HUDSON VALLEY ACTIVIST CALENDAR
JANUARY 8, 2013, Issue #665
Send event announcements to jacdon@earthlink.net
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MAJOR ENVIRONMENTAL PROTEST
IN WASHINGTON
The Sierra Club and Bill McKibben’s 350.org are organizing a
major demonstration in Washington next month. They report: On Presidents Day
weekend, Feb 17, 2013, we'll be taking to the streets of Washington, D.C., with
thousands to form a massive human pipeline, and to tell the President that we
expect leadership on climate change, beginning with a rejection of the Keystone
XL tar sands pipeline. President Obama has just four years left to provide the
leadership we need to stop climate change that is causing extreme weather like
Hurricane Sandy, and Keystone XL is the first test of whether he's up for the
job. Information, http://action.sierraclub.org/site/PageServer?pagename=nat_signup_feb17.
Last week McKibben issued the following sharp statement
about government inaction:
…. Faced with a Congress bought off by the fossil fuel
industry, a realistic approach [by Obama] would be to do absolutely everything
he could on his own authority -- new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations,
for example; and of course, he should refuse to grant the permit for the
building of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, something that requires no
permission from John Boehner or the rest of Congress.
So far, however, he’s been half-hearted at best when it
comes to such measures. The White House,
for instance, overruled the EPA on its proposed stronger ozone and smog
regulations in 2011, and last year opened up the Arctic for oil drilling, while
selling off vast swaths of Wyoming’s Powder River Basin at bargain-basement
prices to coal miners. His State Department flubbed the global climate-change
negotiations. (It’s hard to remember a
higher profile diplomatic failure than the Copenhagen summit.) And now Washington rings with rumors that
he’ll approve the Keystone pipeline, which would deliver 900,000 barrels a day
of the dirtiest crude oil on Earth. Almost to the drop, that’s the amount his
new auto mileage regulations would save….
The president must be pressed to do all he can -- and
more. That’s why thousands of us will
descend on Washington D.C. on President’s Day weekend Feb. 17 in what will be the largest environmental
demonstration in years. But there’s another possibility we need to consider: that
perhaps he’s simply not up to this task, and that we’re going to have to do it
for him, as best we can.
If he won’t take on the fossil fuel industry, we will.
That’s why on 192 campuses nationwide active divestment movements are now doing
their best to highlight the fact that the fossil fuel industry threatens their
futures.
If he won’t use our position as a superpower to drive
international climate-change negotiations out of their rut, we’ll try. That’s why young people from 190 nations are
gathering in Istanbul in June in an effort to shame the UN into action. If he
won’t listen to scientists -- like the 20 top climatologists who told him that
the Keystone pipeline was a mistake -- then top scientists are increasingly
clear that they’ll need to get arrested to make their point.
Those of us in the growing grassroots climate movement are
going as fast and hard as we know how (though not, I fear, as fast as physics
demands). Maybe if we go fast enough even this all-too-patient president will
get caught up in the draft. But we’re not waiting for him. We can’t.
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UPCOMING: LOCAL ACTIVIST EVENTS
Wednesday, Jan. 9, ALBANY: Demonstrators are coming from
various locations across New York State to attend an 11 a.m.-3 p.m.
anti-fracking rally organized by the New Yorkers Against Fracking coalition.
The event will take place at Empire State Plaza near where Gov. Andrew Cuomo
will be delivering his annual State-of-the-State address. (The location will be
the Plaza’s indoor Concourse Level via the State St. entrance to the Egg.)
We’re told, “The rally is considered by many to be the final push to prevent
fracking from commencing in New York State…”
• Buses may still have seats from several towns, including:
New Paltz, http://bit.ly/S7fSQI,
Kingston: http://bit.ly/ZkYZ7j, and
Saugerties: http://bit.ly/ZkYZ7j.
• Directions to the rally:
http://www.albany.com/hotspot_esp.cfm.
• Information, http://www.nyagainstfracking.org, Daniel
Morrissey (518) 285-1990, Rita Yelda (716) 507-2077, Renee@FrackAction.com.
Wednesday, Jan. 9, KATONAH: The impact of Hurricane Sandy on
the ecosystem of the Hudson River is the topic of a free public meeting, 7-9
p.m., at Katonah Memorial House, 71 Bedford Rd. the speaker will be
Riverkeeper's Hudson River Program Director Phillip Musegaas. The host is
Bedford Audubon Society. Information, (914) 232-1999, http://www.riverkeeper.org/news-events.
Sunday, Jan. 13, WOODSTOCK: A meeting to honor Martin Luther
King’s birthday will take place 3-5 p.m. at the Woodstock Jewish Congregation,
1682 Glasco Turnpike. The theme is “The New Jim Crow – Raising Jewish
Awareness,” with key speaker Rev. Modele Clarke and reflections by Rabbi
Jonathan Kligler.
Wednesday, Jan. 16, POUGHKEEPSIE: A forum on PCB contamination in the Hudson
River will be held 3-6 p.m. at the Marist College Boathouse. The free public
event is sponsored by the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, Natural Resources
Defense Council, Riverkeeper and Scenic Hudson. It’s endorsed by CRREO, Hudson
River Fisherman's Association, Hudson Valley Smart Growth Alliance, and
Sustainable Hudson Valley. Pre-register at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/HR_PCB_Forum.
Information, Jeremy Brettholz (845)
641-7701, jerbrett1@gmail.com. Register at
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/HR_PCB_Forum.
Friday, Jan. 18, KINGSTON: Academy Green Park is the venue
for a weekly vigil in opposition to fracking (weather permitting). The park
sidewalk faces a heavily trafficked street and it’s prefect for carrying signs.
The
location is 200-238 Clinton Ave. at Albany Ave and Maiden Lane.
Information (914) 489-7973, knip80@hotmail.com.
Sunday, Jan. 20, WOODSTOCK: For the 23rd year in
a row, local residents are holding a “Birthday Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther
King jr.” This year the theme is “King says NO! to the new Jim Crow.” The
lively event begins at 2 p.m. at the Woodstock Community Center, Rock City Rd.
Keynote speaker Theo Harris — a criminal justice consultant, author and singer
— will discuss the New Jim Crow (based on Michelle Alexander’s book), linking
it to Dr. King and the Civil Rights Movement. Harris’s newly published
autobiography “Blessed and Highly Favored, Memoirs of a Multiple Felon,” has
been acclaimed. Also speaking will be Pam Africa of the International Concerned
Family and Friends of Mumia Abu Jamal; Ismail Shabazz, community activist;
Maggie Williams of Move to Amend; and Woodstock Town Supervisor Jeremy Wilber.
Sponsors of this free public gathering include Martin Luther King Jr. Planning
Committee, Haitian People's Support Project and Town of Woodstock. Information
(845) 679-7320.
Monday, Jan. 21, AMERICA: Today is the national holiday
honoring Dr. Martin Luther King. His birthday was Jan. 15, 1929, and he was
assassinated by a white racist on April 4, 1968, at the age of 39. He hated
war, especially imperialist war, as well as the Jim Crow segregation he fought
to eliminate. A year before he died he said:
“A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military
defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.”
Wednesday, Jan. 23, POUGHKEEPSIE: Take part in a free
reading group focusing on Michelle Alexander's controversial and best-selling
2010 book "The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of
Colorblindness." The group meets
6-8 p.m. on the second and fourth Wednesdays at the Sadie Peterson
Delaney African Roots Library, Family Partnership Center, Suite 218, 29 North
Hamilton St. The readings are organized by the End the New Jim Crow Action
Network. Information, (845) 452-6088, ext. 3343, odell_winfield@yahoo.com.
Friday, Jan. 25, MILLBROOK: Harvard botanist Peter Del
Tredici will discuss “Forests of the Future” in a 7 p.m. meeting at Cary
Institute auditorium, 2801 Sharon Turnpike (doors open at 6:30 p.m.). He will
focus on how northeastern forests are being shaped by urbanization, invasive
species, acid rain, and climate change. Copies of his new book, “Wild Urban
Plants,” will be available for sale. Information, (845) 677-7600, ext. 121, http://www.caryinstitute.org.
