[ACT!] Support Community Powered Energy in Phillips by SUNDAY! + Updates on My Life
Ethan Buckner
To my family, friends, and supporters:
I’m emailing to ask for a few brief minutes of your time generating support for an innovative grassroots energy efficiency venture I've helped start in the Twin Cities that I hope will become a widely replicable model, and to send you an update on my life over the past few months.
Read on for my updates, or to take action right away (deadline is Sunday August 15th), vote 3 times here: http://projectfund.brighterplanet.com/projects/compower
This summer has been yet another amazing chapter of my journey. After the last update I sent in March, I spent two weeks- followed by another two weeks in May- working at the Project Medishare/University of Miami Hospital in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. My time spent in the Caribbean underscored the reasons why I do the work I do. While in Haiti, I witnessed the catastrophic reality of the reactive approach to addressing the most critical issues we face as a global civilization. Before January 12th, the world turned a blind eye to the ticking time bomb that was- and is- Haiti’s reality. It is evident that hundreds of years of colonization, environmental degradation, poor governance and rampant corruption led to the dangerous levels of poverty and disease that were already prevalent in Port-au-Prince when the earthquake hit. The hundreds of thousands of deaths should teach us that we can NOT afford to wait until disaster strikes before taking action.
So I returned to the United States with a renewed commitment to building solutions to the problems we face as a society, and doing so before we suffer the catastrophic consequences of inaction. Acting out of hope and opportunity rather than of fear and frustration, we can utilize innovation and creativity to create a better world.
That is why I decided to participate in the Twin Cities Summer of Solutions this year, a program deigned by young people to prepare a new generation of leaders to create solutions in our communities that address our climate, energy, economic, and social injustice challenges as one.
My focus on this program was to work on community energy issues through a new organization called Cooperative Energy Futures (CEF). Our mission is to use the power of community to create economic opportunity through energy efficiency. We empower people to participate in simple climate and energy solutions that work for everyone.
Currently, we are on the verge of launching a feasibility study in the multi-cultural, primarily low-income Phillips Neighborhood in South Minneapolis. The study involves selecting five local sales-people, who we will train to empower their community with money-saving and energy-saving technology and skills. We have developed an innovative business model, consulted with a plethora of experts, and are ready to get the show on the road! However, we are in the need of upfront capital to enable us to get this initiative off the ground.
So
what is the next step? CEF has applied for a grant through the Brighter Planet
Project Fund, which would provide us with $5,000- enough money to cover the costs
of initial inventory needed to move forward with our initiative in Phillips.
The Brighter Planet Project Fund is voter-based,
which means that all we have to do to win is get enough votes from people like you! VOTING ENDS THIS SUNDAY ON AUGUST 15th!
You can:
1. Vote for CEF three times by signing up for the Brighter Planet site (they don't spam) and hitting the vote button (three times) here: http://projectfund.brighterplanet.com/projects/compower
2. Ask three or more friends or family members to vote three times at that link.
3. If it feels appropriate, ask them to do the same outreach listed here.
4. Hit the "Share" button on our project page and post this voting opportunity to any social networking tool you might use (Twitter, blogs, Facebook, LinkedIn).
I’d love to have the chance to catch up with you. If you have any suggestions,
comments, questions, points of collaboration on any of my work I would be more
than happy to find a time to chat. This fall, I’ll be continuing my
environmental and social justice work, and will be preparing to travel to
Cancun for the UN Climate Negotiations again this November. I’m also becoming
heavily involved with a new organization called Generation Waking Up, which
strives to ignite a generation of young people to bring forth a just,
prosperous, sustainable world. And on the side I’ll try to pass some of my
classes- tips on time management are always welcome :)
Thank you for all of your support. All of us have the power to leverage our wisdom, passion, and talent to change the world.
With all my heart,
Ethan
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Ethan Buckner
Youth Organizer