powershift2011

There is a moment between intending to change and actually making a change that is as large and silent as the far reaches of the universal plains. For some, it is a split second. For others it is years. For the collective conscience, it may be several lifetimes.
 
How easy it is for us to think that we are separate from each other, that who we are as a people is not entirely dependent upon who we are as an individual, and vise versa. [...Read more]

My dad used to work at one of the chemical plants in the Point Comfort/Port Lavaca area in Texas, about a two and a half hour drive southwest from Houston. The plant produces plastics and PVC pellets which are used to make anything from sandwich bags to molded products. My father was a waste-water operator. They repeatedly had him send contaminated water out into our bays.  Many of these contaminants are cancer causing agents. [...Read more]

The wind blows soothingly as I’m sitting on the edge of the pier. Clouds blemish the open sky, which is flourished with various shades of reds and oranges. The sun is slowly setting in the distance, casting dark shadows against the numerous boats anchored to the desolate docks. [...Read more]

Washington D.C., our nation’s capital; The land of big embassies, big politics, big corporations, and don’t forget, big polluters. 

On April 15th -18th, Washington D.C. was also home to Power Shift 2011, a youth climate summit and organizer trainer.  [...Read more]

Last weekend in Washington, D.C., more than 100 Gulf Coast residents called for action from President Obama and Congress to make BP pay for its ongoing disaster, and to clean up and restore the Gulf Coast.  The contingent was part of Power Shift 2011, a youth climate summit and organizing training, nearly 10,000 people strong.  Watch the top five videos from the historic summit, as children, students, workers, advocates, and whistleblowers challenged big pollute [...Read more]

Andre Gaines of Lucedale, Mississippi, a former BP oil disaster clean-up worker who has fallen ill, rallies thousands of youth outside of BP's lobbying headquarters. 

On Monday, April 18th, Tax Day, thousands of youth marched on  BP's offices in Washington, and demanded they pay the $9.9 Billion in taxes they are dodging by writing off loses from their own oil disaster. [...Read more]

As a result of Gulf Coast communities' advocacy in Washington DC this weekend, a representative from the Department of Health and Human Services will join a community town hall meeting in New Orleans toni [...Read more]

Today, I return to the Gulf Coast after my 1,243 mile walk to Washington.  I walked to call for action from President Obama and Congress to end the BP disaster.  And at the end of my walk, I met 10,000 energized, fired up youth who are organizing for a clean energy future, at the Power Shift 2011 youth climate summit.  [...Read more]

Last night in Washington D.C., a BP clean-up worker and the son of a Vietnamese fishing family spoke to thousands of fired-up youth leaders.  Tony Nguyen and Andre Gaines were representing a diverse contingent of over one hundred people who traveled to Power Shift 2011 from across the Gulf Coast. [...Read more]

This weekend, the Woodstock of the environmental movement is on full display, not in a remote farm in New York, but deep in the heart of the nation's Capitol. [...Read more]