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GOOD » One Big Crisis»
January 9, 2009
Brilliant article. I’m a fan of Alex and his initiative with World Changing.
Act of Civil Disobedience Serves the People
January 6, 2009
Well…he is a hero of sorts! 
This is a brilliant story of innovation and creative civil disobedience. In case you didn’t here about Tim DeChristopher: he’s the 27-year-old economics student who objected to the auction of oil and gas drilling leases in southern and eastern Utah in early December and decided to to bid up prices by hundreds of thousands of dollars for some parcels and acquired about $1.8 million worth himself — before it became clear that he had neither the means nor the slightest intention of paying for the leases. He threw the process into chaos, and bidding was briefly halted. Prosecutors are weighing possible fraud charges against him.
He’s in need of raising 45K to pay for the initial cost of the bids that he won (due Jan 9th) and is forging a campaign asking everyone to donate 5$ and ask 5 friends to donate 5$).
His letter can be read below:
As you may have already heard, on December 19th I chose to disrupt the BLM oil and gas auction through an act of civil disobedience by bidding against participating oil & gas companies. I ended up “winning” the leases for 22,500 acres of beautiful land near Moab. You can find more details at www.bidder70.org.
The tremendous support I’ve received in response to my action was unexpected and utterly inspiring. Hundreds of people have contributed over $10,000 to my legal defense and to the $45,000 bond obligation for the leases. And countless others have expressed their solidarity and support for the long American tradition of meaningful civil disobedience.
In addition to the moving effect on me, this support has also opened up the real possibility of paying off the leases which I “won”. The initial payment on this, required to secure the land, is around $45,000. After a good deal of struggling over this choice, I have decided to raise the money to secure the leases. With much advice from my legal team, it has become clear to me that making the down payment on the leases is the best way to protect the land until we can restore open, transparent and democratic procedures for determining the fate of valuable public lands.
It is still unclear how the new administration will deal with this inappropriate auction and the disruption I caused to it, but I can only hope the President Obama follows through on his promise for a transparent government. Until then I will make sure that no drilling or development happens on this land, and for that I need your help. This is an opportunity for all of us to make a clear statement of how much we care for our land, our climate and participatory democracy.
Please donate to help protect these 22,500 acres of wilderness (and reduce the chance of prison for me). Together we can protect this land and show that we are all willing to make the sacrifices necessary for a livable future.
Please forward this email on to as many people as you can and continue to spread the word of the need for critical action. Thank you for being a part of protecting the future for all of us.
Sincerely,
Tim DeChristopher
Saving the Whales through Dreaming
January 4, 2009
I just watched Whaledreamers, co-produced by Julian Lennon and Kim Kindersley. It is a perfect story for our time…filled with tragedy and loss and disconnection, but also one of magic, hope, and inspiration. And….it reminded me of why I’ve been wanting to take up Scuba Diving. I wish it din;t feel trite to be a whale activist, but these animsls speak to me. I have no doubt that they play a powerful role on this planet. The whales are still in need of protecting, and there are a lot of young and beautiful celebrities out there talking about why at www.savethewhalesagain.com.
Great Find Of The Day: Webecoist
December 3, 2008
Very fun blog.. satiates every visual desire you might have. http://webecoist.com/
10 Green Shows Worth Watching
November 22, 2008
Tommi Lewis Tilden put together a good list of greenTV shows worth watching. I wouldn’t say that they were all worth watching…but it’s a great list, and Planet Green continues to show up with interesting ways to cover green content. I was surprised that I laughed out loud the most when watching the clip, “Living with Ed.” It had great characters, and Bradley Whitford and Ed’s wife Rochelle, called Ed out when he gets long winded and boring, (and let’s face it, Brad Whitford is endlessly entertaining).
3,000 Sea Turtles Dead in Baja
October 24, 2008
The UC Santa Cruz report concluded that the North Pacific loggerhead turtles washing up in Baja are dying due to fishing activity. Turtles are accidentally caught in nets, hooks and other fishing gear. The Baja turtles are experiencing the highest stranding rates related to fishery activity in the world.
The North Pacific loggerhead travels 7,000 miles from Japan to Baja’s Big Sur to feed for as many as thirty years before returning to Japan. In the past 10 years, the number of female turtles nesting in Japan has dropped by fifty to eighty percent.
Because you want to change the world: so superstruct
October 23, 2008
With the mere goal of revisioning the future, the creators of superstruct (Kathi Vian, scenario director Jamais Cascio, and game director Jane McGonigal) decided to make a game of it all. “Superstruct is the world’s first massively multiplayer forecasting game. 
By playing the game, you’ll help chronicle the world of 2019. But the game is more than just envisioning the future. It’s about making the future, inventing new ways to organize the human race and augment our collective human potential.
One of my favorite parts: by particpating, you become a Super-Empowered Hopeful Individual-a (aka SEHI). “By telling stories, strategizing with others, and superstructing, you demonstrate your hope that we can make a difference in our own futures.”
Not ones to over simply the issues of our future, the site is a bit complex, but here is an example of one of the video elements:
In honor of Blog Action Day 08
October 15, 2008
The subject is poverty this year.
So let me tell you what puts a bee in my bonnet. That most of us have to pushed into a corner and not have access to resources in order to reusing the things we have thrown away. Since I am endless source streaming ideas, one fantasy art project is to empty an entire landfill and repurpose or properly dispose of everything. (hmmm, maybe that’s how I’ll make my first million…) Meanwhile… in Haiti they are doing radical things with their garbage. Making viable building resources out their garbage. very cool. Meanwhile…I’m planning on putting a grey watering system into my new house. Can’t wait.
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Teen Builds His Own Electric Car on $10,000 Budget
October 15, 2008
OK. I’m jealous. While I often fantasize about converting my ford focus, it could never be as cool as this hot rod. Just stumbled upon this on Green Options.
his fall, Texas teenager Lucas Laborde will be driving to school in an electric car he built himself. The 17 year old spent last summer converting a conventional gas-powered car to run on batteries. Total cost? Around $10,000.
Luke’s EV is based on a kit car, known as a Bradley GT II, which his father bought on eBay for just $5000 splashing out a further $5700 on electric conversion parts and batteries. The rest was left up to Luke’s ingenuity and technical know-how.
After 150 hours of work, Luke had hooked up eight 80-pound lead-acid batteries in the space left after removing the fuel tank, as well as several other ‘creative locations.’ He finished up with an EV capable of travelling 40 miles between charges, a top speed of 45mph, (more than enough for the local school run), and heaps of low-end torque. As Luke told reporters, “it has a lot of power.”
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