It\’s Getting Hot In Here

Crossposted from Funding Our Future, the Campus Progress blog promoting policy that provides economic opportunities for our generation.

I typically hate these cheesy, often-pretentious, holier-than-thou new year’s resolution lists of things people should commit to doing if only they were smart/benevolent/disciplined/healthy enough. I promise that this one is different.

When 2009 begun, it seemed to many of us that all cards were stacked in our favor. We had a President and congressional leadership that fully understood the problem of the climate crisis and had plans to do something about it right away. But after one year of running against the wind and getting all of our progressive hopes and dreams shattered by ConservaDems and suicide-pact-signing Republicans, we need to send a message to Congress that young people don’t just turn out to vote for a charismatic president, but we turn out for the issues that define the survival of our species.

As Brad Johnson from the Wonk Room says, it took 30 years for the radical right to make their issues something few moderate politicians would ever dare oppose (i.e. eliminating the right to choose, allowing just about anyone to carry weapons, etc). Electoral engagement isn’t a one-time fling that was cool last year cause we elected a charismatic dude, it’s a long-term effort to make our issues something that most candidates can’t get elected without supporting.

So here are my top 5 Green/Sustainability/Climate Resolutions for 2010 that have the highest effort-to-outcome ratio:

1. Register to vote! (If you are a felon and/or not a citizen skip to step #2)
2. Register everyone you know and everyone in your community to vote.
3. Have everyone you register send a letter to all the candidates running in your district saying “I’m voting for environmental justice/renewable energy/an end to the climate crisis” .
4. Campaign for your most climate friendly* candidates and let them know that’s why you picked them.
5. Vote and take 5 friends who wouldn’t have gone otherwise to the polls with you!

Commit to doing these 5 things in 2010 and you will help build a system that takes the urgency of the climate crisis seriously, but if you choose to ignore these resolutions and go for this list instead you’ll just be an environmentally friendly person living in a VERY warm world (do both and you are a trooper!).

* Climate friendly doesn’t necessarily mean that their platform is equal to ours, it means that they understand the issue and are committed to doing something about it. We can’t expect everyone to be on our same page, especially given the current atmosphere of confusion and distrust brewed by fossil fuel operatives and our gullible media. Even though it seems like an unfair burden, it’s up to us to educate people around us about the urgency of the climate crisis with out passion and hard work. If there are no candidates that come close to being climate friendly, find someone you support in your community (including yourself) and encourage them to run for office.  It might be crazy, but you can influence the dialogue on the local level, build up local support, and maybe even get elected!