HERE. - Rock the Earth

Environmental Accomplishments
We are proud to report that in 2011 Rock the Earth’s
environmental advocacy and educational projects continued
to expand, impacting environmental issues and the public in
profound ways.
We continued to prosecute our second lawsuit in federal court,
expanded our program to keep thousands of cellular telephones out of
landfills, and continued to see the very real and positive results from
education and advocacy campaigns which we have been working on
over the last few years. We also, for the first time in our history,
took on an artist-suggested international issue, leading to not only a
national education campaign, but also to an activation and letter-writing
campaign with significant and measureable outcomes!
The music community continued to embrace Rock the Earth by
tapping us for the sixth time to conduct environmental education at
Bonnaroo, the largest festival in the United States, for the fourth
time at Summer Camp, and for the first time at the Sweetwater
420 Festival and at the All Good Festival. In addition to our
annual work on the Bonnaroo Solar Stage, we once again headed up
Green Screens Presented by Rock the Earth, an environmental
film series, in the Cinema Tent.
All the while, Rock the Earth’s experienced legal and technical team
continued to move forward on several new issues, while continuing
to research and investigate other issues brought to us by the music
community.
Buckhorn Mountain
January 2011 On December 31, 2010, Rock the Earth presented
formal comments to the U.S. EPA regarding the future (2013)
General National Pollutant Discharge Elimination Permit
for Vessels (i.e., cruise ships). In our comments to the current
2009 permit, we made suggestions for improvements to be made
when the permit is renewed in 2013, including asking that EPA take
a harder look at certain discharges, that cruise ships be required
to publish discharge monitoring reports, and that there be greater
transparency and education on the part of cruise lines vis-à-vis
passengers and customers.
January 2011 On January 18, Rock the Earth submitted a comment
letter encouraging the National Forest Service to take a hard look
at the Buckhorn Mountain Exploration Project, a proposed
plan to significantly expand gold mining and exploration activities in
North Central Washington State. Without appropriate protections,
the proposed activities are anticipated to impact wildlife movement,
water quality and air quality, increase invasive species, and fragment
wildlife habitat.
March 2011 Rock the Earth advocated for the continued
cleanup of North Carolina’s Pigeon River, a waterway of
importance to legendary guitarist Warren Haynes. For several
years, Rock the Earth legal and technical staff have been
monitoring and commenting on the discharge permit for a paper
mill near Canton, North Carolina, which mill has had repeated
violations of the Clean Water Act. Rock the Earth encouraged
constituents to send letters to the North Carolina Department of
Environment, requesting more stringent discharge limits for the
mill so as to protect the ecosystem as well as the economic and
cultural value of the river.
April 2011 For the second time in four years, Rock the Earth
co-sponsored a community service project with the Revision
International, a Denver-based nonprofit organization supporting
local actions that lead to global sustainability. With Revision, Rock
the Earth helped to expand a community garden at the Kepner
Middle School, in Denver’s Westwood neighborhood. The garden
was created to grow fresh, healthy, organic produce for the school
and the community, which is considered a “food desert,” lacking
easy-to-obtain local and organic vegetables and fruit. In Chicago,
Illinois, Rock the Earth partnered once again with Friends of the
Park, cleaning, trail mulching, and helping with a prairie burn in the
Dunning Creek Conservation Area. In Atlanta, Georgia, Rock the
Earth Board Member James Gooch led a Social Change Through
Music discussion with artists and activists at the Sweetwater
420 Festival. Finally, back in Denver, Rock the Earth partnered
with Green Garage on a cell phone collection campaign, and
Executive Director Marc Ross was a featured speaker at the