It’s Getting Hot In Here

Global warming: Is it an inconvenient truth or an opportunity to transition towards a more sustainable, just, and prosperous future?

Many of us agree that it is both, but the positive message of future opportunities is often drowned out by messaging that is fear driven – melting glaciers, species extinction, water wars, displaced island/coastal peoples, etc. Our environmental groups have been towing the line on this message for decades, and where has it gotten us policy-wise?

The time is ripe for a new message, a positive vision of the future. We need the “I Have A Dream” speech for global warming. And Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, agrees. Our message is trickling up!

After much rigmarole and compromise, Congress passed the energy bill and President Bush signed it this morning. Pelosi gave a statement yesterday afternoon on this victory,

“With one stroke of the pen, America can be on a path to cut greenhouse gas emissions by about 25 percent of what we need to do to save the planet. With one stroke of the pen, we set America on a path to produce $22 billion in annual savings to our consumers. With one stroke of the pen, we take America down a path to create hundreds of thousands of new green jobs and train 3 million workers for new green jobs.”

Indeed, this is the same woman who spoke to us at Power Shift as we chanted “GREEN JOBS, NOT JAILS” and “WE WANT MORE!” If she had tossed in a reference to limiting energy generated by coal, the above statement would directly reflect the 1 Sky platform which we all used to lobby our legislators last November: 1) Green Jobs, 2) Cut global warming pollution, 3) No new coal. Later in the statement she refers to her motivations as a grandmother to be working on this issue and establishing a new direction for America. Continue reading ‘Our New Messaging on Global Warming – It’s Trickling Up!’