It was the last night of the Boston University Sleep-In, a successful campaign so far. We were hoping to make something of it, over the regular benches and food menu, into a special new media/messaging event that no one could forget. View our progress online by following @Stepitup09: and our new petition to the Governor on http://change.org/.. Cold, dark, and windy sets the scene.

After reaching the quota of 350 petition signatures in a single night (gotta love that new media sesh!), there was a limit to what my mind could take. There was more work to do, and the 350 block print stencil (distributed free from http://350.org) kept coming to my mind. Somewhat dazed and super cold from the wind, I wake up again and get out my stencil set. It was almost time to leave for thanksgiving break.

My main problem was choosing to test out the stencil around the camp itself, in the GSU plaza floor and trees. The situation was light, and the stencils were turning out so good that I did not see the car roll up from behind Commonwealth Avenue. The officer said he had watched me tag one before approaching. Defacing public property is a serious offense.. all of a sudden there were eight of them. Pat me down, take keys and wallet and phone, read Miranda rights and cuffed. For those of you who haven’t been arrested, it is intense. Nothing quite prepares you for it. I had known it was going to happen sometime, but Oh! so close.

The cars pull out of the camp at 3:27, through the black misty night up to West Campus. I’m lead to my solitary room, where I’m chained and wondering what’s going to come next. They keep you in the dark on these things, and it’s better not to talk to them. When cops are angry, they’re not your friends. Actually the biggest icebreaker was my Che Guevara tattoo. “Revolutionary,” they said. This would come up later.

The biggest holdup at the jail, other than basics like prints and bail and a phone call (got a machine), was the wait for the court marshall to appear. Guy works on call hours, at 4:30 in the morning, he wasn’t going to be there until 6:30. Well, there goes my flight. First phone call. I doze and think away the hours, still in shock.

When help comes in the form of the marshall, we connect almost instantly. “Che Guevara, huh?” And I show him my tattoo. “He was a revolutionary leader, who united the poor of Latin America,” I say. He’s looking at my case. Maybe thanksgiving is getting to him early. And he turns to me and says, “Well, I might do something revolutionary, here. I know you have a plane leaving, so I’m going to let you go. Defacing public property is a misdemeanor offense, AND we’ll let the marijuana possession (just a pipe) slide here.” The court date would be set for sometime later. I could go to my plane: Standby at 7:55AM to Ohio.

It feels good to be home safe, and yet again escape with a peaceful citation. Ohio is a great place to be with family and dog, and clean energy movement is going to be STEPPING IT UP these next few weeks. Stay tuned for more information.

I have two new online profiles!
http://twitter.com/stepitup09
http://twitter.com/newentry

And my old blog (This is cross-posted from there: http://eddiemill.wordpress.com/)

Thanks for following! Any more questions??
eddiemill@gmail.com, 440-935-5434.

-Eddie Miller
The Leadership Campaign

Update: this weekend the National Department of Commerce “strongly opposes” taking action on Climate Change. Mr. Donahue said that the bill was a “job-killer” and a “regulatory nightmare,” and classified the vote as crucial with determining who it would endorse for Congressional elections next year. With 18 full-time lobbyists telling leaders this in Washington, who’s going to go out of their way to question that authority?

The policy response: strong incentives to develop a clean technology sector. Government deficit-spending can encourage real production growth in the economy, as shown in New Deal in the thirties. A green jobs potentials report shows growth across all sectors breaks down like this:
—about 490,000 (65 percent) are in engineering, legal, research, consulting, or government administration sectors;
– about 197,000 (26 percent) are in renewable power generation, construction, systems installation, and manufacturing sectors.

America needs these jobs. Download this fact sheet (pdf). Massachusetts will gain 38,410 new clean energy jobs from The American Clean Energy and Security Act, or spend 4.5b to oil and adaptation in the next ten years if it doesn’t pass. (not to mention the loss of the fishing sector). MA fact sheet: The Economics of Clean Energy.
Carbon tax as uncompetitive? Just the unsustainable businesses which are harming our planet. Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act as a start to a new economy. Thank you.

So, to Mr. Donahue:
Reorienting our antiquated energy infrastructure around the platforms of sustainability, efficiency, and reduced greenhouse emissions represents an economic engine for innovation, productivity growth, and international competitiveness in coming decades.

Senator Kerry, stay strong! Know in Copenagen that we
support you. (please click!)

New York Times Article on Green Jobs: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/26/business/businessspecial2/26collar.html
New York Times Article on Chamber of Commerce Decision: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/19/business/energy-environment/19CHAMBER.html?scp=1&sq=Storm+over+the+chamber&st=nyt
Clean Energy Resources: http://www.americanprogress.org/projects/energy_hub/
The Leadership Campaign.
A Global Organic Mindset: My own post on: 350 for the Economy

For Change.
Eddie Miller, concerned Student Activist
Community Outreach, the Leadership Campaign.

Please comment/forward!

The government is solid. Recently, there was a contest on Whitehouse.gov for GreenGov, how the country can go sustainable. They received a ton of responses to the initiative, on which everyone with a federal .gov or .fed email account had to submit votes for the best ideas to implement a full sustainability plan by June of next year, many of which are actionable immediately. Watch the meeting here: your-greengov-ideas.html Our ideas are being listened to, and the President’s priorities are in place.

People are good. Already, we’ve found that here at the frontlines in Massachusetts, (not just) young people are ready to give up time, money, or comfort for the cause of global environmental sustainability. These are the basic tenants that you need to give up in business, economics, or sociology to have a national will.

The solution lies there. It does. You can see some of my research on the commercial feasibility of clean energy designs in my other posts, but things that can participate in by the people are number one. My next post is going to be on the strategy of social change, bottom up (revolutionary) versus top-down (political mandate) sustainability and who’s going to win out. [ANSWER:) Both]

History’s evidence.
In all cases, having a healthy sense of historical context is good to correct any unrealistic presumptions. 1. Things happen when they are a priority to people; they give the time to make sure that it’s implemented. 2. Most of the work is in implementation, that is the real physical processes of business: who gives what to whom, how does it get there and what is the application to finish the job. 3. We are in an unprecedented time for the environment. What we decide in the next 50 years really will go down in history as either a mitigation or disaster management story.

… but Oftentimes what would happen to social groups like these is they get coopted into the jargon of organization itself. “Change” was fought out to be some point in the distant future, when we’d be Comparable to the “legendary” protests of the 1960s. Sometimes, we felt we are making a difference, but politicians couldn’t work over it until thousands of the world’s icebergs had collapsed. The forces of lobbying are ever-powerful.. has our cooptation meant too little, too late? Change comes only to those that are open to it.

In the news recently I see disturbing trends of Glenn Beck and the Fox news network… less people believing in Climate Change and more people worried about pennies the government is spending. Is America really becoming more divided as one side progresses? I am worried about the effect of these groups to stop a largely north-led revolution. How can we reach out to them? Even the food lobby is really holding us up.

Finally, real change requires community. It must target the public. Without these essential characteristics no leader can stay sane indefinitely. Leadership must be balanced and in control. However, they have to be able to get the goods there on time.

In almost all cases, it is the youth that lead social change. This is exciting to me, because it means we have the ability to effect change. We are not alone here, or misguided in any way. If the younger generation feels that it’s a priority, that means that the necessary steps should occur. For example, from the bottom left can come the protests, from the top come the reforms. From the young come the ideas (now, submit online at http://www.whitehouse.gov/), and from our super-awesome rockstar politician president come the executive mandates! (Like for a federal sustainability program by next June at the latest, that he already DID

Maximize power. Here are more basic steps on what you can do.

Accept responsibility to compromise: Listen to the people around you, even especially the ones with a soft voice.
People like visuals. People also like food. Start here in your planning.
Expect results, but be flexible with your goals. And the methods on how to get there.

Conclusion:

Change, I’ve learned, also doesn’t happen from within a vacuum. This is a common mistake which includes a 300-person “Hillarycare” drafting session, the 2-person small office at Small Planet, or a 8-person closed steering committee over one summer trying to solve “the world’s” problems. It doesn’t come from the left (see previous posts!), or the right (link). But requires both. If you are in charge of outreach or communications, how much can you forget what you think you know and move towards reality. That’s where the chance to save our future lies at.

I am going to keep working on it, and hope that you continue to follow on the bright path ahead. Now, to the sleepout! http://theleadershipcampaign.org/participate !

Other posts: Http://Eddiemill.WordPress
Twitter microblog: Twitter.com/EddieMill
Twitter for my campaign: Twitter.com/theLCampaign
Facebook: Facebook.com/Eddiemill
the Man

Hello leaders, we found this out at BU. When we had bread and a small camping stove set up as a center of our camp, it brought about twice as many supporters in to the site. These supporters were often interested in what we were doing, and sometimes able to sign our clipboard and join us the next night. Here’s how we doubled support in one night:

1. Scope out bakeries in your area. Panera is what I went with because it is on the way and closes at 10 which is when we start the S-Os. Go by during the day.
2. Ask if they usually give away their extra bread at the end of the day. If they don’t, and they bake the bread there, they’ll usually be throwing a lot out.
3. Get a number of a night manager you can contact, thank them, and then call that night. Tell them that you were hoping to confirm the donation of extra bread and pastries, and go by either just before close or up to 30min later.

If done properly, you are going to have a lot of bread for your event. We got donations of wrapped baguettes, loose bread, pastries, donuts, bagels, and sweets. (The Blondies were delicious). We were able to have open boxes and plenty to share around. It was a source of community and friendly gesture to the people who were interested in the campaign.

I hope to follow up with Panera now to arrange a weekly schedule pickup. From just one load with 2 volunteers (we couldn’t carry it all!), we could support the S-O for two days.

Next up: figuring out coffee donations. Stay tuned for more from BU!
-Eddie
Community Outreach,
Tuesday Night Site Coordinator @ BU
440-935-5434

Hello, friends! This is Eddie Miller from BU with a weekly post. The subject is of the Sunday protests, and recent campaign call that changed everything. The story involves food, a grassroots protest, and a new vision for our platform: follow along!

So I’d like to start out by saying that this is largely hypothetical what is in this post. Under no conditions do I represent food not bombs or the LC in drawing this out. If you want to hear about how the process of leadership happened, contact me 440-935-5434

What Could Have Been: Uniting Social Change Movements

Climate change, rising Carbon dioxide from global levels, and a new clean energy future mandated by strict cap-and-trade law. These are the premises we’ve agreed upon for the founding of our mission in creating Massachusetts Power Shift — The Leadership Campaign. But what if our platform could include so much more! Justice, green jobs, pollution, food, war, economy and security. There has been some feedback in the community area from choosing not to include these things, but from a lobbying standpoint it is just not possible to stray too far off of a single message. (Look at what happened at the G20 Protests..) A position at the bargaining table is about discipline.

Tenting is also a strategy that has worked before. Historically, it brought down a bad dictator (Kiev, Orange Revolution), raised awareness for Palestine/Israeli peace conference, and recently brought thousands to Bush’s ranch during the worst of the Iraq war period. Cindy Sheehan wiki Food not Bombs was, often, at the center of them.

What about a climate revolution? What about the grassroots, earth lovin’, sustainability, “get us out of iraq” crowd that describes most of Boston and the Northeast? While we have been expanding S-Os along the lines of well projected campus goals, I’ve been cautious to discount these people who are also very involved in our movement. After all, they are the constituents of Massachusetts. But, then, it would be hard to get real community members to sleep out, right?

Not so fast..

Food is the start, and a new celebrity

Food Not Bombs Founder Keith McHenry is in Boston this weekend. If you’ve never seen him speak before, he’s a stunning personality that is combination of ex-hippy, new rioter, pagan believer, and impromptu chef. He’s cooked food for millions of people before, including organizing a thousand-person Tent City Protest in Washington, D.C. One thousand is a lot to turn out for an event like this (*as anyone from the LC can tell you!), but the impressive thing is that it was all grassroots organized. Yep, email chains and word of mouth spread this event like wildfire to people and the media to trek out for a 27-day long protest at the White House for peace. It was at it’s most basic a peace conference, but also included aspect like justice, freedom from oppression, and a diverse movement of participating groups. It was, in a word, revolutionary.

If Food Not Bombs founder managed outreach, food and Logistics at a sleepout-level, it would bring a whole new diverse coalition to our cause.
• For one, it would double our weekly outreach goals and potential endorser pool. The messaging is different, such as “just bring a fork and reusable plate and come support us,” rather than having to commit to be there every week.
• Food keeps people warm and attracts new onlookers. The media warm up at the tent near the food not bombs and LC start-up table. An event like this brings attention! Besides, there is no reason to not stop in on the common if lured by the smell of sweet apples with cinnamon, signs and banners and a guitar behind the bikes.
• The left community associates really well with the mission of the group. These are the ones who know how to Rally behind a food not bombs partnership. Boston has a full punk scene waiting to support a new riot. And MAPS Could be there behind them, with a real political message along the lines of our platform to enact the political-level social change.
• Finally, it would RePower the Leadership campaign and launch a new segment of permanent presence. It’s going to get cold out, we’ll need all the supporters we can get! Especially in the cold..

The vision, and the reality.

Unfortunately, according to LC Coordinator Craig Altemose, “how much you accomplish in this system really depends on what you look like. If we look professional, we’re going to get a lot more respect as equals.” And he’s right. Maintaining an image is important if we’re to be taken seriously as a youth movement, we don’t want to cause trouble. Things could easily escalate if we included the full spectrum in our lobbying efforts, so the campaign team has chosen to back off from bringing on Food Not Bombs as a part. Keith is still welcome to speak; on the condition that he supports our goals and invites no one who seems too controversial. It is an organizational priority not to scare off our “partners” by seeming too radical. We already have the numbers we need for a sustained media presence hopefully, and a committed and well-trained leadership team.

For more information about the sleepouts, follow hashtag #sleepout or http://theleadershipcampaign.org/participate/

If you’re left wondering more, please visit my Friday weekly post on the theory of social change, at A Global Organic Mindset or friend me on facebook. |twitter

Go LC! Out next sleepout will be Sunday, November 1st. Dress as a climate refugee!

Until next time, onward and upward,
-Eddie Miller
BU ‘10
Community Outreach, Food.
eddiemill@gmail.com

Hello, all!
Thanks for checking in.
Here are the notes from the Saturday, October 18th emergency meeting in Boston.

Notable decisions include items on:
1. Flashdance Thursday, October 22nd.
2. Sleep-out materials, and messaging.
3. Contingency planning for the campaign ie. WhatIf…?
4. New media and partners engagement plan
5. NEW NAME FOR MASSACHUSETTS POWER SHIFT — to be decided on among some finalists Sunday.

Respond to someone if you have feedback before then! Keep tuned for a new website, before October 24th (say goodbye to this blog.. *sniff*)

-Eddie Miller
facebook.com/eddiemill
twitter.com/eddiemill
eddiemill@gmail.com (WAVE invite me)

Meeting notes 10.17 Boston

This post is part of Blog Action Day, 8414 blogs and counting, all writing about climate change on the same day and together calling the US to take serious action on climate. Sign their petition here.

As a response to climate devastation, thousands of people have taken up in protest. In how they behave, in what they buy, in homes, in lobbying halls of congress, and on the internet. All with a message to spread: We need a new clean energy economy! Designing solutions such as solar and wind, along with reducing how much we do use as a state, can bring us together and provide jobs in a time of crisis.

It is especially important that everyone be involved in Climate activism in Massachusetts right now– Our senator, John Kerry (Follow on twitter, this is going to be essential in our lobbying approach) is long a champion of the environment and pushing new legislation that is sufficiently bold. But not enough to solve the real problems we face! Neither of the bills currently in Washington are strong enough to get us to 350, which is where our corn crop starts to melt and our coral reefs are gone already. We have to act, and fast. Kerry and Barack Obama can hopefully ride this wave of public support and bring home a great treaty for America. There’s broad support in the US, and Massachusetts is the “Saudi Arabia of Wind”. (Clean Power Now Website) Help us transform our energy future!

Get Involved
There are plenty of ways to get involved, right around you.
The easiest is to find a 350.org International Day of Climate Action Event nearby or help plan one with a local group. After that, join MAPS and its partners for a Sleep Out action until action is made at the Statehouse, MA. October to November we will be represented at the doors of the Statehouse or John Kerry’s lawn until better legislation comes up about this!

Sign/Support Blog Action Day! http://www.blogactionday.org/

MAPS Boston U,
-Eddie Miller
Follow me
Blog
Massachusetts Power Shift Site

Massachusetts Power Shift is gaining Power as the campaign takes off into fall. Groups will be able to run 14-20 campaigns around Massachusetts campuses this year, including school favorites from Boston, Worchester, Western Mass regions, as well as new additions from Greater Boston, West Mass and the Cape.

September 19th was a big date as our campaign presentations reached the public, or “The DL,” as we unveil plans for a great fall action. As you may know, our campaign follows a Gantz model of organizing (add link) which dictates how an organization builds over time. “Morally necessary, technologically possible,” the leadership campaign follows logical steps in a 2-month series for the Copenhagen protocol, organized to build our capacity, footprint, and influence of us and our allies. December 7th is our deadline, November 17th for a new bill to be passed in Massachusetts. 350 parts per million is what we want, 10 years is the time we have to implement serious sustainable energy generation. The bill would be an upstream Carbon Tax, with incentives for alternative energy companies to start up in Mass. Massachusetts needs to lead worldwide. See full platform, at: http://mapsblog.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/leadership-campaign-platform.doc

With climate, we don’t need to wait until tragedy occurs like December 7th, 40 years ago, Pearl Harbor.. but can start now, proactively. In nomination of this action, our new campaign color is red. Click the platform if you missed this presentation.

Trainings included in two regions covered Personal Narrative, 1-1 Meetings, Task Design, Leadership Structure, and Timeline Organizing. Students alternated with who prepared and directed these educational and unifying workshops. In Western Massachusetts, more schools were brought in to the cause. Watch this blog for more potentially this weekend for any student groups or partners who missed it! Also, for anyone not yet involved who wants to be, there will be another Fall session this October, the third. Campaign Calendar here.

Our next big action is September 24th, with a press conference around Climate Week.

See my full meeting notes at:

19th_Trainings_meeting_notes

-Eddie Miller
Community Outreach, MAPS
mapsblog.wordpress.com/

I see an organizational goal as the yardstick against which all planning, investigation, research,
philosophical underpinnings and action are measured. Strategy is the set of blueprints for achieving those goals, and tactics are the steps taken to implement these strategies.

I would further simplify and distill our goal, call it the over-arching goal if you will:

Reverse global warming.

Not simply stop it, because it has already gone too far (e.g., Hansen’s *maximum* “safe” level of 350 ppm, while we’re currently at 387 ppm), and positive feedback loops are taking it farther and faster than we had ever expected. The goal must be to turn it around. Is there any point in aiming for
less than that?

Just to take a couple of examples of how we might contemplate measuring our strategies against the goal as I’ve stated it:

1. Education – clearly, education of students, parents and community are essential. Most sources of information
are sorely lacking in honesty, clarity and effectiveness. The question with any educational effort is
whether and how well it moves us towards reversing global warming. Considerations would be content, medium,
style, viral effectiveness. Furthermore,
equitable and sustainable solutions require far more than substituting hybrids and lightbulbs – we will need to change our hyperconsumerist globalized lives. That’s fundamental culture change
- how do we grow our understanding and further the transition?

2. 100% renewable electricity by 2020 – does this meet the goal of ultimately ending Global Warming? Bluntly, no. But can we use it as a strategy to move in that direction – perhaps. We would have to think it through, and figure out how to use it as a short-term stepping stone to the larger goal. The 100% in ten years target will be out of date pretty quickly, but so much will have changed by then that we won’t even recognize our current efforts.

Comments?

Source: AL GORE, “Green Energy by 2018, (7/17 Speech)” Washington, DC: August 17th, 2008. watch at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dt9wZloG97U

All around the world, people are stepping up. School children, college students, actors and actresses. Corporations, foundations, philanthropists, specialists… governments are convening this December in Copenhagen to discuss our future.

The hope is to stop rising melting ice and rising sea levels, that could soon take entire communities, beaches and shores. The main immediate threats are rising food and energy prices, availability of water, and increasing human migration due to changing temperature/seasonal conditions. A new Army report shows that the consequences could be grim, the scope and scale of which could condemn “billions” of people to poverty and result in the collapse of “much of civilization” by 2100 (!). When military people start talking like that perhaps we should listen.

The struggle for global environmental sustainability is inherently tied to all other struggles. Peace, social justice, security, equality all have a say in the outcome. It is a fight, most fundamentally, for the real solutions we know we need. It is a generational fight, on the hope that we can be that generation that uses our democracy to changes proactively and preempt a crisis. The costs of action are not that high, and the means mainly political.

Massachusetts Power Shift (or MAPS) has a plan this fall, and we’re looking for you to lend time to the cause. 100% Clean Electricity by 2020! 350 Parts Per Million in international climate law! We have exciting times ahead and no time to lose.

We are looking for club and group leaders, researchers, policy people, organizers, families of all race and ages. Won’t you join us the 19th for a meeting and training introduction? Sept. 19th at Northeastern University! Location: Google Map.

Q: What’s the plan??
A: See latest Leadership Campaign PlatformFall_’09_Platform, attached!
Send a policy support or inquiry to our policy team: tmooring@mit.edu!

Q: How do I get involved?
A: Please come to our intro training Sept. 19th at Northeastern University! They will be held in room 346 Curry Student Center at Northeastern University.
Directions:
1. Take the Green “E” line to the Northeastern T stop.

2. Walk back towards the Inbound Northeastern T stop, away from Forsyth St, towards Opera St.

3. Cross Huntington Ave towards the quad and academic buildings (there’s a big sign that says
Northeastern University outside the quad and a pillar on the right with a map of the campus that says Krentzmen Quad on it).

4. Walk through the quad and continue on the path between Richards Hall and Ell Hall.

5.Go down the stairs (outside).

6. The next building entrance you meet with sliding double doors on your left will be the Curry Student Center (there is a red awning that says Curry Student Center).

7. Enter the sliding doors and take a right. Walk straight until you reach the elevator on your left.

8. The room is located on the 3rd floor at 346.

Number as contact people for day of in case people get lost. Mine is 5163027861, Dan’s is 5185279168.
Questions please contact coordinator@masspowershift.org.

Or visit our website- http://masspowershift.org/