Dear USSF Writers Network
As the Copenhagen Summit draws to a close, I hope you will take some time to draft an op-ed, a newsletter piece for a community group or church bulletin, a blog or Facebook entry, or some other creative piece to highlight the importance of environmental action and its links to the movement-building process that is the United States Social Forum.
It is clear from the results of Copenhagen (or “Nopenhagen,” as some activists have dubbed it), that without even more public outrage and pressure, our government is not likely to take the dramatic steps needed to save the planet from catastrophic climate change. But we know that shifting to a green economy can help protect our coastlines and croplands, ensure sustainable access to fresh water, and even provide new sources of sustainable jobs for people in this country.
The Eastern Michigan Environmental Action Council is on the front lines of popular efforts to transition from the old, dirty economy of fossil fuels to a green economy. Detroit is reeling from the decline of the automobile industry, and EMEAC is working to help people think of green alternatives that can move that economy forward and provide models for other cities.
We profiled EMEAC’s work recently on the USSF wiki site-- See
Now EMEAC needs help from supporters around the country so that it can sustain its work in Detroit, along with serving as an anchor group on the Detroit Local Organizing Committee which is hosting us all for the US Social Forum this coming June. Please help communicate this call for support (below), as well as the larger message about the USSF and the need for Americans to step up to demand new environmental policies!
Another world is possible! Help make it happen!
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EMEAC is asking for your support this Winter Solstice and holiday season so we may do great work as one of the very active anchors for the USSF Detroit 2010 (along with Michigan Welfare Rights, Centro Obrero, and Jobs with Justice). As many of you know, taking on the challenge as an USSF anchor is wonderful work, but it has put a strain on our staff and resources. It would mean so much to all of us here at EMEAC if your organization would become an organizational member by donating $50 to EMEAC's grassroots fundraising campaign to support our ongoing work and our work toward bringing the USSF to Detroit.
Your organizational support of $50 for EMEAC makes it possible to have a strong local organization working on important environmental justice issues that affect southeast Michigan and contribute to the global dialogue through hosting the USSF!
This year EMEAC launched three exciting new programs: our ReMedia media program, our Greener Schools initiative, and our Alliance for Healthy Air (AHA). The ReMedia program helps young people from urban areas in Southeast Michigan to become knowledgeable advocates for environmental justice, environmental health research, sustainable foods production, and conservation. Our programs combine environmental education with media projects that draw linkages between human health, the environment, and urban quality of life. Greener Schools provides tools for teachers to incorporate environmental education curricula into their school with student directed outdoor classrooms. Our AHA program project focuses on schools that have a high incidence of asthma and are located near a polluting facility. AHA pairs middle and high school students and teachers with local Universities to monitor the air when they see or smell pollution near their school.
During 2010 we look forward to hosting the Social Forum and fostering new collaborations among social justice groups to create and support green and sustainable solutions in southeast Michigan. During the Social Forum EMEAC will launch a Detroit Aquaponics project and work with local urban agriculture communities to provide local foods to participants. We hope that you will help us make all of our programs possible with your gift. To give just click on the "donate through Network for Good" button or go to http://www.emeac.org.