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Support NEIS by watching the inspiring film POWER STRUGGLE at:![]()
turningtide.vhx.tv/products/power-struggle-nuclear-energy-info-service![]()
(Available only until April 30)![]()
Also see our other post for a link to our special Night with the Experts featuring the film maker of Power Struggle, Robbie Leppzer![]()
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Directed by Robbie Leppzer, Turning Tide Films![]()
86 minutes • 2019![]()
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• $12 Rent (72-hour period)![]()
• WATCH NOW (film link)![]()
• Proceeds from this screening will benefit Nuclear Energy Information Service (NEIS)![]()
As the world recently marked the 10th anniversary of the triple nuclear meltdowns at Fukushima, Japan, this nuclear disaster had a profound impact in the small state of Vermont, as it occurred in the midst of a years-long citizens’ campaign to close down the problem-plagued Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant, a reactor of the same design.![]()
Filmed over five years by director Robbie Leppzer, POWER STRUGGLE portrays a heated political battle and follows the unfolding drama as citizen activists and elected state officials—alarmed at increasing safety violations—take on the federal government and one of the biggest power companies in the U.S. to achieve a rare grassroots environmental victory.![]()
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POWER STRUGGLE is a timely, inspiring story of democracy in action; about whether citizens’ voices will be heard against big moneyed interests, and what people are doing to make a difference for a sustainable energy future.![]()
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“POWER STRUGGLE is a hopeful story that reminds us that citizen activism is not just possible, it is essential to saving our endangered planet.” ![]()
— David Goodman, best-selling author, journalist and radio host, THE VERMONT CONVERSATION
Special EarthDay![]()
“Night With The Experts”![]()
Filmmaker Robbie Leppzer discussing![]()
“Power Struggle”![]()
The Fight to Close Vermont Yankee -- a story of Grassroots Power ![]()
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Thursday, April 22, 2021, 7 p.m. Central![]()
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Zoom link: (copy and paste into your browser)![]()
us02web.zoom.us/j/89649935590?pwd=KzR5VUFBUHNuYklMWDB4UjFmdXo3QT09
And Now, a Special Earth Day Story from NEIS:![]()
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We sent this out to our list last year, on the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, and thought it might bear repeating:![]()
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As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first Earth Day held in 1970, we at NEIS are proud of the historic role we have played in some of the largest and best Earth celebrations in Chicago-area history.![]()
In the summer of 1989 plans for what would become the largest and best Earth Day in Chicago history began in the basement office of NEIS in Evanston. Recognizing the significance of the upcoming 20th anniversary, NEIS pulled together a small crew of interested groups and folks – some neighbors, Northwestern University student group Students for a Better Environment, and a few others. We decided for its 20th anniversary, the Earth needed a celebration day to remember, and so set out to plan what became Earthday ’90 Chicago.![]()
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We reached out to Denis Hayes – the organizer of the first Earth Day for Sen. Gaylord Nelson – and met with him and his tiny staff in late summer and autumn. We expanded our network of interested groups to include folks like Jim Slama, founder and editor of the then nascent Conscious Choice Magazine (now head of Family Farmed); Katy Hogan of the Heartland Café; Dawn Silver and Mike Wisniewski of Healing Earth Resources Center; graphic artist Larry Roth; Northwestern grad students Kevin Olson and Rike Luderer; Bob Rudner of Maxworks Co-op; Maggie (Roberts???); 16-year old Francis Parker student Lori Miller; Susan Balaban; Laura Coyne; and many other loving and dedicated individuals and groups (including the "neglected" spouses and partners of the organizers like Sally Stepath who put up with our disappearance for 6 months) – none of whom had ever conducted a major public event of this size and vision before.![]()
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By December 1989 we had been meeting regularly, and were able to bring on two more wonderful, indispensable individuals – Paul Miller, who would become spokesperson for ED’90, as we began to call ourselves; and Jill Goldman, our office manager and pirate queen (she was a sailor and had a boat). A donation of office space came through at the newly opened North Pier location. We were off to the races. But not without unforeseen great difficulties.![]()
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We had to raise big bucks. We had to have a huge outdoor location in Chicago. After a disastrous “St. Valentine’s Day Massacre” fundraiser in February (it snowed 8” hours before the event, keeping all but 16 people at home), Earth Mother finally decided whose side She would be on.![]()
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Helen Doria, a friend of Katy Hogan and hostess at Heartland Café became the event’s Chief Fairy Godmother. She opened the secret access door to the City of Chicago by just happening to know Kathy Osterman who was head of the City of Chicago’s Office of Special Events. Helen sold her on the deal. ED’90 – which by merging activity with Denis Hays’ national Earth organization had now become Earth Day Chicago – would get Lincoln Park for the venue! Everything west of Lake Shore Drive, south of Fullerton Ave. all the way to the North Avenue ball fields would be the location for Earth Day 1990.![]()
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On the financial front Jim Slama and his team of experts and nags miraculously raised the roughly $250,000 in cash and donated/in-kind services to make the event a reality – in 3 months! Legally!![]()
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Jill Goldman and a blizzard of volunteers worked from the North Pier office on outreach, nuts and bolts, advertising, and more. By the time the event took place, over 60 vendors and participating groups had been signed up. Workshops had been scheduled for the Park District buildings in Lincoln Park. Chicago Times Magazine (March/April 1990, p. 42-43) ran a special article showcasing the event.![]()
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All that remained was to hold the event. An outdoor event. An outdoor event in April – the month that brings the showers that bring May flowers. Would our Mother deliver one last time?![]()
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April 22, 1990 dawned bright and sunny on a thoroughly exhausted crew that had spent the entire night setting up tents, tables, food areas and electrical hookups. It turned out that this would be the first 80-degree sunny Sunday of the month. It is reported that as many as 100,000 people came through the event the entire day, as families poured into Lincoln Park ready to shed Winter and get on with Spring. Mayor Daley got his time from the mainstage, MC’d by local wonderfully insane, dashiki-clad Chicago-area comic Aaron Freeman, later taken over by musicians. By 10 a.m., our planning team had totally lost control of the event. The rest of the day, the event ran itself. – well, enjoyably and very successfully.![]()
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When it was all over, an exhausted crew of volunteers spent hours cleaning up the Park. Although I never saw it, it was reported to everyone that Ald. Ed Eisendrath, in whose ward the event took place, stated how pleased he was with the event, and that he felt the Park was left in better shape than it was before the event. ![]()
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In five month’s time, a bunch of nobodies, with no connections, no funds, little clue, but lots of heart had put on a quarter-million dollar event in the middle of the crown jewel of Chicago city parks that drew 100,000 people. No Earth Day since has come close.![]()
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And it all began at the NEIS basement office in Evanston in the summer of 1989.![]()
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NEIS went on to play significant roles in the 30th and 31st anniversary events in Chicago. NEIS actually had to boycott the 31st anniversary event. But, that’s a story for another day.![]()
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Whose earth? OUR Earth!!![]()
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Happy Earth Day, NEIS Supporters!
April 26th - April 29th![]()
Each evening for two hours with different speakers each day.![]()
You have to register for the days you want.![]()
No cost.