions of environmental justice and indigenous sovereignty.

# 3 Four Corners Power Plant, PNM website
# 4 “Speaking Diné to Dirty Power: Navajo Challenge New Coal-Fired Plant,” Jeff Conant, CorpWatch, April 3, 2007
Source : Source Watch http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Coal_and_Native_American_tribal_lands#_note-2

[Edited on August 22, 2008 at 1:10 AM. Reason : Needed citations..]

8/22/2008 1:09:16 AM

the reason the plant is on the indian reservation is because the indian reservation is on the coal; you can't have your cake and eat it too--maybe they should've built casinos instead

8/22/2008 1:23:04 AM

This is definitely a noble cause that needs attention, but you need a lot more focus in being able to concretely talk more about what you DO rather than just what you stand for. In all of your original post, all of your actionable items are pretty vague; get specific. "Standing up for environmental and climate justice" is great but meaningless--tell us how you stand up for it, and NOT by just saying you "fight" for "solutions."

On the whole, most political activism is weak sauce because it's much easier to get excited about ideals and talk about making change than it is to actually make change. Every little bit helps, but let's face it; making change in this country requires a career of service, not organizing a weekend rally or writing a letter for a mass email campaign to your congressmen. Those are important for raising social awareness, but ultimately it's a tiny piece of a much larger puzzle. Grassroots issue campaigning has had a resurgence in popularity in recent years, and faux-grassroots organizing with massive corporate backing (for example, Rock The Vote) has also been successful. There will always be college kids like you who get fired up about issues and can run organizations like this for a few years until their enthusiasm fizzles as they come to realize that either their organization is largely ineffectual and failing to produce actual change, or they simply find other priorities to care about. Let those kids run their show, because it's a show that needs running, but if you're truly committed enough to attend leadership conferences on issues like this, realize that you can and should do much more; bypass the minor leagues and get a head start on the big stuff.

In the example of voting, like PowerVote is committed to, there's a shortage of work being done on more of a root problem--voting for the most environmentally viable candidate is fine, but on a larger scale, our political system is not producing enough candidates with strong environmental priorities for us to vote for. That starts long before election day; we need to get better candidates on the ballot. Working on political campaigns and fundraising can be hellish, but it's better than just getting people to sign an internet pledge saying they care about the environment and will consider it in their votes. We need to get the Democratic and Republican parties to care more about environment as part of their party platform; creating social pressure by raising awareness can help do this over time, sure, but again, let the minor league kids handle that. Politicians and the giant corporations on their ears speak in money; go into doing policy work showing the short-term and long-term economic benefits of green policies and technologies. If you're science-minded, study or research the technology itself so it can become more cost-efficient. Commit to a career using your individual strengths to do your part.

I realize some of these things I mention are in PowerVote's platform they're asking people to vote around. That's great, but you'll accomplish more if you pick one of those platform items and make a career of working on it, instead of just telling people to cast a vote about it. Someone's got to sack up and do the hard stuff around here.

Refocus your energy, and learn to be more specific in your goals. Everything you said sounds great and inspiring until you actually think about it and realize how little you actually said with all those words. It's inspiring because so few people actually do think about anything that's said beyond a surface level, but the people who do have the power to change things are the people who do go beyond the surface. Those are the people you need to cater to. Having "mad parties" is awesome if all you're looking for is a self-congratulatory circle-jerk, but the real work lies elsewhere.




And on another note, item 4 in your platform is weak. An immediate moratorium on new "dirty energy" plants would starve our demand for energy in the short-term and have drastic consequences on the economy; we're not ready to totally flip the switch to 100% new clean energy yet. Also, an outright rejection of nuclear power as a viable option is either too extreme a view or demonstrates a lack of understanding about advances in nuclear technology.

[Edited on August 22, 2008 at 1:33 AM. Reason : OMFGRAMMAR]

8/22/2008 1:30:29 AM

too many words

8/22/2008 3:07:00 AM

Quote :

"I assume you think there is only one type of lubricant out there and it is oil based? You are wrong there are many substitutes, one of the substitutes being Silicone grease another being US Patent 4626367 - Water-soluble metal-working lubricant composition....."

How the fuck do you think they make silicon grease? With PLASTIC PARTS, which come from OIL.

All of the alternative materials for oil based lubricant and plastic are a) expensive, b) not commercially viable in oil-like quanitity and c) required shit tons of OIL to produce.

And you dismissing the FIRST ARTICLE on your "site" promoting your cause is yet another giant warning sign. If you can't post a single piece of news and stand behind the implications you assert from it, what kind of half ass cause is this?

No where on the site does it posit any actionable answers, nor do you provide any research. I couldn't even find the charter for the organization. What DO you stand for, what are the SOLUTIONS you are working toward, and where is the RESEARCH to show the validity of the positions and solutions?

8/22/2008 4:11:04 AM

Alright, just watch the news, especially in February. Thanks for the skepticism those are good points yall brought up.

[Edited on August 22, 2008 at 10:02 AM. Reason : done ]

8/22/2008 9:51:14 AM

hell, i support socialism

capitalism is doomed to fail...as is socialism, technically

8/22/2008 10:09:40 AM

Noen owned the fuck out of this thread.

Jesus.

8/22/2008 2:47:38 PM

sounds like Quixtar to me...

8/22/2008 2:55:03 PM

It seems like you are ambitious and want to do good. You just need to polish up your speaking points and focus on what it is that you want to do and get accomplished and what others can do to help you.

Also, I'm interested, and I imagine others are as well. How did your summer go? What did you get to do? Was there training, learning, etc?



[Edited on August 22, 2008 at 3:36 PM. Reason : summer]

8/22/2008 3:35:00 PM

These fuckers put stickers all over the bricks around campus.

8/22/2008 3:41:26 PM

some oil will help get those stickers off

8/22/2008 3:43:27 PM

WD40 gets stickers off easy
On a related note, we use biodegradable hydraulic fluid in some elevators at hospitals and the like. We do so because they ask for it and pay extra for it. They pay close to 20 times what it cost for normal long wear 32 weight hydraulic fluid, and get a shorter use time out of it before it requires replacement.

8/22/2008 10:01:17 PM

keep america green

cover it with stickers

8/23/2008 10:55:08 AM

too many words

8/23/2008 6:28:55 PM

cut him some slack.

[Edited on August 23, 2008 at 6:47 PM. Reason : unless you have a funny quip.]

8/23/2008 6:46:29 PM

yay, another 21 year old with the solution to all the world's problems, and it can all be had by simply joining a certain organization

8/23/2008 7:04:59 PM

I stopped after the 5th sentence. Sounds like another crazy liberal group

8/23/2008 7:36:15 PM

smdalton

8/23/2008 8:32:42 PM

i think that this is a great idea. my friends and i would definitely love to be a part of this. i think that america and the world are definitely going in the wrong direction and need to make a change. To see someone on States campus to take the initiative to bring this topic up is awesome and we really do need more of it.

8/23/2008 10:40:18 PM

I burned over 20,000 pounds of fossil fuel at work on thursday and friday

...after driving to work in my V10, 3/4 ton truck, getting 10 mpg, so suck on that. In two days, I can probably fuck away all of the progress all 2800 or however many of you can make in a year.


in other news, i'm very glad that this will just be a bunch of college students figuratively stroking each other off about a bunch of silly bullshit, and people with the ability to actually do the things you are wishing for by and large have the good goddamned sense not to.


^ what's such a great idea about it? i mean, yeah...we agree--being overly dependant on foreign oil is bad. pollution is bad. that doesn't mean these silly douchebags are even close to being on the right track regarding anything, though. Do the cause a favor and let these poor representatives crash and burn before anyone associates them with anything important.

and what does overhauling our energy strategy have to do with a socialist and multicultural hippie fagfest?

[Edited on August 23, 2008 at 11:31 PM. Reason : asdfasd]

[Edited on August 23, 2008 at 11:41 PM. Reason : asdfasd]

8/23/2008 11:27:14 PM

But, it might be a good way to get laid...

8/23/2008 11:34:19 PM

ha

it's probably mostly a bunch of hairy chicks and dudes without enough testosterone in their system to even get it up, which is a good thing, because God forbid that any of them procreate.


i'm not anti-environment at all. there is a balance to strike, though, and there are reasonable, pragmatic ways to attack these problems. Almost every approach has associated tradeoffs, and some of the things these people want are not in the "sweet spot" of bang for the buck on what you're giving up to get something. It's also mostly a bunch of fairly abstract ideas--and not particularly well considered ones, at that.

8/23/2008 11:48:57 PM

[Edited on August 24, 2008 at 2:45 AM. Reason : i get game]

8/24/2008 2:25:09 AM

Quote :

"I burned over 20,000 pounds of fossil fuel at work on thursday and friday"

well youre one of the reasons they exist. if you don't like them, stop burning so much goddamn unnecessary fuel

8/24/2008 5:15:46 PM

o lawd, you don't wanna go down that road

8/24/2008 5:18:55 PM

hey guess what? I'm the most liberal person most of you will ever know, and I'm comfortable with that.

8/24/2008 5:21:00 PM

flame me all you want. its just a f*cking internet forum

8/24/2008 5:23:06 PM

Quote :

"this seems like another thinly veiled cross between socialism and GreenPeace."

oh my

8/24/2008 5:36:03 PM

it would be sweet if TWW had a forum for political talk. kind of a soap box, if you will.

8/24/2008 5:36:04 PM

Quote :

"Enact an immediate moratorium on new coal, oil, natural gas, and nuclear plant construction and infrastructure, while phasing out existing plants and fossil fuel extraction and ensuring a just transition for the workforce and communities"

if you can explain how this is going to work out for us right now be my guest. And I can tell you that right now we are hurting ourselves with the lack of nuclear produced energy in this company.

these solutions arent as simple as some random organization like this makes them out to be in some cute little bullet point website. As someone who is currently working in the power industry (nuclear to be exact), I would advise you all to do a little more research before you start promoting this stuff all over the place. My company has developed a new carbon capture system that drastically reduces carbon emissions from coal fired power plants and we are doing a lot of work with wind and hydroelectric power (as well as nuclear obviously). Believe me, we want to get cleaner energy too, and we are trying. some little organization like this isnt going to speed it up, and trying to get in our way will honestly slow the process down.

no offense, but I would be willing to bet that a very small percentage of people in your organization even understand the power industry or the engineering behind it.

[Edited on August 24, 2008 at 5:45 PM. Reason : ]

8/24/2008 5:40:38 PM

Quote :

"Enact an immediate moratorium on new coal, oil, natural gas, and nuclear plant construction and infrastructure, while phasing out existing plants and fossil fuel extraction and ensuring a just transition for the workforce and communities"

Why try to be just? It was them who decided to work in the filthy industry of splitting atoms.



The just thing to do is to make them pay for the wasteful lifestyles they live!

[Edited on August 24, 2008 at 5:44 PM. Reason : ]

8/24/2008 5:44:04 PM

i'm not saying that i support them. I'm just pointing out the hypocrisy in the responses. I agree that something has to be done about the pollution problem. I don't necessarily agree with everything their group suggests as solutions

8/24/2008 5:48:08 PM

every time i hear a so called environmental organization rally against nuclear power it just drives me insane. Its almost as bad as their opposition to GM crops in the third world. What a bunch of racist rich white kids.

8/24/2008 6:00:20 PM

The people that I have heard come to non-profit organizations pleading for help time and time again would love for you to go into their communities and countries to tell them they are rich white kids....they are the exact, and unfortunate for them, opposite. That is who I am writing this forum for, I believe rich white kids would be better summed up as people who sit and talk shit on their computers about people trying to improve something in the world. Constructive criticism is great and I've been taking into consideration a lot of what is said on here, talking shit is pointless, but I realize a lot of you get off to it and will continue to thrive on each new post like this one.

[Edited on August 24, 2008 at 6:51 PM. Reason : Whadda doin in ma waters?]

8/24/2008 6:41:29 PM

while I havent really been talking any crap, I am FAR from any rich white kid, but I have a much better grasp on the power industry than a lot of other people in groups like this. And, while I really do agree with most of the CONCERNS people like you have, I disagree with the method you are going about changing them.

A lot of times you end up getting in the way of progress by parading against things like nuclear power, which is a lot "cleaner" than coal and fired applications despite the "waste".

In short, I tend to agree with a lot of the situations that are inspiring you to do this, but a lot of things groups like this are missing is logical solutions.

[Edited on August 24, 2008 at 6:51 PM. Reason : ]

8/24/2008 6:50:16 PM

word

8/24/2008 6:51:36 PM