Power Shift 2009 is our opportunity to bring a clear message to Washington, “We want clean and just energy now!”. In February, 2009 over 10,000 young people will converge on DC for three days of training, strategy and action. We will unite as a movement and hold our elected officials accountable.
Over 350,000 people have signed the Power Vote pledge stating their wish to have alternative sources of energy be considered at the highest levels.
From the beginning of this Power Vote Campaign until the election our sole goal was to make the youth climate vote massive. The numbers available to us show that the youth block represented over 18% of the total electorate.
Our push was not partisan, but rather open and intelligent. Taking a close minded view of the options in favor of the status quo is what has brought the system to such a breaking point. The economy is in turmoil, wars rage on nearly every continent, and climate change is no longer a debate. It is real and the increase in devastating hurricanes, drought, and loss of the stabilizing polar ice caps are affecting millions everywhere.
None of these issues are isolated and dealing with one naturally has an affect on the others. We are excited that so many people have chosen to not take any option off the table and through cooperation and honest dialogue decide to figure out what the next steps are.
Our work is not done. We need to hold these newly elected officials to their word. Power Vote has established the need for politicians to take young people and the climate serious. No longer will they pander solely to big money, but instead to the people who elect them – just as it should be. Stay tuned on powervote.org for all the developments. Somethings to watch out for:
- Unveiling of Powershift ’09 registration (later this week)
- New weekly Power Vlog (video blog, name yet to be finalized) highlighting everything going on in the youth climate movement across the country
- Announcement of speakers and performers at Powershift’09
and so much more
Stay tuned…
Is there another action that you want from groups too, to send in petitions the 18th? Where can we find info about that?