You Disappoint Me, Mr. President

This morning I received an email from Obama for America, the organizing group for President Obama's 2012 campaign, with the headline "This Email Will Offend You."

Here's how the email began:

Adam --

Here's something you and I weren't supposed to find out:

At a private function at a Colorado resort, oil billionaire Charles Koch stood in front of hundreds of conservative millionaires and said the 2012 election will be, in the words of Saddam Hussein -- yes, he decided to quote Saddam Hussein -- "the mother of all wars."

He then read through a list of 32 contributors who gave more than a million dollars each to bankroll the network of corporate special-interest groups that aim to tear down President Obama.

If that offends you, it absolutely should. But it should also motivate you, because you are the only thing that can stop them.

Sure, it offends me that one of the biggest oil barons of our time, responsible for more environmental destruction and climate change than maybe any other American (I admit I'm not sure if this is true, but just think of all of that oil...) would quote a vile dictator in reference to the 2012 presidential race. But this email seemed out of touch with something I've been thinking for a little while now -- that Obama himself is alienating his base by disregarding the values that got him elected. Obama the president could not be more different than Obama the candidate. Plus I could think of something that offends me more -- his recent cave on improved ozone standards. As Adrianna Quintero writes on NRDC's Switchboard:

Passing a stronger standard would save (yes, SAVE!) as much as $37 billion per year in health benefits at a cost of roughly $20 billion by:

• saving up to 4,300 lives;
• preventing up to 23,000 cases of aggravated asthma;
• avoiding almost 7,000 hospital visits; and
• 2.6 million days of work or school that people otherwise would miss due to air pollution.

She continues, sharing my frustration with Obama's compromise or inaction on these important issues:

It seems that none of these very obvious questions matter to them [politicians] anymore. Knee-jerk reactions to overblown claims by political rivals are what rule the day and motivate action in Congress and in the Administration. Reason and facts are looked down upon. Thoughtfulness is viewed as pretentious. And protecting our country, our children, MY children, equals political poison.

With this sentiment and that of being arrested at the White House taking nonviolent direct action for climate fresh in my mind, I responded to the initial email with this message:

"You know what really offends me? That the man I voted into office in 2008 (my first ever presidential election vote, by the way) on the platform of hope and change has done little on the subject of climate change. His cave on ozone regulation makes me sick, literally and figuratively. I was arrested in front of the White House two weeks ago when I engaged in civil disobedience against the Keystone XL pipeline, which would bring tar sands, the dirtiest fuel on the planet, from Canada to US refineries along the Gulf Coast. If President Obama approves this pipeline, and continues his track record of caving on and not actively pursuing stricter climate policy, I will not vote for him in 2012. I know many of my friends, family members, and fellow concerned Americans feel the same way, and I hope you can somehow relay this message to him."

A group of Keystone XL pipeline opponents recently gathered at an Obama campaign office in Seattle to share this same message with the staff there. They bring up the point that not only are their votes at stake, but also their willingness to donate and volunteer for the campaign and defend Obama to their friends and colleagues.



Obama clearly has some explaining to do or I fear he'll have a tough time of it next November. I never thought Obama would ever be the lesser-of-two-evils candidate, but if he doesn't start proving his commitment to climate and the other core values that so endeared him to us in 2008 he will face that fate and risk being a one-term president.

We Shall Overcome

"Sir, step forward please."

A buff mustachioed officer of the DC Park Police motioned me to come closer. I'll never forget his next four words, "You are under arrest." He then told me to turn around and snapped thick plastic bands around my wrists.



I was the third-to-last of 59 participants in civil disobedience earlier today to be arrested at the White House. We were taking nonviolent direct action in opposition to the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline, which would bring tar sands oil from Alberta, Canada to the US Gulf Coast. Aside from the danger this pipeline would pose to sources of drinking water, rural and indigenous peoples, and wildlife, if this carbon were to enter the atmosphere it would be game over for climate. Estimates place the tar sands contribution to CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere at 600 parts per million (ppm), so this pipeline is kind of a big deal. For reference, 350 ppm is the concentration at which human life on Earth developed. We're currently somewhere between 385 and 395 ppm CO2, and steadily climbing.



After each of us was pulled from the rest of group lined up along the sidewalk, we were led into a small tent and then loaded into a paddy wagon to be transported to the Anacostia branch of the Park Police for further processing. I was loaded into the last truck along with Jerome from New Jersey and Bishop from Virginia. To say we were cramped would be an understatement. Imagine bouncing around in the back of a mobile toaster. Then imagine having your hands behind your back, and you'll get a sense of our experience. I was first on the transport so I had a view out of the front of the vehicle through the metal mesh between myself and the driver. As we wove through the streets of DC behind our motorcycle escort past the White House, through the Mall beside the Washington Monument, and across the Anacostia River, I wondered what the tourists were thinking. What's all this ruckus? Who are these criminals being transported across town? I could see them turning their heads along the sidewalks as they heard the whine of the sirens coming down the street. I chuckled to myself. If only they knew that behind the windowless walls of the truck sat a recent college graduate, an environmental engineer, and a lawyer who'd all been demonstrating at the White House only moments before. We're doing this for you, I thought, and we're doing this for each other.

Processing once we arrived at the jailhouse was relatively painless. One by one they snapped off our plastic cuffs and led us to a long table staffed with officers who had us fill out paperwork for our release. Because of the low severity of our crime - we were charged with failure to obey a lawful order (aka get off the sidewalk) - and the benevolence of the Park Police, we were granted a "post and forfeit" release. Under these terms we could pay a $100 fine instead of staying overnight in jail and arranging a date in court. Thankfully we were instructed to have cash on us beforehand, and we were all out of police custody by 2:00 or so. Not so bad considering arrests had started around 11:30. I also want to make a point of saying that the DC Park Police were courteous and professional throughout the process, and I hope they spend my $100 wisely.

One of the most remarkable things for me about this action was the ability of a group of complete strangers to come together and rally around a common vision. It was even more astonishing to me that part of that goal was arrest. Action organizers affectionately used the phrase "risking arrest" when describing the action we were to take but after three previous days of arrested participants we had a good idea of what we were in for. The vast majority of us, like myself, were first-time participants in a demonstration of this kind and had never been arrested before. This could have made for a nervous bunch, but after spending several hours at a civil disobedience training session last night we were comfortable enough to put our trust in one another and take this leap of faith together. Leading up to the action I was anxious about entering into a scenario where I wasn't in control of my personal well-being (wait, you mean we're actually going to be arrested, like arrested arrested?), but as soon as I showed up at the White House this morning I knew that I would be in good hands - those of the wonderful, courageous, and passionate people who had come from all over the country to stand beside me. I realized too that sometimes you must relinquish that control in order to take control of something you care about.

One of the most memorable moments from today was when my buddy (we each had action buddies who were our go-to's for support throughout the day) Lawrence MacDonald and others led us in a variation of We Shall Overcome, an anthem of the Civil Rights movement. The lyrics drew nicely on the essence of what we were trying to accomplish.

We shall overcome, we shall overcome,
We shall overcome someday;
Deep in my heart, I do believe,
We shall overcome someday.

We'll walk hand in hand, we'll walk hand in hand,
We'll walk hand in hand someday;
Deep in my heart, I do believe,
We'll walk hand in hand someday.

We shall live in peace, we shall live in peace,
We shall live in peace someday;
Deep in my heart, I do believe,
We shall live in peace someday.

We shall heal the earth, we shall heal the earth,
We shall heal the earth someday;
Oh, deep in my heart, I do believe,
We shall heal the earth someday.

If today showed me anything, it's that this day is coming and we can get there even quicker if we work together to oppose injustice and bring positive change to the world.

Final note: Infinite thanks to the Tar Sands Action organizing team. Your help in preparing us for what we could expect throughout the day and your presence before, during, and after the action were invaluable to this experience. It honestly wouldn't have been possible, and won't continue to be possible this next week and a half, without your tireless work. I'm exhausted after participating in a single day, I can't imagine the resolve it must take to be out there day after day training a new group and seeing them safely through the arrest process. I think I speak for all of those who participated with me today when I say you are the real heroes of this action. Thank you!

Stop the Tar Sands: Stand Tall Generation Y

This post originally appeared last week in a Daily Kos blogathon featuring responses to the proposed Keystone XL pipeline. If this were to be approved, the pipeline would bring tar sands oil from Canada to the US Gulf Coast and serve as the fuse to one of the largest carbon bombs on the planet. If we are to have any hope of mitigating the catastrophic consequences of climate change, this carbon must stay in the ground. Here's why I'm participating in civil disobedience against the Keystone XL this week.

I've always balked a little at the notion that we should take action on climate change for the sake of our children, and for our children's children. This idea rubs me the wrong way because it creates a temporal disconnect with the immediacy of these issues, reinforcing the misconception that climate change is something that isn't happening while giving those suspicious of doing good for the environment another reason not to care. That, and of course it's not true. We need to take action on climate to save ourselves too.

Whenever I hear someone reference future generations in relation to climate change I can't help but think, "They're talking about me. These adults are talking about me." See, I was born in the late nineteen eighties which means that if US life expectancy is anywhere near accurate I will still be alive well after 2050. To put it simply, if I don't take action on climate then I'm not only jeopardizing my branch of the family tree but my own existence entirely. I don't have the luxury of playing wait and see. None of us do. Of course I'm an adult too now and as we charge further into the 21st Century an idea that may be a vestige of environmental messages of old becomes less and less relevant as more climate-passionate young people join the cause and conversation.

Climate must be a priority now. Our current greenhouse gas trajectory exceeds even the worst-case fossil fuel intensive projections made in 2007 for emissions over the next 100 years. The following video depicts a message Bill McKibben articulated beautifully in a Washington Post op-ed in May: Connect the dots. The destructive consequences of a changing climate are happening all around us.



When I first heard about the two weeks of civil disobedience in Washington I thought this is an incredible and unique opportunity. Through our participation we can show the one man responsible for approving or rejecting the pipeline, President Barack Obama, that we mean business. The groundswell of support for this action and the satellite protests that have cropped up across the country for those who cannot make it to DC prove that we've grown tired of our leaders' inability to make significant progress on climate change. Oftentimes when I think about direct actions I can take to have a positive impact on the environment my mind wanders to behavior changes in my personal life. But participating in civil disobedience is a whole different animal, and for me a no-brainer. Let's get this country's attention and convince the Commander in Chief to stop one of the most destructive projects in discussion today.

I recently came across a passage of a speech Obama gave back in 2006. He said:

"The issue of climate change is one that we ignore at our own peril. There may still be disputes about exactly how much we're contributing to the warming of the earth's atmosphere and how much is naturally occurring, but what we can be scientifically certain of is that our continued use of fossil fuels is pushing us to a point of no return. And unless we free ourselves from a dependence on these fossil fuels and chart a new course on energy in this country, we are condemning future generations to global catastrophe."

Without a doubt President Obama has diverged from this message. Sure, he may not think he has enough remaining political capital to craft meaningful climate legislation, especially when current members of Congress advocate abolishing the EPA and recently rejected a measure that would have admitted the climate is changing and human activities are the cause. In the midst of such an obstructionist political setting it's up to us to show him he's not alone. Further action simply cannot wait. He needs to understand that approving the Keystone XL pipeline would be a direct affront to those who elected him.

Therefore this post is a call to all members of Generation Y to come out in strength and stand tall outside the White House starting this weekend. The votes of the 18- to 25-year-old demographic were essential to Obama's victory in 2008 and we need to hold him accountable. We’ve inherited quite the complex global problem and it’s up to us to solve it, or perish. We ARE the future generation we’ve heard so much about. The clock is ticking.

I remember in the very first announcement on Grist about the plans for the civil disobedience there was a portion which read: "We don’t want college-age kids to be the only cannon fodder in this fight.... Now it’s time for people who’ve spent their lives pouring carbon into the atmosphere (and whose careers won’t be as damaged by an arrest record) to step up too." Fellow Gen-Yers, will we get arrested? It's entirely possible. We're not supposed to stand still in the location where we'll be gathering outside the White House. But this space offers President Obama such a prime view of us we simply can't pass it up. Should we let the threat of tainting our personal records deter us from showing our support for this cause? Never. Would we want to work somewhere that couldn't understand and accept the type of thoughtful and principled action we'll be engaging in? I don't think so. I will be outside the White House a week from today, on Tuesday August 23rd, and I hope you will join me.

Test Driving the 100% Electric Nissan Leaf

On Saturday I had the opportunity to test drive the Leaf, the 100% electric car manufactured by Nissan. It's no secret I've had a mini-love affair with the Leaf marketing team ever since I first saw their commercials a while ago (see posts here, here and most recently here). When I noticed on Twitter a few weeks ago that they were launching a Drive Electric Tour and that they were stopping in nearby Hartford, I knew I had to take advantage of the chance to get in the driver's seat myself and see what all the hype was about.



The event itself was awesome. It was a brutally hot day and they had cornered off a large section of the parking lot at the West Farms Mall for the driving course. There were also tents with information about the Leaf and refreshments. I was a part of the 1:30 tour group -- There were about 20 of us in all. Most of them were families with kids and I was probably the youngest person who drove himself to the event. Go figure. It didn't matter that I'm not planning on actually buying a Leaf, or any car for that matter anytime soon (I'm hoping to live in a place where it's not necessary to drive everywhere). That said, if and when I come to a point in my life where I want to buy a car, this is definitely towards the top of my wish list.



I was just along for the ride and to get a glimpse of the technology of the future. And that's really what it felt like. It made me think of what it must have been like to visit a world's fair and see the technologies of the coming era. Okay, maybe that's a stretch -- it's only a new car. Then again, the Leaf has no mufflers. I digress...



One of the Nissan Tour staff members ushered us through the first tent and told us about the car. Because it has roughly a 100-mile charge, he was honest that the Leaf is not a road trip vehicle. He was quick to point out that over 90 percent of us never travel 100 miles in a day, so the Leaf is perfect for the commute to school or work, or for running errands around town. He also explained that since the Leaf can recharge its battery while braking or coasting, some drivers can achieve distances of up to 130 miles. The navigation system built into the Leaf can locate nearby charging stations as well as show the driver all possible destinations, one-way and round-trip, within the current battery life. He pointed out the many other features of the Leaf, including the solar panel on the roof that powers the radio, headlights, AC, etc. The model underneath the tent had been running all day, yet all the components under the hood were cool to the touch. The seats themselves are made out of recycled plastic water bottles. The headlights were designed to direct airflow around the sideview mirrors to reduce drag. The list went on and on. Needless to say I was very impressed by the care Nissan had taken to create the Leaf.



Before long it was time to head out on the course. I was accompanied by Nissan staff to a car waiting in the lot. I climbed into the drivers seat and pushed the power button. The only sound was that of the air conditioning turning on. Soon it was my turn to take off, and I slid out of the starting area. One of the coolest things about driving the Leaf was the way it calculated the remaining range in the vehicle on the dashboard. It even told you by how many miles you could increase the range by turning of the AC or radio, or by putting the car into eco-mode (effectively the equivalent of a lower gear in any normal car, i.e. slower pickup).



Unfortunately we weren't allowed to push more than 15-20 mph through the course, so it was a little difficult for me to tell how it would fare on the open road. It did handle really well weaving through the cones they had set up and from what I could tell it was very similar to driving other small to midsized cars. When I asked one of the tent staffers what his favorite thing was about the Leaf he said it was the torque. He agreed that the course was limiting and didn't do the car justice, but that it had to be that way for liability reasons. Next time I'd really like to get one of these out on the open road and just cruise around for a little while. Due to hit the open market this fall, I may get that chance soon.

Overall the event was so much fun and I feel like I now have a better understanding of the Leaf and a greater appreciation for Nissan in doing what it has to promote electric vehicles. If you are interested in test driving one yourself, check out the Drive Electric Tour and see if the Leaf will be coming to a city near you soon. The national tour just started, so chances are you'll have an opportunity to participate. I highly recommend it!

TGL, Two Years Later

It was two years ago last Friday that I sat down in my Washington D.C. apartment and wrote and published the very first post on this here blog. I had spent the day at the 2009 Campus Progress National Conference where I was inspired by speeches from such luminaries as former President Bill Clinton, then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, oh, and of course, Daily Show correspondent John Oliver. Having deliberated for the better part of the preceding months over whether or not to start my voyage into the unknown depths of the internets, I finally could not resist the temptation to stake a claim on my own personal corner of the virtual frontier.



When I go back and read that post now I hear a self-conscious writer (can I even call my nascent blogger self a writer?) dipping his toes into the blogging pool. I didn't even really know at the time what I wanted to write about -- baseball? comic books? (HA.) -- I simply knew that I had ideas that I wanted to share. Soon The Green Lantern became my outlet for my observations on the world of sustainability, urbanism, or the two together. It helped me apply concepts and theories I'd learn in the classroom to the current web of events we now find ourselves caught up in.



Several times I remarked that blogging took a certain bravado to think that people would want to read what I had to say. As I honed my message and my method, I began to attract more and more visitors. Some were friends, family members, and colleagues, and some were people I had never met before who were interested in hearing what I had to say. I feel incredibly fortunate to have seen my readership grow to the point it is at now. I had just under 500 pageviews last month:




Inherent in this endeavor was finding my "voice," something I knew would be paramount to this process way back in that very first post. In some ways I think my writing style has remained remarkably constant, though the strength of argument has improved. I've also learned to loosen up in some of my posts, because who likes to read something that's stuffy and boring (the answer is no one...). Over the past two years I've written on time-lapse videos of NYC, about 100 different electric car commercials, my love of biking, and cities from the sky. My most popular posts to date are Lock It Up and a recent rallying cry against hydraulic fracturing, Exxon, For Shame (both worth a read if you missed them the first time around).



I'm a firm believer in the idea that you can't know where you're going if you don't know where you've been. Luckily for me I've kept a careful record of where I've been, and I can say that I want to keep heading in the direction I've set out for myself. Like a planetary body set in motion I won't stop now. I can't, even if I foolishly wanted to or even tried. My life is in a period of transition -- I just graduated from college and am (finally) and "adult." Hopefully building upon these writings will help me to further determine the solutions to the crises of the 21st Century.

From those of you who have been there when the beginning began, to those of you for whom this is your first post, the only words I can say are thank you, thank you, thank you.