Renewable Energy Revolution

Wind Turbines on Galapagos; Fossil fuel protesters take to the streets April 1

Wind turbines on Galapagos replace 50 diesel generators
Renewable energy on a World Heritage site but not Ted Kennedy's pond

The Galapagos Islands -- a mecca for environmentally minded tourists -- has taken its first major step in disentangling itself from dependence on fossil fuels.  Three wind turbines, installed on the island of San Cristobal as a part of an international partnership program and officially launched last week, are expected to generate enough energy annually to replace 50 diesel generators on the island.

The three turbines are now supplying 80% of the energy for this World Heritage site.
Ultimately, officials with the program said, the islands will become at least 80 percent energy self-sufficient and will serve as a model for other World Heritage sites threatened by the consequences of global warming. At the same time, the goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions caused by burning fossil fuels.

The Galapagos islands are a World Heritage site. Nantucket Sound, on the other hand, is the private sailing ground for US Senator Ted Kennedy who brags about his efforts for renewables while blocking America's first offshore wind farm for seven years.

Tanker with 150,000 gallons of oil broke up on reef

In January 2001, the world held its breath when the tanker Jessica, loaded with 150,000 gallons of fuel, struck a reef and began breaking up in the heart of one of the most precious, famous and fragile ecosystems on earth - the Galapagos Islands.

At risk were vast numbers of unique species of flora and fauna renowned through studies by Charles Darwin that contributed to his landmark theory of evolution by natural selection.

While scores of wildlife required cleaning by Galapagos National Park Service staff and volunteers, the wind and currents stepped in to narrowly avert an environmental catastrophe. Yet the sight of thousands of gallons of oil pouring into the ocean off the Galapagos island of San Cristobal triggered a determined international initiative to mitigate risks of future spills by dramatically reducing the islands' dependence on diesel fuel to generate electricity. Metaefficient Green Guide.
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It's April. Protesters hit the streets to parade against 'fossil fools.'
Our children show us the future

April showers are ushering in a new batch of global warming-related protests aimed at "Big Oil" and policies that favor expanded use of coal and natural gas.  Today's "Fossil Fools" campaign is the brainchild of the Energy Action Coalition, Rainforest Action Network and Rising Tide, grassroots groups that are organizing more than 100 actions against fossil fuels around the world, most in the United States but a few in Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand.

Fossil Fools Day

The three action groups staged sit-ins and blockages at oil companies and those who fund them today all over America.Fossil Fool's Day puts the action in Energy Action Coalition. Every year since the founding of the coalition, young people from around the U.S. and Canada have had a collective day of action on April 1st to challenge the fossil fuel industry. Hundreds of campuses and communities have participated by hosting events and film screenings, and protesting at dirty energy sites. Fossil Fools Day 2008 is shaping up to be bigger than ever with youth from around the world standing up to dirty energy as usual and ushering in a clean and just energy future.

The activists are planning to crash today's hearing of the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, which has summoned executives from Exxon Mobil, Shell, BP, Chevron and ConocoPhillips to defend their continued high profits amid high energy prices

This year's protests are intended to be slightly more disruptive than in the past, reflecting an increased sense of urgency, Energy Action Coalition spokeswoman Brianna Cayo Cotter said. "This year the youth in our movement have been clamoring, saying 'We're sick of talking about climate change; we need to do something about it.'" Energy Action Coalition has been behind a number of campaigns, including last November's "Step it Up" series of rallies around the country in the name of reducing U.S. emissions 80 percent by 2050 and establishing a moratorium on coal-fired power plants.

Several actions scheduled for today involve Critical Mass bike rides, which started in 1992 in San Francisco as an attempt to reexamine transportation and planning from a non-car perspective and has resulted in hundreds of arrests over the years for blocking traffic. Other protests include rallies against planned coal-fired power plants in Columbia, S.C., and Walla Walla, Wash., as well as tar sands projects in Alberta and coalbed methane development in British Columbia. There is a protest at Washington University in St. Louis against Bank of America's lending to coal-fired power plant developers, and an assembly on the steps of the Connecticut Capitol.

Activists Blockade Bank of America to Protest Funding of Coal, Boston
As of 9:00AM, in conjunction with a downtown rally, four activists have locked themselves to the front entrance of the Bank of America branch in Copley Square. They are protesting the bank's funding of coal and energy companies who are among the worst contributors to climate change, and directly responsible for innumerable human rights abuses in communities where coal is extracted and burned."I think it's just starting; it's only going to get bigger," Cotter said. She expects "more and more civil disobedience, particularly among young people," spurred by frustration at the regulatory process. "They see policies aren't working to stop coal-fired plants, so they'll put their bodies on the line," she added. Rising Tide and other international groups are more willing to engage in direct confrontation, Cotter said.

Rising Tide spokeswoman Monica Vaughan confirmed that people were planning events using "nonviolent civil disobedience, which we refer to as 'direct action.'"

"People are frustrated with governments and corporations making all these promises but doing nothing to contribute to restructuring" of society to reduce dependence on polluting fossil fuels, Vaughan said. Last month, for example, Rising Tide and Earth First! sponsored a protest of a gas-fired power plant being built by FPL Energy in Palm Beach, Fla., that activists said would produce 12 million tons of CO2 per year. They halted construction work for six hours, and 27 people were arrested.