Hi, everyone! This is Jensen, long-time supervisor for the the Students Taking on Oil and Petrochemicals (STOP) Fellowship and this year’s Coordinator.
Exciting news about the program is that we expanded our cohort geography to include states across the country, welcoming nine incredible fellows to oppose petrochemical and industry sites in collaboration with a host organization and mentor. In addition to the Ohio River Valley and Appalachia, this now includes the Gulf Coast region, a predominate target for petrochemical buildout and permitting.States represented by host organizations this year include New Jersey, Tennessee, Texas, Ohio, Louisiana, and Pennsylvania. You can meet all our lovely fellows here.
And we’ve been off to a wonderful start! Alongside their mentors, the fellows have crafted capstone project outlines this semester. I am stoked to have them continue to work on their ideas! Projects range from performing a water quality data analysis around a gas plant in Harmon Creek, PA… to advocating for the blocking of further construction on the East Tennessee Natural Gas Pipeline in Knoxville, TN.
Part of this fellowship is understanding how integrated the fights against petrochemicals and industry really are, from county to county. I am so grateful to the students and mentors for giving their time and energy to fulfill projects grounded in realistic timelines and an abundance of heart. Special thanks to our mentors and host organizations giving their time and support this year. No one can do everything, but everyone can do something!
Adam - "This fellowship has allowed me to develop a lot of insight within the environmental justice community. The peer share outs during the meetings also help with communication and sharing different ideas that further inform us about the current issues."
Aidan - "I’m really grateful for having met with my mentor, Geri, and experiencing a Ridgeline Voice’s rally planning meeting within just a few weeks of starting the STOP Fellowship, as it immediately showed me how a grassroots organization is a community of people coming together to protect the things and people they love: this really solidified my desire to connect with others to find my place in fighting for a better future. I’ve learned so much more about environmental justice, how to collaborate with others, and about activism from Jensen and my intelligent peers so far and I can’t wait to use that knowledge to be a real changemaker in the coming months."
Alishba - "In my time, I got the opportunity to learn new ideas that I had not previously known about or very briefly heard about. Also I get hear different perspectives that sometimes change the way I look at things."
Ally - "I have learned so much this fall about organizing/mobilizing effectively in a way that considers as many angles as possible. Being a STOP fellow has been an incredible learning opportunity, as I have learned about non-violent direct action and points of intervention. I also want to point out that I appreciate how kind and welcoming of an environment this has been. It really pushes me to want to engage more!"
Anna - "As a fellow this fall, I have had an incredible time getting to know Jensen, Ben (my mentor), and all the fellows. As a struggle this semester was time management, I am entering the spring with the intention to cut back on some other commitments so that I can be fully engaged with STOP."
Clara Jane - "I greatly enjoyed the opportunity to learn alongside such kind people this semester! I love how we can all come to our meetings acknowledging how rough things can be sometimes but still wanting to do our best!"
Hannah - "I’m honestly having a blast– even though there were some external setbacks, everyone has been so helpful and encouraging. I’m working on a project with my mentor that I didn’t think possible before starting STOP!"
Lizzy - "I got to see so many incredible perspectives on the climate justice movement and learned so much about activism and the community around it!"
Kaitlyn - "It has been a super cool experience to get to meet other students who share similar interests. The conversations we have as a cohort are really interesting and the capstone project work that we are getting to do feels super meaningful."
Fellows had a series of "Quest" assignments for the semester to support leadership development and organizing skills. For their first Quest, Fellows created educational materials to expose a False Solution of their choosing. False Solutions claim to address issues such as the Plastic Crisis, but are greenwashed band-aids that lack nuance and often make the problem worse.Fellows' work included a presentation about Sir Sogsworth: the Paper Straw Who Wanted to Save the World, a list of Confessions from a "Compostable" Cup, essays denouncing Carbon Neutrality and Geoengineering, infographics about Incineration and Biofuels, and slide decks about Boxed Water and Advanced Recycling.
