So Much For Saving Daylight

I was rudely awakened this morning by 5,500 noisy, rowdy, teenagers and twenty-somethings who would not shut up.

Maybe they didn't know that I am not a morning person, and that I hope to have my first hour to sip my coffee, watch sports highlights, and plan my day.

Maybe they didn't know that daylight savings was supposed to fool me into thinking that I had an extra hour of my life back.

And maybe they didn't know I could hear them all the way up in Boston. They were, after all, at the University of Maryland.

But even if they had known all of this, I don't think they would have cared.

Let's call them the national alarm clock with no snooze. They are Energy Action, they are in the midst of what may prove to be the greatest Powershift this country has ever seen.

And they are trying to wake the entire country - INCLUDING YOU - up.

So now I'm up. And I can't get back to sleep. And I don't want to be alone. So wake the f*** up and join me!!!

WAKE UP

Wake Up! Wake up newspaper editors to the fact that the old ways of communicating are just that - old. That snail mail is like the pony express, newspapers are like microfiche, and email is already the equivalent of the 8-track.

Wake Up! Wake up Todd Gitlins of the world to the fact that the old ways of building a movement are just that - old. That a group of about 10 young pioneers from Energy Action - meeting for the first time in 2004 have built a million person movement and are just getting started!

Wake Up! Wake up weekend couch potatoes to the fact that 5,500 members of the future are swarming across the campus of Maryland - learning, planning, strategizing, and building! And coming to a city near you soon.

Wake Up! Wake up politicians to the fact that these 5,000+ will be hitting every Congressional office on the hill on Monday to demand change! And like a Halloween house with no more candy, you can't pull down the shades - they know you're home.

Wake Up! Wake up state leaders to the fact that on Tuesday they will all return to their 50 states and begin building their own state movements that will attract 5,000 people each, leading to a 25,000,000 strong state-based movement that will change the world!

Wake Up! Wake up citizens of this country to the fact that each of these 25,000,000 will talk to a very manageable 10-15 people, and suddenly, the country will be awake. All 300,000,000+ of us. Wakened from our slumber by a new generation.

Wake Up! Wake up environmentalists and anti-enviromentalists! Wake up to the fact that your reasons and arguments for choosing your side no longer apply. That we are in this together. That we are all passengers in one boat. And that the next generation are the captains, first-mates, and deck hands. And that this boat is on a 100 year voyage.

Hate it or Love it

And as Van Jones so eloquently put it at the closing speech of yesterday's Powershift gathering - "I would be wrong and mistaken if I were to tell you that this thing you are creating, which is about to emerge as the most powerful, largest, and fastest growing grassroots movement in the history of the country, will be welcomed and loved by everybody."

But this group doesn't care. They don't just want to be welcomed and loved. They want us to all wake up.

And in the immortal words of rapper 50 cent (paraphrased for this movement)

Hate it or love it, the underdog's on top,
And I'm gonna shine until my heart stop,
Go ahead envy me
I'm an MVP
And I ain't goin' nowhere so you can get to know me

So with your extra hour today, go to www.itsgettinghotinhere.org and get to know them.

See just who and what has woken us up, how their movement is evolving, and how they will change the world.

WAKE UP!!!