The Congressional Black Caucus' Green Agenda

Yesterday The Congressional Black Caucus gathered together Black business leaders, scholars, scientist and activists for the first CBC Green Roundtable.
As part of the event, CBC members Bobby Rush of Illinois (Chicago), Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas, Barbara Lee of California (Bay Area) and G.K. Butterfield of North Carolina
Broke down climate change and the revisions that were added to Waxman Markey that made them support the Waxman- Markey Bill.

Check out a clip of Bobby Rush's breakdown of Climate Change



Congressman Butterfield stated that the bill was a very complicated piece of legislation and most Americans don't understand the over 1000 pages that make up the Waxman-Markey Bill. Rush went on to say that when initial supporters of the bill came to the CBC "they tried to sell the bill as a 'Green Jobs Bill' but as we got more involved and went to more meetings we saw that everything was on the table except the Green Jobs." In order to change this the CBC worked to add specific revisions to make sure that Low-income communities and people of Color are not shafted by the Climate Bill.

Here are some of the revisions that were made:

$10 billion in the first year will go in the pockets of low-income workers
Green Centers of Excellence will be established at Historically Black Colleges and Universities as well as predominately black institutions

Provide support to community based organizations that have written agreements with such qualified apprenticeship or other training programs to participate in identifying or recruiting targeted workers

Provide financing to minority entrepreneurs and businesses that improve energy efficiency;identify and develop alternative, renewable and distributed energy supplies;provide technical assistance and promote job and business opportunities for low-income residence; and increase energy conservation in low-income , rural and urban communities.

However, The Congressmembers warned that all of the provisions that were added during the house vote on the bill can be easily taken out during the Senate review process that is going on right now.

They urge all Americans to call their local senator and let them know DON'T Mess with the CBC provisions and make sure ya'll STRENGTHEN the Bill.

For more information visit thecongressionalblackcaucus.com

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Climate Talks Get Racial: Black Chamber of Commerce President Calls Senator Racist!

Last week during the Senate Committee hearings on the Waxman-Markey American Clean Energy and Security Act things almost came to a full out battle between California Senator Barbara Boxer and the President and CEO of the National Black Chamber of Commerce, Harry Alford. Alford accused Boxer of being racist for bringing up the NAACP's supposed support of the climate bill. Alford, screamed out,

"I don't like it," he yelled across the witness table. "It's racial. I take offense to it. As an African American, and a veteran to this country, I take offense to that. You're quoting some other black man. Why don't you quote some other Asian or something? You are being racial here. And I think you're getting to a path here that's going to explode."

Check out a video clip from the breakdown.


However, in a recent article published in today's The Root and the Griot, journalist Brentin Mock states that both the NAACP and the Black Chamber of Commerce don't have the right to talk for Black America on Climate Change. The article calls out the NBCC for being heavily funded by Exxon Mobile. Exxon Mobile is one of the world's largest polluters and funds research trying to prove Climate Change is not real.

Brentin also states that Environmental Justice groups like The Environmental Justice and Climate Change Initiative and WEACT for Environmental Justice deserve a seat at the decision making table.

Check out the article by Brentin Mock in Today's The Root by Clicking here

Continue following the waxman-markey story and all your green justice news At checktheweather

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Ghetto Print's Week in Review

Michael Jackson's memorial, Sarah Palin's "political suicide" and The World G8 Summit?
Desire Grover, Founder and Editor of Ghettoprint.com offers a video commentary of the politics and pop stories of the week. Enjoy and/or comment!

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Word on the Concrete: The Real DC Talks Climate Bills

What do you know about the Waxman-Markey American Clean Energy and Security Act? Right now the Senate and the World's wealthiest countries are talking about this bill and what it could mean to fighting the drastic impacts of Climate Change worldwide. Checktheweather.net took a stroll through the parts of DC you're not going to see when you watch political thrillers or come visit for a conference. Check out the latest episode of Word on the Concrete: H st. Corridor

Oh yeah! For those of you viewing this post on our mobile site, I'll tell you one thing, folk were not too pleased to be uninformed!

Favorite quote:

"Maybe they should put posters up in the Black Community."

Subscribe to our youtube Channel ChecktheweatherTV for real talk from real people on the Green Movement. Please send us your communities thoughts on Waxman-Markey by tagging them checktheweather on youtube. We will be letting our senators know, the people don't want to feel left out and unaccounted when it comes to saving our world!

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THE OBAMAS' ORGANIC GARDEN : LEADING BY EXAMPLE

I've always been impressed by the Obamas' lead-by-example demeanor, whether it was foreign affairs or family life. Their new organic vegetable garden is, perhaps, one of the most creative, blatant example yet. Since me and my boyfriend have started our own way to food self-sufficiency by planting a garden of our own, I have to admit, I think this is hella fresh of the first family (which was a big PR push by Michelle), to promote healthy eating, community involvement with gardening, and more positive food consumerism. We started our own garden for a lot of reasons, the main being that as admittedly broke-ass individuals, we figured we'd just cut the middle man out and grow our own ish. But, in the process, I've grown to love gardening - it's relaxing and theraputic, it's fun for us to show off to friends how our babies are growing (baby plants, that is), and, of course, we feel like we're being pro-active, green revolutionaries and beautifully anti-capitalist. They talk about greening the hood, but the first step is to green your own backyard/balcony/rooftop/windowsill, set the example, and save money in the process.
Green revolutionaries, stand up.

Thanks to GOOD Magazine for this dope diagram of the Obama garden. Full size here.


via GOOD Magazine.

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The Ghetto's Perspective on the ACES BIll

Check this video out! Desire Grover, Activist and Filmmaker and Founder of Ghettoprint.com based out of Chester, PA, is using her talents to tell the Hood perspective on the passage of the ACES Climate bill through the house.


The ACES Bill is now up for heavy debate by the Senate after Fourth of July recess. Visit Checktheweather.net for more REAL perspectives on the Climate Bill from REAL people. Environmental Racism is TOXIC! Let us know what you think.

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Dead Prez and Government All Agree: Time to Eat Healthy!

Be Healthy - Dead Prez

Today Congressional Representative Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.) and Rep. John D. Dingell (D-Mich.)introduced a new bill that would improve United States Food Regulations.

The Washington Post reports that the bill "would give the Food and Drug Administration broad new enforcement tools, including the authority to recall tainted food, the ability to "quarantine" suspect food, and the power to impose civil penalties and increased criminal sanctions on violators."

The bill was inspired by recent food contamination issues such as the recent salmonella outbreak in the Peanut Butter and e-coli in the spinach. The Washington Post reports that the push for the bill was increased because of the serious issues connected to the peanut butter contamination stating: "Federal authorities said Peanut Corporation of America knowingly shipped tainted peanuts to manufacturers who used them as ingredients in thousands of consumer products. The contamination was linked to more than 900 illnesses and nine deaths in fall and winter, although federal officials say that tens of thousands more were probably sickened. The outbreak triggered the largest food recall in U.S. history." Records from the Peanut Corporation of America also show that the peanut plant in Georgia had not been checked by authorities at the Food and Drug Administration in SEVEN years!

New regulations for food justice will place more responsibility on the manufacturers, growers and handlers of our food products. They will have to identify possible contamination and document how they are avoiding contaminated food. It will also strengthen the Food and Drug Administration's ability to quarantine contaminated food and pull food from the market. The Food and Drug laws in the US have not been drastically altered since they were enacted during the presidency of Teddy Roosevelt.

In honor of the introduction of this bill we decided to make "Be healthy" By Dead Prez the Eco-Jam of the day. Enjoy and remember to take care of yourselves today.

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Newsweek gives a quick recap of Obama's first 100 days

Our boy Barry came in swinging like his last name was Bond's not Obama. Newsweek put together a video recap of President Obama's first 100 Days in office. Also click on this link to read an article on the amazing work young people are doing to fight for climate legislation. http://www.newsweek.com/id/195328

Congrats Obama keep up the good work because the Youth Climate Movement is watching you ;).

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