Edmonston's new Green Street!!!! and A Direct, Diplomatic Action on Mountain Top Removal!!!!!!!!!

Just hours ago I was brushing shoulders with some of the most influential environmental decision makers in the State of Maryland. Members of UMD for Clean Energy were invited to attend the groundbreaking ceremony for the City of Edmonston's new "green street." The groundbreaking was ushered in with keynotes from environmental leaders such as US House Representatives Donna Edwards and Chris Van Hollen; Maryland Department of The Environment's Deputy Secretary Bob Summers; The Executive Director of The Chesapeake Bay Trust and my former boss when I was his intern Allan Hance; and most notably the Administrator for The United States Environmental Protection Agency Lisa Jackson.

Edmonston's new "green street" is a proactive response from the City of Edmonston to address how their local municipality will address the burgeoning issue of treatment of stormwater runoff. This project will line Edmonston's own Decatur Street with wind powered LED lighting, rain gardens catching and filtering stormwater runoff, native trees to provide shade, as well as light colored permeable pavement. The environmental benefits garnered by this type of project are noted to be the first of it's kind in the State of Maryland. With a price tag of roughly 1.3 million dollars the project will employ 50 construction workers from the town of Edmonston on a local, sustainable project.



Simply put, this initiative is a glimpse of the future within The Anacostia Watershed. It is a template for sustainable economic stimulus in modern economic woes. It is an example of what visionary leadership and proactive coordination can provide communities. In this case the vision being provided by Edmonston Mayor Adam Ortiz.

The chance to brush shoulders with Lisa Jackson is an opportunity of a lifetime for young, outspoken environmentalists such as myself. Thus, Matt Dernoga and I jumped at the chance to somehow help influence the most powerful administrator ushering the sustainable future we hope to manifest. We drafted and delivered the following letter to Lisa Jackson. Our coordintated, informed and proactive action use some of the same ideals that Mayor Adam Ortiz proves possible with the redevelopment of Decatur Street.


EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson


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Dear Administrator Jackson,


Thank you for taking the time out of your schedule to participate in the groundbreaking of Edmonston’s green street. As environmental activists and alumni from the University of Maryland, it is great to see the administration promote efforts to make the way we develop locally more sustainable.


We also want to thank the administration for its support of clean energy spending in the stimulus, green jobs, new fuel economy standards, and a move to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. Compared to past efforts, the steps taken in only eleven months have surpassed those of all previous administrations. However, compared to what is necessary to solve the climate crisis and transition to a just clean energy economy, these steps do not go far enough.


We feel that leaders in the White House and President Obama himself need to be more outspoken publicly about the need to address greenhouse gas emissions. Right now, the focus is largely on one half of the debate, which is that developing new clean energy sources and becoming more efficient with our current use will create jobs and save money. This is important, but by leaving out the urgency surrounding catastrophic climate change, we cede ground to the deniers of the science and the delayers of fast action. Please consider being more vocal about the vital need to immediately reduce greenhouse gas emissions and transition to a clean energy economy.


We are also concerned about the impact Mountain Top Removal Mining is having on the ecosystems and communities of Appalachia. This type of coal extraction is undermining the efforts to create a just and sustainable future for all communities. The valley fills performed as a part of this mining bury head water streams are continually permitted by the West Virginia Department of the Environment appear to be in contradiction to the Clean Water Act. Furthermore, the impoundment or injection of coal "slurry" in areas near homes poses a potent threat to the health and safety of communities in West Virginia.


As concerned citizens we ask that the EPA reclaim the authority for permitting Appalachian coal mining from the West Virginia Department of the Environment and enforce the Clean Water Act. We also ask that you, Lisa Jackson, take a flyover of the coal fields to grasp the severe effects that this type of coal mining has on nearby communities and ecosystems.


Thank you for your consideration of our concerns. We can be reached at mdernoga@umd.edu


Sincerely,


Matt Dernoga, Campaign Director of UMD for Clean Energy,


Laura Calabrese, Organizational Director of UMD for Clean Energy


Hilary Staver, Political Liaison of UMD for Clean Energy


Davey Rogner, The Harvest Collective, UMD for Clean Energy Alum



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Matt Dernoga asked me to give a speech at The University of Maryland

Dear internet world,

This is my first blog. Here we go!!!!!!

My good friend and comrade Matt Dernoga, of the Dernogalizer blog- madrad2002.wordpress.com - asked me to come speak at an election rally in College Park, MD on Tuesday. I wrote a speech the morning of and attempted to deliver it in the afternoon. The lack of practice showed. Regardless, I think the content was good. I feel bad for not letting Andy Fellows, College Park's newly elected mayor speak. IF I WAS to truly forge student and city bonds I would've let Andy forge it himself. There is always next time I suppose.

We'll here is the speech. For better of for worse. I think I hit on some good themes that I hope to pronounce clearly to the world through the Harvest Collective. The enunciation has begun.

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MY FRIENDS,

We are gathered today for many reasons.

First --to exercise our democracy by voting. To exercise yourselves physically by marching. To exercise solidarity with great Americans who have sought to restore, preserve and further our freedoms and democratic process. We march in solidarity to the fallen compatriots who fought valiantly in past wars to stop fascist threats and with those who fought to end slavery during the civil war. We march with the spector of American history behind us. We march with the spirits of Mickey Schwermer, Andrew Goodman and James Chaney who were brutally murdered at the hands of Ku Klux Klan members for working to register African Americans to vote in the heart of Mississippi in 1964. We march in solidarity to the sacrifices that have been made to preserve your and my right to vote. To these people we pay homage.

We march in solidarity to those who have fought tirelessly to reform our government—those who still tirelessly work to remove corrupt special interests from the pockets of politicians and fill those same pockets with compassion for all cultures, creeds and beliefs. Our votes give power to that reform. Through our votes we will steadfastly change the way our politicians operate to bring the power back to the people. Through our congregation and our votes we will replace those who operate on greed and exploitation, those who have the ears of the politicians to become the real caretakers of OUR DEMOCRACY.

MY FRIENDS.

I don't know if you have been attuned, but we are going through a revolution in this country. This peaceful revolution is a revolution of how we view our role in democracy. This revolution represents American people knowingly becoming CITIZENS of this great democracy through informed voting, compassionate reform and non-violent direct action; it is the working and middle class not acting solely as consumers; what we know to be merely puppets of the corporate media and economy. An unsustainable economy that already imploded a year ago and that as we continue to inflate it we must conscious as to not make the same mistakes of allowing greed and corruption to rule our elected officials.

This sustainable revolution begins first by connecting with the environment and the community you live in. That is College Park and the University of Maryland community. We here at the University are still young and we hopefully are still unjaded by the corporate economy. I see in your eyes, through UMD for Clean Energy's efforts that we are the future and that we have the creative prowess to shape our future economy, democracy and environment. We are the forerunners of the green economy. We are the forerunners of this new compassionate democracy that will not allow the wealthiest to pollute our water and air undermining our health for the sake of profit.

The Green College Park campaign led by Clean Energy for UMD as well as the revolving loan fund plan to make College Park more energy efficient show that students are ready to connect with the citizens and the government of College Park. A connection that could have potentially halted development on the wooded hillock if it had been forged earlier in time. A connection that will give students a voice in one of the most important environmental issues locally and globally-- local zoning and land use planning. Imagine if community's could stand up to preserve the natural resources in their given geographic area. The compound effect would improve the health of our air, our water, our mental stability, and our physical health, while locally combating the threat of climate change.

This connection you have forged by voting and participating in this campaign will ultimately make the future of College Park, the future of Prince George's County, the future of Maryland more Green. Here at this University we know that “going green” is not just about saving plants and trees- although preserving biodiversity is a must for our own sanctity as humans- it's about preserving our rights to a healthy community by replacing the antiquated polluters in our local economy with clean, just and efficient enterprises and technologies. We have the chance to lead in the State of Maryland. We have a chance to lead on the east coast. If the City succeeds with the revolving loan fund next year which your votes will help to manifest, an idea originally proposed by members of Clean Energy for UMD, the city will be among the first on the east coast with such a program. We will be the example that other municipalities look to. And at the heart of this program lies your participation. Your participation in the future of our green economy of College Park and the state of Maryland and ultimately the nation as a whole.

Before we march and before I beat this conga to oblivion. I leave you with some anecdotes. The first being that a constant and unyielding force can erode the most entrenched and established of the status quo. We, the youth, this green revolution, POWERSHIFT, Clean Energy for UMD, Community Roots, the Student Sustainability Council, the Campaign to Save the Wooded Hillock, Engineers Without Borders, TERP CHANGEMAKERS, Students for a Democratic Society, members of your undergraduate student government have shown through direct, informerd and impassioned action that we are that force!!! And that we shall never let up until we have a just world! That we will never fail and that we will never let down for we know that what we are doing is right.

Even if the apathetic mock you, you know that they will either get left behind or that ultimately you will help them through your actions and that fells good in your heart. We will remain headstrong in our commitment to shaping this country to our collective conscience that dictates our actions through compassionate ethics and scruples.

I end by only saying that this gathering in one local municipality represents the hopes and wishes of those across our nation and across the globe. By acting local we will change the power structure of this world to bring the power back to the hands of our communities. Out of the most wealthy that are able to influence federal politicians. The sustainable revolution is underway. Lets flex our power!!

Davey VIA The Harvest Collective

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