On Saturday October 24th, Cleveland Climate Watch, The Cleveland Mountain Justice Project, 1 Sky and friends hit the streets as part of 350.org's international day of climate action, in front of the Avon Lake power plant in Avon Lake, Ohio. We had two messages: support strong global climate action to prevent us from going over the edge into climate chaos hell, and to demand that the owner of the plant, RRI of Houston, Texas, stop burning mountain top removal coal at Avon and the rest of its plants.

We are starting to do something right. After two to three months of an e-mail blitz in cooperation with the Sierra Club, RRI finally responded to us on the eve of the 350.org event. They agreed that they had been using mountaintop removal (MTR) coal in the plant for two years, because of market conditions (the usual explanation for just about anything in corporate speak), but had no plans to buy any in 2010. It is that last point that we like and that we are going to try to run with, in our response, which is in process now. We do not know what will come next. RRI came out last summer in favor of Markey-Waxman, thus joining many other utility companies that see the writing on the wall and want to be at the table instead of on the table. Therefore, we are relieved to know that dealing with them will not be like dealing with the Don Blankenships of the world, whose typical response to opposition is to kill it before it multiplies.

In an amusing footnote, the plant manager of Avon Lake e-mailed me to let me know that a package from 1 Sky had arrived at the plant, addressed to me and that I could pick it up at the guard gate. We all had a good laugh at that one and teased 1 Sky organizer Dan Cannon, about his group's faux pas. Unfortunately, all the guard gates were vacant when I arrived. I will have to make arrangements later.

We happy band of brothers and sisters and children, stretched our picket line down Lake Ave in front of the plant. We received the usual mix of thumbs up, honks, stares of disbelief, and the one finger salute from one driver of a jeep who was so incensed at our presence that he decided to give us two passes just so we were sure we knew what he thought of us. We blew kisses at him. Love your enemies, it drives them nuts.

Having braved hypothermia enough, we wrapped up the event with a group picture on the fishing pier of Miller Road park, with the power plant in the background. The picture joined thousands of others pouring into 350.org's web site that were put on one of the giant screens of Times Square in New York City.

Our very first public event ended. A success by everyone's standard.