It’s Getting Hot In Here

I am a unknown voice on Its Getting Hot In Here, despite the fact that I read it daily and have devoted the past two years of my life to help direct the Energy Action Coalition. My silence on this blog ends today – and I will use every platform imaginable to tell the story we need to tell and I’m asking all of you and millions more to join me. I’m ready for a POWER SHIFT.

The youth climate movement encompasses some of the most dynamic, talented, and innovative thinkers and activists around…We have pushed the limits on our campuses, in our communities, and positioned ourselves to be a strong voice for the clean and just energy future. We are amazing, but we are not big enough, we are not loud enough, and we are not yet powerful enough – but we COULD BE!

As I read this blog, and I see such critical debates about the Lieberman-Warner Bill, or positions on Coal or Nuclear, or Bio-Fuels – I’m left with the same thought over and over again…We need to change what’s politically possible, we need to make the demand for our clean and just energy future so loud and so clear that we change the game entirely. That movement can so easily start with us young people modeling the power of the grassroots to grow exponentially in this fight.

Every day we as champion need to be bringing more people along for this ride. We will grow large enough and powerful enough to put the special dirty energy interests out of the driver seat and help drive our country towards the clean and just energy future you and I dream about each day.

Let’s taking the opportunity this fall to flex our muscles, make more noise than we ever have and shift the politics in this country for real. We’re calling the campaign POWER VOTE – but really the campaign could be called almost anything, the fundamental idea behind it is that we organize 1,000,000+ people to fight for the brand of change we all feel so passionate about. We are successful is this effort, not if we raise millions of dollars, or hire the best staff, we are successful if tens of thousands of young people across this country step up to organize those around them…This is about good old fashion community building, and having millions and millions of conversations with our friends and families and classmates. This about being highly visible not only in showing up to vote on November 4th, but following candidates of all parties every step on the campaign trail demanding they address climate change, its demonstrating in front of coal plants, its advocating for the creation of clean and renewable energy choices, it helping our nation vision what a green economy with million of green jobs actually looks like.

This is a long rambling email filled with excerpts of the inspirations streaming through my head and my heart and I thought this was a good place to start.

JOIN US! Run POWER VOTE on your campus, unleash the leader that is screaming to come out inside you! Sign up now to take the lead – www.powervote.org – we’ll help train you and support you to train and support thousands more! Make the commitment to engage 1, 5, 10, 1000 new people in our movement.

I’m standing up and making noise…I’m honored to have this community to share my ideas with and anxious to grow it together. Let’s get to work!

As I sit amongst the largest gathering of Latino leaders in America since the late 1970′s at the Latino Congreso in Los Angeles, I am humbled, inspired, and encouraged by the power, opportunity, and sheer brilliance that exists in this room. Today marks a historic turning point for not only the Latino community, but for our entire nation – today’s entire agenda at the Congreso is dedicated to the environment, climate change, and energy issues.

As political parties and pundits around the country attempt to define what issues the Latino community should focus on – Latino representatives from hundreds of communities across the country are telling the country and the world that their issues extend beyond immigration, beyond jobs, and absolutely include issues of climate change.

I’m sitting at a table with student representatives from the Latino Student Association at Pepperdine University and high school students from the MeCHa Chapter at Locke High School in South Central Los Angeles. These young people define the power of our generation to make progress in combating climate change. These students are organized, they are committed, and most importantly they are on the front lines of the catastrophic impacts of climate change and in a position to be a strong voice for communities that have in the past been silent – or, perhaps better put, silenced on this issue.

Continue reading ‘Latino Congreso Tackles Global Warming’