| Colorado
River Litigation Gets More Contentious
 A
recent decision by Federal Judge John Campbell will allow
two additional parties to intervene in a lawsuit that seeks
to incorporate better wilderness protection and discrimination-free
access for the Colorado River in Grand Canyon National Park.
Rock the Earth and its legal partners, River Runners for Wilderness
(RRFW), Wilderness Watch, and Living Rivers, filed suit in
March, 2006 against the National Park Service for being derelict
in the preservation of the river through the park.
On October
17, 2006, the judge granted permission for two other groups,
Grand Canyon Private Boaters Association (GCPBA) and Grand
Canyon River Outfitters Association (a concessionaire trade
group), to intervene in the current litigation on the side
of the federal government. Primarily at issue is the continued
mismanagement of a proposed wilderness area in Grand Canyon
National Park.
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Give
a Gift That Defends the Planet!
 Want
to avoid long lines and frivolous gifts this holiday season?
Looking for something unique to give those on your gift list?
Give
your friends and family a holiday membership package from
Rock the Earth! Each package includes appealing
and environmentally-friendly RtE merchandise as well as the
satisfaction of supporting a non-profit organization that
is working hard to protect the environment for us and future
generations.
In 2006
Rock the Earth made an impact on ground-breaking decisions
like reinstating the Roadless Rule to protect 58.5 million
acres of wild national forest land and establishing a National
Monument around the Northwest Hawaiian Islands to preserve
3.5 million acres of incredible biodiversity among some of
the world's oldest living coral colonies. Our work would
not be possible without the help of members and supporters
like you. As we take on new projects to Defend
the Planet One Beat at a Time, we know that we can make
a difference together by raising awareness, activism and funds
to protect our natural resources.
So, give
a great gift and help support our efforts to protect beautiful
and unique places like the Grand Canyon National Park's Colorado
River and Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National Park by
sending RtE membership gifts this holiday season! Packages
include our 100% organic cotton/hemp blend shirts and tote
bags, fleece hats, CDs, DVDs, posters
and brand-new earth pendants from Touch of J. Our limited
edition three
poster set by noted concert artists Emek, Jeff Wood and Gary
Houston, now valued at $250, is available only
in our holiday packages, so get yours NOW (only 10 more left!).
We also have a special thank you gift for RtE members that
purchase holiday gifts, so order yours today at www.RockTheEarth.org!
Place
your order by December 8th (Hanukkah) or December 15th (Christmas)
to ensure delivery before the holidays.
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Rock
the Earth Files Protest Letter on BLM's Roan Plateau Plan
 Rock
The Earth, along with over a dozen other non-governmental
organization (NGO) groups, filed
a protest letter on the Bureau of Land Management's
(BLM) proposed plan for the Roan Plateau, a popular and ecologically
sensitive area of public lands in Northwest Colorado. This
land has been the subject of a six-year planning process in
which the public overwhelmingly has supported protection of
the wilderness characteristics of the area and keeping the
Roan Plateau as it is, a mecca for natural outdoor recreation.
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Rock
the Earth gears up for another Greening Jam Cruise effort!
 For
a second year, RtE will be facilitating the greening program
for Jam Cruise. GREENING JAM CRUISE is a grassroots, fan-driven
effort to bring a high degree of environmental and social
awareness to the Jam Cruise adventure. We will be working
with MSC Cruise Line and an assortment of green sponsors and
partner organizations to ensure a minimal footprint as we
sail through the Caribbean. Some of the things we are cooking
up for Jam Cruise 5 are:
•
Recycling in partnership with Clean
Vibes
• Resource Conservation
- towel/linen reuse program
- recycled paper
- transition from bottled to keg beer
- water filtration (reduction of disposable
water bottle consumption)
• Non-toxic, biodegradable soaps
• CO2 offsetting with tree planting in partnership
with Trees
for the Future
• Leaving a Positive Legacy program
• Eco-friendly merchandise selections
• Eco-friendly gifts for our passengers
• Passenger Education
• Artist Participation
• Organic, fair trade and yerba mate
• Onboard silent auction
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More on... Social Change through
Music Panel Discussion... Tree
Planting... Silent Auction... Biodiesel R&D
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Mimi
Fishman Foundation Rocks the Earth (again)!
 For
the third time in as many years, the Mimi
Fishman Foundation is conducting an on-line
auction to benefit Rock the Earth. Items donated include original
artwork by Scramble Campbell, signed posters from Bonnie
Raitt, Jack Johnson, the Allman Brothers Band
and the Disco Biscuits, limited edition signed and
numbered prints from Jim Pollock, Emek, Jeff
Wood, Gary Houston and a multitude of others, and
concert tickets and aftershow passes donated by the String
Cheese Incident to what will be a legendary Winter Carnival
2007 run. To
view the auction items and to bid, go here.
Hurry! The auction will only be open until December 3rd!
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In
the Key of Green: A Lightbulb
Goes On!
 Don't
you just love winter, when you can curl up next to a lamp,
put on some good music, and read a book? If you replace the
light bulb in that lamp and two others with a compact fluorescent,
you'll save an average of $60 per year in energy costs
and reduce your carbon dioxide output by 300 pounds. If
every American home replaced one light bulb with a compact
fluorescent, we would save enough energy to light 2.5 million
homes. Small actions do add up! Visit the EPA's
Energy Star site for the full lowdown on bulbs.
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Searchin'
and Surfin' to Stop Global Warming
 Not
enough green keys for you? In September, Rock the Earth put
out the call for our friends to join two easy and helpful
campaigns, and many of you responded. Good
Search is an internet search engine that donates
a small amount to nonprofit organizations every time you use
their service. In the past six weeks, Rock the Earth friends
have generated more than $30 by searching with Good Search.
Won't you join them? It's easy. Visit www.goodsearch.com,
set your charity to "Rock the Earth," and help defend
the planet one search at a time.
 While
you're out there searching, we encourage you to look up our
friends at StopGlobalWarming.org
and join Rock the Earth's team in our march to Stop Global
Warming. To sign up, visit Stop Global Warming and join us!
You'll receive wonderful tips, such as the one above about
compact fluorescents, and learn how to reduce your eco-footprint.
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Rockin'
Thanks to Camp Buzz
 Camp
Buzz is held annually in the south eastern
Ohio area-- for the past 13 years. Over the past two, it has
been affiliated internationally with Earthdance.
During its tenure, Camp Buzz has served as an incubator for
up-and-coming bands, some of whom (Umphrey's McGee, Deep Banana
Blackout, Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey, and MOFRO) have gone onto
prominence on the national stage. Over the past month, Camp
Buzz made a donation to Rock the Earth. We are grateful and
thank the kind folks behind this festival for helping us to
continue our mission of Defending the Planet One Beat at
a Time.
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Rockin'
the Earth Has Its Perks!
New
Member Benefit!
Rock the Earth is pleased to announce a new benefit for our
Members – 20% off all products from Guayaki
Yerba Mate! Yerba mate has been shared daily
among friends as a healthy and energizing drink, providing
24 vitamins and minerals, 15 amino acids, and abundant antioxidants.
Revered for centuries as the "drink of the gods",
yerba mate triumphs as nature's most balanced stimulant. For
more information as to how to take advantage of this Members
Only Benefit, write to Membership@RockTheEarth.org.
Check
out these great offers for members of Rock the Earth:
Email
us at Membership@RockTheEarth.org
to take advantage of these special benefits!
Join
Rock the Earth today!
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Volunteer
with Rock the Earth!
Rock the
Earth works with volunteers across the country to help us
accomplish our work. We are looking for volunteers to help
with a variety of tasks, such as:
- Tabling
events
- Coordinating
volunteers
- Fundraising
& membership drives
- Legal
& technical assistance
- Assisting
with data entry & mailings in our Denver office
If you're
interested in volunteering with us, please send an email to
volunteer@RockTheEarth.org
to find out how you can help Rock the Earth!
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Bonnie
Raitt Rocks the Earth
 Bonnie
is as known for her lifelong commitment to social activism
as she is for her music. She has long been involved with the
environmental movement, supporting forest, oil, mining and
water protection with her concerts since the mid-70s. She
was a founding member of MUSE (Musicians United for Safe Energy),
which produced the historic concerts, album and movie, NO
NUKES, in 1979. She has been especially active in the fight
to preserve our Ancient Forests, performing numerous concerts,
lobbying in Washington and being arrested twice in support
of a change in forest policy.
Bonnie
has also supported groups working for Native American, women's
and human rights, as well as the fight against apartheid in
South Africa and U.S. involvement in the war in Central America
in the 80s.
As one
of the founding members of the Rhythm
& Blues Foundation, she continues to work
for increased recognition, health benefits and royalty reform
for the pioneer generation of R&B artists to whom we owe
so much. In 1995, she helped establish the Bonnie Raitt Guitar
Program, which now provides free guitar lessons to children
in over 180 Boys and Girls Clubs around the world.
On her
2002 Summer Tour, Bonnie initiated Green
Highway, a traveling eco-village providing
information to concert-goers about alternative energy solutions,
displaying
hybrid vehicles and connecting fans to local environmental
issues and organizations. Carrying the message of change to
the National Energy Policy, Bonnie participated in the historic
Vote
For Change Tour, co-headlining a bill along
with Jackson Browne and Keb' Mo'.
On top
of all of that, Bonnie is a 2000 inductee into the Rock &
Roll Hall of Fame and a 9-time Grammy Award winner. She's
a legend in music, with 18 albums and dozens of guest appearances
on recordings by a variety of artists which include Jackson
Browne, Little Feat, the Pointer Sisters, James Taylor, Allan
Tousaint, Warren Zevon, John Prine, the Neville Brothers,
Dr. John, Roy Orbison, BB King, Willie Nelson, Tony Bennett,
Ray Charles and many, many others.
On June
18, 2006, Rock the Earth Executive Director Marc Ross interviewed
Bonnie on the Solar Stage at the largest music festival in
the country - Bonnaroo. While we hope to have the audio posted
to our website soon, the following is an excerpt from that
interview:
MR:
You've done so much over the last 35 years from an activism
standpoint. Obviously your Quaker upbringing had some influence
on that. How did you get started? And where did you start
delving into that?
BR: We
went to peace marches and rallies when I was a kid, and were
involved with civil rights organizations. So, as I was mentioning
before, I kinda grew up in the counterculture peace movement
and peace and justice movement. The environmental movement
in California was very well organized and started in the 60s
with some family friends of mine, trying to protect the Redwoods
up in Northern California and to stop oil drilling off the
coast of California--and water issues and Native American
issues. Environmental racism is important to connect the dots
with why we're in the Middle East and why we have economic
problems-- why we're ruining the environment. These are all
related to the way we look at the environment. So it's a political
issue that overrides pretty much everything. Here we are,
50 years later, we're worse off than we were before. But,
the seeds of change are right in here. We're running our buses
and trucks on bio-diesel fuel. We played Indianapolis Jazz
Festival and it was run by bio-diesel fuel. Telluride Festival,
three nights ago, same thing. I mean the seeds of change are
really already creating something, a groundswell of movement
for protecting the environment and switching to a different
way of looking at our place in the world and on the planet.
All that stuff was started when I was a teenager, even before
that. I'm a child of the 60s. I mean, I'm a teenager that
grew up in the most politically active counterculture era
of the last century. I just hooked up with what all my peers
were doing.
MR:
National forest issues are near and dear to my heart, Rock
the Earth's heart, and I know several of the groups here--
it's near and dear to their hearts. And of course one of the
most beautiful areas in this country that I can think of is
the area in Northern California. It's just continually attacked
because of its beauty and because of its power, frankly, to
inspire people like yourself, like myself, to take action.
I know that you've done so many things for forests; you've
done so many benefits for forests. If you could just give
people an idea of who you've worked with and some of the permutations
of how that's taken place, I think that'd be helpful.
BR: Well
I'm from CA, I live in Northern CA; my younger brother lives
in Mendocino County and its been part of our lives and our
family's lives since I was a kid. The devastating clear-cutting
and the taking over of the family-owned Pacific Lumber Company
by this huge conglomerate organization, Maxam Corporation,
started the fight for the Headwaters Forest that probably
you know of from Julia Butterfly Hill's tree-sit for two years
in the thousand-year-old tree, Luna. And Joan Baez-- one of
my heroes-- we went up to visit Julia and were part of a lot
of different demonstrations during that time in the Redwoods
the summer of '97. But actually all along, the Redwood fight
has been going on in Washington, Canada, Oregon and California
for decades, and there's some great groups working locally,
with all different names-- too many to mention. But one of
the groups I really like to promote is the Rainforest Action
Network that works on behalf of the Redwoods, and also tropical
climate forests all over the Amazon Rainforest. There are
so many different rainforest groups and Redwood forest activist
groups. Sustainability is the issue of our time. If anybody
is interested in finding more specific groups to get involved
with, or in knowing more of my history, you can go to my website
and click on ‘activism' and read the history of which
receptions we did where and in which years, and then Google
those groups to find out what they're doing now.
MR:
Who inspires you? What activists out there or musicians out
there inspire you to do what you're doing?
BR: Ah,
that's a good question. Well, Bono is fantastic. Because I
know this is being filmed, I want to make sure I don't leave
my friends out, so I have to think about it. It's like when
you get an award and you forget to thank your cousin. I think
that Michael Franti and Spearhead, and Ani DiFranco-- there's
a bunch of people working on a lot of different issues. I'm
not as familiar with the younger bands and their political
work as I am with people like Jackson Browne and David Crosby
and Graham Nash... my generation, my little pod, my posse,
you know. People that inspire me are people that stick their
neck out. The Dixie Chicks and Julia Butterfly Hill and the
Amnesty International tours, the Farm Aid people. Neil Young
right now is doing some amazing work, sticking his neck out.
Willie Nelson. There's too many to mention, but they're on
every issue whether it's women, Native Americans, the environment,
or the war. You know, the groundswell is building again; the
old line of activists are still my heroes, and the new line's
coming up.
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Rock
the Earth Photo: Green Apple Festival 2006
RtE
Staffer Sean McNamara at the Green Apple Music Festival, NY,
NY (April 2006).
Send
us your pictures of yourselves, friends and family Rockin’
the Earth. If we use your picture, we’ll send you a free
RtE hemp/organic cotton tote bag! Send pictures to deanneh@rocktheearth.org.
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