The Dirty Air Act

Fifteen young people wearing eery surgical face masks walk down the Halls of Congress and take a sharp right into Senator Lisa Murkowski’s (R-AK) office.  They pile into the small reception area decorated with various pictures of Alaskan wildlife and cheesy souvenirs from the Last Frontier.  Startled, the receptionist puts the incoming calls on hold as one steps forward to say, “As young people, we demand Senator Murkowski stop putting public health in danger by trying to block the EPA from regulating polluters of carbon dioxide emissions.”

That person speaking up for the Clean Air Act was me.  Several weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to win the Consequence Campaign’s Organize to be Heard Challenge by being one of the top ten students to organize grassroots political actions in support of a strong climate bill.  My prize?  A trip to Washington, D.C. to lobby my senators’ offices, meet with Senators Jeff Merkley and John Kerry, attend a press conference with the Hip Hop Caucus and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, make campaign plans for the April Congressional Recesses and, of course, defend the Clean Air Act.

Shortly after we dropped our message off at Senator Murkowski’s office, we were redirected to McKie Campbell, the Republican staff director of the Energy and Natural Resources committee. Mr. Campbell proceeded to inform us of Senator Murkowski “dedication” to fighting climate change, excusing the Senator's attempts to introduce the Dirty Air Act Amendment (which would disallow the EPA from regulating greenhouse gases) by claiming the EPA wasn't the right avenue to do so.  We agreed a bill independent of the whims of every presidential administration provided a better route, but asked him, “If Senator Murkowski is so committed to fighting climate change, why doesn’t she focus on solutions instead of diversionary tactics like the Dirty Air Act Amendment?” He responded circuitously, answering like your typical politician before concluding the meeting with an unprovoked assurance that Senator Murkowski wasn’t in the pocket of dirty energy.

The irony of his statement came the next night when our friends at Clean Energy Works caught wind of a fundraiser that Senator Murkowski was holding on the first floor of the very building that houses their headquarters.  Guess who the main contributers were!  Representatives of Dirty Coal and Dirty Nuclear!  Boom.  We stood outside the posh restaurant where it was being held with signs that said “No Dirty Air Act” and wearing our face masks.  As the featured guests filed in, we stood solemnly in support of clean air and public health.  Senator Murkowski herself quickly shuffled by us and into the door with her head down, unable to meet the eyes of the future generations she is recklessly endangering.


To take action against the Dirty Air Act, click here.

To join my campaign to pass strong climate legislation this year, click here.

On my way to the Hill

Last week I found out that I won the Consequence '09 Organize to be Heard Challenge!  Since November I have been entering 'climate organizing activities' into the challenge's website and getting points for things like published letters to the editors, media hits and organizing letter writing parties.  It turns out that I am one of the ten students from across the country who got the most points so I am being flown to DC for a week full of climate activism!  Some highlights of the schedule are a meeting with Senator John Kerry, a press conference with the Hip Hop Caucus and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, as well as meetings with the staff of Senators Boxer, Nelson, Wyden, Merkley, Feinstein and Lugar.  I am flying out of Eugene right now and I will be back on Friday!  I'll be sure to give an update of the trip!

Dear Aziz Ansari

Dear Aziz Ansari,

I downloaded your comedy album (oh so legally) the other day and listened to it while I drove back from visiting my parents house (now it is like we went on a road trip together!).  I thought that maybe one day when you are googling yourself you will find this blog post.  I just hope you don't die because of it.

I am jealous that you hang out with Kanye West because he is probably one of my favorite celebrities due to his ridiculousness.  Have you seen this video?? It will blow your mind.  And this one is just awesome.  I bet you have seen those videos because you two are so tight.  They were probably your idea huh.  Well maybe your cousin would enjoy them if he hasn't seen them yet.

So I was trying to think of a reason why you would want to respond to me, and then I remembered that I am running a campaign against climate change!  You should be our mascot :) Or we could just hang out sometime.

xoxo
Moey.
moeyoldbold@gmail.com

THIS is What Democracy Looks Like

In my last blog post after Copenhagen, I declared my commitment to this movement.  Shortly afterward, I starting brainstorming with a few people I met in Copenhagen, and we decided that what this country needs to pass progressive climate legislation is a massive groundswell of support targeted directly at our elected officials.  For the past month, we have been developing a campaign to do just that.  Below is our first blog post on the U.S. youth climate movement's community blog:

Crossposted from IGHIH

Written by Moey Newbold, Kalen Pruss, Rob Friedman and Blaine O’Neill

“Show me what democracy looks like! This is what democracy looks like!”

As we’ve fought for our clean energy future, we’ve passionately chanted these words again and again, asserting that citizen action is what truly drives political change.   With the growth of our movement, we’ve all engaged in amazing citizen actions, pressuring our elected officials to solve the climate crisis in every way we know how.

Despite our continued efforts, Copenhagen was a flop, and our elected officials are falling victim to big oil and big coal.  We can’t afford to watch this happen.  It is time for us to ramp up the action.  We need to take democracy back.

After witnessing the devastating effects of U.S. inaction in Copenhagen, we created the Show Me Democracy campaign.  We aim to pull our generation together to demand that the United States step it up dramatically before the next major international climate negotiations in Cancun, Mexico this December.  But this time, we are going to do more than just send emails and write petitions.  We are going to consistently engage our elected representatives, storming Senate field offices across the country with a simple, united message: take immediate action to halt global warming at home… and then go to Mexico in December with a serious plan for an international climate change agreement.

We recognize that policy decisions are heavily influenced by industry lobbyists who will do anything to kill a domestic climate bill.  They have billions of dollars at their disposal and thousands of professional lobbyists who descend on Washington every day to make back-door deals that put our future in jeopardy.  But we have something stronger.  We have an army of young people who know that this fight is about our future; we know that there are millions of Americans who need clean energy jobs, and millions more who want to pass on a better world to their children and grandchildren.

This spring, we are going to mobilize this army, building teams across the country to lead sustained, localized campaigns in support of domestic climate change legislation. Show Me Democracy will empower these teams to form community partnerships that bring local clean energy initiatives, agriculture, business, manufacturing, and religious groups together with climate activist networks already on the ground to demand a clean energy future. We’re going to take these diverse voices to our Senators’ offices–and we’re going to keep going back until our Senators listen, and pass an effective, equitable climate bill.  After all, we elected them to do just that.

Show Me Democracy is not just a campaign; it is a call to action. And we’re beginning this call tomorrow, January 27th, at 8:00 p.m. EST. Join us as we launch our campaign; dial in to participate in our first nationwide conference call; and then get involved to help us take democracy back.

By inspiring our generation to unite and engage in our democracy, we will pass climate legislation that cuts carbon dramatically and immediately, creates a robust green economy, powers our future with renewable energy, and leads the world to a clean and equitable future.  But we need your help! Dial in, log on, and sign up.

Love,

The Show Me Democracy Team

Show Me Democracy Kick-off Call

Wednesday, January 27th, 8:00 PM EST (5:00 PM PST)

Call in number: (517) 417-5200

Secret passcode: 517935

Facebook Event

Visit www.showmedemocracy.com for more information.