Guest Post by Ryan Maue:

Starting Friday, April 15 in Washington DC, we will be able to witness an absolutely surreal public display of anti-capitalist, extreme far-left community organizing, all wrapped in the cloak of climate change / clean energy activism: The Power Shift Youth Climate Conference. Can we finally stipulate that there exists a well-organized nexus of scientists/politicians/organizations that wish to solve the “climate crisis”, and are using the issue as a political tool to further their leftist agenda? From the list of speakers, partners, and Workshop Titles, there is certainly no doubt about the motivations of this collection of greens. Arrogant, condescending scientists and politicians sneer at so-called anti-science, Big Oil Republicans and demand global warming adherence as a litmus test for elected office. Instead, advocate scientists and environmentalists should be continually questioned about their motivations prior to consideration of their extreme|draconian policy prescriptions. I’m getting really tired of their holier-than-thou-attitude.

After this, you will know the true meaning of the acronym of Win The Future.

Noel Sheppard at newsbusters.org provides a nice summary of the speaker line up, including EPA administrator Lisa Jackson, everyone’s (especially Glenn Beck’s) favorite communist and former Green Jobs Czar Van Jones, and, of course, Nobel Prize winner Al Gore! Keynote speaker list.

Perusing the program of this Youth Climate Conference should immediately disabuse you of all preconceived notions that climate change is not a political issue:

Plain and simple: Power Shift 2011 is a mission to recruit 10,000 youth leaders from every walk of life to be on the front lines in the fight for a clean energy future. We are moving far beyond the pursuit of building a crowd for a weekend conference. Power Shift 2011 attendees – young faith leaders, entrepreneurs, student government leaders, social justice advocates and blue-collar workers – are signing up for the launch of critical, focused, and strategic campaign efforts in their communities.

“Our Power Shift 2011 “training boot camp” will yield 10,000 leaders, equipped with the game plans, tools, and strategies to WIN on the frontlines of every community across this country.”

Dr. James Hansen of NASA death trains/coal protesting infamy should like this workshop:

Is it too much to dream of an America where polluters are held accountable for their disasters? Is it too much to dream of an America where people aren’t burdened with the cost of pollution? Is it too much to dream of an America where citizens are in charge of our energy decisions, not big polluters? We don’t think so.

Then we will form two marches, one storming Capitol Hill to lobby and hold our elected leaders accountable, the other will march from one corporate polluter’s office to another and return to Lafeyette Park for a dance party.

Here are a list of other Workshop Titles: Link to many, many more

Sex and Sustainability

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce: Dirty Money, Chamberleaks, and how to win back Main Street

Ethical Solutions to Environmental Classism – Case Studies around the World

What would Jesus/Moses/The Buddha Drive? An Inter-Faith Discussion on Religious Environmental Activism

From the BP Oil Spill to the Japanese Nuclear Crisis: Why Capitalism is Killing the Planet:

The past year alone has highlighted the massive toll taken on our planet by the coal, oil, and nuclear energy industries. Yet President Obama continues to support these three industries, which have produced not only ecological catastrophe but also widespread human suffering. This panel will discuss why this is the case, how it is linked to a system of global capitalism that puts profit before the needs of human beings and the planet, and how we can move beyond the capitalist ecological crisis.

Panelists Chris Williams, International Socialist Organization Heather Kangas, International Socialist Organization Amanda Duzak, International Socialist Organization

Finding the Billions for Clean Energy and Climate Justice Now!

The global economy is suffering the greatest setback since the Great Depression in large part because of Wall Street gamblers. The gambling continues unabated, with hundreds of billions in bailouts from taxpayers. Meanwhile, the world is spending more than $1.5 trillion every year on the military, with the United States accounting for nearly half of that figure. Pentagon spending is rising even as our cities are cutting back on vital social services. More than half of all discretionary spending goes to the military here in the United States. The climate crisis requires us to raise $100-$400 billion per year if we are to address our obligations to the poorest and to the planet. This workshop will explain how to slow climate change, while restoring a sane, stable global economy.

Regulating Greenhouse Gases (GHGS) Under the Clean Air Act

Stop the Tar Sands Invasion

Climate Voices — The Human Rights of Climate Change

High School and Junior High Organizing

Exposing the Climate Denial Machine

What to do when the President’s just not that into you (program excerpt below)

Despite the hopes of millions that President Obama would champion clean energy and help solve the climate crisis, his response has fallen far short of what’s necessary. At best, his record and rhetoric have been mixed. At worst, he’s actively obstructed progress by boosting offshore drilling, recently announcing a huge expansion of coal mining on public lands, and financing environmentally destructive products overseas. President Obama has also treated the environmental movement, and especially the youth climate movement, with relative disdain: while there are many examples, the most visible was refusing to speak to the 2009 Powershift conference, and then attending a Washington Wizards basketball game just two blocks away. The panel will explore some key questions that have bedeviled our movement since Obama’s inauguration: What is President Obama’s climate/environment record? How should the climate movement deal with the White House? What can we learn from other movements’ response to the White House? Is there a possibility for a pro-environment, progressive challenger to Obama in the 2012 primaries? Is that a good idea? To answer these questions, and share inside knowledge, we’ll feature some of the brightest thinkers on climate politics and movements.

Panelists

Glenn Hurowitz, Senior Fellow, Center for International Policy

Bill McKibben, Founder, 350.org

Lt. Dan Choi, Founding Member, Knights Out

Jane Hamsher, Founder, Firedoglake

Next Steps for White Allies (program excerpt below)

“Now that you understand the importance of diversity and inclusion to the climate change movement, how do you practice being a strong white ally? For the most part, white folks have little opportunity to talk about race, racism or how to be an ally to people of color. Indeed, we are socialized to not notice or talk about such things. It can be lonely being a white ally.”

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