One of the most amazing things for me was hearing from Van Jones and his organization Green For All and similar programs making the connection between race/class and environmental issues. Thank you! I was so moved and thrilled to hear almost every speaker during the keynote on Saturday (and there were a lot) talking about how we can not be environmentalists unless we are ready to work for justice for all people. It hits close to home, living in a West Virginia environmental sacrifice zone to Mountain Top Removal.
The potential for connections between our fights for justice, from folks with LVEJO fighting for green jobs and against coal power in Chicago, to Black Mesa's fight against Peabody in Arizona, to Green For All in urban areas and fighting Mountain Top Removal by working for green jobs in the heart of Appalachia, the fight for justice for farm workers (www.sfalliance.org) going on right now against Burger King -- it makes my heart swell!
On Monday, Nov. 5th Rainforest Action Network, SEAC, Coal River Mountain Watch, and many friends had an action to tell Citi to stop funding coal!
Coalfield residents went in to tell managers how Citi's investments in coal are causing the destruction of their communities. Students went in and said they are not pleased with how their student loans through Citi are helping fund global warming.
Wearing haz-mat suits painted with Citi's logo we delivered a half ton of coal to Citi's doorstep. Overwhelmed by the toxic coal, over 100 folks keeled over on the sidewalk to chants such as, "Global Warming, Who do we thank? Coal Investments from Citi Bank!" We shut Citi down for the day, but more important, we sent a huge message to Citi that students want them to divest from coal and invest in our future.
Please help us tell Citi and Bank of American to stop funding dirty coal and Mountain Top Removal mining and invest in a Clean Renewable Energy Future! Join the Nov. 16-17 RAN Day of Action against Coal Finance. See www.dirtymoney.org for more information.