Guest Posted by: Guillermo Maciel – Focus the Nation Campaign Director
It has been over a week now, and I am realizing that I am still furious. I am deeply concerned with the continued partisan banter. As you may know one of our strongest voices for social and environmental justice, within the Obama administration – Van Jones, has been pressured by right wing smear tactics into resigning his post as Green Jobs Czar and Presidential Advisor. I may understand Van Jones’ reasoning for his resignation, and partially agree with Arriana Huffington’s the glass is half full’ commentary (not her intended purpose), yet I AM FIRED UP! The ghost of campaigns past, ‘Old Washington Politics as Usual’, is rearing its grimace in the face of the Youth Climate Movement. It is happening in the health reform debate, and it is leaking into our greatest climate morale moment.
Are you fired up!? There is a time and a place for righteous anger. What makes it righteous, however, is the appropriate expression of this energy—how this energy is galvanized, transformed and employed to resolve that which brings us to this brimming point of passion. I AM FIRED UP!
This is supposed to be our time. We are supposed to be relishing our past efforts, as a more united and inclusive youth-led grassroots movement. We have demonstrated that we are ready and capable of guiding the American people and our communities toward the ‘online, ‘real-time’, get-the-masses-inspired, be on the move and get on the ground kind of organizing. We are ready to address this urgent and most serious of problems facing our country and the planet.
We transformed a nation last November with a promise of changing DC politics once and for all. We had an eye toward progress at the hands of a diverse administration, where our voices would be channeled through champions like Van Jones, coming from real neighborhoods into the halls of big government. This was supposed to be a time when the use of truth, rational thought and science would shine a light on our common problems and opportunities; accelerating our continued arc toward social justice through a clean energy future for all. I am shocked, but not surprised.
On the verge of our clean energy Super Bowl Sunday, are we getting played? As we ready ourselves and our communities to strengthen the American Clean Energy and Securities Act (ACES) in the Senate, and to drop said “ACES” in the back pocket of President Obama for COP15, the tables of fair play and civility are being turned on us once again. We need Obama to get in the game.
The cheap tactics and misinformation attacks by the old DC media machine, is our cue that once again they feel boxed in the ring, and regard our champions and the voices they carry as real contenders in this match. The divisive tactics of old DC politics as usual have tried to diminish our voice. As right wing conservative pundits rage against rational progress on health reform, as the oil lobby readies itself to pump money into Astro-Turf Organizing campaigns, attacks like the one waged on Van Jones are the final clarion call and charge to move with even stronger composure and collaboration on our global campaign to build a Clean Energy Future.
Lies and cheap tactics to distract and demoralize our efforts will continue. These divisive techniques will stream across our airwaves, television and web, with the hopes that some element of their banter sticks. As we have done before, the cheapness of their political action must be confronted with information, action and courageous determination. We cannot let the attacks on our champions, our ‘Van Joneses’, go by with out a murmur. We can demonstrate to the DC pundits that they did not take Van Jones down, but assisted him in coming home, to the grassroots that are still carrying the movement. How can we do this?
We need to take back our town halls; by attending them in the most civil yet momentous numbers we can muster. We need to go out to our communities and connect to them as we have done in campaigns past. We need to remind people that this is the greatest opportunity we’ve ever had to rebuild justice and prosperity in our towns. We must encourage our fellow neighbors to share in the solutions by contributing their opinions and engaging their Senators and their President.
The ‘Yes We Can’ attitude that belongs to NO ONE PERSON and NO ONE CAMPAIGN, but to the spirit of people who strive for optimism during struggle, must proliferate once again. It must reach out further than it has before. This spirit must lead once again, with civility, complete information and solutions-based organizing.
This action cannot not be bought, as the oil and coal lobby have attempted. The urgency of now has not left us—it defines us. It defines the character of our generation. We must use our moral authority and the opportunity presented to organize our communities and leverage our policy makers to heal our planet and the way we work together.
We are the change and progress we’ve been waiting for! Focus your righteous anger by focusing your actions on the new work ahead. If you can focus yourself, you can focus your block. If you can focus your block you can focus your community. And if you can focus your community, you can focus the nation.
YES WE CAN! SI SE PUEDE!
I am an old guy with youthful ideals. We can and will succeed – in tiny increments – over a long period of time- with seemingly little real progress in real time.
As a member of the USGBC and several other local sustainbility focused orgs (EcoTuesday, Green Drinks) and more, we are doing a very poor job of enlisting the efforts of the younger component of this initiative.
We should focus on bridging the “Green Divide” within our own ranks. Its the older, more experienced and ultimately “deeper pockets” people who need to take our younger counterparts more seriously.