environment

Some Sunday reading for you.

• The Nation profiles a young immigrant rights activist fighting for the rights of Cambodian women facing deportation.
• A 29 year old Stanford grad and sports agent pushes her clients to reach out to the communities in which they work to give back; not for financial/PR reasons, but because it's the right thing to do.
• Andrew Revkin, at the New York Times blog "Dot Earth," labels the Millennial Generation -- already Generations Y, Q, and O -- Generation E.
• In addition to launching its Ideas for Change in America, change.org is expanding by seven blogs
• The Nation counts the victories of youth activism in 2008.

Yesterday, Mazhira Black -- Young People For Fellow and Living Liberally intern -- posted about starting off your school year on the left foot.

It got us thinking: it's not just the annual tradition of buying new gear, books and attire that deserves a how-to guide with a sustainable slant and lefty lean. There are dozens of events in the calendar year (holidays, Election Day) and in the human life (rites of passage) that would be well marked with a scoop of social consciousness.

So we're kicking off a Liberal Lifecycle Series...and we'd love your help. Whether it's bringing a baby into the world or wishing dearly departed farewell, we hope you'll send us suggestions for those life moments that could use a liberal lilt.

And here's the post that got us thinking this direction...(good luck back in Waco, Mazhira!):

Are you concerned that your free-thinking tyke will forget his liberal roots this fall in the classroom? Why not equip her with all of the essential back to school items that a liberal pupil needs? When you're bombarded with ads telling you what type of parent you are if you don't shop at Walmart to buy your kid the newest Hannah Montana threads or what sugary fruit drink you should pack in their lunch it can be easy to get lost in the crowd.

The Breakthrough Institute, founded by Michael Shellenberger and Ted Nordhaus of “The Death of Environmentalism” (pdf) fame, is creating a youth arm - Breakthrough Generation - for their new organization the Breakthrough Institute. As their founding project they are sponsoring 10 Fellowships of $5k each this summer and fall. The fellowships will be awarded to applicants who propose a project that meets three criteria:

• Clean Economy: does the proposed project accelerate the transition to
  a clean energy economy?
• Empowerment: does the project empower others, particularly young
  people, to advance progressive social change?
• Transformation: does the project’s local component have high
  potential to be replicable transformation?

Accepted Fellows will receive:

• $5,000 grant: The grant is meant to provide personal financial support to the Fellows for the pursuit of their summer or fall projects. If additional funds are necessary for project implementation, Fellows should be prepared to seek additional sources, with the support of the Breakthrough Institute;
• Spring summit:
  Date: April 18-20th, 2008
  Location: to be determined
  Travel and lodging expenses covered
• Summer conference:
  Date: June 15th – June 22nd, 2008
  Location: Breakthrough Institute, Oakland, California
  Travel and lodging expenses covered
• Fall summit:
  Date: to be determined
  Location: to be determined
  Travel and lodging expenses covered
• Readings and discussion program: To be conducted throughout the year with the Fellows, Breakthrough Institute Founders, Breakthrough Director, and other advisors and experts.

Applicants must be within 18 – 28 years of age, and the fairly detailed application is due on March 21st. To apply, send an email to info [at] thebreakthrough [dot] org.