March 28, 2008

King Coal: The Joke's on You

Posted by Jamie Henn at 3:19PM

• 2 Comments
• Email
• Print
• Reprints
• Share

(photo: Clemson University students take action at their campus' coal plant in South Carolina)

We all know the facts, but it's worth a refresher: the world is on a crash course with climate chaos because of our addiction to cheap fossil fuels. The USA is home to the worst addicts — we represent only 4 percent of the world's population, but emit over 25 percent of the world's carbon dioxide — and many of the worst dealers, corporations like ExxonMobile, Duke Energy, General Motors, and others have been trying to keep us hooked on their products by spending millions of dollars on lobbyists, misleading advertisements, and campaign contributions to crooked politicians (check out the video at the end of this post).

On April 1, thousands of students in the U.S. and worldwide will be sending a message to the biggest climate culprits: we won't be fooled again.

Fossil Fools Day will shine a spotlight on the real fools, the corporations and politicians who want to keep us hooked on dirty energy. This year's celebration is shaping up to be one of the most international campaigns the youth climate movement has ever run, with over 100 actions planned around the world. In Canada, youth activists are planning national actions to stop oil companies and government officials working to expand tar sands exploration. Down under, in Newcastle, Australia, climate activists will visit a local multinational department store and attempt to swap bucket-loads of coal for imported consumer products. Students have even translated the Fossil Fools Day site into a number of languages, including German, Spanish and Arabic.

Here in the USA, the Energy Action Coalition is leading the charge, with creative actions planned across the country. Examples include critical mass bike rides, green jobs rallies, protests at coal plants, Bank of America mass account closures (they fund coal), car dealer "adoptions," no coal photo petitions, and more. In Florida, students are hosting a meeting of "Oil Addicts Anonymous" in between an Exxon station and a Shell station, while in Nevada, the student-led "Oil Enforcement Agency" will be charging a Hummer dealership with unjustly violating standards of oil consumption and the rights of the environment.

Perhaps the biggest target of all, the Jester of the Foolies, if you will, is Old King Coal. New coal plants are dropping like flies across the country thanks to national activism, community pressure, and Wall Street waking up to the fact that investing in a new coal plant is plain stupid. April 1st's Fossil Fools Day hopes to drive a few more nails in the coffin. In North Carolina, for example, students are planning a rally in downtown Charlotte to protest Duke Energy's hair-brained proposal to build Cliffside, a coal plant that would emit six million tons of carbon dioxide annually. John Avery, one of the organizers at UNC, explains, "Our air, water, health, and climate and more are at stake in battles like this across the globe, and this is our chance to show in North Carolina how serious we are about a clean energy future."

You can show how serious you are by getting involved in some of the foolery this April 1. First, visit fossilfools08.org to vote for who deserves the Foolie Award for their dirty ways. Once you're there, it's not too late to sign up to organize an action. Some of the best actions are the last minute ones: gather some friends and put your creativity to the test (there are all sorts of action ideas to help you get started)! And email your friends — the best pranks are the ones everyone finds out about.

Watch out King Coal and Big Oil, the joke's on you.