| Presenting
the 2007 Planet Defenders
Thanks
to thoughtful input from Rock the Earth members and friends,
we present the 2007 Planet Defenders!
Artist:
Barenaked Ladies
 Toronto-based
artists Barenaked
Ladies have long advocated for environmental
sustainability through their words and actions. Touring for
more than 15 years, Barenaked Ladies have forged an international
following through their witty, heartfelt lyrics and special
relationship with their fans. BNL
has recently teamed up with Reverb to communicate
with their fans about environmental and social issues that
are increasingly important to them. On their recent Fall Tour,
BNL fueled their tour buses and trucks with biodiesel,
offset the energy used at each show with wind power,
and recycled and used compostable materials backstage.
BNL members also contribute their individual time, for example,
Steven Page sits on the Board of the Canadian World Wildlife
Fund. Rock the Earth congratulates Barenaked Ladies for the
strong advocacy of environmental issues, and we thank Christine
Chavez for her nomination.
Community
Leader: Carl Safina
 MacArthur
Fellow, writer, and conservationist Dr.
Carl Safina has seemingly done it all at a
young age. Dr. Safina, nominated by Eric Gilchrist, has been
profiled in The New York Times and on Nightline, and was named
by Audubon as one of the "100 Notable Conservationists
of the 20th Century." An avid jazz music fan and former
drummer, Dr. Safina's passion is the protection of the world's
oceans. After founding the National Audubon Society's Living
Oceans Program and serving for ten years as vice president
for ocean conservation, in 2003 Dr. Safina co-founded the
Blue
Ocean Institute. The Blue Ocean Institute's
methods are near and dear to Rock the Earth, as they use "science,
art and literature to inspire a 'sea ethic'."
Rock the Earth congratulates Dr. Safina on his award, and
we encourage our members to tap into music to help establish
a strong "environmental ethic" as we defend the
planet one beat at a time.
Grassroots
Activist: Karen Dolan
 For
the second consecutive year, Rock the Earth returns to the
Keystone State of Pennsylvania to honor our Grassroots Activist.
Karen Dolan is a schoolteacher and founder of the Illick's
Mill Project in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Illick's
Mill was an operational grist mill in the late 1800s and early
1900s and is being restored to serve as an environmental education
center for the Bethlehem community. Illick's
Mill is a true community organization, with strong involvement
from local high school students, community members, and Pennsylvania-based
musicians Rusted
Root. Karen's nominator, Katrina Leach, states,
"I was a part of this project four years ago, and the
students literally run the business. We did grant writing,
held fund-raising events (including an all day music festival
called River Fusion), raised awareness about the environment,
and so much more." Rock the Earth congratulates Karen
on her work and encourages our members to continue to have
an impact on their local communities!
"More
than ever, we need to join together to protect our precious
planet Earth. Through art, music, advocacy, activism, and
hands-on hard work, we all must do our part to ensure that
our planet will survive. It is our only home." - Karen
Dolan
This year's
Planet Defenders join last
year's recipients - Musician Jack Johnson,
Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson and Jason Rutledge
- as we continue to honor those individuals we feel embody
Rock the Earth's drive to Defend the Planet One Beat at
a Time.
 Each
Planet Defender recipient will receive a one-of-a-kind award
created by artist Scott Wolfson of the Crefeld
School, a progressive, alternative learning
community in Philadelphia. For more information about Scott's
work, visit his
website here. The individuals who nominated
our award winners will receive a special Earth Day gift from
Rock the Earth.
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Springtime,
when our thoughts turn to…Snowmobiles
RtE Continues Fight to Ban Snowmobiles from
National Parks
 Created
in 1872 as our first National Park, Yellowstone National Park
remains a crown jewel in the National Park System, along with
its sister Grand Teton National Park. The pristine and naturally
wild environment of these parks is unique and arguably without
equal. This is especially true during winter months, when
the impressive natural beauty of the parks is enhanced by
the peace and tranquility of the frosty setting.
Over the
past four decades the increasing numbers of snowmobiles using
the Parks - from 1,000 visits in 1963-64 to over 76,000 visits
in 1999-2000 - tarnished these treasures with dirty air, inescapable
noise pollution and congestion. After a decade of study, in
2001 the Clinton Administration National Park Service issued
regulations that would have phased out snowmobiles by the
2003-2004 winter use season.
Settling
a lawsuit brought by snowmobile manufacturers, and as part
of a series of environmental rollbacks, the Bush Administration
cancelled implementation of the 2001 regulations and issued
a new regulation in September 2004 that would allow for continued
excessive, even increased, used of snowmobiles in the Parks.
Continue
reading this article...
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In
the Key of Green: Rock the Earth Day 2007
Each year
it seems that Rock the Earth's participation in Earth Day
activities grows to new levels and 2007 is no exception. Please
join us at events throughout the country to honor the planet
and support Rock the Earth:
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Washington,
D.C.
Saturday, April 14
Umphrey's
McGee @ 9:30 Club
Umphrey's McGee will be donating $2 of every ticket
sold at the door that night to RtE.
Umphrey’s
McGee Signed Poster Auction for Earth Day!
Bid
on a signed and numbered Umphrey’s McGee print
by notable Rock artist, Jeff Wood. 100% of the proceeds
go to Rock the Earth!
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Atlanta,
Georgia
Saturday, April 14
Hot
Buttered Rum @ Robert Ferst Center for the Arts
HBR will be donating a portion of their merchandise sales
that night to RtE. |
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Harrisonville,
Virginia
Saturday, April 14
New
Riders of the Purple Sage @ The Pub
NRPS will be donating $1 on EVERY ticket sold for this
show to RtE! |
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Denver,
Colorado
Rock Earth Day by Showcasing Your Guitar Hero II
Skills
Thursday, April 19, Quixote's, 2637 Welton St., Denver
You
see yourself as an environmentalist, but you also want
to be a musician? Now is your chance! Help celebrate
Earth Day by participating in a Rock the Earth Guitar
Hero II Benefit Contest. As part of the Earth Day celebrations,
Rock the Earth is hosting an event that appeals to music,
video game and environmental enthusiasts alike. The
contest, sponsored by Rock the Earth and Best Buy, will
pit contestants against each other in an elimination
contest with finalists vying for prizes donated by Best
Buy, Tattered Cover and other area businesses.
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Rock
the Earth Day Concert
Sunday, April 22
Hard Rock Café, 500 16th Street Mall, Denver
 Come
join the fun and help celebrate Earth Day 2007. Rock
the Earth, along with the Hard
Rock Café and AM
760, are hosting a benefit concert featuring
local musical talent Rob
Drabkin. In addition to Rob's concert,
audience members will have the opportunity, for a small
fee ($5), to test their environmental and music knowledge.
The trivia contest winners will win great prizes (first
prize includes a Hard Rock Café t-shirt signed
by Rob).
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Charity
Day at Six Flags Elitch Gardens
Sunday, April 22
Spend
the day at Elitch
Gardens, riding the coasters and eating
fried dough with the RtE Staff. Tickets are only $21.99
for the day (regular price $44.99)! If you're interested
in joining us, please send an email to us at info@rocktheearth.org
for more information and to purchase your tickets!
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Green
Apple Music Festival
Chicago, IL
April 21-22, Lincoln Park Zoo
San
Francisco, CA
April 21-22, Golden Gate Park
Join
Rock the Earth in celebrating Earth Day at the Green
Apple Music Festival.
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Rock
the Earth Day Sponsors!
Rock the
Earth would like to thank local and national businesses who
are contributing to Rock the Earth Day Celebrations:
 BigMoonMountain.com
offers natural body goods, made by hand with love and in hopes
of peace. Their goods are certified vegan and cruelty free
and never contain any chemicals or synthetics. During Earth
Day Week 40% of all purchases made will be donated directly
to Rock the Earth!
 Herbs
& Arts, 2015 E. Colfax Ave, Denver, Colorado
is donating 10% of all purchases made on April 14, 2007 to
Rock the Earth.
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Nugs.net
Rocks the Earth with New Double LIVE CD
 Thanks
to the generosity of nugs.net,
the premier live music download site, RtE now has a new Membership
Gift - a double
CD of live music by some of the biggest names
in Rock! This set features live versions of Dave Matthews
Band (Warehouse - 8/7/2004), Jack Johnson (Banana
Pancakes - Kokua 2006), The Grateful Dead (Eyes of
the World - 12/31/76), Phish (Tube - 12/29/97),
Widespread Panic (From the Cradle - 11/3/06), and many
others. Well over 2 hours of music, this set is a must for
any music lover and is now available with the $25 level of
membership-- this set is a steal! Go
here now!
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Membership
Benefits - Ride the Mule!
 If
you are a paid member of Rock the Earth (and your membership
is up-to-date), you can win a pair of tickets to see Gov't
Mule at the Denver Fillmore for FREE! We're
giving away two (2) pairs of tickets for their historic
run (April 26th and 27th). If you would like to be entered
into the contest, write to info@rocktheearth.org
with a subject line being: Mule Tix. Deadline to enter is
April 23. Winners will be contacted by email on April 24th.
Wakarusa
Music Festival - Only $110 for RtE Members! A savings
of nearly $50!
 The
3rd annual Wakarusa Music Festival held June 7-10, 2006 in
Lawrence, Kansas, features 4 days of music, camping, workshops,
microbrews and more. The word “Wakarusa” is a Native
American term meaning "ass-deep". In and around
the Lawrence, Kansas area, it refers to the Wakarusa River,
which, oddly enough, is about "ass-deep" in depth.
Enjoy music on 7 stages by Widespread Panic, Ben Harper, Yonder
Mountain String Band, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Sam
Bush, Galactic and many more bands! To order tix, write to
info@rocktheearth.org.
If
you are not yet a Member of Rock the Earth, please
consider joining our growing movement of environmentally passionate
music fans.
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A
Rockin' 2006!
The third
Annual
Report from Rock the Earth is complete and
can be found on our website. Highlights from 2006 include:
- RtE's
continued mercurial growth in membership (over 1,600 members
in all 50 states).
- RtE
legal and technical staff worked on over a dozen substantive
matters, highlighted by RtE's first lawsuit against the
National Park Service for their mismanagement of the stretch
of the Colorado River that passes through Grand Canyon National
Park.
- RtE
had a presence at over 160 concert dates throughout the
United States.
- RtE
raised over $100,000 from memberships, sponsorships, donations,
grants and auctions.
If you
would like a hard copy of the Annual Report, you can obtain
one by sending a request and your mailing address to info@RockTheEarth.org.
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Summer's
Coming - Volunteer to Rock the Earth
Are you
interested in a summer internship with RtE? This summer we
will once again tour the country! Our goal is to educate music
fans and environmentalists about our mission and the environmental
issues on which we are working. We will be signing up new
members and volunteers, as well as continuing to build our
relationships with musicians nationwide. We had great success
during our 2006 Summer Tour, and look forward to reaching
even greater heights in 2007! If you are interested in learning
more about the Summer Outreach Intern positions, please email
us at info@rocktheearth.org
for a full job description.
We also
always keep an eye out for motivated individuals to volunteer
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
- Writing
press releases
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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Buy
(or sell) on eBay to support Rock the Earth
 Whatever
you're looking for, you'll find it on eBay. When you do, shop
for items that support Rock the Earth. Thanks to the eBay
Giving Works program, you can buy almost anything in The
World's Online Marketplace ® - from baseball cards to
vintage cars - and benefit Rock the Earth at the same time.
There are always lots of items for sale to support Rock the
Earth, and eBay buyers and sellers have already used their
transactions to raise thousands of dollars for Rock the Earth
since 2005.
You can
sell through eBay Giving Works to help too! Donate 10-100%
of the final price for anything you sell on eBay to Rock the
Earth. Donate 100% of an auction's proceeds, and Ebay donates
their transaction fees to Rock the Earth as well!!!! Whether
you're an avid eBay seller or just trying to clean out the
attic, your stuff can help Rock the Earth defend the planet
one beat at a time.
Buy
to Support Rock the Earth | Sell
to Support Rock the Earth
Umphrey’s
McGee Signed Poster Auction for Earth Day!
Bid
on a signed and numbered Umphrey’s McGee print by notable
Rock artist, Jeff Wood. 100% of the proceeds go to Rock the
Earth!
»
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Jon
"Barber" Gutwillig Rocks the Earth: Interview
Photo
by Dave Vann |
Jon "the
Barber" Gutwillig plays guitar in the popular, Philadelphia-based
touring band, The
Disco Biscuits. The Biscuits have played a
large role in the success of Headcount,
a 2004 nonpartisan, voter registration organization that worked
closely with the music community to register over 50,000 voters
nationwide. Over Memorial Day weekend, the Biscuits will headline
the Jam
on the River festival in Philadelphia and in July,
they will co-anchor a festival, Trancegression,
with RtE supporters Umphrey's McGee at Copper Mountain, Colorado.
What
environmental issue(s) do you consider to be the most critical
at this time?
Wildlife
habitat is critical for so many reasons. Let us put the standard
"I love animal" reasons aside. These habitats clean
the air and purify the water. Wildlife is the world that gave
birth to the human race and no one can really say that we
can exist without it. Climate change is a very pressing issue
and very few things right now are working to combat it as
hard as the wildlife habitats across the globe. It is my belief
that if we do not have large undeveloped wildlife habitats
across the globe, our environment is capable of drastic changes
and wild unpredictability. Humans have crossed the threshold
to creating our world including the air and water. However,
we haven't created systems that process and create oxygen
or process the impurities of our energy production. These
jobs are done by the ever-dwindling wildlife habitats across
the globe. Remove them for whatever purpose--be it housing,
lumber, coal, tourism, etc.--and we will pay that price in
hurricanes and poisons.
What
has inspired you to combine environmental activism with your
music?
The fans
are creating all the opportunities through their participation
in whatever charity activity we have going on. If we have
a food drive, they bring tons of food, sometimes setting records.
If we play a Katrina benefit, it sells out in 30 minutes.
There are conservative environmental views being held by these
people; it is to try to keep things from changing, to address
the aspects of our culture that are changing the environment
and use the brains and brawn of today's society to reverse
these changes and keep the environment consistent. Most conservative
people are conservative economically; sometimes people are
also conservative about the world we live in and preserving
it in its reliable, comforting state. Both the economy and
the environment are dynamic systems that affect and are affected
by the 6 billion people on earth. I believe that environmental
conservatism will generate a healthy and abundant economy,
where as economical conservatism will create environmental
instability, toxicity and shortage. We find that the core
of environmentally conservative values runs in the hearts
and minds of the people we work hard to entertain. We then
try to connect them to organizations that can convert their
efforts and goodwill into action.
Where
is your favorite place in nature to go to find solace or inspiration?
I like
the ocean. Sea creatures fascinate me. It amazes me how completely
they evolve to survive on their food source. Some are whales,
some are sponges, crabs, squid and eels--all perfectly optimized
to inhabit their place in the food chain. I'm always amazed
at how they each have a special power that the others don't
have which give them a competitive edge in their environment.
Some fish blink, some are camouflaged, some have teeth or
claws or shells. I wondered what the human competitive advantage
was and there seem to be three… the thumb, the voice
box and the brain. It is amazing that we are the only species
on earth that is capable of comprehending the universe. Just
think of how smart we really are.
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Rockin'
the Earth at Langerado: Photo
RtE
Volunteer Staffer Pari Beigi and RtE member/volunteer Erin
Connolly
at the Langerado Music Festival 2007
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