CSSC Photos
Holly Hellerstedt
Global Work Party, 10/10/10
Today is 350.org’s Global Work Party as a way to tell our legislators “We’re getting to work, what about you?” There are events going on in over 180 countries–that means that almost every country in the world is partaking in a grassroots movement to push for serious action on climate change. This year, organizers and…Read more »
Van Jones Slams Koch Industries’ Role In Prop 23
Well before the conglomerate Koch Industries plunged $1 million into Prop 23 — a ballot initiative in California to essentially repeal the state’s revolutionary clean energy climate change law AB 32 — the Wonk Room revealed that front groups controlled by Koch had been working to promote Prop 23. Americans for Prosperity, the front group founded and financed by Koch Industries’ executive David Koch, had organized Tea Party rallies in favor of Prop 23 and produced online ads distorting California clean energy. Read more
Power Vote California takes on Big Oil
This election we face a major attack on California’s clean energy and global warming policy – Big Oil is pushing Proposition 23, a ballot measure to gut California’s landmark Global Warming Solutions Act. The California Student Sustainability Coalition, and young people across the state are mobilizing behind Power Vote California to defeat Prop 23. We…Read more »
California’s Climate Battle Heats Up
As temperatures reached a record-breaking 113 degrees in downtown Los Angeles Tuesday — it was so hot, a National Weather Service thermometer stopped working — the fight for California’s climate future is also heating up. Come election day, California voters are in danger of undoing “one of the most progressive pieces of environmental legislation ever enacted,” thanks to a ballot measure pushed by handful of big out-of-state oil companies to kill California’s landmark global warming law. Read more
Arnold Lashes Out at Valero, Prop 23
Proposition 23, the initiative that would suspend California’s greenhouse gas laws, is not about saving jobs. It is about greed, said California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Speaking at a Commonwealth Club event in Santa Clara, the governor lashed out at the companies–particularly Valero, Koch Industries and Tesoro–trying to effectively get rid of the state’s carbon regulation law, known by its bill name AB 32. Technically, Prop 23 would suspend AB 23 until employment falls below 5.5 percent, something that has occured only sporadically in the last few decades. Read more
U.C. Proxy Voting Skirts Review Guidelines, Documents Show
The UC Responsible Investments Campaign (RIC) is a push for UC’s to invest ethically, and to listen to the student’s concerns. The RIC has worked with the CSSC closely for some time now, and the movement has gone national, featuring in a new article in The New York Times! D’Artagnan Scorza and Becky Miller, both CSSC Board Members, have been actively involved in this campaign.
Save the Date: Governors’ Global Climate Summit 3
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and other subnational leaders, in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme and United Nations Environment Programme, is hosting the Governors’ Global Climate Summit 3. This summit will take place November 15-16, 2010 at the Mondavi Center on the campus of the University of California, Davis. Join global experts from government, business,…Read more »
Report Unveils Greater Threat to Drinking Water from Coal Ash
Now nearly 140 coal ash sites have proven water pollution problems Knowledge is king, and now we know more about the extent of damage coal ash sites across the country are causing to our drinking water. A new report issued today by Earthjustice, the Environmental Integrity Project and Sierra Club offers data that documents water…Read more »
‘The Majestic Plastic Bag’ A Nature Mockumentary
With the California Senate preparing to vote on AB 1998 — a bill that would ban plastic bags statewide — Heal the Bay has released a hilarious mockumentary in the vein of a BBC nature film, following the travels of “one of the most clever and illustrious creatures: the plastic bag.” Narrated by Academy Award-winning…Read more »
Floods, fire, and fiddling
Legend has it that Nero fiddled while Rome burned. These days, Congress fiddles while the world burns. More precisely, it’s Russia that’s burning at the moment, with a record heat wave and forest fires being blamed for as many as 15,000 deaths so far. Also troubling is the drought, which prompted the Russian government to…Read more »
Strong public support for climate law, but battle brews
Despite a whole lot of brouhaha over AB 32 and the proposition to derail it, two-thirds of California residents continue to back it — a percent unchanged from last year. So says a poll conducted by the Public Policy Institute of California. But the results don’t put the climate law in the clear in November….Read more »
Paved with Good Intentions: Fiscal Politics, Freeways and the 20th Century American City
Stuck in traffic in Washington, DC in 1959, President Eisenhower was shocked to learn that the delay was being caused by Interstate Highway construction. Surely the Interstates were being built between cities, not in them. The President demanded to know who was responsible for this state of affairs, only to be told that he was;…Read more »
Ensuring Food Security Means Protecting Pavlovsk Seed Bank
Riddle me this: What’s more valuable, global food security or a batch of luxury homes? I know, seems like kind of a no-brainer. Keeping the world fed should obviously come before some new McMansions. But apparently a Russian court thinks otherwise. SIGN THE PETITION Yesterday, a Russian court declared that the Russian Federal Fund of…Read more »
Crabs provide evidence oil tainting Gulf food web
To assess how heavy a blow the BP oil spill has dealt the Gulf of Mexico, researchers are closely watching a staple of the seafood industry and primary indicator of the ecosystem’s health: the blue crab. Weeks ago, before engineers pumped in mud and cement to plug the gusher, scientists began finding specks of oil…Read more »
New ocean garbage patch discovered
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a mess of trash and plastic that moves around the north Pacific Ocean and is roughly the size of Texas. It has a high concentration of plastics and chemical sludge. Photos from the patch of trapped sea turtles and tires will snare the attention of even the most stone-hearted…Read more »
PowerVote 2010
Empowered. Connected. Strong. That’s how I felt after spending this past weekend in Chicago meeting and working with fellow youth activists from across the nation. The connections I made there are deep-seated and lifelong, and I am honored to call each and every one of them my friends. They are working on projects ranging from…Read more »
More Oiled Birds Than Ever Being Found
More than three weeks after BP capped its gushing oil well, skimming operations have all but stopped and federal scientists say just a quarter of the oil remains in the Gulf of Mexico. But wildlife officials are rounding up more oiled birds than ever as fledgling birds get stuck in the residual goo and rescuers…Read more »
Real Food Challenge Summer Leadership Training Aug. 26-29
The West Coast Summer Leadership training will be held in Atascadero, CA (near San Luis Obispo) this summer to help students share their experiences and build organizational skills. Only 25-30 students are accepted for the training, and spots are filling up! This is a great way to learn from fellow students and devise strategies to…Read more »
China says ocean cleared of oil 10 days after spill
Chinese officials said Monday that an oil slick in coastal waters has been cleaned up 10 days after a massive explosion sent an estimated 1,500 tons of crude into the Yellow Sea along the northeastern port city of Dalian. But beaches along Dalian’s long shoreline remain closed indefinitely, with oil covering rocks and pebbles on…Read more »
Scientists Confirm Underwater Plumes Are From Spill
Florida researchers said Friday that they had for the first time conclusively linked vast plumes of microscopic oil droplets drifting in the Gulf of Mexico to the Deepwater Horizon disaster. The scientists, from the University of South Florida, matched samples taken from the plumes with oil from the leaking well provided by BP. The findings…Read more »
350 Goal Will Never Be Achieved With Kerry-Lieberman
The details have finally emerged on the American Power Act, the climate and energy legislation rolled out Wednesday by Sens. John Kerry (D-MA) and Joe Lieberman (I-CT). More telling than the details, however, is a number not mentioned in the bill – 350. You remember 350, don’t you? Environmental activist Bill McKibben and thousands of…Read more »
Who Killed the Climate Bill?
This is how a climate bill dies. On Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced the bad news: “We don’t have the votes.” Without a single Republican backing the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act, the Senate’s version of a comprehensive energy bill, there was no point taking it to the floor, he explained….Read more »
AB32 to face 2 challenges on November ballot
Californians will vote twice in November on the state’s groundbreaking law to reduce emissions that contribute to global warming – once on an oil company-backed initiative to put the law on hold indefinitely, and once in the governor’s race, where Republican Meg Whitman has promised to suspend the rules for a year. Governors are normally…Read more »
The Story of Cosmetics
Watch the film (along with other Story of Stuff videos) at the site http://storyofstuff.org/cosmetics/ This film was inspired by major loopholes in US federal law that allow the $50 billion beauty industry to put unlimited amounts of chemicals into personal care products. The seven-minute film, hosted by Annie Leonard, reveals the implications for consumer and…Read more »
Activists Close Down BP Station
BP petrol stations in central London have been shut down by environmental activists. Campaign group Greenpeace claimed it had shut off the fuel supplies to all stations in the area. The oil company said about 12 had been closed. BP said activists stopped the flow of fuel by flipping safety switches, then removing them to…Read more »
Gulf Spill: Catalyst for Change?
We at the CSSC believe that to create a truly sustainable world, we must use the horrific events in the Gulf as a catalyst to end our addiction to dirty fossil fuels and move us towards the reduction of material goods based on “cheap” oil. Check out some of our favorite articles about the spill…Read more »
The danger of Props. 16 and 17 (Editorial)
The problem here is not just two awful laws – it’s the idea that a single company, with loads of cash, can utterly subvert the basic premise of Democracy. The California Democratic Party voted at its statewide convention April 17 to oppose Propositions 16 and 17. The San Francisco Chronicle — no friend of public…Read more »
CA Higher Education Sustainability Conference
9th Annual CA Higher Education Sustainability Conference June 20th-23rd, 2010 Hosted by Los Angeles Community College District At Los Angeles Trade Technical College Learn proven solutions from your peers Discuss best practices designed for California campuses Meet student leaders creating change Meet green business leaders at the exhibitor show Meet the decision-makers from the three…Read more »
Leadership Training in Colorado
Our generation’s calling is clear: If we are going to build a “Movement of movements” that is broad and connected enough to address the system-wide problems we are facing, we have to rally our entire generation to collective action, moving from apathy to engagement, powerlessness to empowerment, and connecting our individual efforts up within the…Read more »
Screening & Discussion of LA MISSION Tuesday 5/11
Join the San Rafael community this Tuesday, May 11th, including partners such as Marin Peace and Justice Coalition and Teens Turning Green for a special screening of the new film LA MISSION, a film which captures the essence of the struggles of humanity on a personal, social and political level. Following the film, there will…Read more »
Apply for the Young Activist Award today!
The Mario Savio Memorial Lecture & Young Activist Award invites you to nominate a candidate for the 13th annual Young Activist Award. The award this year carries a cash prize of $6000, divided equally between the prize-winner and his or her organization. This award is presented to a young person (or persons) with a deep…Read more »
Zen Trenholm, Treasurer
UC Berkeley, 2013
I serve on the Board of Directors as a representative of students. I’m currently helping track our operational finances.
Quentin Gee, Chair
UC Santa Barbara, 2010
As Chair of the Board of Directors, I work with the vice chair to organize weekly calls, serve as a key contact for major CSSC issues, and help with fundraising for the organization.
Dorothy Kiều Lê, Vice Chair
UC Los Angeles
I work with the Chair to facilitate board meetings and coordinate the Board of Directors.
Tessa Joy Salzman, Convergence Coordinator
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, 2013
Yamina, Jordan and I are hosting CSSC’s 11th Annual Spring Convergence at Cal Poly, SLO with the support of the Empower Poly Coalition. We hope to have over 300 attendees from Humboldt to San Diego come share a weekend of learning, inspiring, activating and growing with us! We cannot wait to see you in SLO!
Jared Muscat
UC San Diego, 2011
I am helping to bring together a large quantity of students in the name of sustainability and movement momentum! But I am not doing it on my own, and the title is just there to help organize things a little bit, because it takes a team to make change, and that is what we are!