2014 Annual Meeting - November 19, 6pm

Georgia Climate Change Coalition’s annual meeting starts at 6 pm on November 19 to be followed by a party to include a presentation recounting members experiences attending the massive People’s Climate March in NYC in September. All are welcome to join us for pizza, beer, and planning for our entry into the Athens Parade of Lights. This is a day when anyone in Athens who truly wants to get involved in an active way for Climate related issues and environmental justice in Georgia can find an outlet for their energy and passion.

This event is the culmination of an all-day event in which the public can drop in at the Athens-Clarke County Heritage Foundation at 489 Prince Avenue at any time throughout the day to participate in a letter writing campaign to oppose the Sabal Trail Natural Gas Pipeline.

2014GCCC_AnnualMeetingAgenda

Letter Writing Campaign to oppose Sabal Trail Pipeline

BERT450GCCC will host a letter writing campaign to oppose the Sabal Trail Natural Gas Pipeline slated to traverse delicate habitats & acquifiers throughout the South Georgia region. For background on the opposition to this pipeline, click here. Drop by any time during the day on November 19 at the Athens-Clarke County Heritage Foundation Firehouse (489 Prince Avenue) and there will be someone to brief you and postcards to write.

After writing your letter, stay for our 2014 Annual Meeting at 6pm.

Then, on November 22nd a group of bicyclists will leave Athens to make the 200-mile journey to Albany Georgia, passing through Macon, to Koinonia Farm in Americus, Georgia along the way, staging letter writing/community education/networking events along the way. In the early afternoon of 25th we will arrive in Albany and meet with community leaders. We will then return as a group to Decatur to host the last event of this brief tour.

GC3 is going to NYC

Want to ride with us? Reserve a seat on the bus via eventbrite by clicking here.

The GCCC is organizing Georgia folks who would like to attend the climate march on September 21. You’ve probably heard that world leaders will be in New York this September for a UN summit on climate. This event is an opportunity for us all to be part of what Bill McKibben has called “the largest demonstration yet of human resolve in the face of climate change.”

More info:
Bill McKibben in Rolling Stone, “A Call to Arms: An Invitation to Demand Action on Climate Change.
Info page from People’s Climate March.
Info page from Global Climate Convergence.

Questions? Please email march@georgiaclimatecoalition.org.

EPA Climate Rally in Atlanta, July 29

Next week, the EPA is holding hearings in Atlanta on the standards to reduce climate pollution from existing power plants announced in June. These unprecedented standards would regulate CO2 emissions from existing power plants. This plan is a necessary step in the move to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across the country.

To show support for this historic action, the Sierra Club is organizing a regional rally at the EPA’s hearing on the new climate action at Woodruff Park in Atlanta on Tuesday, July 29, beginning at noon in Woodruff Park. The hearings will take place on July 29 and 30 at the Sam Nunn Atlanta Federal Center, Main Tower Bridge Conference Area, Conference Room B, 61 Forsyth Street, SW, Atlanta

Click Here for more info and to RSVP for the Sierra Club rally. We would like to see a huge turnout from GCCC to show overwhelming support for climate action by the EPA.

Need a ride? Let us know (info@georgiaclimatecoalition.org) and we’ll try to coordinate car-pools to the event.

Can’t make it next week? Click here for several ways to send a comment to the EPA.

Prefer ice cream? The Climate Reality Project will also be in Atlanta for the hearings and handing out free Ben and Jerry’s. Click here for info and locations.

EARTHFEST 2014 - April 24

Georgia River Network and Upper Oconee River Network are sponsoring EARTHFEST 2014 at Terrapin Brewery on Thursday, April 24th from 5:15-7:30pm. Come learn about upcoming events and ways to get involved from these eco-friendly local non-profits:

ACC Stormwater
ACC Leisure Services
Athens Farmers Market
Bike Athens
Broad River Watershed Association
Environmental Law Association
Georgia Bikes
Georgia Climate Change Coalition
Keep Athens Clarke County Beautiful
Oconee River Audubon Society
Oconee River Land Trust
SORBA
State Botanical Garden of Georgia
UGA EcoReach Club
UGA Environmental Health Sciences Club
UGA Office of Sustainability
UGA Students for Environmental Action
Upper Oconee Greenway Commission

RSVP at the Facebook Event Page

EARTHFEST 2014 Flyer

Earth Day Rally - April 22, 2014

As an Earth Day celebration, the Georgia Climate Change Coalition we will host a Rally on April 22 from 5:30 - 7:30 pm at the Athens Clarke County Courthouse.

At “Earth Day Rally - Go Green ACC,” speakers will present and discuss a series of green initiatives that GCCC, our guests, and coalition partners would like to present to the Athens Clarke County Commission. (The priority initiatives will be drawn from the results of the GCCC 2014 Earth Day Survey, so take it now!)

One example: that ACC begin installing solar panels on their government buildings and structures - slowly but steadily - and serve as a “Go Green” model on energy use for our entire community.

There are other initiatives - yours and ours. Let us explore them on April 22. If you wish to speak (5-7 minutes worth) about your work and your priorities for “Go Green ACC,” please drop us a line at info@georgiaclimatecoalition.org .

Thin Ice at EcoFocus 2014

This year’s EcoFocus Film Festival includes several films related to climate change, including Population Boom and Into The Gyre. We’re particularly excited about Thin Ice, a documentary that follows geologist Simon Lamb on a search to understand the science behind climate change. The film follows scientists, from biologists to physicists, who are investigating the climate to demonstrate the scientific consensus on human-induced climate change. The EcoFocus presentation will be followed by a panel discussion with three UGA scientists whose work involves climate and climate effects.

When: Sunday, March 23, 5:00 pm
Where: Ciné, 234 W. Hancock Ave, Athens.
Ticket Info

 

Climate Change from a Fly Fisher’s Perspective

Program by Rich Rusk, Secretary, Georgia Climate Change Coalition

Friday, February 21, 2014, 1:00 - 2:15 PM
River’s Crossing - 850 College Station Rd., Athens, GA 30602
1 session - $8 plus parking

Recently trained by Al Gore and his Climate Reality Project, Rich will blend Mr. Gore’s riveting and inspirational slides on climate change with his personal journey facing Vietnam’s carnage and his father’s role as secretary of state. “I learned how NOT to deal with Inconvenient Truths,” said Rich. An avid fly fisher and climate activist, Rich’s work with fellow Trout Unlimited fishers offers clues on rallying Americans at the grass roots. “Climate change threatens not only our trout and salmon, but the planet’s ecology and everything we hold dear in life.” Rich hopes to trigger vigorous discussion AND engagement.

Born in 1946, Rich joined the Marines after high school in D.C., studied political science at Cornell, then lived 14 years in Nome, Alaska where he fished for salmon, built houses, taught in Eskimo schools and co-founded a weekly newspaper. Moving to Athens in 1984 to co-author his dad’s memoirs (Dean Rusk), he married the former Janice Turner, did civil rights work and now focuses on climate change. Why? “Four kids and fly fishing.” Now active with Trout Unlimited, Sierra Club, 350.Org and the Athens-based Georgia Climate Change Coalition, Rich hopes to reach out to more conservative Americans. “To take global warming seriously, millions of our fellow citizens will need more than Sixties-era protest.”

For a guaranteed seat, pre-register at www.olli.uga.edu.

Build Signs for the Draw The Line Action - 9/18/2013

Feeling creative? Can’t make it Saturday but you’d like to support the call to deny approval to the Keystone XL pipeline? Join us this Wednesday to make signs for the marchers.

Place: 480 Stanton Way, Athens, GA 30606
Time: 5:30-8:00 pm (rain or shine)

We’ll provide conference tables, sticks, latex paint in several colors, staplers, construction paper.

Materials we still need: colored markers, paper, cardboard for sign backing, ideas for slogans.

Questions/more info: Rich Rusk, GC3 Secretary, 706-202-7802 (cell)

Draw the Line on Keystone XL - 9/21/2013

Draw the Line September 21On Sept. 21, the Georgia Climate Change Coalition and a newly created, 350.org Local Group—Athens will host “Draw the Line—Stop the Keystone XL Pipeline.” Protestors will gather at the D.W. Brooks Mall on UGA’s south campus at 10 a.m. The march will pass UGA’s coal-fired power plant through campus to convene at Athens’ City Hall where GC3 will announce an ACC Fossil Free/Divestment campaign.

March Route

Join us at 10 AM at the Miller Plant Sciences building to Draw The Line on Keystone XL.

PDF Map Download: DrawTheLineRoute

How to get to the Sept. 21 Anti-Pipeline Rally:

We want to encourage alternative transportation at all times but, since this rally takes place on a UGA home game day, traffic & parking will be extremely difficult. If you don’t live close enough to conveniently walk or ride a bike to the rally, we suggest you take a bus. If you must drive, please carpool.