Join the Tar Sands Action this weekend!

This Sunday, November 6, one year before the next presidential election, thousands of activists from all over the country will go to DC to encircle the White House and ask President Obama to reject the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.

Tar sands are the dirtiest source of oil, a fossil fuel, on the planet. The amount of environmental destruction required to exract the oil is astounding. The Keysone XL pipeline would also cut through the heart of America's breadbasket. For more facts on the proposed pipeline, click here. Also, watch this informative, inspiring video:

Details on the Tar Sands Action:

Who: You and all others who want to protect our planet from Big Oil
What: The largest tar sands rally in history, demonstrating to President Obama that tar sands will not be tolerated
When: Sunday, Nov. 6, 2pm (action)
Where: Lafayette Park in front of the White House, Washington, D.C.

Transportation/Housing Logistics:
There is a bus leaving from Ithaca on Saturday at 12pm and another leaving from Syracuse Sunday at 5am, stopping in Ithaca before making it to D.C. for the action at 2pm. Housing is arranged at St. Stephen's Church for those who need it; a $5 donation is suggested. Please bring a sleeping bag. There will be a training in D.C. on Saturday evening, as well as an opportunity to network with other activists. Both buses will leave D.C. by 6pm. Please bring a minimum of $10-15 for the bus; more is appreciated as a donation to the Tar Sands Action, who generously provided funding for the buses, to offset travel costs for those who live even further away.

Interested in joining the NY delegation? Sign up here! And here's the Facebook event, New Yorkers Join the Tar Sands Action!

Tomorrow: Fracking Rally and Occupy Bikes!

Tomorrow (Friday) Frack Off is holding an anti-fracking rally at 4pm at Free Speech Rock. Come out and show your support (and sign the petitions if you haven't) demanding that Ithaca College bans fracking on its lands, and that NYS officially bans fracking. If you don't know much about fracking (hydraulic fracturing), go to Frack Off's screening of "Gasland" in Textor 101 at 7pm tonight, and then check out Shaleshock's website for tons of information.

After the rally, join the critical mass bike ride around downtown Ithaca in solidarity of the Occupy Wall St. movement. Celebrate Halloween (optional of course) by dressing up as scary Wall St. bankers and corporate CEOs, zombies and vampires, or beautiful revolutionaries and occupiers! We will ride to some of the haunts of Ithaca's 1% and through the neighborhoods of the 99% and do some outreach while we ride. Then descend on the Commons for Friday night festivities!

Let's show the strength of this movement by creating a community movement on two wheels! If anyone is interested in riding down from IC, contact Margaret Keating at mkeatin1@ithaca.edu. We will assemble after the fracking rally at 5pm and head down to the Bank of America ATM on Seneca St.

Moving Planet Recap!

This past weekend was Moving Planet, an international campaign from 350.org to move the planet past fossil fuels and into the renewable energy scene.

Some ICES folks headed over to Cornell on Friday for a rally, flash mob, and dance party. We stopped by TIOLI beforehand and picked up some costumes. Somehow everyone knew when the Ithaca College kids showed up; it's still unclear what tipped them off...

At the rally, we stood with over 40 other students and community members by our demands for a clean energy future. The Cornell students delivered a letter to their President Skorton (read it here) asking to meet with him to discuss Cornell's leadership role in creating a just, sustainable campus.

On Saturday, ICES headed down to the Ithaca Farmer's Market by bike, bus, and on foot. We bought some local food to make sandwiches (bread, pesto, tomatoes, grapes, cheese, and possibly something else I forgot) and biked/walked to Stewart Park on the Cayuga Waterfront Trail to enjoy our delicious fare.

We like to have fun...

...and we love bikes!

Later that night some of us went to Earthdance. I did not however, and so I cannot provide a review, although I'm sure it was fun. Ha!

Either way, it was a great day!

Moving Planet Rally, Flash Mob, and Dance Party!

Check out this awesome event at Cornell TOMORROW! Some of us are biking there from IC around 11-something -- text me (Margaret) at 443.907.8296 if you want to join us by bike, or take the TCAT (directions here)!

On Friday, September 23, we are celebrating the move past fossil fuels and into a clean energy future with a rally on Ho Plaza. In coordination with campuses across New York, we'll be calling on Governor Cuomo to ban hydrofracking and to be our champion in leading New York to a clean energy future. We'll also be calling on Cornell to lead local clean energy alternatives to fracking which will create strong, dependable jobs in the green economy.

Students and community members will rally on Cornell University’s Ho Plaza for the Moving Planet day of climate action, organized for a third year by the global climate movement, 350.org. Moving Planet is worldwide rally in 176 countries to call for solutions to climate change. The rally will “flash mob” from Ho Plaza to Day Hall, where students will request a meeting with President Skorton.

Bring your roller blades, long boards, and bikes - or rent a bike from Cornell's Big Red Bikes - and get ready to move. Most importantly, bring your body. The time is now to dance, race, boogie, and move beyond fossil fuels! And keep your eye out for a flashmob...

12:00-12:45 Rally
12:45 Flash Mob and Dance Party: Ho Plaza to Day Hall

RSVP on the FB event here
Sign up on movingplanet.org here

The rally is hosted by Cornell student groups KyotoNOW! and the Sustainability Hub, and will feature community members from Ulysses and Dryden, NY. Co-sponsored by Big Red Bikes, Cornell Organization for Labor Action (COLA), Take Back the Tap, New World Agriculture & Ecology Group (NWAEG), the Society for Natural Resources Conservation (SNRC), Ithaca College Environmental Society, and Ithaca College Frack OFF.