For the last month, I have traveled 4,000 miles in a U-Haul with 30 nine foot Power Vote wind turbines doing political art installations at every Presidential debate. Our purpose: to send a loud message to our candidates that clean and just energy is a top priority for young voters. It’s been a raging success.
Among the thousands we’ve encountered on the Power Vote Debate Tour it seems there is almost no debate at all: our country is in trouble and we can fix it by investing in clean energy, green jobs, and energy independence.
Republicans, Democrats and Independents want clean energy. Young people and old people want clean energy. People of every race and class want clean energy. Our country is ready for a clean and just energy revolution.
And “revolution” is definitely the right word. On the long road between the first debate at Ole Miss University in Oxford, Mississippi and tonight’s at Hofstra University in Long Island, NY, I have witnessed first hand a revolution rumbling. We set up our Power Vote turbines in the heart of each debate site – on campuses, in town squares, at concerts, football games, and in parks – to make our voices heard. And at every location, thousands of people of every race, background, and creed stepped up to demand a clean energy future.
In Mississippi, Tennessee, Illinois, North Carolina, Kentucky, Missouri, Virginia, and New York we met inspiring young leaders who are at this very moment changing our country and this world. They are organizing hundreds of people, collecting 1000+ Power Vote pledges in a single day, going head to head with coal executives, talking to local, national, and international media, holding rallies and meetings, and phone banking like nobody’s business. They’re getting busloads of people together to boldly and clearly demand a better future. They’re throwing huge summits, and making big plans to get out the vote on November 4 and hold our elected representatives accountable in the months and years ahead.
But not everyone is on the same page.
As I watched the final Presidential debate last night, I was struck yet again by just how far political leadership is from popular support of clean, just energy. While “wind,” “solar,” “geothermal” and other great investments were mentioned two times each, I heard the nonexistent “clean coal” given even more credence by candidates specifically voicing their support at least three times. I heard about the building of 45 new nuclear power plants in one proposal. The hundreds of thousands of young people who are signing the Power Vote pledge want real solutions to climate change. We don’t buy those “clean coal” and “safe nuclear” lies for a second. When candidates mention “off-shore drilling” again and again, we know that’s not the answer. We want candidates that will stand up to the dirty energy industry and stand up for our future.
After four debates and 4,000 miles, it’s clear we can’t wait for our political leaders to make sure our clean energy future is made a reality on their own. There’s only one way to make sure our voice wins out in the end. So let’s get to it.
Send the Power Vote pledge to 10 of your friends right now and let’s demand the clean energy future we know our country, our economy, and our climate needs and deserves. No matter who is elected.
The choice is yours. The future is ours. Vote on November 4 and hold the elected accountable afterward.
Clean energy is worth voting for. It’s worth fighting for.
Now.
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