Wow. What an amazing wrap up to Change It! 2007. After an intense week of hands-on training, speakers, and a surreal simulation, we converged on the Capitol to confront our representatives with an action and lobbying as part of the Project HotSeat�campaign.
Before the action began, we marched over to the Cannon House Office Building where Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) had reserved a hearing room and listened to an inspiring speech about (of course) the Safe Climate Act and the importance of environmental activism. Granted, he’s not known as the most dynamic speaker, but he really has a knack for creating an inspiring atmosphere in a place regularly devoid of it.
Soon afterward we heard from Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), who gave a rousing speech about climate change and (of course) touted the The Global Warming Pollution Act. Although I am generally a political cynic, I found her speech more than mere talking points and her demeanor refreshing. She spoke the truth and wasn’t afraid to praise Greenpeace or our planned action on the lawn.
We then left the Cannon House and proceeded to unload the red IKEA chairs we had put together the night before and got into our row groups. A huge line was formed of 200 students in red shirts, clutching our “Hot Seat” chairs. We trekked to the Capitol lawn following a carefully planned route and formed a huge rectangle-mass of red for our direct communication. Our banners and shirts proclaimed, “Congress: You’re on the Hot Seat” “Act Now: Stop Gloabl Warming!”
Before we left the lawn we were offered one last treat – a visit from Bernie Sanders (I-VT). We sat down and crowded around him as he spoke. Easily the best speaker and perhaps the most genuine, Bernie covered pressing issues like vehicle emission standards to creating green collar jobs. Also, he actually stuck around long enough to enagage in short dialogue, shake hands, and take photos with gushing students. Oh Bernie, you make us swoon!
After we rehydrated and gobbled down our lunches, we advanced on Congress to lobby our individual repesentatives and put them on the hotseat- literally -with our red chairs in hand! Although completely legal, some could not get inside with their chairs and had to leave them outside. Most, thankfully, were able to inflitrate and deliver their chair and a message to push climate change legislation. Stories of rep’s reactions ranged from outright hostility to glowing approval. Regardless, the message we sent was loud and clear. What an awesome event!
Here’s a link to more photos from the event.�We had a professional photographer so they really came out great!
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Sounds great! I would have loved to meet with you guys, I didn’t realize it was taking place. Did you have a specific ask, or was it just for general awareness?
hey Matt,
In general, Project HotSeat’s aim is to create champions on global warming solutions, but it has specific asks as well, namely
- a national cap and trade system that makes real reductions within a decade
- a national renewable energy standard of at least 20% by 2020
- an increase in average fuel economy to 40 mpg
It’s great to have so many students concerned with this issue. It was duly noted within the Capitol, with Senator Bernie Sanders coming out to speak with the students, and without with live news coverage: mms://streaming.vmsnews.com/media/INSIGHT/20070726-671899-4ECD08D7-7826-4505-84F3-7414B365CE6D.wsx
Anyhow, I think it’s definitively time to go hard on this issue and take it to the streets. There should be no candidates running in 2008 that don’t have an attempt at a solution to climate change in their platform, or at least a solid plan for mitigating it. If they do run and have no plan, it would be nice if we could say with certainty they have no chance of winning. Anyone want to help me make this dream a reality?