Sometimes environmental slogans define the person

Shedding one’s skin earlier in life can be a galvanizing force. Molting can create environmental activists who are wizards of multidisciplinary arts: strategic planners, PR gurus; part political lobbyist, part ecological philosopher; mitigation counselor one day, event planner another. For Brad Hash, his days in coal country – Ravenswood, W. Va., – have sparked his journey: Vermont, Utah, Wyoming, and Missoula, Mont., where he’s been since 1993. This path has helped him define a better fight to take on: coal. In the tradition of John Muir, the philosopher behind the Sierra Club, Hash switches playing free safety and offensive halfback to bring us the nuts and bolts of Sierra Club campaigning, doing what Muir would have called God’s work. He comes to Spokane often to organize locals to fight coal – and Washington’s lone coal-fired plant, a Centralia facility owned and operated by TransAlta. It’s Washington’s leading source of global warming, toxic mercury and nitrogen oxide pollution, and TransAlta “ships” almost every kilowatt out of state. Hash’s Sierra Club “Beyond Coal” work ties into national efforts to transition us off of dirty coal, which pumps out 45 percent of our electric power. He brings undergraduate degrees in geography and psychology from Shepherd University and a master’s in environmental studies (with writing emphasis) from U of Montana to fight the good fight in environmental activism. His dedication to “the word” echoes Rachel Carson’s: “The discipline of the writer is to learn to be still and listen to what his subject has to tell him.” Witnessing Brad work with Sustainable September Spokane organizers, I saw a man willing to assist youth to find a voice and engage in the challenge of protecting the environment, communities and nature. “Words yield power, influence and inspiration. As print media wanes and library visits plummet, the word is perhaps ironically more popular given the onslaught of social networking tools,” he said. “The challenge is to embrace and utilize these options to reconnect people to their environments and/or demonstrate the need to protect and restore these environments. We must integrate these tools into our communication options in order to engage and be engaged.” He recently shared thoughts about Beyond Coal and environmental advocacy. Why did you want to work for the Sierra Club? I’ve studied coal, impacts of coal mining and coal power for years. I’ve developed a passion for helping move this country off the dirtiest, most destructive fuel source. Growing up in West Virginia I was exposed first-hand to coal’s negative impacts. What are your duties? Creating and expanding a volunteer base, meeting with public officials and agency personnel to advance our campaign, engaging media, managing volunteer teams, lots of research, developing campaign plans and strategies, creating and disseminating education materials, utilizing online and inter-personal organizing tools, and a fair amount of administrative tasks. How can youth prepare for careers in the non-profit environmental world? Understand that hours are long, work is consuming, and rewards are infrequent. Keep solid boundaries between work and personal life to help avoid burnout. More than anything, maintain a strong sense of humor. Will the mid-term elections bode well for the environment? Definitely not. Regardless of which party drives the bus, we’re still headed for a cliff. The difference is Democrats apply the brakes occasionally while Republicans head there with the pedal to the metal. Do you think the right keeps moving the stake that once was centered, more to the right? Republicans have invested money and time since the 1960s into learning how to frame debates, capture messaging, and drive media and the public toward their agenda. Democrats have played a poor game of catch-up. They’re more willing and likely to seek compromise with the other party, while Republicans do better at standing firm on their convictions. How do you have fun? I spend time with my son and wife, hunt, hike sometimes (not as much as I used to), teach martial arts, work on a screenplay, and just sit outside, weather permitting, inside otherwise, and do nothing…nothing at all…just sit. What skills do you best deploy at work? I have passion that comes through when I’m teaching, giving presentations. I probably love that more than anything. My writing and editing skills are strong but aren’t used as frequently as I’d like. Crafting campaign strategy is something I’ve been interested in and have a general knack toward, but more experience is needed. What’s next for Beyond Coal? I’ll continue to work on creating a coal-free Washington, specifically in Spokane. We’ll continue to build a base of public support for ending Washington’s use of coal-fired power and open doors for clean energy. There’s a fantastic opportunity to transition off coal this decade – including power produced in-state and power imported in the form of electricity. How can we help? Use the pulpit and pen: let public officials know you want them to support a coal-free Washington (see www.coalfreewashington.org); write letters to the editor highlighting dangers coal poses to human health, our climate and our economy; volunteer and help build support in Spokane; and contact me to get involved and learn more – brad.hash@sierraclub.org. Brad is steeled to fight the good fight, but he’s no Pollyanna. He realizes it’s going to take a brawl to wear down the powers and corporate interests wreaking havoc on our lives, the ocean, every ecological niche. He’s not without a glass-half full approach to victories over the past 46 years, like Congressional acts such as Clean Water, Clean Air, and Wilderness. Beyond Coal has helped stop 128 of 151 proposed U.S. coal plants. Even so, these midterm elections should be a warning to environmentalists and sustainability proponents. Oregon just dumped a valuable wind turbine project. Solar collectors across Southwestern deserts and creating green trains and transition cities won’t happen without a fight, which Hash admits while keeping a happy countenance around the public. He understands he must employ all tools necessary to harness youth and attract attention for funding and political support, but he’s wary of some being derailed and challenged by “the distraction of current social networking tools and the sound-bite culture those tools encourage. Maybe a 12-year-old will never read a newspaper but she’ll respond to her friend’s text to help save a polar bear floating on a block of ice.” Of course, when someone like Hash runs into a fellow writer/activist educator like myself, we end up going Cormac McCarthy dark on the world. I know the realities of ocean acidification, and if we don’t stop burning hydrocarbons, life on earth is cooked. Visit here for Carl Zimmer’s piece, “An Ominous Warning on the Effects of Ocean Acidification,” and it’s clear how Hash or Haeder might see a half-full or half-empty (and full of mercury) view of the world. Ethnography, sociology, environmental journalism, strategic planning and community organizing are some ways Hash brings people together to pound the pavement, write petitions, call legislators and pen letters to get activism and awareness parlayed into action, change. He’s bitten off the toughest piece of the old energy pie crust – coal – which is the most impacting on climate and oceans. We both have narrative frames when talking about getting people to care, to learn, and eventually fight with words, ballots or boycotts, and, if need be, bodies. We joke about whether that proverbial half-glass/full-glass is filled with Patron tequila, or a good single-malt scotch. Is it a philosophical no-brainer, or is this concept of shifting realities/shifting relativism the actual club braining us all into a stupor? In the end, Hash frames where we must take our fight to end the corruptions, corporations and collusions with money-grubbing politicians: “I’ve always believed that most people will never take action unless they are directly, palpably affected, and in a stressed economic climate that may be exacerbated. Our consumer/commodity-driven culture has numbed too many to issues that truly affect us and our future and the future of our planet.”