The news out of Washington has grown discouraging lately. Lawmakers are bickering and Congress is in gridlock. Corporations, meanwhile, have been given license by the Supreme Court to purchase more political influence than ever before.
Many Americans are tempted to turn their backs on the DC infighting, but that would be a mistake. We still possess a powerful ability to influence our lawmakers. When we raise our voices loudly and fully enough, we can hit the core sensitivity of politicians: the desire for votes. They are still our representatives, after all, and they have to respond to public outcry.
From Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to Wyoming's oil and gas fields, I've seen concerned activists demand the best of our lawmakers.
That citizen force is about to be unleashed again, and this time, it will be in support of the most critical environmental vote of my lifetime: passing clean energy and climate legislation in the Senate.
This Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, you have a chance to add your voice to the hundreds of thousands of people who will be urging their senators to pass the bill as part of a 72-hour call-in campaign -- a national grassroots' effort by more than 30 groups.
The campaign is organized by environmental organizations, labor unions, veterans groups, faith and business leaders who want to build momentum for climate action, and now is a critical moment, since right now Congress is setting its agenda for the rest of 2010. We need clean energy and climate legislation to be on the table.
Taken together, these hundreds of thousands of calls can give senators the shot in the arm they need. A reminder that Americans from all backgrounds want our leaders to deal with the crisis of climate change and unleash the opportunities that come from building a clean energy future.
Some lawmakers grumble that passing clean energy and climate legislation will be too hard during an election year. Too hard?
I think it will be too hard for our children to have to clean up the devastation of climate change because we failed to act soon enough. It will be too hard for American workers to remain unemployed because we haven't given businesses the incentives they need to invest in innovative technologies and create jobs. And it will be too hard for America to watch China dominate the global clean energy market because we decided to sit on the sidelines while the clean energy race passed us by.
American voters expect their leaders to rise up to challenges, not shy away from them. Clean energy and climate legislation calls on our lawmakers to be bold and visionary. But if they are going to lead us into the 21st century, they need to know that American voters are behind them.
And remember, they need to hear from ordinary citizens who support this bill, because they are getting an earful from industry lobbyists who oppose it.
According to recent reports, oil and gas companies spent about $154 million on lobbying in 2009 -- 16 percent more than they spent in 2008. Exxon Mobil led the pack with as much as $6.7 million spent on lobbying efforts. Compare these deep pockets to the lobbying budget of the entire environmental community: $18.3 million.
The deck is stacked, but that doesn't mean dirty tricks will win in the end.
Years ago, Big Oil companies spent a lot of money claiming that removing lead from gasoline would ruin them. Big Coal complained that controlling acid rain pollution would put them out of business. They lost those battles, and they will lose this one too.
But only if we fight back.
Now is the time to make your voices heard. If you believe that investing in clean energy can create jobs, protect our security, put America at the forefront of a global market, and help us solve global warming, then tell you should call in and tell your senators to pass a clean energy and climate bill.
Call in to 1-877-973-7693. Tell them who you are. And say you support passing clean energy and climate legislation now.
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Ferries Freed From Ice Off Swedish Coast
March 5, 2010 6:22 a.m. EST
(CNN) -- Four ferries carrying about 1,000 passengers have been freed from heavy ice off the coast of Sweden and were back in port Friday, said the Maritime Search and Rescue Center. Arctic winds hampered icebreaker
"It has been a lot colder than normal in the southern parts of the Baltic Sea. But in the north, all is normal, with normal levels of ice," said Tommy Gardebring with the maritime group. "However, in the worst-affe
Under cap and trade the government and traders get all the money.
Your energy bills go up and you get nothing back. Supposedly the government will use this money to subsidize inefficien
Under cap and dividend, there is a “tax” on carbon but 100% of that is rebated back to consumers on a per capita basis, the government keeps none. CO2 free energy sources have to compete fairly with each other on cost, and nuclear would win big if not stopped.
For example, if you lived in a state where most power came from nuclear, you would in effect be “paid” with money from people in states that burned Coal. This would provide an almost irresistib
Under either system nuclear power, if competing on cost and not stopped by extremists
If we are forced to accept some government interventi
http://www
http://www
Cap and dividend starts with a descending economy-wi
There are two possible places to cap carbon: (1) where CO2 leaves the economy and enters the atmosphere
In choosing where to put the cap, it’s important to recognize how carbon differs from other pollutants
Higher fuel prices have a downside, however: they take lots of money out of everyone’s pockets. The trillion dollar question is, where does that money go? In traditiona
I really like that approach. That is kind of what Alaska does for oil revenue now. In theory, the lowest carbon emmiters would get back more than they pay for energy.
No problem if you're still thinking it over. Minds seldom make drastic changes quickly, least of all active minds.
Clean energy developmen
I can remember seeing brown snow from coal ash. Most people thought Nuclear was a much better and cleaner solution. This was way before anyone talked about CO2.
The so-called environmen
And now that environmen
And one environmen
Environmen
Environmen
Environmen
But even today the extreme environmen
That’s the joke!
Nothing on this planet is more dangerous than nuclear radiation. Nothing has more potential to destroy life.
The risks of an accident may be low (historica
What's to be done with nuclear waste?
Are those who taut nuclear energy focusing on the rewards and minimizing the risks?
A nuclear plant releases 100 times LESS radiation than a coal plant. FACT.
Releases in 1982 from worldwide combustion of 2800 million tons of coal totaled 3640 tons of uranium (containin
This is like 80 truck size dirty nuclear bombs releasing 1 ton of radioactiv
A Chernobyl twice a week.
http://adv
As Bill Gates pointed out at the TED conference (Gates, “we could power the entire US for 100 years by burning the nuclear waste we have today in Thorium reactors”
http://www
Here is a link on from MIT on Thorium reactors and Thorium fuel rods (MIT, Massachuse
http://www
or just google: “Thorium reactors” or “Thorium fuel rods“ on your own.
My garden uses carbon dioxide and other things to produce food and flowers. The trees that surround my small town also use co2. The air that I breathe is cleaner than the air in LA.
I tried for many years to teach my two kids ( now 42 and 36 years old ) to practice conservati
I am against carbon trading. I am also against commodity speculatio
Carbon trading is a scam. It is going to make Goldman Sacks and Al Gore richer. I hope that Congress does not force carbon trading on us.
those who acknowledg
taking responsibi
thank you as always Mr. Redford for caring about the earth and all of us who live here. i don't understand the criticisms here. clearly you are a person who cares. it is sad to see those who refuse to care be so threatened by those who do. just have to ask what the motivation is to deny reality.
And it depends on what you want to believe. Like you, I look for the motives for choosing to believe one way or the other.
The motives of those who choose to believe climate change is real aren't self-orien
The underlying motives for those who choose not to believe in climate change I see as: Money and Freedom.
The Money part is fairly straightfo
The Freedom part: We should be free to do whatever we choose, without regard to consequenc
That's what I see in the environmen
Unfortunat
Also, it won't be pollution-
I really would like you to explain to me what is in the bill? Also, how much more will I have to pay for home heating oil, gasoline and electricit
I live in PA. and in January, 2010, we had a rate increase of 24% to 35% on our electricit
I would like a reply to my questions.
I am putting a solar-heat
Thank you for your reply.
How much will your installati
How many kilowatts of electricit
How many years will your system last?
http://www
But by the continuati
No worries, It should also be obvious that all the energy the earth receives everyday must be radiated back into space or we would have been burnt up many eons ago.
It’s strange when we just look at what we already know in its proper perspectiv
http://www
http://www
And we know how much each ton increases global temperatur
http://www
http://www
If you dispute the reliabilit
Yes, you have had the rise of the all powerful Corporate State in the decades of which you speak. But you need to get to the CORE group that organizes the allied Corporate State.
For that you need to address the powerful 3000 membership of the NY Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) which has, for those decades to present, seized control of each Presidenti
CFR organizes a powerful Corporate Membership roster, whose law firms are employed to lobby
the Senate and Congress, although many politician
And if you look at the CFR interlocke
Many of us are aware of how hard you work for a better tomorrow..
Sincerely,
A Canadian
I dialed the number provided for John McCain. His mail box is full and there is no way to leave a message. This is not new. First there is no way to get a message to him listed on his website. If I do get a number such a the one you posted, his mail box is always full.
As long as I've been a resident in Arizona, McCain (Yes. I do not respect him enough to grant him a title.) has cared not a wit for what people here want or need. He gets by on his military reputation and on his ability to be fast footed in twisting the truth.
I tried. If you have any other ideas, I would like to hear them.
Pat Mencke
Recently water turbines were placed in the East River, actually a tidal arm of the large Long Island Sound next to Manhattan and I've seen data that suggests in some parts of Scotland if underwater turbines were in place a net surplus could be sold, as strong undersea currents are used without harm.
It is difficult if agencies, like the Environmen