Blog
Congratulations to Respect My Vote! artist ambassadors Wale (2009 XXL Freshman 10) and Freddie Gibbs (2010 XXL Freshmen 10) on being named to the XXL Magazine Freshman 10 lists.
Obama To Expand Offshore Oil and Gas Drilling, Next Stop: A Climate Change Law
March 31st, 2010
by admin
From the Green Energy Reporter
President Obama is set to announce an unprecedented expansion of offshore oil and gas drilling on the Atlantic Coast (as far north as Delaware) as well as the Florida Gulf Coast and parts of Alaska. This is a big shift to the right for the Obama administration and major reversal of the country’s energy policy.
The president is expected to make an announcement today at 11:00 AM ET. Obama will specifically lift a long-time moratorium banning oil exploration on the East Coast and will open 167 million acres for oil and gas exploration and eventually, production.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar tells Bloomberg News that oil exploration could start this summer.
The news will obviously anger Obama’s environmental base, which will point out that on the campaign trail, while his opponents rode the “drill, baby, drill” wave, he argued that expanding domestic oil and gas production would not lower energy costs (at the time a barrel was trading at triple digits).
The Obama administration have spinned the announcement as a natural extension of its “pan-energy policy.” It says that energy of dependence can’t be achieved with renewable energy alone and must include carbon-loaded energies as well nuclear. A few weeks ago the President greenlighted $8 billion in loan guarantees to support the construction of new reactors in Georgia.
Politically the move makes sense. The administration knows that opposition to cap-and-trade in Congress is deep and bipartisan. Expanding oil and gas drilling could actually help gather the votes needed to get a comprehensive climate change and energy bill WITH a cap-and-trade provision onto the president’s desk, hopefully this year.
Read the original article HERE
Hip Hop Panel With Melyssa Ford, Director X, Tony Touch, Nipsey Hussle & More Speaking On Bling, Booty & Bullets!
March 30th, 2010
by admin
By John M. Broder for The New York Times
The Environmental Protection Agency plans to add bisphenol-A, or BPA, a plastic widely used in food packaging and plastic bottles, to its list of chemicals of concern because of potential adverse impacts on the environment and human and animal health.
The agency will require new studies of concentrations of the plastic in surface water, groundwater and drinking water to determine where it exists in levels requiring action. More than a million pounds of the chemical, used to harden plastics, are released into the environment each year, the agency said.
The environmental agency will also require manufacturers that use BPA to provide test data to help evaluate effects on growth, reproduction and development in aquatic organisms and wildlife.
Continue reading HERE
By Jared Flesher for The New York Times
Jeremy Flesher Students at Princeton High School in New Jersey receive physical education credit for gardening.Starting this week at Princeton Public High School, students can take gym class in the garden.
“I think it’s strangely enjoyable,” said Tim Vasseur, a Princeton sophomore, shovel in hand. “It’s definitely not easy to do or anything like that.”
Advocates for greener schools believe this is the first time public school students will receive physical education credit for garden work. The idea was conceived by Matt Wilkinson, a physical education teacher and a former wrestling coach who also has a background in horticulture.
“We’re giving students another option to mainstream physical education,” Mr. Wilkinson said. “How long is somebody going to play basketball or soccer? Gardening they can do their whole lives.”
Last fall, members of the community raised $1,500 and constructed 16 raised garden beds on school property. Now that it’s spring, students will get to work planting seeds, weeding, and turning compost.
Continue reading HERE
By Sam Dillion for The New York Times
Delaware and Tennessee beat out 13 other finalist states and the District of Columbia to win a share of $4 billion in federal Race to the Top education grant money, convincing the Obama Administration that they have bold plans for overhauling their public school systems, an Obama Administration official said on Monday.
The Department of Education did not immediately announce the size of the awards. But Delaware had asked for $107 million, and Tennessee for $502 million.
By announcing only two winners in the first round, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan held to his repeated vow that only a tiny number of states with extremely bold plans would receive money in the competition, which aims to promote educational innovation by rewarding a few states for exemplary progress in areas President Obama considers crucial to education reform.
The president’s goals include expanding the number and quality of charter schools, reworking outdated teacher evaluation systems, improving the sophistication of states’ student data tracking systems, and turning around thousands of the lowest-performing schools.
Continue reading HERE
By Edwin Ortiz for Hip Hop DX
DJ Skee has been appointed as Hip-Hop Ambassador to ASAS-LA, the Governor's founded charity, serving disadvantaged youth in L.A.
Founded by Governor Schwarzenegger, ASAS-LA aims to serve 10,000 middle school and high school students in the Los Angeles area with after-school programs that promote education and youth leadership, as well as fitness and nutrition. ASAS-LA also has a separate music program, which teaches kids about the fundamentals of Hip Hop.
Skee, who has made a name for himself as a popular radio deejay in Los Angeles, as well as doing extensive mixtape work with artists across the nation, explained the opportunity to work with kids is an essential part of creating a positive image for Hip Hop. “Being involved with the kids in the After-School All-Stars, Los Angeles programs brings things full circle.”
He continued, “Hip Hop originates from the communities that these students come from. Hip Hop is a big part of their culture…and to teach them the positive aspects of the industry; that actual careers exist within the industry; that lead industry figures are devoted to giving back to the community…it gives them the type of exposure needed to take the Hip Hop culture on a positive path. These kids are the future of Hip Hop.”
DJ Skee will be performing at the Vanguard in Hollywood, CA next Friday (4/2) to commemorate the launch of his new live show Skeetox with a portion of the proceeds going to ASAS-LA. Other musical guests for the event include Ya Boy and Cisco Adler. Visit here for ticket and venue information.
By Ted Barrett for CNN
On the eve of a two-week spring recess, the Senate found itself embroiled again over the issue of a short-term extension of unemployment benefits and other programs.
At issue, as it was just a few weeks ago when Republican Sen. Jim Bunning of Kentucky blocked quick passage of a similar extension, is whether Congress should find budget offsets for the bill's cost of almost $10 billion a month, or agree to spend the money without designating how to pay for it.
Senators were called to the Senate floor late Thursday for a rarely used "live quorum" so they could try to work out a way forward.
Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Oklahoma, is objecting to a commonly used unanimous-consent agreement to pass the bill under emergency conditions, even if it increases the federal deficit. Coburn wants to eliminate additional government spending to pay for the bill.
Continue reading HERE
By David M. Herszenhorn and Tamar Lewin for The New York Times
Ending one of the fiercest lobbying fights in Washington, Congress voted Thursday to force commercial banks out of the federal student loan market, cutting off billions of dollars in profits in a sweeping restructuring of financial-aid programs and redirecting most of the money to new education initiatives.
The revamping of student-loan programs was included in — if overshadowed by — the final health care package. The vote was 56 to 43 in the Senate and 220 to 207 in the House, with Republicans unanimously opposed in both chambers.
Since the bank-based loan program began in 1965, commercial banks like Sallie Mae and Nelnet have received guaranteed federal subsidies to lend money to students, with the government assuming nearly all the risk. Democrats have long denounced the program, saying it fattened the bottom line for banks at the expense of students and taxpayers.
Continue reading HERE
By Larry Shaughnessy for CNN
Thurgood Marshall, Hattie McDaniel, the Tuskegee Airmen and Walter Morris -- all African-Americans who made history breaking the color barrier. But while America's first black Supreme Court justice, the first African-American Oscar winner and the U.S. military's first African-American pilots are well known, you may never have heard of Walter Morris or his role in American history.
The War Department, as the Defense Department used to be called, wanted it that way. On Thursday, a ceremony at the Pentagon will undo that.
When Walter Morris first joined the Army just before World War II, he wasn't a "black" or "Negro" or "African-American" soldier -- he was "colored." And he was treated like all the other "colored" men who wanted to fight for their country.
"We were servants, we were not soldiers," Morris said. "Most of us had an inferiority complex and it was a result of what they had assigned us to do."
Continue reading HERE
By Mike Winslow for AllHipHop.com
Hip-Hop star Ludacris has become involved in the largest advertising campaign in U.S. government history as part of the government’s $300 million dollar effort to reach African-Americans for the 2010 census.
Ludacris is being featured on the “Luda On The Block Tour” in cities with high concentrations of African-Americans.
The rapper visited Dallas and New Orleans and will hit New York (4/5), Washington D.C. (4/6) and Atlanta (4/9) next month.
The Grammy Award winning rapper will explain the importance of taking 10 minutes to fill out the 10 questions during the 2010 census.
Continue reading HERE
By Nolan Strong for AllHipHop.com
Wu-Tang Clan member Raekwon the Chef will headline Russia’s first Hip-Hop Summit late next month in Moscow.
The summit will be held on April 25th at the Luzhniki Sports Complex.
Organizers said the 1st Russian Hip-Hop Summit will be dedicated to the development of the Russian Hip-Hop industry and to develop, establish and maintain international relationships between artists around the globe.
Also featured in the summit will be Queens, New York Hip-Hop group Onyx, as well as Russian Hip-Hop stars NoGGano and Accan, Basta, Vakhtang, ST, Kyne and others.
"The summit will show that our Hip-Hop is not lagging behind: we learned a lot over the past 15 years, and now Russian and American artists are able to perform on one stage, not yielding to each other,” a rep said in a statement.
During the summit the top new comer of the year will be announced.
The vote is being determined by the Russian Hip-Hop audience at www.hiphopsummit.ru.
By The Associated Press crossposted on Yahoo! News
For nearly 30 years, India and Bangladesh have argued over control of a tiny rock island in the Bay of Bengal. Now rising sea levels have resolved the dispute for them: the island's gone.
New Moore Island in the Sunderbans has been completely submerged, said oceanographer Sugata Hazra, a professor at Jadavpur University in Calcutta. Its disappearance has been confirmed by satellite imagery and sea patrols, he said.
"What these two countries could not achieve from years of talking, has been resolved by global warming," said Hazra.
Scientists at the School of Oceanographic Studies at the university have noted an alarming increase in the rate at which sea levels have risen over the past decade in the Bay of Bengal.
Until 2000, the sea levels rose about 3 millimeters (0.12 inches) a year, but over the last decade they have been rising about 5 millimeters (0.2 inches) annually, he said.
Continue reading HERE
This spring, we're growing the green movement on college campuses by going on tour with hip-hop star Drake.
Green The Block, a campaign of the Hip Hop Caucus Green For All and the, is partnering with Reverb for the 2010 Campus Consciousness Tour.
From April 9th - May 8th, we'll be at 17 college campuses, educating and mobilizing students and surrounding communities on environmental sustainability and opportunities in the green economy.
Enter to win concert tickets, sign up to volunteer, and see the tour calendar.
Can't make the tour, but want to do something for your community and the planet? Pledge to participate in the Earth Day on Every Block action through 10 simple steps.
I sincerely hope you can join us this Earth Day for this exciting and fun opportunity.
Black Agenda On CSPAN: Should Public Critique Of Barack Obama Be Allowed From Black Leaders?
March 24th, 2010
by admin
By The Associated Press crossposted on NPR
The administration's pay czar said Tuesday that the top 25 earners at five companies still receiving extraordinary aid from the government's bailout fund will be paid an average 15 percent less in 2010 than in 2009 under his restrictions.
The companies include troubled automakers General Motors and Chrysler and insurance giant American International Group.
Pay czar Kenneth Feinberg also said he is asking 419 companies that received bailout money to provide details of compensation they received at the height of the financial crisis at the end of 2008 and early 2009.
Feinberg's announcement was the administration's latest effort to deal with public outrage over bonus payments provided to executives at companies receiving billions of dollars in taxpayer support.
Detailing the 2010 pay rules, Feinberg said cash salaries would be capped at $500,000 for 82 percent of the top 25 executives at the five firms. These executives would have to receive any further compensation in stock. Feinberg is seeking to link the executives' decisions more closely to the success of their companies.
Continue reading HERE
By Amy Westervelt for Solve Climate
While the eco blogs have been full of “smart grid this” and “smart grid that” for the last couple of years, only 21 percent of U.S. consumers say they've heard of the smart grid and far fewer understand how it affects them, according to a national survey released today by General Electric.
To combat the general lack of smart grid knowledge, GE and several other smart grid industry players also announced today that they are forming the Smart Grid Consumer Collaborative.
Headed up by Jesse Berst, managing director at GlobalSmartEnergy, the collaborative’s members are a virtual who’s who of smart grideratti: Silver Spring Networks, IBM, the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL), GE, the Gridwise Alliance, Office of the Ohio Consumers' Counsel. The collaborative was hastily put together over the last two months, a time frame that didn’t allow for notoriously slow and bureaucratic utilities to join right away, Berst said, but the collaborative is in talks with several utilities that plan to join.
Continue reading HERE
The first changes under the new health care law will be easy to see and not long in coming: There'll be $250 rebate checks for seniors in the Medicare drug coverage gap, and young adults moving from college to work will be able to stay on their parents' plans until they turn 26.
But the peace of mind the president promised — the antidote for health care insecurity, whether you favored or opposed his overhaul — is still a ways beyond the horizon, starting only in 2014. Insurers then will be barred from turning down people with medical problems, and the government will provide tax credits to help millions of working families buy coverage they can't afford now.
Health care overhaul will bring real change, but it's going to happen slowly.
Continue reading HERE
By Shaun Tandon for Yahoo News
After a hard-fought victory on health care reform, President Barack Obama's allies in Congress are pledging to move forward on climate change -- but some environmentalists are skeptical.
Twenty-two Democratic senators have signed a letter calling for climate legislation within the year, although some observers question if the White House will want another divisive vote as November midterm elections approach.
Senator John Kerry, the chief architect of climate legislation, said Monday that White House officials can now "pour their energy and attention" into the issue after Sunday's down-to-the-wire vote on expanding health care coverage.
"In the wake of health care's passage, we have a strong case to make that this can be the next breakthrough legislative fight," the Massachusetts Democrat argued.
"Climate legislation is the single best opportunity we have to create jobs, reduce pollution and stop sending billions overseas for foreign oil from countries that would do us harm," Kerry said.
Continue reading HERE
By Ronald Bera for The Associated Press 
More people die from polluted water every year than from all forms of violence, including war, the U.N. said in a report Monday that highlights the need for clean drinking water.
The report, launched Monday to coincide with World Water Day, said an estimated 2 billion tons of waste water - including fertilizer run-off, sewage and industrial waste - is being discharged daily. That waste fuels the spread of disease and damages ecosystems.
"Sick Water" - the report from the U.N. Environment Program - said that 3.7 percent of all deaths are attributed to water-related diseases, translating into millions of deaths. More than half of the world's hospital beds are filled by people suffering from water-related illnesses, it said.
Continue reading HERE
By Julia Preston for The New York Times
Tens of thousands of immigrants and activists rallied here on Sunday, calling for legislation this year to give legal status to millions of illegal immigrants and seeking to pressure President Obama to keep working on the contentious issue once the health care debate is behind him.
Demonstrators filled five lengthy blocks of the Washington Mall, down the hill from the Capitol where last-minute negotiations were under way on the health care bill. The immigrant activists, chanting Mr. Obama’s campaign slogan of “Yes we can” in Spanish and English, tried to compete with their numbers for public and media attention which were mainly focused on the climactic health care events in the House of Representatives.
The rally brought the return to major street action by immigration activists, who turned out hundreds of thousands of protesters in marches and rallies in 2006. After an immigration overhaul measure was defeated in Congress in 2007, the pace of enforcement raids picked up and many immigrants, especially those without legal status, preferred to lay low.
But immigrant advocates decided to gamble by calling the march, to give a show of force that might impress Mr. Obama and also to vent the frustration of many immigrants who have taken to heart his repeated promises that he would move an immigration bill in Congress by early this year.
Continue reading HERE
By Robert Pear and David M. Herszenhorn for The New York Times
House Democrats approved a far-reaching overhaul of the nation’s health system on Sunday, voting over unanimous Republican opposition to provide medical coverage to tens of millions of uninsured Americans after an epic political battle that could define the differences between the parties for years.
With the 219-to-212 vote, the House gave final approval to legislation passed by the Senate on Christmas Eve. Thirty-four Democrats joined Republicans in voting against the bill. The vote sent the measure to President Obama, whose yearlong push for the legislation has been the centerpiece of his agenda and a test of his political power.
After approving the bill, the House adopted a package of changes to it by a vote of 220 to 211. That package — agreed to in negotiations among House and Senate Democrats and the White House — now goes to the Senate for action as soon as this week. It would be the final step in a bitter legislative fight that has highlighted the nation’s deep partisan and ideological divisions.
Continue reading HERE
Today, Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) released the following statement on the seventh anniversary of the invasion of Iraq.
“Seven years ago today, President George W. Bush launched our nation into one of the most disastrous, misguided, and dangerous military actions in our history – the initial invasion and proceeding occupation of Iraq.
“As a co-founder of the Out of Iraq Caucus, my position has been clear all along. I opposed the war and occupation from the start, and have worked day in and day out ever since to end it.
“Thankfully, President Obama and his administration are finally taking the critical steps to ending our occupation in Iraq. I urge the President to continue working to fill the vacuum created by nearly seven years of violent conflict and military occupation, but most importantly, to bring our brave men and women in uniform home as safely and swiftly as possible.
“As we solemnly mark this seventh year of this war-of-choice in Iraq, we reflect on the incredible sacrifices made by the men and women who serve in the military and their families.
“It is my hope that this is the last time we mark this occasion, and that we are able to finally withdraw all combat troops from Iraq by the Administration’s proposed date of August 31st of this year.”
“As we move toward withdrawal from Iraq, we must set a clear timeline to do the same in Afghanistan.”
By Michael Graham Richard for Treehugger.com
Dumb Traffic Lights are so Passé
After smart grids, smart sewage and smart lights, here comes the smart traffic lights. To be fair, many lights already have some sensors and can adjust their cycles based on feedback from the road, but what I'm talking about here is on a whole other level. BMW and Siemens unveiled a system of networked traffic lights that can communicate with nearby cars to warn them about road conditions, help them better use anti-idling features, but that can also learn about traffic patterns from those cars and adjust cycling times to optimize traffic flow, saving time and fuel.
Continue reading HERE
Chris Hughes's Act III - Jumo.com, A Social Platform For Global Volunteerism
March 18th, 2010
by admin
By Jose Antonio Vargas for The Huffington Post
Chris Hughes, all of 26, has been looking for his Act III.
Act I was co-founding Facebook while at Harvard with this roommate Mark Zuckerberg. Act II was taking a leave from the social networking behemoth and joining Barack Obama's presidential campaign, where the fresh-faced Southerner from Hickory, N.C. became part of an A-list new media team. There, he served as the architect of My.BarackObama.com -- or MyBO, the most successful network of volunteers and grassroots army that American presidential campaigning had ever seen.
And Act III? "I knew I wanted to do something at the nexus of what I call global development and technology," Hughes told HuffPost Tech in a phone interview yesterday. "By global development, I'm talking about a broad umbrella -- health care, agriculture, education. I just knew I wanted to do something in that space, and I spent the last year traveling" (in countries such has Kenya and Senegal, which he fell in love with) "and talking to people" (like Jeff Sachs, the prominent economist at Columbia University who's been named one of the "100 Most Influential People In The World" by Time magazine -- twice). Hughes added:" I spent the past year researching, studying, learning everything I could in the space."
With millions of Americans living and working in our communities, but disenfranchised by past felony convictions, Congress has taken the first step to put democracy back on track.
But Tuesday’s House Judiciary subcommittee hearing on the Democracy Restoration Act – a bill that would set a federal standard for when a felon can regain his voting rights for federal elections – showed once again that members of Congress aren’t too good at running congressional hearings. The Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties spent most of its time on the question of whether Congress has the power to set the "time, place, and manner" of federal elections. (It does, and it is settled law since the courts rejected constitutional challenges to the National Voter Registration Act in the mid 1990s.) On the other hand, the Subcommittee paid scant attention to the racial implications of felon disenfranchisement laws (13 percent of African Americans are disenfranchised nationwide, and up to 20 percent in some states.) Witnesses included NAACP Washington Bureau Director Hilary O. Shelton, American Probation and Parole Association Executive Director Carl Wicklund, and Leon County, Fla. Supervisor of Elections, Ion Sancho, among others.
Continue reading HERE
By Thom Patterson for CNN
In the front offices of the trend-spotting network and online magazine TrendHunter.com, there are 15 workers wrangling 35,000 worldwide contributors -- but you'd be hard-pressed to find one filing cabinet.
Trend Hunter is a paperless office.
Founder Jeremy Gutsche tells a story about how an accountant had finally put together all the numbers on a project and offered to send a paper report on his work. When Gutsche asked for an electronic copy instead, the accountant "just started looking at me, laughing."
According to Gutsche, the accountant asked, "These are your most important financial performance records -- don't you think you should have a hard copy?" "I said, 'I really don't know what I would do with it.'"
"Buy a filing cabinet," said the accountant.
The exchange goes to the heart of a cultural divide that may explain why businesses continue to print, copy and fax more than a trillion pages of office paper each year, according to the market research firm InfoTrends.
Continue reading HERE
By Carl Hulse for The New York Times
The Senate approved and sent to President Obama on Wednesday what Congressional Democrats hope will be the first in a series of bills spurring employment by providing tax breaks and other hiring incentives to businesses.
The measure, approved on a bipartisan vote of 68 to 29, would give employers an exemption from payroll taxes through the end of 2010 on workers they hire who have been unemployed for at least 60 days. It also extends the federal highway construction program and takes other steps to bolster public building projects.
After the vote Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York praised the Republicans who voted for the bill, calling it “a legislative dream.”
“Today is really a turning point,” said Mr. Schumer. “And there are two words that symbolize it — jobs and bipartisan. The American people sent us a message in Massachusetts and elsewhere. It was focus on jobs, the economy, helping the middle class stretch its paycheck. Our answer today: We heard you.”
Continue reading HERE
By Stacy Feldman for Solve Climate
Lawmakers, scientists and advocates in the U.S. intensified calls Tuesday to immediately cut emissions from climate-warming soot — also known as black carbon — as deadlock continues in Congress over far more complicated regulation of carbon dioxide.
"Black carbon is an important, fast-action tool in mitigating long-term warming," said Veerabhadran Ramanathan, one of the world's leading climate scientists, in testimony before the House Select Committee for Energy Independence and Global Warming.
Although not a greenhouse gas, soot has emerged as a leading contributor to rising temperatures worldwide, scientists say. Limiting these emissions is seen as a relatively cheap and quick way to reign in warming in the short term.
Black carbon causes up to 600 times the warming of CO2 and lasts just a few weeks in the atmosphere, whereas CO2 lingers for a century or more. Because of black carbon's short lifespan, the impact of efforts to knock out the potent, heat-absorbing particle would be near immediate.
Continue reading HERE
By Anthony Papas for The Huffington Post
Last week a unique program was launched by the Osborne Association's Green Career Center to help former prisoners who want to become productive citizens by finding them "green jobs".
"The national financial and climate crises have forced us all to reconsider how we use our precious resources, and there is no resource more precious than people," said Elizabeth Gaynes, Executive Director of the Osborne Association. She believes that with the right training and support "people leaving prison can re-purpose their lives and contribute to growing a Green Economy that benefits all of us."
Continue reading HERE
by Danielle Harling for Hip Hop DX
Earlier this week, rapper Nas revealed to a group of high school students that getting his high school diploma is one of his goals right now. He also expressed his resent for dropping out of school at a young age.
Pittsburgh’s the Post-Gazette reports that Nas spoke to the students at the Boys & Girls Club of America's annual National Keystone Conference in Pittsburgh.
"The reality of it is, you need to keep educating yourself, and I wish I had stayed in school," Nas revealed to the group of high school students.
Nas, who dropped out of school in eighth grade, also spoke on leadership and his personal life.
"This is an incredible message, to have someone who succeeded so much in their life, but there is still a void," said Frank Sanchez, the vice president for corporate and partner relationships for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.
NBA player Bob Lanier and R&B singer/producer Ne-Yo also spoke to student’s at the annual conference.
Tavis Smiley on his “We Count!” Conference and Why America Needs the Black Agenda
March 16th, 2010
by admin
By Kathleen Wells, political correspondent for Race-Talk
Kathleen Wells: On March 20, you will convene 12 prolific African-American thought leaders, opinion makers, scholars, analysts, and elected officials in Chicago for “We Count! – The Black Agenda is the American Agenda.” Talk to me about your motivation to have the conference, why the necessity for this conference, and what would you like to see accomplished?
Tavis Smiley: I feel compelled to moderate this conversation about the need for a black agenda, how you do that in the era of Obama, and especially in a so-called post-racial America. When there are black leaders who start to suggest, publicly, that this or any President doesn’t necessarily need to address the black agenda – the concerns of black people, uniquely – that’s troubling for me, and, again, the troubling nature of it compelled me to have this conversation, because I’m not so sure — that we — black folk agree with that.
Not that black folks are a monolithic, but certainly a conversation needs to be had, I think, about whether or not it is a good strategy for us to ever tell any President that he or she doesn’t need to address a black agenda, because I don’t think that moral authority is like a set of keys that you just lay down and pick back up at your convenience when you need them. If you give one President a pass, it’s going to be hard to come back to the next President and demand accountability of him or her.
So this conversation is not one that I wanted to have. It wasn’t on my docket this year. It was not on my schedule. It’s caused some consternation amongst my staff because we’ve had to ramp up pretty fast around here. But when these kinds of comments are being made, particularly given that black folks are getting crushed at this very moment – everybody in America is challenged by this economy, but the numbers are clear – black folks are getting crushed. And for people to suggest – for anybody to suggest – that the President doesn’t need to focus on a black agenda, I think it’s pretty simple. With that disproportionate pain requires a disproportionate response. And that’s why we are going to Chicago State. I could be wrong about all of this. I could be wrong about all of this, but I think it’s worthy of a conversation.
Continue reading HERE
by Stacy Feldman for Solve Climate 
Aggressive federal energy efficiency policies, such as building codes and appliance standards, would put money in consumer wallets in every state.
That's the message of a new report that adds to evidence of the economic potential of curbing energy use. Analysts at the Consumer Federation of America (CFA) calculated that U.S. citizens would save $301 to $451 annually on average on their utility bills in 2030, if the nation slashes projected energy use by 20 to 30 percent, or 1 to 2 percent per year.
The report is one of the first to look at how strong federal efficiency policies would shrink home energy bills. Nationwide, households would save between $37 billion and $66 billion over two decades.
The savings would be a "cushion to soften the blow" of costlier climate measures, said Mark Cooper, the study's author and research director at CFA, a consumer group of 300 organizations.
Continue reading HERE
By Shelby Lin Erdman for CNN
It's so tiny, you can't see it with the naked eye. 
Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have discovered an energy source that you can see only through a microscope.
The researchers devised a process for generating electricity using nanotechnology. They plan to refine the process in hopes of creating a new environmentally friendly battery, among other products.
It works like this: Researchers used tiny wires, known as carbon nanotubes, to create a powerful wave of energy, according to Michael Strano, and MIT associate professor of chemical engineering. He is also the senior author of a paper on this new phenomenon, published in this week's Nature Materials journal.
Continue reading HERE
Paul Goulet hopes Connecticut will help him get from under nearly $8,000 he's borrowed for college after losing his job in a paper manufacturing plant.
Goulet, 55, is a student in environmental studies at Goodwin College in East Hartford, aiming to find work in wastewater treatment. State legislation that would waive thousands of dollars in loans would benefit him and other students who earn degrees or certificates in green technology and other jobs.
''Everything I've taken out since October is on the student loan program,'' he said. ''Any little bit would help, especially with the job market the way it is.''
Loan forgiveness programs aren't new -- states use them to entice medical professionals to rural areas, steer teachers to certain subject areas and attract farmers to local agriculture.
The legislation comes as the White House is emphasizing the importance of green works and job creation. President Barack Obama announced in January $2.3 billion in tax credits -- to be paid for from last year's $787 billion stimulus package -- that he said would create 17,000 green jobs. The money will go to projects including solar, wind and energy management.
Connecticut's proposal could break new ground. Trying to boost its work force in high-growth green technology, life sciences and health information technology, the state would annually forgive as much as $2,500 of federal and state education loans for up to four years, or 5 percent of loans, whichever is less.
To qualify, students must earn a bachelor's or associate's degree and work in Connecticut for at least two years.
Continue reading HERE
By Mandalit del Barco for NPR
When they heard I was going to report in Haiti after the massive earthquake, fifth-graders from Amylynn Robinson's class asked if I could deliver some messages to any children I'd meet. Their letters included drawings of flowers, hearts and rainbows. And they began simply:
"Hello Haiti, nice to meet you."
"Dear Buddy ... "
"Hi there, I'm a child as well."
"Dear friend, I am your friend. I wrote this letter to tell you I care about you."
The children wrote about their school, Balboa Magnet Elementary, a public school in Northridge, Calif., in Northern Los Angeles County, which was the epicenter of a magnitude 6.7 earthquake in 1994. Although these 10-year-olds were not alive then, many say they've heard stories about the damage in California. So they were sympathetic to kids coping with the magnitude 7.0 earthquake in Haiti.
"Because they were one of the poorest countries in the Western atmosphere, it shocked me greatly," Issac Choi said.
"I was like, oh, my gosh," said Joon Lee. "Their buildings were made out of rocks. Many people died, and I feel so sad for them."
Continue reading HERE
A second former New Orleans police officer pleaded guilty Thursday in connection with police shootings of civilians on a Louisiana bridge in the days following Hurricane Katrina, authorities said.
Jeffrey Lehrmann, a former police detective who now works as a special agent for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, pleaded guilty in federal court to a charge that he failed to report a cover-up in the investigation of the Danziger Bridge shootings in New Orleans, the Department of Justice said in a statement Thursday.
Lehrmann also admitted he helped compile a false report on the incidents, and was with others when they planted a gun as part of the cover-up, according to court documents.
Last month, former police Lt. Michael Lohman pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice in connection with the cover-up.
Two civilians were killed and four others wounded in the shootings on September 4, 2005, six days after Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast.
Continue reading HERE
By Stacy Morford for Solve Climate
In the launch yesterday of their Earth Day Revolution for climate action, the Sierra Club and more than 40 other groups talked about the need for “Congress to finally push aside the obstruction of the polluter lobby.”
The Sunlight Foundation shed some light this week on that anti-climate action lobby and just how tightly it is woven into the fabric of Capitol Hill.
The foundation used Arkansas Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln as an example. She was one of three Senate Democrats to join Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s (R-Alaska) effort to block the EPA's authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act. Lincoln, chairwoman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, also opposes cap-and-trade legislation and even touts that opposition in her campaignads.
The Sunlight Foundation took a look at lobbyists with personal ties to the congresswoman and found that at least six of Lincoln’s former staff members now lobby for interest groups with a stake in climate regulations, including oil and gas trade groups.
Continue reading HERE
By Mike Winslow for AllHipHop.com
Fabolous and Trey Songz will hit the stage at the James L. Knight Center in April for the green concert, which will be hosted by Homeboy Sandman.
A green themed after party will take place at Mansion nightclub following the concert.
Continue reading HERE
By John M. Broder for The New York Times
China and India formally agreed Tuesday to join the international climate change agreement reached in December in Copenhagen, the last two major economies to sign up.
The two countries, among the largest and fastest-growing sources of greenhouse gas emissions in the world, submitted letters to theUnited Nations agreeing to be included on a list of countries covered by the Copenhagen Accord, a three-page nonbinding statement reached at the end of the contentious and chaotic 10-day conference.
China and India join more than 100 countries that have signed up under the accord, which calls for limiting the rise in global temperatures to no more than2 degrees Celsius, or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, beyond pre-industrial levels.
Continue reading HERE
By Rev Yearwood for the Huffington Post
When African American voters and particularly young voters of color turned out in record numbers in 2008, their vision for change was historic. Heading into the 2010 mid-terms, there is plenty of speculation about who is not going to turn out to the polls this year, presumably because the economy is still bad, or because we have not seen enough progress from Washington. These naysayers, however, have not been talking with our communities. We were not playing around in 2008, and we are not playing around in 2010.
Continue reading HERE
EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson spoke on the strides made in 2009 and the agency's priorities for 2010. She discussed actions on climate change, America's waters and EPA's efforts to expand the conversation on environmentalism.
Watch video HERE
By Gloria Reuben for the Huffington Post
I consider myself to be an international woman. Even though my history may not be an exotic one (I was born in Canada) I do think that makes me somewhat international. It's been 21 years since I've moved to the U.S. and it was just last year when I took the oath in front of the Star Spangled Banner and proclaimed my citizenship in this grand country.
Some may wonder why I waited so long. I wonder the same thing. But as that old cliché goes, everything in its time. And it was time.
I had been an activist on the issue of HIV, primarily in the African American and Latino communities here in the U.S. for many years. It was horrifying to me how the pandemic was raging right here in this country but no one was talking about it. Denial, fear, and miseducation were running rampant throughout communities and I had to do what I could, to help raise the level of awareness once again, years after I portrayed an HIV+ health care worker on ER.
These same elements -- denial, fear, miseducation -- are the underlying elements of the climate change issue. So, through my work with Waterkeeper Alliance (especially on the issue of mountaintop removal coal mining) and now my participation with the Alliance for Climate Protection, I find myself being an advocate for the necessity and urgency of passing comprehensive climate legislation.
Continue reading HERE
By Leo Hindery, Jr. for the Huffington Post
Two old friends, civil rights activist David Mixner and former U.S. Senator Don Riegle (D-MI), believe that in the economic recovery, not enough attention is being given to 'who's really poor' now. David and Don have for years advised me -- and others -- on the issue of poverty in America, and they are worried that too many people, and especially too many people in the administration and Congress, are missing this imperative.
To help make their point, they referred me to poverty activist Marsha Timpson, who describes today's poor as "America's dirty little secret, hidden in the backyards of America's shining homes, the hollows, the reservations, the border towns and the dark ghettos of the city where they are the lie of the American dream."
Continue reading HERE
By Poornima Gupta for Reuters
Global leaders in the energy business say they want some certainty in U.S. climate policy to encourage development of new technologies and other investment, but they do not expect federal legislation to pass this year.
The chief executives of some of the biggest companies in the power, raw materials and oil businesses also said they broadly support a carbon cap-and-trade program.
Cap-and-trade was the centerpiece of a climate bill passed by the House of Representatives last year, but senators are not expected to back such a plan, which would limit greenhouse gas emissions and let companies trade permits to emit carbon.
Continue reading HERE
Does the Large Amount of Food Discarded in the U.S. Take a Toll on the Environment?
March 8th, 2010
by admin
According to the Agriculture Department, each year Americans toss more than 25 percent, of all domestically produced food. A 2009 study showed that a quarter of U.S. water and 4 percent of U.S. oil consumption annually go into producing and distributing food that ultimately ends up in landfills!
Continue reading HERE
By Donna Brazile for CNN
On Sunday we commemorate the courage and sacrifice of 600 men and women who dared 45 years ago to take the first steps in a 54-mile march from Selma, Alabama, to the state capital, Montgomery, for the right to vote. That day, Sunday, March 7, 1965, would come to be known as "Bloody Sunday." 
As these unarmed civil rights patriots attempted to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, where fewer than one percent of eligible black voters were allowed to register, they were gassed and beaten with billy clubs by state and local police, some on horseback, ordered to break up the demonstration.
Captured by television cameras and broadcast nationwide, the suffering of these nonviolent activists, 50 of whom required hospitalization, awoke the nation's consciousness to the importance of voting rights and the entire civil rights movement.
Continue reading HERE
By Philip Read for The Star-Ledger
Javis Hanks was a natural. The 10-year-old slipped comfortably into the recording studio and became a part — a big part — of something larger than himself, a music video to raise money to alleviate the pain in earthquake-ravaged Haiti. 
In a fine-tuned harmony, he chimed in with lyrics for "Give A Hug To Haiti":
"So much power in one embrace
So much power in the human race..."
The rhythmic message of hope, written by his father, Travis Hank, 40, of Newark, has found its way on to iTunes.com as part of the father’s non-profit, "Hearts That Care Movement."
Continue reading HERE
Rounding out the Hip Hop Caucus Clean Energy Now! Bus tour, Rev. Yearwood and the Hip Hop Caucus made two final stops: The first to Sixth Mt. Zion Baptist Temple in Hampton, VA for the First Annual Black Faith Climate Conference and second to Manna Christian Fellowship Church in Wilmington, DE. Delivering the message of ridding the communities of pollution while gaining economic prosperity in the process, Rev. Yearwood, through an inspirational sermon and a town hall address, expressed the harsh realities pollution and dirty energy have brought onto low-income communities and communities of color.
How do we fight poverty and pollution at the same time? 
At the First Annual Black Faith Climate Conference the answer came through the sharing of resources, initiatives and programs that were geared towards helping people out of poverty and spreading awareness around the green issue. Information about green jobs programs, LEED certification, weatherization and natural disaster preparedness, pollution and energy efficiency were just a few of the topics discussed through out the day’s program. On Sunday, at Manna Christian Fellowship Church Rev. Yearwood paralleled Jezebel, a queen stuck in her ways, and Elijah who follows God word only to continually be confronted with one road block after another, to today’s struggle against the companies/lobbyists and politicians willing to sacrifice the health, safety and prosperity of so many communities for their own financial gain. (See 1 Kings 19 v. 1-18)
“This is MY generation’s lunch counter moment for the 21st Century”
Rev. Yearwood also addressed those from the Civil Rights Generation. “We are not fighting for equality in the ways that your generation fought in the Civil Rights Era, we are now fighting for existence. There might not be a planet for future generations to live on. “ Rev. Yearwood used the analogy of “Jim Crow” and his sly and crafty son “James Crow, Jr Esquire”, to depict the ways in which the face of inequality has shifted since the previous generation, yet the ultimate goals to oppress and suppress communities, and particularly those of color, remain the same.
Finally, he said that, “One of the most powerful tools to evoke change are people, and there is strength in numbers.” This strength in numbers could be crucial as we seek to pass climate legislation on the federal level as well as local and statewide policies that affect the public health and poverty rates of communities of color. “The politicians work for you, you don’t work for the politicians. ” said Rev. Yearwood as he encouraged both the Hampton and Wilmington to act on behalf of their communities. He urged the participants and congregation members to contact their elected officials and hold them accountable to ensure that the communities they live in are safe, healthy and prosperous.
Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), Chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, released the following statement on passage of H.R. 2847, the HIRE Act:
“As I said last week when this legislation passed the Senate, ‘this is not the jobs bill’ and we shouldn’t confuse the millions of Americans who are struggling to find work. We should stop calling it a jobs bill, and instead acknowledge this is about business tax cuts.
“While tax cuts for some businesses may be needed, our priority must be to pass legislation that directly creates jobs. The Congressional Black Caucus is committed to finding a path forward that meets the dire needs of unemployed Americans, especially the chronically unemployed.
Continue reading HERE
By Chris Richards for The Washington Post 
During the final moments of his performance at Verizon Center Wednesday night, Jay-Z casually dropped a gigantic boast: "I just came from the White House."
White House officials were button-lipped about the visit Wednesday, but confirmed on Thursday morning that, yes, Jay-Z did indeed visit 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. An official said the rapper toured the White House on Wednesday and had a quick, unscheduled visit with President Obama. The POTUS did not attend the concert.
By The Associated Press posted on MSNBC 
Students carried out raucous rallies on college campuses nationwide Thursday in protests against deep education cuts that turned violent as demonstrators threw punches and ice chunks in Wisconsin and blocked university gates and smashed car windows in California.
At least 15 protesters were detained by University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee police after as many as 150 students gathered at the student union then moved to an administrative building to deliver petitions to the school chancellor.
University spokesman Tom Luljak said campus police allowed one person inside, But when she emerged, she encouraged everyone to rush the building, he said.
The violence began when police tried to turn them away. No serious injuries were reported.
The school was among dozens of nationwide campuses hit with marches, strikes, teach-ins and walkouts in what was being billed as the March 4th National Day of Action for Public Education.
In Northern California, rowdy protesters blocked major gates at two universities and smashed the windows of a car.
Continue reading HERE
Posted on Yahoo! News 
Victims of Hurricane Katrina are seeking to sue carbon gas-emitting multinationals for helping fuel global warming and boosting the devastating 2005 storm, legal documents showed.
The class action suit brought by residents from southern Mississippi, which was ravaged by hurricane-force winds and driving rains, was first filed just weeks after the August 2005 storm hit.
Continue reading HERE
By Robert Redford for Huffington Post
The news out of Washington has grown discouraging lately. Lawmakers are bickering and Congress is in gridlock. Corporations, meanwhile, have been given license by the Supreme Court to purchase more political influence than ever before. Many Americans are tempted to turn their backs on the DC infighting, but that would be a mistake. We still possess a powerful ability to influence our lawmakers. When we raise our voices loudly and fully enough, we can hit the core sensitivity of politicians: the desire for votes. They are still our representatives, after all, and they have to respond to public outcry.
Continue reading HERE
By Omarion
Cross-Posted on BET.com and Huffington Post
Here’s an op-ed piece Omarion wrote on the importance of Clean Energy Education for the urban community:
Young people in America today have a right to be upset. A lot of people just out of high school or college are wondering about their futures when jobs are so hard to find. But in a time when our country has so many problems that appear unsolvable, we do have a solution that can make our communities more prosperous. We can take control of our energy future.
For decades, we’ve been spending hundreds of billions of dollars to buy oil from overseas. Outdated factories and dirty power plants are polluting our neighborhoods. Gasoline and electricity prices have skyrocketed. And all the while, big corporations and their lobbyists have fought against any changes to the current state of affairs.
But the good news is that the situation is not hopeless. We can make investments in clean energy that will reduce pollution, revitalize our neighborhoods and create new jobs.
By Sia Tiambi Barnes for IAM
In part two of a look at events organized by the Hip Hop Caucus (click here for coverage of the HHC’s response to Haiti), IAM joined President and CEO, Reverend Lennox Yearwood; DJ Biz Markie; actress Gloria Reuben; Congressman Andre Carson (D-IN); and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator, Lisa Jackson among others in front of the Capitol Building in Washington, DC. It was the last stop on the Clean Energy Now! Bus Tour that was taken on a carbon neutral bus, included a team of college students, and was cosponsored byAlliance for Climate Protection’s Repower America campaign. HHC has adopted the green movement as one of their key platforms.
Continue reading HERE
1112 16th Street NW, Suite 110; Washington, DC 20036