UI Student Referendum: Vote Yes to divest

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Powershift, Petitioning, and Beyond

As those of us who attended Powershift get back into our regular routines, catching up on ignored homework and recovering from a lack of sleep, the thoughts of the weekend in Pittsburgh are ever-present in our minds. Those who were lucky enough to attend were exposed to the seemingly endless knowledge of a vast array of environmental and social activists. From indigenous peoples impeding the Keystone XL to those fighting fracking in Pennsylvania, Powershift attendees were able to hear of stories from the frontlines of environmental and social movements across the country. Leaders of the movement, including Bill McKibben and Michael Brune, empowered the youth through their passionate addresses at the end of each night. Our ears were even graced with the rustic sounds of Josh Fox’s well-known banjo! Here are some of UIUC’s attendee favorite parts about the weekend:

“I really enjoyed hearing from frontline communities like Appalachians fighting against coal companies. Trying to understand their struggles is something that I am excited to work more on and incorporate into our movement.”- Erika Weir

“The march on Monday was one of many favorite parts of Power Shift. Being in the presence of thousands of young environmental and social justice activists is a very powerful experience.”- Kelly Johnson

“One of my favorite parts of Powershift was engaging in debates with people that hold different ideas than me. Just being around thousands of young, passionate people all trying to make a difference was a very memorable experience in itself.”-Kelley Schulkins

However, the greatest aspect of Powershift is not easily boiled down to a single event or 
speaker. No mix of words can effectively convey the experience of being surrounded by thousands of like-minded activists fighting the same fight as you. Feelings of solidarity and optimism for the movement’s future were prevalent. After seeing the assortment of faces and hearing of successes (and failures) from across the nation, we are ecstatic and immensely confident for what the future of the movement holds. These feelings were strongest in the culminating event of the weekend: the March for a Green Economy.

Thousands flooded the streets of Pittsburgh following a rally on the shores of the Allegheny River. Enthusiastic activists, protesting a range of climate-change issues, crossed the Roberto Clemente Bridge into Downtown Pittsburgh. Along the way, waves of activists stopped at branches of PNC Bank throughout the city to protest the institution’s funding of mountaintop removal mining. Seven protesters from the Earth Quaker Action Team were arrested and charged with trespassing after refusing to leave the UPMC’s PNC Bank lobby. The protesters were staging a peaceful, albeit vocal, sit-in.

Midway through the march half of the activists split from the preapproved route, instead heading towards the Allegheny County Courthouse.  Throughout the next three blocks, traffic was stopped as protesters stormed through the busy downtown streets. Onlookers from sidewalks and in cars cheered on the chanting crowd. Once the first waves arrived at the courthouse, there was a rally in the courtyard. During this time, the group was energized by an 11 year-old protester wielding a megaphone as well as other voiced opponents of the fossil fuel industry. Protesters were there to demand a meeting with Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, who had been holding close door meetings with shale drilling companies regarding proposed drilling in county parks. The vast majority of the crowd slowly filed into the courthouse, where they held a sit-in near Mr. Fitzgerald’s office. He told them to schedule an appointment.

The conference has ended, but the most important aspect of Powershift is what follows. Freshly energized from Powershift, UIUC Beyond Coal will be petitioning the student body until Friday, November 1^st. If we attain over 3,000 signatures, we will gain status on an upcoming ballot referendum which will ask students whether or not they support divesting university funds from the coal industry. Currently, through the endowment fund, our university invests up to $34 million in the 15 most destructive coal mining and utility companies. As a result, we are perpetuating an industry which literally blows up mountains, destroys communities, and pollutes our air and waterways. We are determined to end unnecessary aid to a dying industry. 

Large divestment banners were hung on the north end of the Quad as fervent petitioners scoured campus during our kickoff event last Thursday. Beyond Coal-ers have also adorned their Facebook profile pictures with the Orange Square, the national symbol of solidarity for the divestment movement, to garner attention to our petition drive. If you happen to spot one of our awesome campaigners on your way to class, please take a minute to sign our petition and remember to vote yes for divestment on November 6^th-8^th!

The True Cost of Coal: A Narrative on Mountaintop Removal and the Fight for Our Future

The Beehive Design Collective is a group of volunteering artists and activists who are dedicated to "cross-pollinating the grassroots" of the world (like bees, get it?) by combining storytelling with art and science. Covering topics ranging from globalization and trade to energy and climate change, they travel the world to learn other people's experiences and combine that with research into a collaborative, hand-drawn poster. By sharing their art and story, the Beehive Collective uses their art to educate, organize, and inspire people all over the country. On Tuesday, SECS invited them to Champaign to present their story on "the True Cost of Coal".

Graphic poster "the True Cost of Coal"- find an online narrative book telling the story in detail here.

The art graphic (or poster, or masterpiece, whatever you wanna call it) shown above is organized into five sections as a historical timeline, from left to right: Ancestors, Colonization & Industrialization, Mountaintop Removal & Climate Crisis, Resistance, and Regeneration. There are also smaller individual stories and cycles hidden deeper in each illustration-- all the rich details from discovered during the bees' travels. This project focuses on mountaintop removal and people from the Appalachian region of the United States. 

ANCESTORS

The beginning of the story opens with the origin and source of coal-- from a time far back in geologic history during the Carboniferous Period when plants were compressed in anoxic swamps and pushed into sedimentary rock in the form of coal. Over all this time, the coal retains energy stored from the sun and plants' photosynthesis over millions and millions of years, which is the reason why coal is highly dense in energy. 

The story then goes on to the ecology of the Appalachian mountains, one of the oldest mountain ranges in the world. Due to its fertile conditions and glacial history, it is the source of water and life for thousands of species and people. Freshwater from as far as Washington originates from mountain springs in Appalachia, and the region's "mixed mesophytic forests" are among the most biodiverse in the world.

COLONIZATION & INDUSTRIALIZATION

After the development of the area's natural systems, the next addition to the story is humans and our influence. This section opens with the displacement of the indigenous people of Appalachia, including the Train of Tears and the spread of new diseases from European colonizers. Once that was done, there was a feverish race to grab land and property to lay down railroad, start resource extraction, and to build urban cities all in the name of "progress". The art featured in this section includes the Battle of Blair Mountain, one of history's largest labor struggles between miners and a coal company that ended with US Marshals dropping bombs on the striking miners.

MOUNTAINTOP REMOVAL & CLIMATE CRISIS
The middle of the poster is our current predicament today. It shows the transition in the earth's natural ecology as well as the economic transition from having 150,000 coal miners in Appalachia to fewer than 15,000 today. With new modern technology, humans are able to harvest coal faster and easier than ever before. The consequence? Mountains being levelled with tons and tons of overburden filling the valleys, releasing heavy metals and polluting water supplies (not to mention thousands of people losing their jobs).

Our reality is a "death cycle of coal", consisting of combustion, consumption, and clmate chaos. The art graphic shows stories of greenwashing, a practice of advocating simple sustainable practices without actually changing to seem more environmentally friendly. The most popular solution seems to be to shop, and buy our way out of our problems but the beehive collective argues that "we need organized, collective action to transform a sick society and economy". There needs to be a change in the system, not just our lightbulbs!

There are tons of smaller stories and great metaphors embedded throughout the poster, including "the Dance of Hard Choices", featuring frogs and the tough decisions they must go through in life which affects the environment, their health, and their family's future. The graphic also goes through the multiple uses and benefits of coal, including electricity, steel manufacturing, and jobs.

RESISTANCE
After three pretty depressing parts of the story, the poster then moves on to our response to all of this-- resistance. Through grassroots campaigns, social movements, and solidarity people are starting to work in their communities like never before to try and react to a global climate crisis. The Beehive Collective says that community power and not coal power (or as we at UIUC Beyond Coal like to say, "soul power, not coal power") is what we need to combat big companies and the government for a more sustainable future.

This part of the story also acknolwedges the reality that there is no renewable energy source that could be an identical substitute for coal, simply because of the time and energy density stored over hundreds of thousands of years. But even if there isn't an identical substitute, our current age of technology and innovation can definitely find a solution and make money while doing it.

REGENERATION
The art graphic ends with a look to our future and what lies ahead for Appalachia and for the world. Once we can successfully change our practices and move beyond coal, we must continue to protect and maintain our earth. The poster shows scenes of bioremediation by lady salamanders cleaning contaminated water and restoring plant life. Reclamation and restoration of soil and previously damaged landscapes is another step shown by animals working together to harvest rainwater and cultivate community supported agriculture.

Energy generation, not extraction is the key for future sources. By combining social movements and media along with solidarity economies, our future can be healthy, sustainable, and profitable. The end of the story is also a beginning-- birds represent young folks returning home, welcomed back to their communities.

The presentation of "the True Cost of Coal" by the Beehive Collective at the YMCA.

To find out more about the Beehive Design Collective, visit their website here.