We're sick of planning.
We're sick of writing blog posts.
We're sick of complaining and waiting for our elected officials to do something.
We're sick of being disappointed.
That's why this weekend we, along with people all over the world, are taking matters into our own hands.
This Sunday 10/10/10 is set to be the biggest day of global action ever. People everywhere, from Bangladesh to the Maldives to Paris to NYC to Vermont are joining together to work to stop global climate change. They're putting up solar panels, planting gardens, fixing bikes.
Race to Replace will be kicking off the weekend with dorm storm voter registration drives on 10/09/10. We'll be getting as many young people registered to vote as we possibly can. And we'll be telling all these people about the awesome things they can do the next day.
To find out about 10/10/10 events near you check out . If you're on Middlebury's campus go/tententen. You know what's up.
We're ready to GET TO WORK. Are you?
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Re-count your blessings. We're back!
Sorry for the hiatus, everyone. Hope you've been savoring the last days of summer. While the state of Vermont was frantically counting and then re-counting ballots, the Race to Replace team decided to go back-packing.
But enough excuses. The RACE is (finally) on. Peter Shumlin, a democrat from Windham County, scooped up the democratic nomination and now he's off on the campaign trail, taking the fight to Republican candidate Brian Dubie.
We're super stoked to have Shumlin as our Democratic candidate for governor. He's a bold candidate who won't back down on the issues AND he was instrumental in passing the bill to decommission VY last February. We plan on making sure he has a strong a plan for replacing VY and building the clean energy infrastructure our state needs.
And that's not all. The most exciting part of the primary had nothing to do with who won. The turnout was almost double what was expected! This is AWESOME. Vermonters are making their voices heard and keeping their elected officials accountable. We'll be working all fall to make sure that, come November, this trend continues.
We hope to see you around the state and make sure to stay tuned for our kick-ass 10/10/10 plans!
Love,
The Race to Replace Team
P.S.
The re-count results come in. Shumlin, left, celebrates his victory while Racine, right, learns the bad news.
But enough excuses. The RACE is (finally) on. Peter Shumlin, a democrat from Windham County, scooped up the democratic nomination and now he's off on the campaign trail, taking the fight to Republican candidate Brian Dubie.
We're super stoked to have Shumlin as our Democratic candidate for governor. He's a bold candidate who won't back down on the issues AND he was instrumental in passing the bill to decommission VY last February. We plan on making sure he has a strong a plan for replacing VY and building the clean energy infrastructure our state needs.
And that's not all. The most exciting part of the primary had nothing to do with who won. The turnout was almost double what was expected! This is AWESOME. Vermonters are making their voices heard and keeping their elected officials accountable. We'll be working all fall to make sure that, come November, this trend continues.
We hope to see you around the state and make sure to stay tuned for our kick-ass 10/10/10 plans!
Love,
The Race to Replace Team
P.S.
The re-count results come in. Shumlin, left, celebrates his victory while Racine, right, learns the bad news.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
PRIMARY!!
Today’s the big day!
All of us here at Race to Replace are sitting on the edge of our seats, waiting to see who will win the Democratic nomination for governor this evening. It’s a tight race and, given the lack of polling, we really have no idea who will win.
It’s good to hear though that despite which candidate wins, all will be attending the Democratic unity rally at noon on Wednesday at Union Station in Burlington.
eeek!
Happy Primary Day and remember to get out and VOTE!
Find your polling station at www.vote411.org
All of us here at Race to Replace are sitting on the edge of our seats, waiting to see who will win the Democratic nomination for governor this evening. It’s a tight race and, given the lack of polling, we really have no idea who will win.
It’s good to hear though that despite which candidate wins, all will be attending the Democratic unity rally at noon on Wednesday at Union Station in Burlington.
eeek!
Happy Primary Day and remember to get out and VOTE!
Find your polling station at www.vote411.org
Monday, August 16, 2010
On Top of Mt. Mansfield
This Saturday, the Race to Replace team held a voter registration drive on top of Mt. Mansfield. A cursory googling reveals that no one has ever tried this before. Probably because they've never needed to. (Also, hauling a folding table up a mountain is oh so much fun.) This year's competitive primary election and crucial general are getting people excited--and looking for voters in unusual places.
By standing on the tallest point in Vermont and talking about clean energy, we hope to send a clear message to the candidates that young people are demanding a better, more sustainable, future--a future with 100% clean energy, green jobs and a strong Vermont economy.
The team at the top
Fellow hikers getting pumped about clean energy!
Pier registers to vote!
By standing on the tallest point in Vermont and talking about clean energy, we hope to send a clear message to the candidates that young people are demanding a better, more sustainable, future--a future with 100% clean energy, green jobs and a strong Vermont economy.
The team at the top
Fellow hikers getting pumped about clean energy!
Pier registers to vote!
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Energy Action Training in Chicago!
Last weekend, Olivia journeyed to Chicago for the Energy Action Coalition PowerVote Training conference. She returned, a bold youth activist bearing gifts of bumper stickers and t-shirts for her beloved housemates. Here are her thoughts and impressions:
Energy Action is a group that is working tirelessly to galvanize young people across the nation and foster the environmental movement from the ground up. The recent failure of the climate bill has led the environmental leaders of this nation to take a step back and look at how we came to allow such failure from our elected representatives. What we need, what we failed to have, is a movement behind our desperate pleas and actions. Energy Action, along with the 130 students who attended the conference and thousands of others across the nation is committed to creating this movement through grassroots action in their local communities.
I’ve always believed that one of the primary struggles facing the environmental movement is the perceived notion that caring about the environment is only for those who can afford it, those who can afford to put solar panels on their roofs or wind turbines in their backyards. This is most certainly not the case. At the conference Energy Action partnered with the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization, a community group formed in protest of the coal plant in their neighborhood. The plant, on the south side of Chicago was grandfathered in to the Clean Air Act and is only 3 blocks away from the community’s elementary school. Each year, it causes over 40 premature deaths and a thousand hospital visits for asthma and other respiratory illnesses. These people have neither the money nor the power to say, hey, don’t put a power plant in our back yard. What they need, and what similar communities across the nation need, is an environmental movement that demands equality and justice for all. During the conference, we marched against the coal plant alongside members of the community, an amazing and eye-opening experience.
Over the course of the weekend, we talked a lot about developing relationships and creating networks that we, as youth activists, can effectively leverage to achieve the results we want in our government. Luckily, that is exactly what we are doing here at Race to Replace. We need to continue this effort, creating and maintaining a coalition of concerned and angry young people who not only desire change, but demand it.
Check out the coalition's website to see how you can be a part of Powershift 2011!
Energy Action is a group that is working tirelessly to galvanize young people across the nation and foster the environmental movement from the ground up. The recent failure of the climate bill has led the environmental leaders of this nation to take a step back and look at how we came to allow such failure from our elected representatives. What we need, what we failed to have, is a movement behind our desperate pleas and actions. Energy Action, along with the 130 students who attended the conference and thousands of others across the nation is committed to creating this movement through grassroots action in their local communities.
I’ve always believed that one of the primary struggles facing the environmental movement is the perceived notion that caring about the environment is only for those who can afford it, those who can afford to put solar panels on their roofs or wind turbines in their backyards. This is most certainly not the case. At the conference Energy Action partnered with the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization, a community group formed in protest of the coal plant in their neighborhood. The plant, on the south side of Chicago was grandfathered in to the Clean Air Act and is only 3 blocks away from the community’s elementary school. Each year, it causes over 40 premature deaths and a thousand hospital visits for asthma and other respiratory illnesses. These people have neither the money nor the power to say, hey, don’t put a power plant in our back yard. What they need, and what similar communities across the nation need, is an environmental movement that demands equality and justice for all. During the conference, we marched against the coal plant alongside members of the community, an amazing and eye-opening experience.
Over the course of the weekend, we talked a lot about developing relationships and creating networks that we, as youth activists, can effectively leverage to achieve the results we want in our government. Luckily, that is exactly what we are doing here at Race to Replace. We need to continue this effort, creating and maintaining a coalition of concerned and angry young people who not only desire change, but demand it.
Check out the coalition's website to see how you can be a part of Powershift 2011!
Monday, August 2, 2010
"We heard the blue jello slide was really fun. Even though not all of the jello was blue."
The above quote more or less sums up the quirky, whimsical and, well, blue atmosphere of the Deerfield Valley Blueberry Festival. We headed down to Dover, VT on Saturday for the Blueberry Parade--this year's theme was "Everything blue and agricultural" and the residents of Dover really took it to heart. (We caught some disdainful looks for our green t-shirts. Whoops.) There were children dressed as blueberries, a blueberry queen and even a pair of goats who had gotten the kool-aid treatment.
Sadly we missed the jello sliding, but we did arrive just in time for a town hall meeting with Bernie Sanders! Also fun! And considerably less messy, to boot. The meeting centered around health care and the economy--we asked a few questions about the Senate climate bill, but climate and energy were not hot topics for this crowd. This probably had something to do with the fact that, with the exception of the the 3 folks from Race to Replace, no one else was under the age of 30. We were also the only people to ask a question about climate. Climate change is a youth issue. If we want to open up a dialogue about climate change and energy in Vermont, we're going to have to do it ourselves (and before we have hospital bills and mortgages). We're going to have to sit through town hall meetings (and they can be pretty entertaining, so don't freak), talk to politicians, write editorials and VOTE. Especially the last one. Vote and it's amazing how people start listening.
22 days until the primary election on AUGUST 24TH. Register to vote with the Race to Replace team at one of our events or go to your town clerk's office. It takes about 2 minutes and there is almost no good reason not to do it. So what are you waiting for?
Sadly we missed the jello sliding, but we did arrive just in time for a town hall meeting with Bernie Sanders! Also fun! And considerably less messy, to boot. The meeting centered around health care and the economy--we asked a few questions about the Senate climate bill, but climate and energy were not hot topics for this crowd. This probably had something to do with the fact that, with the exception of the the 3 folks from Race to Replace, no one else was under the age of 30. We were also the only people to ask a question about climate. Climate change is a youth issue. If we want to open up a dialogue about climate change and energy in Vermont, we're going to have to do it ourselves (and before we have hospital bills and mortgages). We're going to have to sit through town hall meetings (and they can be pretty entertaining, so don't freak), talk to politicians, write editorials and VOTE. Especially the last one. Vote and it's amazing how people start listening.
22 days until the primary election on AUGUST 24TH. Register to vote with the Race to Replace team at one of our events or go to your town clerk's office. It takes about 2 minutes and there is almost no good reason not to do it. So what are you waiting for?
Thursday, July 29, 2010
When cats ride bikes...
The news coming from D.C. is pretty depressing. If you've been following the issue at all, you'll know that despite the fact that 60% of Americans favor making BP executives walk the plank into their own slimy waters (okay I made up that statistic but I imagine it's pretty accurate and besides, you get the point), Congress failed to muddle through a single decisive action against climate change. The technical term is, I believe, TOTAL SHIT SHOW. Since I'm not really qualified to explain why the bill failed so dismally, I'm going to recommend you read this analysis by David Roberts of Grist. It's a good article, but please don't get too depressed reading it. The most important thing we can do right now is not shut down, to not tune out, to not disengage. We have to keep asking questions, keep pestering our legislators and keep shouting until our voices are heard. We have to stay in the fight.
Hope is not lost. In fact, on the grassroots level it is alive and kickin' and yowlin'. Yesterday, for example, the Race to Replace team saw a cat riding a bicycle. And, goddamnit, if cats can ride bicycles, switching to clean energy should be a snap for those of us with opposable thumbs.
Hope is not lost. In fact, on the grassroots level it is alive and kickin' and yowlin'. Yesterday, for example, the Race to Replace team saw a cat riding a bicycle. And, goddamnit, if cats can ride bicycles, switching to clean energy should be a snap for those of us with opposable thumbs.
Friday, July 23, 2010
Over the past few months we've been snapping pictures of the people who care about clean energy. (Almost) all the photos are now online. Check out them on Flickr!
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Solarfest!
This past weekend the team headed down to beautiful Tinmouth, Vermont for the 16th annual Solarfest, a three day long extravaganza to celebrate "power of positive energy." In addition to having everything you would expect from a sun festival (morning yoga, contra dances, vegan food, dreadlocks), Solarfest attracted politicians, solar companies, green builders and climate rockstars like Bill McKibben.
Solarfest also marked the debut of the Race to Replace Voter Registration Tricycle. While it's not the easiest thing to ride (read: no brakes), the trike is certainly eye-catching and a lot of people came wandering over to see exactly what we were up to. The really loud bicycle horn probably helped here as well. We met some really awesome folks from around the state and we're stoked to work with them in the future.
And now, the moment you've all been waiting for...dun dun dun... Clean energy offs! Okay, maybe you haven't been waiting for it and maybe you have no idea what I'm talking about. Watch the video and then you will understand. Don't worry, it wasn't a one-time-deal. This WILL go down again and if you check out our calender and come hang out with us at an event you too can have your moment in the spotlight as spray foam insulation or, if you're really really lucky, rhubarb.
love in the sun,
the race to replace team.
p.s Wear sunscreen. Especially if the first aid tent is giving it away for free. Wear it. Don't be dumb.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
FLIP FOR CLEAN ENERGY
When we asked this guy if he wanted to be part of our photo petition, he said he'd rather do a back flip. Naturally, we were accommodating. Check it out!
Pretty cool, huh?
So, what will you do for clean energy? E-mail racetoreplace@gmail.com with a movie or photo of your clean energy antics and we'll put you up on the site. Juggling, puppies and bike tricks encouraged.
Pretty cool, huh?
So, what will you do for clean energy? E-mail racetoreplace@gmail.com with a movie or photo of your clean energy antics and we'll put you up on the site. Juggling, puppies and bike tricks encouraged.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Governor's Institute
This week we had the awesome opportunity to give a workshop at the Governor's Institute of Vermont Current Issues and Youth Activism Camp. (Eek, that's a mouthful). This is 10 day program for motivated high school students who really want to get into the issues and learn how to be activists. In other words, cool kids like us.
We focused our discussion on narrative--as in, telling astory. This is something we think about a lot at Race to Replace. How do we get people (specifically, young people like us) interested in clean energy? On top of that, how do we get them involved? Telling a good story is half the battle. A lot of the kids at GIV (thank god for acronyms) have experience with activism in high school so this is something they can relate to. And they're also really good at it. Probably better than we are. I mean, they convinced us that we should be making wigs for penguins (see photo), so I'd say they're pretty damn good.
After the workshop we went swimming and hung out in Brattleboro. We also found free bread, which was probably the highlight of the trip. Check out the following baguette inspired shenanigans.
We focused our discussion on narrative--as in, telling astory. This is something we think about a lot at Race to Replace. How do we get people (specifically, young people like us) interested in clean energy? On top of that, how do we get them involved? Telling a good story is half the battle. A lot of the kids at GIV (thank god for acronyms) have experience with activism in high school so this is something they can relate to. And they're also really good at it. Probably better than we are. I mean, they convinced us that we should be making wigs for penguins (see photo), so I'd say they're pretty damn good.
After the workshop we went swimming and hung out in Brattleboro. We also found free bread, which was probably the highlight of the trip. Check out the following baguette inspired shenanigans.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
GALEN FOR GOV!
Meet Galen von Wodtke, the 11-year-old candidate for governor. A sixth grader at Guilford Central in Guilford, VT Galen is undeniably a young person's candidate. A resident of Vermont for precisely 11 and 3/4 years, he is more than qualified to run the state. And he cares about young people's issues, like climate change and clean energy. It's our future, after all.
The Galen for Gov float won the Best Political Float award from the Valley Reporter! Yeeeeah!
Saturday, July 3, 2010
It's almost the Fourth of July and here at Race to Replace we are busy preparing for a weekend full of patriotic festivities. Tonight we're heading up to Burlington to hang out on Church Street and watch the fireworks over Lake Champlain. Should be great! We'll be wearing bright green t-shirts, so if you see us, come chat!
The real excitement will be going down tomorrow at the Warren Fourth of July Parade. We'll be there en force with our epic float (a.k.a. Ben Wessel's mini van). It will be exciting and there's a surprise in the works, so make sure you're there. .
On a side note, we've been having a lot of fun with paint this week. Shout out to Liz Robinson and the Old Stone Mill people for being totally cool with spontaneous wall painting. (See photo.)
The real excitement will be going down tomorrow at the Warren Fourth of July Parade. We'll be there en force with our epic float (a.k.a. Ben Wessel's mini van). It will be exciting and there's a surprise in the works, so make sure you're there. .
On a side note, we've been having a lot of fun with paint this week. Shout out to Liz Robinson and the Old Stone Mill people for being totally cool with spontaneous wall painting. (See photo.)
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Puppies for Clean Energy
All across the state, puppies are coming together. What do they want? No, not the usual squeaky toys or tennis balls. These puppies are howling for 100% clean energy. They are demanding that Vermont Yankee be replaced with local energy that will provide jobs for their owners and clean, green fields for romping. (Also, barking at windmills is fun.) It's their future and they're not above using those big, brown, beautiful puppy eyes to get what they want.
I mean, seriously, look at that ball of fluff. How can you possibly resist? Vote for clean energy!
Monday, June 28, 2010
Winooski!
On Friday, Grace, Pier and I made the trek to Winooski, VT to hang out with some cool Winooskians at the Winooski River Walk. (Sorry, but saying/writing Winooski is way too much fun. Try it. Winooski Winooski Winooski.)
Anyway, moving on.
The River Walk had an awesome carnival vibe, complete with miniature train and dunking station. Local vendors were out selling t-shirts, cupcakes, bibles and everything in between. Funnel cake, french fries and chili-dogs abounded.
Although we only stayed for few hours, we registered 10 new voters, took some awesome pictures for our photo petition and played with the world's cutest puppy. (This is NOT an exaggeration--just wait until we post the pictures.) It was a good night--people were really receptive to what we were doing. And even if they didn't completely agree, they were willing to hear us out. Best of all, the people we registered seemed pretty excited about being able to vote.
That's all for now. Stay tuned for the puppy pictures.
-Syd
Anyway, moving on.
The River Walk had an awesome carnival vibe, complete with miniature train and dunking station. Local vendors were out selling t-shirts, cupcakes, bibles and everything in between. Funnel cake, french fries and chili-dogs abounded.
Although we only stayed for few hours, we registered 10 new voters, took some awesome pictures for our photo petition and played with the world's cutest puppy. (This is NOT an exaggeration--just wait until we post the pictures.) It was a good night--people were really receptive to what we were doing. And even if they didn't completely agree, they were willing to hear us out. Best of all, the people we registered seemed pretty excited about being able to vote.
That's all for now. Stay tuned for the puppy pictures.
-Syd
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Hands across the Sand!
This Saturday people will be gathering on beaches across the world to show support for the Gulf Coast and demand an end to off-shore drilling. Join us at Blanchard Beach in Burlington at 11 AM. Say YES to clean energy!
Here's how to get there!
If you're not in Vermont right now click here to find an event near you. All fifty states are participating!
Monday, June 21, 2010
Vermont Solutions Festival!
(Written by Syd)
Exciting news! Race to Replace has just been invited to host the first ever Vermont Solutions Festival Youth Summit on August 28th! The Solutions fest is a 2 day celebration at Stratton Mountain, aiming to showcase the connections between sustainability and sport. There will be great food (local, of course), music from the Del McCoury Band, and speeches from Bill McKibben and former NHL goalie Mike Richter. There will also be a bike race that involves riding from farm-stand to farm-stand. (Seriously, could this get any better?)
The Youth Summit will be a 90 minute workshop for high school students. We’ll be talking to kids about Vermont’s clean energy potential and the role that youth activism can play in reaching that potential. It should be a blast. A sign-up page will be up on the website soon, so stay tuned!
Even if you’re too old for the summit, don’t miss the Solutions Fest. It’s going to be a great time and we are super-duper stoked to be a part of it.
Check out the VT Solutions Fest facebook page!
Exciting news! Race to Replace has just been invited to host the first ever Vermont Solutions Festival Youth Summit on August 28th! The Solutions fest is a 2 day celebration at Stratton Mountain, aiming to showcase the connections between sustainability and sport. There will be great food (local, of course), music from the Del McCoury Band, and speeches from Bill McKibben and former NHL goalie Mike Richter. There will also be a bike race that involves riding from farm-stand to farm-stand. (Seriously, could this get any better?)
The Youth Summit will be a 90 minute workshop for high school students. We’ll be talking to kids about Vermont’s clean energy potential and the role that youth activism can play in reaching that potential. It should be a blast. A sign-up page will be up on the website soon, so stay tuned!
Even if you’re too old for the summit, don’t miss the Solutions Fest. It’s going to be a great time and we are super-duper stoked to be a part of it.
Check out the VT Solutions Fest facebook page!
Race to Replace-ers stroll with heifers
(Written by Syd)
This weekend, Olivia, Abigail and I headed down to Brattleboro, VT for the Strolling of the Heifers, the city’s annual cow parade and festival. On Friday evening the town hosted a gallery walk–all the shops stayed open late and there was music and dancing in the street. We set up a table and attracted passers-by with our gigantic green banner and shouts of “DO YOU CARE ABOUT CLEAN ENERGY?” As it turns out, a lot of people do care. We took some great pictures of Vermonters with our sign (see video below!). We hope this will let the gubernatorial candidates see just how important clean energy is in this election.
The next day was the main event–the Strolling of the Heifers. Area farmers brought their young cows into town to parade through the street, showing off flower garlands and fancy tags with names like “Mabel” and “Greg.”
Not all the cows were into the whole strolling thing. This little guy needed some encouragement.
The parade wasn’t just cows. There were antique tractors, girl scout troops and cheese-makers galore. We even got a free tomato plant from one float. A big improvement over Tootsie-pops, at least in my opinion. After the parade, we followed the crowd to the green expo–here we talked to some folks about sustainability projects across the region and considered entering a raffle for a free set of solar panels (and then we remembered that we are poor college students trying to eke out a living talking about clean energy.) Entergy, the company that owns and operates Vermont Yankee, had set up a tent and being the crazy rebels that we are, we snapped this photo:
Abigail infiltrates Entergy!
After the green expo, we wandered around the festival sampling Cabot cheese, petting cows, talking to Vermonters and generally scrounging for free stuff. It was a great way to kick off our summer campaign. Bunches of thanks to the great folks who signed up to be on our e-mail list or posed with our sign. You guys kick ass!
More coming sooooon!
Much love,
Syd
This weekend, Olivia, Abigail and I headed down to Brattleboro, VT for the Strolling of the Heifers, the city’s annual cow parade and festival. On Friday evening the town hosted a gallery walk–all the shops stayed open late and there was music and dancing in the street. We set up a table and attracted passers-by with our gigantic green banner and shouts of “DO YOU CARE ABOUT CLEAN ENERGY?” As it turns out, a lot of people do care. We took some great pictures of Vermonters with our sign (see video below!). We hope this will let the gubernatorial candidates see just how important clean energy is in this election.
The next day was the main event–the Strolling of the Heifers. Area farmers brought their young cows into town to parade through the street, showing off flower garlands and fancy tags with names like “Mabel” and “Greg.”
Not all the cows were into the whole strolling thing. This little guy needed some encouragement.
The parade wasn’t just cows. There were antique tractors, girl scout troops and cheese-makers galore. We even got a free tomato plant from one float. A big improvement over Tootsie-pops, at least in my opinion. After the parade, we followed the crowd to the green expo–here we talked to some folks about sustainability projects across the region and considered entering a raffle for a free set of solar panels (and then we remembered that we are poor college students trying to eke out a living talking about clean energy.) Entergy, the company that owns and operates Vermont Yankee, had set up a tent and being the crazy rebels that we are, we snapped this photo:
Abigail infiltrates Entergy!
After the green expo, we wandered around the festival sampling Cabot cheese, petting cows, talking to Vermonters and generally scrounging for free stuff. It was a great way to kick off our summer campaign. Bunches of thanks to the great folks who signed up to be on our e-mail list or posed with our sign. You guys kick ass!
More coming sooooon!
Much love,
Syd
T-Minus One Week
Only one week until the bike ride! It has been a ton of fun assembling everything and we hope to see everyone out in Montpelier, Burlington, on your bike, or all three on Friday! Get ready for some clean energy action.
Also, we will be selling t-shirts in conjunction with our event, although not directly on the capitol lawn. Bring $10 to get your own Race to Replace t-shirt!
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