Be Heard at the Earth Day Climate Rally

Sunday, April 25th there will be a chance to have your voice heard at Washington, DC to tell politicians that we need to take a more aggressive stance on climate change. As a nation, the United States continues to be dependent on fossil fuels, without putting enough time and money into developing alternative energy sources. Whether you believe that climate change exists or not, the fact remains that fossil fuels are not an unlimited resource. They are running out, and we are increasing our reliance on foreign fossil fuels, and are having to develop new ways to extract remaining local fossil fuels using methods that are often both more dangerous to the workers harvesting them, or have significantly more environmental impact.

It is time for us to stop seeing ourselves as separate from the environment in which we live. If we pollute the air, we are the ones that have to breath it. If we pollute the water, we are the ones who have to drink it, and deal with reduced harvest from fisheries. And if we rely on just fossil fuels to provide jobs, we are the ones who will become unemployed when they run out. If we start the transition now to jobs in the green energy sector, we will not face a sudden economic crisis in the future, when the fossil fuels become exhausted.

I hope to see you at the climate change rally on April 25th. Come to make a difference, stay for the inspirational speakers and live music!

When:  11:15am - 11:15pm, Sunday, April 25th
Where: National Mall, Washington, DC
Why:    Because we want a better future!

Earthday.org

Darkness Falls for Earth Hour

Saturday, March 27 from 8:30 - 9:30 p.m. is Earth Hour, when hundreds of millions of people from around the world will turn out their lights and unplug appliances. In 2009, over 4000 cities in 88 countries officially switched off during Earth Hour to pledge their support for the planet, making Earth Hour 2009 the world’s largest global climate change initiative (EarthHour.org). This event gives people the chance to reflect on their personal energy usage and the large impact we can make on the environment with conserving energy for just one hour. Toronto, Canada managed to save 900 megawatt-hours of electricity, which is a 8.7% decrease if measured against a typical March Saturday night (Wikipedia).

Just remember, small changes can make a big difference! You can follow these tips every day to be sustainable every day:

• Replace incandescent light bulbs with fluorescent ones.
• Recycle paper and plastic, instead of using the trash.
• Read news online, instead of buying paper copies.
• Grow vegetables during the summer.
• Bicycle or walk to work or to run errands instead of driving.
• Take the bus or train, instead of driving long distances.
• Unplug appliances when they are not in use.
• Lower the thermostat to cut back on heating during the winter.
• Insulate and eliminate drafts to get the most out of your heating and cooling.
• Plant a tree to help filter your air and to provide shade.

House Bill to Kill Renewable Energy Jobs in Virginia

Received an interesting email from Conservation e-Action Virginia today. Apparently trying to sue the Environmental Protection Agency for doing their job to protect Americans from the harmful effects of CO2 emissions wasn't enough for Virginia (more on this later). They had to also try to squash the renewable energy industry in the state as well. This new law would put current jobs and future jobs in renewable energy in serious jeopardy, and would reinforce the near monopoly that Dominion Power holds over Virginians. At 10% unemployment, haven't we lost enough jobs already?

If you are a voting citizen of Virginia, contact your legislator today to prevent him/her from making the mistake of supporting house bill 92 when in comes to vote tomorrow. It's easy to have your voice heard. First, find out who your local governor is here.

VCU Anti-Discrimination Rally

Make sure to attend the anti-discrimination rally this Wednesday, sponsored by the Students for Possibilities Party. All students, staff, and faculty are welcome to attend this event. Let's stand united and show VCU and Virginia's state government that we will not support policies and laws that violate human rights.

12pm-1pm, Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

VCU Commons Plaza (907 Floyd Avenue)

Facebook event page: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=347726437231&ref=mf

Update: More than 1000 people showed up at Monroe Park campus to march to Capitol Hill, for a chance to speak with their local representative about anti-discrimination law. Apparently this demonstration, along with community forums and the multitude of individuals who contacted state and university leaders had the intended effect. Late this evening, according to VCU President Rao, and several news sources, Governor McDonnell released an executive directive:

“Discrimination based on factors such as one’s sexual orientation or parental status violates the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution. Therefore, discrimination against enumerated classes of persons set forth in the Virginia Human Rights Act or discrimination against any class of persons without a rational basis is prohibited.”

This comes after a house bill was defeated earlier this week, that would have included sexual orientation and gender identity as protected groups under state anti-discriminatory law. In the end, Virginia went two steps backwards, and one step forwards towards equal rights for all. It is up to Virginian voters to follow through with this human rights issue next year, when they will have a chance to voice their opinion to their local representatives to change the law in the next session of the General Assembly.

Courtesy Richmond Times-Dispatch

Forums Showed Support of Diversity by VCU

Community forums were held today at Virginia Commonwealth University in response to the advice of Virginia's Attorney General that VCU (and all other state universities) remove sexual orientation as a protected group from their anti-discrimination policies. Many people spoke up in support of keeping university policy the same, to protect the gay community from discrimination. There were concerns raised that unless VCU made it known that they were strongly supportive of including sexual orientation as a protected group against discrimination, that they would lose top staff, faculty, and students, and that VCU and the state in general would receive negative publicity that would severely damage the reputation of the state and university. A few voiced the potential concern that the state may try to pressure state universities to revise their policy by threatening to cut funding to the university, which currently comprises 75% of the university budget funds. Some voiced confusion as to what the federal legislation was, as they had heard of a supreme court ruling supporting including sexual orientation in anti-discrimination law.

According to Rebecca Glenberg, the ACLU's legal director,

"In Romer v. Evans, 517 U.S. 620 (1996), the United States Supreme Court held that discriminatory laws based on sheer animus toward lesbian and gay persons violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Later, in Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. 558 (2003), the Court ruled that consensual, adult sexual relationships are protected by the Fourteenth Amendment, notwithstanding societal views regarding the morality of such relationships. Consistent with these principles, courts have repeatedly held that public employers may not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation..."

With federal backing on the side of human rights, it looks like the state of Virginia may need to have the supreme court force their hand to help end discrimination against the gay community. Interesting that the supreme court also had to pressure Virginia into ending discrimination against the Black community, and people with disabilities. Third time's a charm Virginia, I hope you don't need any hand holding this time when it comes to upholding human rights.

Below follows the response to the community forums held today at VCU from the Provost: