Climate Hero Tour: Day 2 « It’s Getting Hot In Here

From what I’ve heard, going to bed in the early morning during spring break is a regular occurrence – but on the Climate Hero Tour, students woke up before 7 am to begin preparation for day two. Students were busy making media calls, practicing press statements, and loading materials into cars.

The first stop of the day was the State Capitol Building in Sacramento. Secretary Linda Adams of the California EPA accepted a “Climate Super Hero Award” for her work negotiating the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006. Having recently returned from Washington, D.C., Secretary Adams expressed her gratitude that students are organizing all over the country to pass national legislation that cuts global warming pollution. She described her discussions with President Obama as extremely positive on the issue of climate change – with enough pressure from the grassroots, we will have a climate bill that auctions 100% of carbon permits.

The Climate Hero Tour is only the first step for students in California that are continuing the Power Shift. This afternoon, a group of students began writing Letters to the Editor that will be sent to the San Francisco Chronicle, San Jose Mercury News, Sacramento Bee, Fresno Bee, Ventura County Star, and the Los Angeles Times. By Friday, students from the eleven districts represented on this trip will invite their Congressional representatives for an in-district meetings during the April Recess. Continuing the Power Shift, by building relationships with “climate heroes” and pressuring fence-sitters, is indispensable to pass comprehensive climate legislation before the UN Climate Talks in Copenhagen in December.

One tactic we are utilizing is generating media hits in every city we visit. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has expressed interest in joining the Climate Hero Tour (which would create tons of media). But we need your help to get him to our event at Los Angeles City Hall on Friday morning. Join his Facebook fan page and ask him to join the Climate Hero Tour!

More updates (and video) tomorrow!

About

Gabriel Elsner is currently the Global Warming Solutions coordinator for the Student PIRGs, a network of state-wide, student-run and student-funded organizations working in 25 states on over 200 campuses. He graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in May 2009 with High Honors after writing a Political Science thesis entitled "Energy Security Policy in Brazil and the United States: Lessons from Success and Failure." Before graduation, Gabe worked in the United States Congress as an policy intern with the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. He also travelled to Bali, Indonesia with SustainUS in December 2007 to represent young people of the United States at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Before Bali, he was the Fundraising Chair on the Student Planning Committee for Power Shift 2007 and helped coordinate the Campus Climate Challenge at UC Berkeley with the California Public Interest Research Group (CALPIRG). When he's not advocating for clean energy or fighting global warming, Gabriel enjoys camping, music, soccer, and politics.