Introduction by James Gollin, Rainforest Action Network President
Hungry for good news? Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune will tell the story of how an inspiring grassroots coalition has achieved hundreds of victories against Big Coal over the last several years. He will depict a new, localized approach to fighting climate change effectively and outline what each of us can do to help clean energy such as solar and wind become the dominant source of power by the end of this decade. The Beyond Coal campaign, including recent funding of $50 million from Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City, has helped block 166 (and counting) new coal plants over the past decade, with major impacts on reducing global greenhouse gas and mercury emissions. The Mother Jones magazine headline says it all: “How a Grassroots Rebellion Won the Nation’s Biggest Climate Victory.” In 1999, while working at Rainforest Action Network, Michael Brune ran a successful campaign that pressured Home Depot stores to stop purchasing and selling wood from old-growth forests. Time magazine listed this as its top environmental story of that year. He is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post and Daily Kos. In 2008 he published the book Coming Clean — Breaking America’s Addiction to Oil and Coal.
Restoration Nation Theatre | 12:10pm, Fri
