Following April's heavy schedule of Earth Day activities, May was a time to plan future events, as well as get out there in the great Spring weather to table and talk. It was a media-centric month, including the taping of two TV shows, two radio shows, a print article, and a new online campaign–check out The Photo Booth Project! Here's what all we did to keep things "sane:" May 31: "Fighting the Frack Monster,"a Left Forum panel sponsored by Food Not Fracking, featured activists from New York, Michigan and California, moderated by Peter Rugh, talking about successes and strategies. The Left Forum itself was energetic, but a reminder of shale gas infrastructure sat directly out front, with these regulator vents running along 59th Street (shown below, left).
May 25: Tabling at Loisiaida (the annual street fair of the Lower East Side) was a lotta fun! And Sane and OTP launched a joint venture: The Photo Booth Project. See all the photos taken so far, here.
May 20: The first mass planning meeting for September's People's Climate March was a raucus pep rally of an affair, with 235 leaders from enviro, EJA, labor, faith groups, and many, many more packing the room and building towards what promises to be an historic event!
May 18: Mamapalooza was a fun place to table for Food Not Fracking, and we had a prime spot, next to Tinkertree Play Care's "flower bomb" workshop (basically, an excuse for kids to play in mud!) Our pals from The People's Puppets brought lots of fun gear to play with!
May 15: The Park Slope Food Coop published an article in their Linewaiter's Gazette (circulation: 16,000) that noted, "Something of particular interest to the Coop . . . is a new organization that has surfaced called Food Not Fracking." Read the whole article here.
May 12: We taped two TV shows with MNN host Noel Jefferson. Sane Energy Project joined 350NYC to talk about climate change; and Food Not Fracking teamed with the Park Slope Food Coop for the second show. Links to video will be posted when available.
May 9: The radon hearing scared the pants off us. We've been following the radon story for close to three years, and we still learned things that blew us away. Read our summary here or the report filed by Chelsea Now. View the full video here.
May 9: Just hours after the radon hearing, Sane Energy Project appeared on the PRN radio show Pure Imagination to discuss all things shale gas related. We kind of freaked our host out, but we think it ended up alright! Listen here.
May 4 & 5: OTP's second annual Jane's Walk was an unmitigated success! The Municipal Arts Society listed it as one of their notable tours, resulting in a crowd that swelled from 60 to 100 as they made their way through the West Village to the site of the under-construction Whitney museum, where artworks from the collection came to life to describe the Spectra pipeline, which connects into the Con Ed grid beneath the new building. Occupy Museums also participated and promises to draw attention to the risks when the museum opens next year.
May 1: Sane purchased bus tickets and worked with the NYC Grassroots Alliance to raise travel funds so that activists could witness the Minisink hearing at the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, DC. No news yet on the decision but based on what we observed, we are hopeful. Read our report here or listen to an audio recording of the hearing here: [audio mp3="http://saneenergyproject.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/dc-minisink-hearing.mp3"][/audio]
May 1: Directly following the hearing, Sane Energy raced across town to join WPFW Pacifica Radio host, Esther Iverem, while Minisink Matters leader, Asha Canalos joined us by phone from the hearing debrief. [audio mp3="http://saneenergyproject.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/wpfw-dc.mp3"][/audio]