Marcellus Back in Trenton

On Friday, February 25th, a hundred people attended a hearing with the Delaware River Basin Commission. The DRBC is responsible for regulations of industry in the basin. The whole thing was much lighter than the previous DRBC hearing on July 14th; there was no big demonstration, and only a small pack of pro-drilling landowners attended. The previous hearing may have been the catalyst for the large grassroots group, United for Action, which may have been represented by fifteen people if not more. That hearing in July though, in which many people had to take sessions waiting in the parking lot because of the fire code, was likely the reason why this hearing was held in a very large space; However the room appeared empty for the second half of the early hearing, because almost all of the land owners, or -as it seemed- all of the pro-drilling attendees left at the same time as one big group of some fifteen people or less. In other words, there were less pro-drilling attendees than in the summer, and that became very clear when they all left together. Safe drilling, as it was called, was an enduring position that seemed to have not been present at this hearing; however there were moderate calls for extensions on comment periods, commentary sessions in places other than Trenton, and urging of the DRBC to wait for the EPA study and tests specifically for the Delaware River Basin. Although the DRBC is responsible for regulations, there are people who feel that there is no need for regulations on both sides of the issue. Many landowners expressed that drilling should start as soon as possible, and on the other side, two women disrupted the hearing at the very start by standing on the stage and holding signs that read: "Total Ban."

More Footage at ShannonsOrganiceNews.

Northeast Food n Justice Summit + Mass March for Farm Workers

At the Northeast Food and Justice Summit, hundreds of young people, including teenagers, carried forward the Food Justice Movement at a two and a half day conference followed by a giant march through Boston for farm worker's rights.





Real Food Challenge has been challenging students for five years or so to campaign their schools to purchase 100% Real Food, which means local, sustainable and humane; food which truly nourishes eaters, communities, workers, animals and the environment. But this summit was a bit unique. RFC came out of The Food Project, a Food Justice organization in Dorchester Boston that hires teenagers from the inner city to the outskirts to work together on an urban farm and in a rural farm. It brings them closer to nature, beautifies the neighborhood, and of course brings about more fresh food grown right in the community and a greater understanding and appreciation of where Food comes from. At this summit, there were maybe 100 folks younger than 18. There were other such youth groups there too, among the many college students and older activists. At the end of the summit, at a "Young Leaders" breakout, which was for folks not in school anymore at all, the majority of the circle expressed that they appreciated seeing so many young youth and were inspired to see the next generation carrying forth Food Justice.



Aligned with the summit and RFC, but not endorsed by Northeastern University, was a march through Boston for Farm Worker's Rights. The Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) have won campaigns with various food stores to pay one penny more per pound of tomatoes for the farm workers in Immokalee Florida. This march targeted Stop n Shop.

According to a CIW flyer: "Workers are paid virtually the same piece rate (an average of 50 cents per 32-lb. bucket) as they were 30 years ago. At this rate, a worker must pick over 2.25 TONS of tomatoes to earn Florida minimum wage in a typical 10-hour workday. Most workers earn less than $12,000 per year.

"Farm workers in Florida have no right to overtime pay, no health insurance, sick leave, paid vacation or pension, and no right to organize...

"In the most extreme situations, workers are forced to labor against their will through the use or threat of physical violence. Since 1997, there have been nine cases of forced labor prosecuted in Florida's fields, involving 1,200 workers."

Feb 19th Amp Up! Summit

On February 19th, the 2nd Amp Up! Summit happened at Hunter College. Once again some fifty or more folks came together to build a network and deepen an understanding of environmental justice, and today's eco, food, political and sustainability issues as well as focus that vision for a just and sustainable future. There were workshops on sustainable transit, memes and media, and breakout discussions on organizing skills.

The first summit happened just before the Gulf explosion in spring 2010. Julia Walsh innovated the idea as part of her seasonal job with Earth Day New York and organized the summit in six weeks with students from environmental clubs from around the city. Similarly, Adam Kroopnick, who was part of the crew that organized Buffalo Power Shift, as well as Betta Broad, both at Earth Day New York took the torch this year and organized the summit with Julia and students and youth from around the greater city area in several weeks.











Click here to join the Amp Up! Facebook group.

Hearing this Thursday

From United For Action:

On December 9, 2010, Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) caved in to the pressure by the gas drilling interests and issued draft regulations for hydraulic fracturing gas drilling in the Delaware River Basin watershed. This is the first step leading to issuance of permits for hydraulic fracturing gas drilling in the watershed. Thus DRBC has put the water and lives of over 15 million people in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware, including about 7 million people in New York City and northern New Jersey who live outside of the basin, at a tremendous risk...

United for Action is organizing a trip to attend the public hearing to be held on Thursday 2/24/11 in Trenton, NJ. (If you can't come you can write letters for us to bring)

Come to DRBC Public Hearing in Trenton, NJ on Thursday 2/24
When: Thursday 2/24/11 meet up at 9:30 am

Where: At the NJ Transit Ticket Windows inside Penn Station near 7th Avenue
One way ticket costs $15.50
Trenton Transit Center address is 72 South Clinton Avenue, Trenton, NJ
Hearing place address is Patriots Theater at War Memorial, 1 Memorial Drive, Trenton, NJ

For those who are adventurous, you can also walk from the Trenton Transit Center to the War Memorial. According to the google map walking direction, the walk takes about 18 to 20 minutes.

We plan to take the 6:16 pm train leaving Trenton Transit Center arriving in New York Penn Station at 7:36 pm

If you plan to join us and take the train from Penn Station but has not yet RSVP, please RSVP to (AyalaShannon@gmail.com)

If you can not come to this hearing, please make every effort to go to (this hearing):
2/22 – Liberty High School Auditorium, 125 Buckley Street, Liberty, NY

If you can not attend a hearing in person, please send a comment before the deadline of March 16th 5:00 pm.

Countdown to Amp Up! Summit

With about a week left until the summit to kick off a semester of high voltage, renewable energy powered, organic social change, it's up to all the folks that are down, to drop seeds everywhere, and water those seeds, and shine a little on them. That means telling our classes, our friends, people we've never even talked to before, people who don't talk to many people. "Even if you're not into the environment or food, it's good to come just to see what's going on, it's free, and you learn about justice in general, and skills that you could use for anything." Please send emails out, share stuff on Facebook walls and invite people through that; you can print the flyer too. Hey, Mr. Turquoise videos are not on behalf of Amp Up! or an organization; you could make videos yourself: this is grassroots.



Invite friends here.
Register here.

A Mountain Lost, a Mountain Saved

An email from NY Loves Mountains (sent Jan 18th):

The new year has already seen big changes in the the movement to end
mountaintop removal that have made us pause to mourn and to express
gratitude. On January 3rd, Julia "Judy" Bonds passed away after a
struggle with cancer. Judy, a Goldman prize award winner in 2003, was
a beloved leader who had devoted her life to the fight to end the coal
mining practice that was destroying her family's home.

...It is with gratitude and hope that we met the news this past week
that the EPA has chosen to veto the permit for the proposed Spruce No.
1 mine in West Virginia, what would have been the largest mountaintop
mine in Appalachia to date, stating that "the proposed Spruce No. 1
Mine would use destructive and unsustainable mining practices that
jeopardize the health of Appalachian communities and clean water on
which they depend." Many see this decision as a landmark victory,
marking a turning of the tide in the regulation of the mining
industry. However, with a new administration could come a very
different EPA, reversing the progress being made now.

...New Yorkers absolutely have a connection to mountaintop removal. Not
only do we burn MTR coal, our state retirement fund invests in Massey
Energy, the company behind more MTR mines than any other. If you know
a state employee that does not want his or her retirement money
invested in mountaintop removal coal mining, please tell him or her to
get in touch with us. We need to push Albany to stop supporting a
company that destroys entire habitats and communities and sends its
miners into deadly mines without proper safety precautions. It's time
to end Comptroller's DiNapoli's appeasement strategy and get our money
out of Massey. Sign the petition calling for NYS Retirement Fund to
divest from Massey Energy here.