Give a Gift That Defends the Planet!
 Want to avoid long lines 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 you
and future generations.
In 2008, Rock the Earth made an impact on ground-breaking decisions like successfully defending the rights of the Native American Oglala Tribe to challenge the expansion of a uranium mine and stopping drilling on Colorado’s Roan Plateau! 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.
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
the Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National Park by sending RtE
membership gifts this holiday season! Packages include our 100%
organic cotton shirts, fleece hats, CDs, DVDs, posters and
one-of-a-kind, glass earth pendants from Touch of J.
Special Price on Limited Edition Prints!
Also now, for a short time only, our limited edition posters by noted concert poster artists Justin Hampton, Jeff Wood, Jim Pollock, and Gary Houston are now available as gifts with all new and renewing members at the $65 level or as part of our holiday packages.
Go here to order your RtE Gift Package! Place your order by December 15th to ensure delivery before the holidays.
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Rockin’ Against Mountain Top Mining
 In
a last minute attempt by the Bush Administration to give one last gift
to the mining industry, the Office of Surface Mining has proposed
making Mountain Top Mining permanently legal. Since 2004 when Mountain
Top Mining was “legalized,” it has destroyed hundreds of miles of
streams throughout Appalachia, in direct violation of the word and
intent of both the federal Clean Water Act and the Surface Mining Act.
Last month, Rock the Earth opposed the proposed regulations to
permanently legalize this destructive practice. Our letter to the
EPA/OSM can be found here.
Unfortunately,
we have just received word that despite hundreds of letters to OSM and
EPA on this issue last month, EPA has signed off on OSM’s proposal and
these new regulations are expected to go into effect. Rock the Earth is
consulting with other interested environmental groups and we anticipate
taking legal action on this important issue in early 2009.
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Rockin’ the Park Service Over Snowmobiles (Again)
 Despite
federal court rulings to the contrary, once again the Park Service has
proposed a plan to continue to allow snowmobiles in Yellowstone and
Grand Teton National Parks. This decision belies the wealth of
information that demonstrates that snowmobiles have a negative impact
on visitor experience, natural soundscapes, air quality and wildlife
(and despite the fact that snowmobiles were banned by the Park Service
in 2000 after extensive study and tens of thousands of comments). Our
latest opposition letter to this last minute attempt by the Bush
Administration to put recreation over the environment can be found here.
For more information, please see our Yellowstone Winter Use Plan Project Page.
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Turn Your Holiday Shopping & Surfing into Dollars for RtE!
 Rock the Earth is excited to partner with internet search engine GoodSearch and on-line superstore GoodShop
for a new way to help Defend the Planet One Search at a Time.
GoodSearch works just like any other search engine, with the exception
that each search you conduct will directly benefit Rock the Earth. At
one cent per search, it's remarkable how quickly the dollars add up.
Our partner site GoodShop
let's you do your holiday shopping at over 30 different on-line stores
such as Staples, Apple, Best Buy, Circuit City and Barnes & Noble,
with a portion of each purchase being donated to RtE!
To get started, visit GoodSearch or GoodShop and type in "Rock the Earth" under the "Who do you Goodsearch for?" button.
With that, every search and purchase you conduct will directly benefit
Rock the Earth. You can even check the progress being made by Rock the
Earth members. If only 1000 friends of Rock the Earth utilize the
GoodSearch engine, we would raise nearly $8,000 in a year.
Remember to set your home page or search engine to GoodSearch and raise money for Rock the Earth more easily than ever!
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In the Key of Green: Hypermiling
 The
holidays are always a time of year when many folks take to their cars
to visit family and friends. When driving your car this holiday season,
you can save some cash on fuel as well as helping to reduce your carbon
footprint by trying “hypermiling.” “Hypermiling” is a set of practices to maximize the miles per gallon driving any vehicle.
While the media has sensationalized the hypermiling movement by
highlighting the more extreme practices, such as drafting REALLY close
to big rigs, or wearing as little clothing as possible, hypermiling in
essence, like many environmentally sound practices, is simply the
application of raised consciousness and planetary compassion applied to
driving behavior. The result not only benefits the hypermiler and the
planet in the form of reduced gasoline consumption, but actually also
reduces traffic frustration! Anyone who drives a fossil fuel powered
vehicle can integrate hypermiling practices into her or his driving
with positive results for the bottom line and for the earth.
The
un-extreme version of hypermiling involves five simple steps, starting
with being aware of your vehicle’s gas mileage, and progressing to the
somewhat mind-blowing concept of “anti-traffic” – and the realization
that one driver’s behavior can actually unsnarl traffic jams and
improve mileage for hundreds of other vehicles as well!
A
warning- as I began to put hypermiling into practice, I was amazed at
how much more relaxed I was, and that I usually arrived at a given
point at the same time as aggressive speeders. But I had to fight years
of conditioning to go fast–and resist the temptation to respond
negatively to drivers that raced past or snickered at me. Give it
try–you can give the planet a holiday present of reduce carbon
emissions, and it might just Rock Your Earth.
An excellent place to get the basic info on hypermiling is this website: www.hypermiling.com.
A watershed article on hypermiling appeared on the CNN website in May of 2006: http://money.cnn.com/2006/05/01/Autos/driving_for_mpg/index.htm
And a truly mind-blowing article by William Beatty on the concept of “Anti-traffic”: http://amasci.com/amateur/traffic/trafexp.html
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 New Rock the Earth Membership Gift: Rock the Earth Aluminum Water Bottle
Recycling
your PET plastic water bottles is good… but using a reusable water
bottle is much better for the environment. You’ve been asking for it,
so here it is – a Rock the Earth reusable water bottle by our friends at SIGG.
SIGGs
are Swiss-made and are extruded from a single piece of pure aluminum
for seamless, leak-proof durability. The liner is one-of-a-kind and the
true secret of the SIGG bottle. It is a proprietary formula –
containing no BPA – which is baked on for the life of the bottle and
remains flexible and crack-resistance despite how dinged up the outside
of the bottle might get. Basically, if your SIGG takes a licking, you
can keep on sipping.
The new 20 oz. Rock the Earth SIGG Water Bottle is available as a new or renewing membership gift at the $35 level. Join Rock the Earth and get your water bottle here!
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Who's Your Planet Defender?
 In
April of 2006, Rock the Earth presented our inaugural Planet Defender
awards to three inspirational defenders of the ideals that Rock the
Earth believes in. In 2008, RtE handed out the awards to The Dave Matthews Band in the "Rocker" category, Winston Eco-Strategy's Andrew Winston in the "Community Leader" category, and Asheville, North Carolina-based Riverlink's Karen Cragnolin in
the "Grassroots Activist" category. These winners were chosen from
among dozens of nominations made by Rock the Earth members and friends.
In January, we will once again put out a call for nominations of those individuals who embody Rock the Earth's mission of Defending the Planet One Beat at a Time.
Keep an eye out for those folks who you feel are helping to protect our
planet's most precious places, and nominate them for the prestigious
Planet Defender Award. Winners will be announced on Earth Day, April
22, 2009.
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 Rock the Earth Member Benefits: Tree Greetings
You
undoubtedly know you can have a tree planted for someone special in
your life. But do you know you can have it done where absolutely no
paper is used throughout the process? It’s a very carbon-positive
choice. You order the planting of your gift tree online, and the
recipient receives his or her notification through a beautiful animated
nature e-card.
 Several
criteria are used when selecting the specific tree: soil conditions,
species diversity, native varieties, what trees are needed and how much
moisture is in that area that year. These important considerations help
to insure your gift will thrive. You can choose flowering trees, shade
trees, fruit trees or evergreens; the trees are planted in El Salvador,
Guatemala and several locations in the U.S. Rock the Earth members receive a 20% discount on all orders!
Check out www.treegreetings.com to see selections for Christmas, Hanukkah, Solstice, Memorial, Birthday and many other options.
Go here to see a list of all Rock the Earth membership benefits.
To find out how you can take advantage of these members-only benefits, write to
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.
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Rockin' the Gothic and Fox Theatres in Colorado With Free Tickets!
Next in our year-long series of events with Denver’s Gothic Theatre and Boulder’s Fox Theatre,
Rock the Earth will be tabling at the following upcoming shows,
educating and activating fans about important local and national
environmental issues:
FREE TICKETS:
If you are already a Member of Rock the Earth, you can win a pair of
FREE TICKETS to one of the above concerts. To enter, email
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;
include the name of the band of your choice in the subject line and
your name in the email. To volunteer at these shows contact
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. For more information please visit www.rocktheearth.org.
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Rockin’ Shanghai Nights
 This
month if you are a new or renewing member of Rock the Earth you can
also win the chance to purchase the final VIP tickets to the Shanghai Nights New Year’s Eve celebration at the Wonder Ballroom in Portland, OR, featuring the hot new band Moseley, Law, Sipe & Droll and EOTO.
The pair of VIP tickets are being made available to a lucky RtE Member
for the price of $150 – a savings of $50. The VIP treatment will not
only get you into the show, but seating in a special VIP area, access
to the VIP lounge, free drinks and use of the special VIP bathrooms,
and a commemorative poster.
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Volunteers
Rock!
If
you are looking for ways to get more involved with
Rock the Earth, now is the time to step up and make
your voice heard. Here some ways you might volunteer
with Rock the Earth:
- Participating
in environmental education, membership solicitation
and outreach at events
- Providing regional coordination of events and volunteers
- Supporting
our fundraising & membership drives
- Offering
legal & technical assistance to RtE projects
- Assisting
with data entry & mailings in our Denver office
- Writing
press releases
Please
drop a note to
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and a let us know how you wish to get involved. Be
sure to include your name, geographical area, and
the best way in which we can contact you. We look
forward to rocking the earth with your help in 2009!
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What Rocks Your Earth: Todd Sheaffer (Railroad Earth)
 Todd Sheaffer plays guitar and is the lead singer and primary songwriter in the New Jersey-based, Americana roots and rock band Railroad Earth.
Railroad Earth's music combines elements of bluegrass, rock and roll,
jazz, celtic and more. The group is known for its extensive live
improvisation and lyrical songwriting within an acoustic base. Formed
in 2001, the band first hit the national stage with their first album, The Black Bear Sessions,
and was picked up by Sugar Hill Records. Since that time, the band has
produced a total of five albums, including their recent release Amen Corner
(SCI Fidelity). Formerly of the band From Good Homes, Rolling Stone
once said, “Todd Sheaffer writes supple, rootsy numbers that get a
happy feel going in a kind of… new hippie bounce and he sings them with
a frank, conversationalist flair.”
What environmental issue(s) do you consider to be the most critical at this time?
Well, of course, global warming. It's amazing to me that there has even
been debate about the issue. It seems to me that even if there were
only a one in a million chance the evidence is legitimate, we'd still
need to take responsibility and address the issue – it is so enormous
in its implications. Also critical are deforestation, water issues,
species extinction, etc. Where do we begin? Locally, there's a plan to
build a massive powerline down the Delaware River valley that'll be
environmentally destructive and aesthetically god-awful. Awareness is
just starting and I’m real curious about this one.
What has inspired you to combine environmental activism with your music?
The urgency of the situation. I think anyone with even a modest
love/respect for the earth and its future feels the pain and would like
to see things change. We are trying to do our little part. It's
something all the bandmates are concerned about and agree on. As a band
we have a platform to reach people, connect with people, provide a
forum for people to share ideas, and help people connect. That is the
intent of "The Forecast"(Railroad Earth's environmental issues web-page
at: http://www.railroadearth.com/theforecast) – it's a natural
extension of our music and my songs.
Where is your favorite place in nature to go to find solace or inspiration?
I've lived for many years next to the Delaware Water Gap National
Forest. It's near and dear and I've discovered many special spots there
that I love. My house borders Stokes State Forest, and the Appalachian
Trail runs along the Kittatinny Ridge at the highest point in New
Jersey in my backyard. It's a straight climb up the ridge to a
beautiful meadow. I go up there a lot. It's real windy with grasses,
mosses, rock outcroppings, puddingstone dumps, wind-beaten scrub pines
and fantastic views. To the north you can see all the way to the
Catskills in New York State; to the south down to the Delaware Water
Gap and Pennsylvania, and you can see the lakes in the region and the
Delaware River. I also love to snorkel – I go any chance I get.
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Photo: Rockin’ Hotlanta with the Brothers!
RtE Volunteer Staffer Pari Beigi with RtE Volunteers Christina Harris
and Terry Latham (Allman Brothers Band, October 2008)
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