Energy Issues (Also see Oil, Climate, Environment)

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“Let’s Boldly Create the Future We Really Want”

August 29, 2020 GlenAnderson 0

The June 2020 TV program for the “Glen’s Parallax Perspectives” TV series addresses the serious problems that we are experiencing and encourages people to boldly envision solutions. People know the status quo is bad – and they want to solve the problems. But nearly everybody is bogged down in feeling powerless.  They don’t feel empowered to solve the problems, and they don’t know how to proceed. This TV program — and the transcript I have posted at this link,  2020.06 BOLD FUTURE — TRANSCRIPT with MORE INFORMATION and RESOURCES — start by confronting the serious problems in our world, our nation, […]

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Earthquakes and rising sea levels vs. nuclear power plants

July 3, 2020 GlenAnderson 0

Issues are interconnected! The climate crisis is causing sea levels to rise. Nuclear power plants need cooling, so they are built near bodies of water (rivers, ocean coastlines, etc.).  In fact, 40% of the world’s nuclear reactors sit on coastlines, where sea-level rise, earthquakes and tsunamis endanger them and can cause catastrophes for huge portions of the world. For example, the nuclear power plants at Fukushima, Japan, melted down when an earthquake struck them and a tsunami resulted from the earthquake and caused even more damage.  Even now — nine years later — radiation is still spewing into the Pacific […]

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Voters are much more progressive than the institutional Democratic Party and its timid Joe Biden.

June 23, 2020 GlenAnderson 0

Public opinion polling shows majorities of the public — especially Democrats but also large numbers of Independents and Republicans — urging VERY BOLD public policies, such as: Getting big money out of political campaigns Providing a nationwide system of good quality health care for every person Strong actions to protect the climate Protecting ordinary people from big business’s abuses Sharply reducing police violence And much more … During the 2020 primary election season, Bernie Sanders campaigned on boldly progressive issues, and he won huge numbers of votes from many kinds of people, including the working class, minorities, and other segments […]

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Locally and nationwide, we must CHANGE THE POLITICAL CULTURE. Sign up for these practical workshops.

June 15, 2020 GlenAnderson 0

Governments are the LAST to figure things out. (Mainstream news media are the next-to-last.) They will do what we want ONLY WHEN a strong nonviolent grassroots movement forces them to do what is needed. Recent history has proved this a number of times. (In the 1960s Congress passed civil rights legislation only because the Civil Rights Movement forced them to. President Obama opposed LGBTQ rights to marriage until the grassroots movement forced him to support equal rights. The list goes on and on.) Our local community includes a number of people who want to protect the environment – and protect […]

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Faith-based supports for protecting the environment

May 12, 2020 GlenAnderson 0

  Commonly people think about the environment in purely rational ways (science, etc.) — or in political ways (governmental decisions, etc.) — or in emotional ways (feeling good about being in nature, etc.). In addition, some people draw strongly from their religious and spiritual groundings in order to motivate their environmentalism and also to help them organize for the environment by connecting through their local congregations and larger religious denominations. See a variety of faith-based environmental organizing efforts, resources, etc., at www.greenfaith.org In addition, we have some regional non-profit organizations who are doing this kind of work.  I recommend these: […]

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Grassroots organizers created a “Thin Green Line” that stopped oil and coal export from our Pacific ports

May 11, 2020 GlenAnderson 0

My workshop in my series on “Nonviolent Grassroots Organizing” recognizes problems and helps people accomplish successes for a variety of issues (peace, environment, climate, human rights, economics, etc.)  We actually have accomplished MANY SUCCESSES in preventing oil export facilities and coal export facilities along our region’s Pacific coast. We worked at the grassroots for close to a decade and stopped nearly all of the proposals for exporting the U.S.’s coal and oil from ocean ports in Washington and Oregon. The odds were decidedly against us when we started, but we organized in strategically smart, vigorous ways and defeated nearly all […]

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Here are several smart articles about the Green New Deal

May 1, 2020 GlenAnderson 0

The Green New Deal was devised for good reasons. Before the 2018 election season ramped up, people wanted to stimulate populist constituencies – including those who were not yet active in the climate movement – to start supporting bold climate actions. For this purpose – and to generate support from the labor movement and from areas that needed jobs – a federal jobs program made sense. Now people do understand at a visceral level that we need bold actions for the climate AND youth organizing such as the climate strikes AND grassroots organizing to meet the needs of local communities, […]

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Learn about the Green New Deal from my MAY 2020 TV program. It’s also posted to this blog.

May 1, 2020 GlenAnderson 0

Here is an article about my MAY 2020 TV program about the Green New Deal. It is airing on Channel 22 of Thurston Community Television (TCTV, TC Media, for cable TV subscribers in Thurston County WA) three times a week all month long:  every MONDAY at 1:30 pm, every WEDNESDAY at 5:00 pm, and every THURSDAY at 9:00 pm throughout May 2020. A technical problem is preventing the TV program’s video itself from being linked to this blog, but I did type up a thorough summary of what we planned to discuss during the interview.  Our actual interview differed somewhat […]

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Governments should take PROMPT, STRONG actions for the climate — as they did for Coronavirus

May 1, 2020 GlenAnderson 0

Some governments did take PROMPT, STRONG actions to deal with the Coronavirus pandemic. The climate crisis is a serious emergency, but they keep dawdling and failing to act. We must push governments to act with the same sense of urgency for the climate crisis. See this: https://www.ecowatch.com/coronavirus-response-climate-change-2645571474.html?rebelltitem=2#rebelltitem2        

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Obama did NOT do enough for the climate. See MLK’s quotation about real leadership.

May 1, 2020 GlenAnderson 0

I wrote this a good number of years ago, but it needs to be repeated now: President Obama says the climate crisis is serious, but he shies away from taking the bold Executive actions that this crisis requires. Instead, in mid-February 2013 he said he would wait to work out a bipartisan deal with Republicans in Congress. This is, of course, doomed to failure. A real leader would lead. Obama persistently refuses to act as boldly as the climate crisis requires. In early 1968, when Martin Luther King, Jr., was being criticized for taking a bold, unpopular stand against the […]

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Sign up NOW for my 6 practical workshops to help you organize at the grassroots for the climate

April 21, 2020 GlenAnderson 0

The climate crisis is serious, and powerful forces keep making it worse. But YOU can reverse those trends and proactively push to make progress to help the climate! I’m offering again my series of 6 workshops on Nonviolent Grassroots Organizing so YOU can empower yourself with insights, strategies, and practical ways to make progress on the climate – and, indeed, on the other issues YOU care about. Instead of dealing with technical scientific information, these workshops provide PRACTICAL information, insights, inspirations, resources and tools to HELP YOU ORGANIZE at the grassroots to build a strong movement to protect the climate. […]

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PART 2 of “Choose a Better Worldview to Build a Better World”

April 15, 2020 GlenAnderson 0

The December 2018 episode of “Glen’s Parallax Perspectives” TV program is PART 2 (following up on the November episode) of the topic, “Choose a Better Worldview to Build a Better World.”  The November program focused especially on problems with worldview that has been dominating the U.S., and the December program focuses more on solutions and how to achieve them. Cable TV subscribers in Thurston County WA can watch the December program on TCTV channel 22 three times a week all month long:  every Monday at 1:30 pm, every Wednesday at 5:00 pm, and every Thursday at 9:00 pm. Links for […]

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More experts and organizations are urging pension funds and other entities to DIVEST from fossil fuels.

March 5, 2020 GlenAnderson 0

People USED TO THINK that investing in coal and oil companies would be safe investments.  Now THE OPPOSITE is true!  The climate crisis and the rapid transition from fossil fuels to green energy has changed everything — except some people’s thinking.   The climate advocacy group 350 Seattle (www.350seattle.org) has begun organizing vigorously for divestment from fossil fuels.  Recently they wrote this: Over 1100 institutions. More than $14 trillion. Fossil fuel divestment is, by far, the largest divestment movement in history — and yet Washington State remains deeply invested in the Exxons, Chevrons, and BPs of the world. Can you […]

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Momentum is growing to push pension funds, etc., to DIVEST from fossil fuels

March 5, 2020 GlenAnderson 0

I am seeing MANY non-profit organizations urging state governments’ pension funds and other entities (colleges, religious bodies, investment companies, etc.) to DIVEST from — SELL ALL of — their investments in fossil fuel companies. MOMENTUM IS ON OUR SIDE! Let’s increase the number of persons learning about the movement!  Let’s recruit some additional persons to testify to an upcoming meeting of the Washington State Investment Board (WSIB), the small state agencies that manages the pension funds for state and local government employees and retirees.  We have been testifying to WSIB’s meetings off and on since April 2014.  They listen politely […]

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“Let’s Boldly Create the Future We Really Want”

February 21, 2020 GlenAnderson 0

The June 2020 episode of my TV series “Glen’s Parallax Perspectives” is already on my blog, and is watchable at any time from now into the distant future.  You may also read the transcript, which ends with many links to additional sources of information.  (SEE BELOW) It will air on Thurston Community Television’s channel 22 for cable TV subscribers in Thurston County WA three times a week throughout June 2020:  every Monday at 1:30 pm, every Wednesday at 5:00 pm, and every Thursday at 9:00 pm. This TV program and the transcript start by confronting the serious problems in our […]