CounterSpill

Around the world people are standing up against non-renewable energy and demanding that leaders find a new way to power our future.

Because this movement is about you, every week we'll feature people around the world who are organizing against non-renewable energy -- and winning the fight.

Here's what we found this week:

Power Shift 2011's Flashmobs and "Briefcase Brigades"
Cause: Non-renewable Energy
Effect: The "Briefcase Brigades" movement

From April 15 to 18, over 10,000 activists met in Washington D.C. to discuss clean energy initiatives and protest against non-renewable power sources at Power Shift 2011. In solidarity, some groups rallied support through "flashmob events" to demand more action from big polluters such as BP. One group successfully shut down a BP gas station, as seen here:

Another group in Sydney, Australia performed a synchronized dance routine on the steps of the Sydney Opera House:

During the conference, the White House's former green jobs czar Van Jones broached the topic of youth unemployment, saying "We have a generation that is graduating off a cliff." He then introduced a new movement: "Briefcase Brigades."

Those involved with "Briefcase Brigades" say that millennial unemployment can be solved by green jobs, especially renewable energy jobs. They've announced a national day of action on April 27 to tell Congress that they "mean business" when they say that youth unemployment should be on the political agenda:

Liberate Tate's "Human Cost" Performance
Cause: Oil
Effect: Awareness, public letter condemning BP's sponsorship of Tate

On the anniversary of BP's oil spill, performance artist/activist group Liberate Tate staged a guerrilla art installation inside one of Tate Organization's museums.

In an effort to protest museum complex Tate's sponsorship relationship with BP, the group performed a piece titled "Human Cost," where an oil-like substance (made of charcoal and sunflower oil) was poured onto one of their naked performers.

Not only has the event increased awareness of BP's arty PR tactics, 166 supporters from the art world signed a letter demanding Tate to stop taking oil money. The letter was printed in The Guardian. One section of the letter reads:

"While BP continues to jeopardise ecosystems, communities and the climate by the reckless pursuit of 'frontier' oil, cultural institutions like Tate damage their reputation by continuing to be associated with such a destructive corporation."

Save Rider Park: A Love Story
Cause: Hydraulic Fracturing For Natural Gas
Effect: Saving a park from gas drilling.

Feeling apathetic about community organizing? Check out this success story recently posted by Earth Justice.

Jen Slotterback, and her husband Jim, had just 11 days to save Rider Park -- the place where they originally fell in love -- from future gas drilling. They had never been involved in activism, but they couldn't let legislative deadlines ruin their favorite place.

By petitioning, sending a letter-to-the-editor to a local paper, and launching a Facebook group, the Slotterbacks were able to start a movement, and they intend to keep fighting. Jim says:

"We're prepared to spend the rest of our lives working on this issue. … Where are the other Rider Parks throughout the state? How can we help them as well?"