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The Greenpeace Semester has had an eventful week full of work, fun, and some good sleep.

Photoset overview of our last day in Ohio, witnessing coal plants up close and the following aftermath.

Check out this video regarding the Greenpeace Semester and the recent visit to the Beckjord coal plant.

The Greenpeace Semester visits the Beckjord Generating Station, situated twenty miles east of Cincinnati in New Richmond, Ohio. The plant was initially built by the energy company, Cinergy Corp. but was bought up by Duke Energy in 2006. The visuals team scouted out the surrounding area for a photo opportunity that was in the end, successful (more photos to come).

To learn about Beckjord and the issues surround this coal plant, refer to this article:

http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/en/news-and-blogs/campaign-blog/duke-announces-2015-closing-of-beckjord-coal-/blog/35817/

Overall Week Accomplishments

Door to Door Canvassing

1642 doors knocked on.

648 people talked to.

474 petitions signed.

227 signed up to attend the public hearing.

Day 4 - Phone banking Accomplishments

1 hour phone banking session:

568 people dialed.

54 people said yes to attending the Greenpeace sponsored meeting regarding Duke Energy, the rate hikes, and the upcoming public hearing.

(left to right) Visuals Realm meeting, Media Realm member talking to Justin (GPS coordinator), Phone banking Realm databasing.

Day 3 - Goals vs. Accomplishments

Goals:

Knock on 350 doors.

Have 105 people sign the petition.

Have 49 people sign to attend the public hearing.

Accomplishments:

357 doors knocked on.

146 people were talked to.

79 people signed the petition.

36 people signed up to attend the public hearing.

Check out Annie Lanza and Mackenzie Johnson on CNN at the Stop the Frack Attack rally in Washington D.C! (click the link and go to time: 6:35).

"Thousands of Americans from across the country united in Washington, D.C. today to rally in front of the U.S. Capitol and march through the streets to express their outrage about environmental harms"

Day 3 - Goals vs. Accomplishments

Goals:

Knock on 360 doors.

Have 56 people sign up to attend the public hearing.

Accomplishments:

Knocked on 587 doors.

Talked with 226 people.

Had 199 people sign the petition.

Had 124 sign up to attend the public hearing.

Elisa Young

On the last leg of our drive to Cincinnati we stopped just outside of Athens, Ohio to meet with a close friend of one of our mentors and a true champion of the movement against coal, Elisa Young. Her will to renew the future stems directly from her desire to preserve the gifts of her own past. Elisa comes from generations who not only lived in Meigs County, Ohio, but played large roles in the places history and development. As early as 1798, Elisa's relatives have been leaders in all facets of the county, from community organizers to politicians. When the coal industry moved in during Elisa's lifetime, this long history disappeared into the smog of the many smoke stacks that came to surround her home. Within a 10 mile radius of the place Elisa calls home, there are currently 4 coal-fired power plants. The coal plants bought out the land and ran it into ruins, taking with it memories and cultural connections from the land that go beyond monetary value. The weight of this sank in when Elissa said, "no piece of land would have meant as much as that piece of land to me" - and it's this that she fights for.

There exists no other place except Meigs County in which Elisa has these generational ties, many of which exist now only in her memory without any physical manifestation for which, above all else, the land is valued. What's more, the history is being overwritten by that which has no internal value - industry. The coal industry is deciding the modern history of Meigs County in place of Elisa and her generation. The historical gifts of this generation will be those of unbreathable air and high cancer rates, rather than of culture and memory. It's this that she fights against. She seemed very grim when she said to uss, "I'm ashamed of my generation for passing on this problem to all of you."

Her form of repentance is exhibited in her strong, persistent activism. Elisa is a regular at the Ohio Department of Natural Resources where she wrestles with bureaucracy in the hopes of restoring her home, and yet, processes that were presumably instituted to help her in this are only weighing her down. She has been denied public records and lied to be state officials, but she refuses to end this fight that is so vital to the preservation of what belongs to her, what belonged to her ancestors, and what will soon belong to future residents of Meigs County.

From Elisa, we learn to fight for the intangible gifts of memory and culture that are intertwined with the environment , as well as to fight for the memories we hope to leave for our own future generations. #renewthefuture

Day 3 - The team gives each other positive feedback

"Chloe - first off i really like your classes, I was thinking about them all night. I really like your energy and your really outgoing and you try really hard" - Josh Chamberland.

"Erica - you were awesome at canvassing and I didn't know how good you were at talking to people because you are so modest about it, but you were great" - Laura Drotar.

"JazzyJ (Jazmyne Denman)- you really do say things very bluntly and hilariously" - Miles Goodrich.

"Cassie - you take the time to step out and put yourself in others shoes and be there for the people that need you. you have been there for me the past few days and you have done what I would have probably done" - Annie Lanza.

On Saturday July 28th, 2012 the public came together on the West Lawn of the United States Capitol to create the largest fracking rally in Washington, DC, titled “Stop the Frack Attack“. Affected and concerned citizens, environmental organizations, and local groups united in order to set water and air sanitation as well as public health, as priority over profits made from oil and gas drilling.

Among the community groups, organizations, and individuals that attended, some of the Greenpeace Semester students walked in order to express their concern. They returned from the event feeling inspired and accomplished in regards to the work that they had done that day.

Mackenzie Johnson explains an encounter with a woman that inspired her to walk:

‘She knows that this is bigger than us but she said that she is fighting this for her children because we cannot afford to not fight. What she said was so touching and I was so moved by her story. Also, having Josh (Chamberland) and Mackenzie (Griesser) in our class, first hand experiencing this is inspiring”.

“The rally itself was really pumped up and I felt like I really had an impact on what we were doing”- Chloe Buzzota.

It was really cool to see so many people out there and such a diverse group, I saw so many different people. For most of the walk Josh Fox was right in front of me, I could touch him – not to be creepy I was just star struck. – Mackenzie Griesser.

“It was inspiring how many people came out and how we were all united. There was a lot of solidarity among the group“ – Erica Kris.

Laura Drotar explains why the rally was so inspirational to her:

I think just having people literally all over the country come to take a stand and know that the issue is really new and in just a couple of years thousands of people came and gave their support”.

“I found the rally inspiring to see all the people that came from all around. The end of the rally ended at a fountain and everyone starting jumping in the fountain yelling ‘whos water our water? ‘”. – Josh Chamberland.

A creative way to learn all about fracking.

Day 2 - Goals and Accomplishments

Tuesday - July 31st, 2012.

Door to Door Canvassing

Goal:

knock on approximately 208 doors.

Get 40 people to check yes to attend the public hearing.

Accomplishments:

Knocked on 502 doors.

Talked with 188 people.

Had 155 petitions signed.

Had 98 people check yes to attend the public hearing.

Day 2 - Nightly Meeting Question

Tuesday - July 30th, 2012.

Question: if you could canvas with anyone dead or alive who would it be?

"Mother Theresa because she's so cute" - Tiffany Hsieh.

"I would canvas with Channing Tatum...because who could say no to Channing Tatum?" - Brooke Aspinall.

"I would canvas with Mark Wahlberg" - Sarah Dymecki (Greenpeace Semester intern).

An introduction to the Greenpeace Semester Summer Session II and views on the current Quit Coal campaign trip in Cincinnati, Ohio.

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