It’s Getting Hot In Here

Guest post from Mark Kimbrell

What happens when you get 12,000 dedicated climate activists in one convention center for one very special weekend? The answer: powerful growth in the movement for climate justice.

The importance of Power shift 09 is truly in the name. Together we learned and practiced political empowerment and received the skills necessary to engage our elected officials.  Knowledge and ideas were passed from individual to individual, university to university, and community to community. Skills we all can take home to utilize in our community organizing. We “power shifted” each other into better climate activists.

Following lobby day, the Capital Climate Action against the congress’s symbolic dirty coal plant provided an essential component of our movement that must continue. The action showed that we will not stop simply at political engagement and political asks.  Every avenue to transform our nation’s unjust and unsustainable habits will be utilized.  There will be repercussions for the lack of political will shown by our elected leadership.  If they won’t shut the dirty industries of the past down, than we will!

Direct actions like this weekend’s are important vehicles for transforming the current system of power. By organizing around these types of actions we increase the ranks of the “critical climate mass”, and we make room for people who have been left out or disenfranchised by the political process to participate: communities of impoverished populations, indigenous people and people of color, and the Global South.  Each action represents an attempt to increase participatory democracy and “power shift” from corporate and industry interests to the interests of people and communities who are being affected by climate change and its causes.

We all were inspired this weekend. The panels and workshops informed us, the speakers fired us up, and the capital climate action proved that we are a force to be reckoned with.   But where do we go from here?  How do we fulfill the major asks of the conference, namely get face time with our congressperson? The answers lie where the multiple lessons of Power shift and the Capital Climate Action intersect: the time has come to organize and utilize local community based action.

We must start with fulfilling the ask of Power shift by engaging our local, state, and congressional politicians, through community town hall meetings, such as those being organized by Focus the Nation teams across the country. That way we can follow up with Monday’s demands and continue to encourage our representatives to embrace climate change solutions, in particular the green jobs that will revitalize our economy.

Focus the Nation is one strategic ‘next step’ among many others bubbling up around the country.  The Focus the Nation campaign will provide the tools for organizers to be inclusive of the diverse and disenfranchised communities that deserve a voice in future climate policy, and to get their elected officials to the table.  By accomplishing this we can provide a venue for these communities to bridge the divide and communicate their concerns and ideas to their politicians.  Through effective organizing and execution we will also increase the ranks of our “critical climate mass,” groom new climate leaders, and bring new people into the fold. That way if our voices are ignored, we will have the numbers, leaders, and people power to execute bold actions both locally and nationally.

Use the Focus the Nation town hall campaign as your vehicle for local organizing.  Engage your community and your political leadership while being part of a large national effort. If you are effective at giving your community the ability to communicate with your elected officials, you truly can help focus the nation on a sustainable and just energy future.