SSC Update ~ March 23, 2006

Table of Contents
Direct from D.C. -- Jared's Update
Upcoming Actions - Fossil Fool's Day - April 1, 2006!
SSC Leadership Opportunities and Structure Changes
SSC Spotlight Group of the Month: Project Earth
Upcoming Events
Scholarships, Awards and Jobs

Direct from D.C. -- Jared's Update
Dear SSC Nation,

I look forward to writing this update every month. It's one of the few times that I am forced to really reflect about why we do this work, its importance, and the direction we are headed in. Underneath the seemingly non-stop meetings and conference calls, we're all driven to do this work by something deeper. For those of you who have been to a Summer Training (SPROG) with us, you know what I'm talking about.

Personally, I've always felt uncomfortable being identified as an "environmentalist." The label doesn't describe why I, or most progressives I know, are driven to work on energy and environmental issues. The very word implies concern for nature over humanity. In fact, I've learned that for nearly all "environmentalists," the exact opposite is true: we work for the environment not for its own sake but rather because we care so much about the future of humanity. Indeed, our overriding concern is for ensuring a sustainable future for society so that together we can meet our vast unmet human potential.

Global warming is not an environmental problem. It is a human problem; especially for our generation and those that would follow us. More than that, it is the single greatest moral dilemma humanity has ever faced - continue on a path that could destroy the world as we know it or preserve the hopes and potential of future generations by acting now to revolutionize the way we produce and consume energy? You know the answer.

When we ponder the challenge of global warming, it forces us to confront questions at our spiritual core. Who are we to do this to future generations? Who are we to do this to the earth, to god's creation? Contemplating the miracle of life, of this multi-hundred thousand year human experiment, in the shadow of climate destabilization, I believe John Passacatando, the Director of Greenpeace said it best; "global warming is an offense against grace."

If we are to meet our moral obligation, we must never give up in our organizing and we must band together to act as soon and as continuously as we can. There are amazing opportunities for you to get involved in the climate movement this coming month at either the Northeast or Southeast regional conferences and this summer at one of our Sprogs. And our newly revamped leadership structure provides more opportunities for you to do so in a more effective way. I look forward to meeting you along the way.

With sincerest thanks for the work you do for humanity,

Jared
National Director, Sierra Student Coalition

Upcoming Actions - Fossil Fool's Day - April 1, 2006!
Admitting you have a problem is always the first step in breaking an addiction. Luckily, President Bush has taken that first step by admitting to the nation that America is addicted to oil. Unfortunately, Bush and scores of other politicians and corporate CEOs have stopped right there and are exhibiting the classic signs of an addict: denial, aggression, avoidance, and shifting the blame.

In fact, the very next day after Bush's State of the Union Address, in which he admitted our oil addiction, his energy secretary explained that when President Bush pledged to reduce [oil] imports from the Middle East, "he didn't mean it literally."

It's time for an international intervention. Take Action on Fossil Fools Day!

We need our leaders to admit their addiction and agree to real solutions that will kick our dirty habit and put us on a path to a clean energy future. And, the youth of North America are going to lead that charge!

Help us break our oil addiction on April 1st by making this year's Fossil Fools Day the largest and most successful international day of action against dirty energy so far. There are dozens of creative, fun, educational, and attention-getting ways you can get involved. See www.energyaction.net for ideas. The SSC is founding member of the Energy Action Coalition, which is sponsoring Fossil Fool's Day.

SSC Leadership Opportunities and Structure Changes
a. Executive Committee Candidates Nominated!
The Executive Committee Ex-Com sets the national conservation and organizational priorities of the SSC. It is responsible for setting the annual budget, deciding national priority campaigns, and serving the volunteer membership and Chapter structure of the SSC. The Nominating Committee was created to facilitate the democratic voting process of selecting the members of the ExCom. The committee has chosen eight candidates amongst the many other qualified candidates based on a number of criteria. The Committee has chosen these candidates because each has individually proven to be talented organizers and activists, have exhibited serious SSC loyalty, will implement and follow through with the SSC's Restructuring Process, and will offer a diversity of strengths for our various committees and departments. Thus, your Nominating Committee encourages votes to the following nine candidates running for the seven ExCom seats: Rachel Ackoff, Nick Knobbe, Juan Martinez, Katherine McEachern, Nora Sharp, Bret O'Connor, Erica Stout, Juliana Williams and Nathan Wyeth.

If you were not endorsed by the Nominations Committee and would like to be on the ballot, contact the office for information on how to become a petition candidate. Completed petitions must be received by March 31, 2006 for consideration in the upcoming election. Stay tuned -- the election is next month!!

b. National and Local Leadership Opportunities with the SSC
The SSC Executive Committee finished many months of deliberation that has culminated in a new structure of the SSC's national committees and local group affiliations. We are pleased to announce that applications for the new local and national leadership positions are now available. All local group leaders are encouraged to apply for the postilion of Campus Organizer. The Conservation, Environmental Justice and Trainings Committee are also accepting application until April 30, 2006. To learn more about the leadership opportunities available and to apply, visit the Leadership Applications website. If you have any questions about the new structure of the SSC, contact the office or a member of the Executive Committee.

c. Help out the SSC's Environmental Justice Committee
On February 17, 18, and 19 the SSC EJ committee organized the first ever SSC dismantling racism workshop. The event was held in Washington D.C. and almost 20 people from all around the country were in attendance. By next week you will be able to read more about it and see pictures from the weekend at the Environmental Justice section of the SSC website.

Speaking of the website, we are going to be updating our resources on the web significantly over the next few weeks. Please be sure to check out our pages to see what we've done. In addition, we are still collecting input for our anti-oppression needs assessment. You will have our unending gratitude if you could help us out by completing the survey. You can find it at www.ssc.org/inside/ej/ejsurvey.php. In order for it to be successful we need as many people as possible to complete it, so we thank you in advance for your help.

SSC Spotlight Group of the Month: Project Earth
This month's SSC spotlight group is Project Earth from Charles F. Brush High School near Cleveland, Ohio. Congratulations to Project Earth's members for their awesome organizing! Your box of SSC goodies is on its way.

Project Earth is ON FIRE this year. They kicked off the year with a huge letter writing campaign to save the Arctic Refuge - and got 400 letters in support! Many of these letters were from kids who had no idea the Refuge even existed, and once they were educated about it by Project Earth members, they were each as outraged as the next. The group has also completely reworked its school's recycling program, securing funding from the county solid waste district to ensure a sustainable recycling program.

To top it all off, Project Earth is currently working on a campaign to pass legislation in their city to ban the Tru-Green/Chemlawn pesticides (a.k.a. AGENT ORANGE) that have been showering their parks, playgrounds, and fields. The group is "going nuts" making flyers, writing letters, speaking at meetings and having protests. Creatively, they've also been sitting in parks with gas masks and holding signs that say "TAKING YOUR KID TO THIS PARK COULD KILL THEM" *cough*... you know, subtle stuff like that.

Upcoming Events
a. Register NOW for Youth Energy and Climate Summits in the NE or SE
Are you running a local energy campaign or do you want to learn how?

Join hundreds of youth from around the country to learn, teach and build the movement together. This year Energy Action members including the Sierra Student Coalition, Climate Campaign, Greenpeace, Global Exchange, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, Student PIRGs and others are joining with the Apollo Alliance, Oil Change International and other ally organizations across the country to make history by bringing over 1,200 youth to these regional conferences!

We hope you can join us!

Find out more at www.energyaction.net/summits.

b. Earth Day Network's Climate Change Live Chat
What is the Live Chat?
Earth Day Network is compiling a panel of world-renowned climate change experts who are willing to interact with high school and college students on this pressing and complex issue. The event will be a spectacular opportunity for students to have their questions and concerns about climate change addressed by the people who are closest to the issue. Classes selected to participate will send in a number of questions prior to the event and, in addition, will be able to submit questions to the panel while the event is in progress. The chat will be broadcast live over the internet via a state-of-the-art webcast of television quality. Through this medium, classrooms around the world that are unable to interact directly with the panelists will still be able to watch the event live. The only technology requirement is an internet connection.

Where and When?
The live chat will take place in Washington, D.C. at George Washington University on Friday, April 21, 2006 from 1:00-3:00pm. The event will be broadcast live, but will also be subsequently available for download from the Earth Day Network website.

How To Participate?
High school teachers and college professors who are interested in having their classes participate in the live chat should send an email to education@earthday.net with the subject "Climate Change Live Chat," and should include in the body of the email their school's name and address and the grades and subjects they teach.

c. 2006 SPROGS- Summer Camp with a Purpose! This summer, let the Sierra Student Coalition change your life, as it has for over one thousand students in our fifteen year history. The environmental movement needs trained leaders. The environmental movement needs you. Spend one of the best weeks of your life in a beautiful state park learning how to transform your passion and energy for the environment into concrete action. You'll learn about environmental issues and activism from leaders in the field while forging life-long friendships with other remarkable students. Most of all, you'll learn how to transform your passion and concern into effective action as a grassroots organizer. We will have six Sprogs this summer. For a full listing of dates and locations and to apply, visit www.ssc.org/t/sprogs.

d. High School "Just Environmental Leadership Institute" Summer 2006
Kimball Union Academy (KUA), recipient of the 2006 National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) Leading Edge Award for Sustainability, is pleased to offer summer programs in environmental education for educators and students. Building upon a decade long emphasis on environmental education, KUA successfully piloted the E.E. Just Environmental Leadership Institute for educators in 2005. This year the Institute is pleased to expand its educator offerings as well as launch a three week institute for students entering grades 7-12. Register by April 1st and receive a 20 percent discount off the regular tuition! Complete details about educator and student offerings, course credit options, eligibility, application and cost can be found online at www.eejust.org.

e. Stopping Global Warming, Fighting Coal Plants: Building the Movement
June 2-4, 2006 - Jamestown, Colorado
We have all heard the warnings: North American temperatures up 7-14 degrees in our children's lifetimes. Increasing risk of catastrophic sea level rise. A world altered beyond recognition. This does not have to be our future. And the next few years will determine if we can turn the corner. We need a powerful social movement to overcome political and corporate inertia, and catalyze a clean energy revolution. Join a weekend organizing and skills training workshop to pull together existing efforts to fight a proposed new generation of coal plants that, promote clean energy, and help build the grassroots movement to stop global warming.

Learn more about this event, which is free to student, by visiting www.greenhousenet.org/events.

f. Democracy For America Training Academies
Democracy for America is embarked on an ambitious goal to train thousands of grassroots activists for the upcoming elections. DFA Training Academy offers the grassroots a movement-oriented training program. This isn't just about the next election, or what we can do for our country every two to four years. This is about building a movement to take our country back.

Democracy for America's unofficial motto has always been "You have the power." The DFA Training Academy grew out of the need to harness that grassroots power in an organized, skilled, and sustained manner. With your help, we identify key skills and strategies you can use to take back your city, your state, your country. Then, we find experts around the country and bring them to you for a weekend. For more information visit www.democracyforamerica.com/training.

Scholarships, Awards, and Jobs
a. One week left to apply for an SSC Summer Internship!
Our internships provide a hands-on opportunity for you to gain an in-depth understanding of the field of student environmental organizing and the specific role that the SSC plays in this field and the broader youth progressive movement.
How to Apply: Download the application (Word document)
Deadline: Summer internship applications are due by March 31, 2006

b. David Brower Youth Award
Each year the Earth Island Institute honors leaders of the student environmental movement with the Brower Youth Award. Named after the Sierra Club's first Executive Director, David Brower, this national award recognizes 6 young people (ages 13-22) for their outstanding activism and achievements in the fields of environmental and social justice advocacy. Each winner is awarded $3,000 in cash and flown out for the award night and a Yosemite camping trip. Over the past six years, seven SSC'ers have won the Brower including former National Director and current Sierra Club Board member Dave Karpf ('00), current National Director Jared Duval ('01), current Conservation Chair Nathan Wyeth ('02), former Clean Bus Campaign Coordinator Amir Nadav ('02), current Executive Committee member Rachel Ackoff ('03), former Southeast Regional Coordinator Andrew Hunt ('03), and the founder of the SSC's Environmental Justice work, Dan Rosen ('05). Will you be the next to join this list? The application deadline is April 15, 2006 and applications are currently being accepted. For more information visit the BYA website at www.broweryouthawards.org.

c. Gloria Barron Prize
The Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes seeks nominations for its 2006 awards. The Barron Prize honors young people ages 8 to 18 who have shown leadership and courage in public service to people and our planet. Each year, ten national winners each receive $2,000 to support their service work or higher education. Half of each year's winners are chosen for their work to protect the environment. Nomination deadline is April 30. For more information and to nominate, visit www.barronprize.org.