It’s Getting Hot In Here

The wildly popular Dark Knight ends with a stirring monologue about The Truth, capitol T. I’ve extracted part of it here:

Batman: “Sometimes, truth isn’t good enough. Sometimes people deserve more. Sometimes people deserve to have their faith rewarded.”

This got me thinking about the push for Offshore Drilling (yup), and the fact that it is, in every way, predicated on LIES. When Congress comes back in session, we’re confronted with the potential of our elected officials authorizing one of the most myopic and harmful possibly “remedies” to high gas prices. The possibility becomes more likely each day. Even Nancy Pelosi, who had held surprisingly firm on the issue, is weakening her stance.

Batman is right: we do deserve more than just knowing the truth about offshore drilling. Considerable progress has been made in the last two years convincing Americans that renewable energy is preferable to fossil fuels. For the Democratic majority in Congress to let this political wind blow through its sails, and then cave in to the lies about drilling, is pretty disgusting.

Fortunately, there hasn’t yet been a vote about offshore drilling in the House. There’s still time for us to make a lot of noise. We can attend town hall meetings with 1Sky while our Representatives are in district. We can all write Nancy Pelosi and applaud her for standing strong up to this point, and urge her not to give in. We can write letters to the editor using the WE campaign’s template (but with edgier talking points). Let’s get to it. We can handle the truth, but we can handle more than just that.

It really IS getting hot in here–Senator Hillary Clinton and Senator Barak Obama have officially co-sponsored S. 309, the Safe Climate Act. Among other things, this bill is the only piece of legislation in the Senate that calls for 80% reductions in carbon emissions by 2050.

Youth climate activists out there–give yourself a hardy pat on the back. Congress is Stepping It Up, and our moment is here!

Mardi Gras may be a day behind us, but here at the Step It Up campaign headquarters, we’re still celebrating. Just today, with 52 days remaining before the April 14 national day of climate action, we’ve hit 700 actions! Check out our map to see where an action is taking place in your community, and if there isn’t one, please sign up.

Even beyond the upsurge in planned actions, it’s been a very exciting week for Step It Up. Yesterday, Jim Hansen gave us a shout out during his 2010 Imperative teach-in. Bill McKibben recently wrote about us in the New York Review of Books, as well as an article in the Christian Century.

We plan to take the Step It Up message to Congress, and also to the heart of our communities, where it can be a force to make our “clean energy future” our clean energy present.

We’ve been waiting to see what the new U.S. Congress would roll out on climate change, and now the nail biting can begin in earnest. Yesterday, Associated Press reported that Senators Obama, McCain, and Lieberman are introducing a plan to reduce global warming gases 2/3 by mid-Century. Check it.

Now’s the time to hold Congress accountable to our demands–will this bill, and others, avert the crisis? How does it compare to recent statements by Senator Obama?

“No, Danny, you can’t fly to Cape Verde tomorrow. You’ve exceeded your carbon allowance.”

“Dad, that’s so unfair!”

Think this scenario is unbelievable in more ways than one? Not so! A report commissioned by British Environment Secretary David Miliband outlines the procedure for a personal carbon trading scheme. Read today’s story for more. Take a hike, Piggy Bank!

This Halloween, climate activists at Middlebury College hosted a haunted house. The festivities featured a flood zone, drought, insect infestation, polar bear attacks, and finally, George W. Bush playing the accordian (”fiddling” while the world burns, you might say). Maybe you guessed the theme: the haunting impacts of climate change. More than 150 students attended the event, and learned about Middlebury’s carbon neutrality initiative, and pledged to vote for the climate on November 7!

The New York Times reported today that the United Nations Environment Program has pledged 50 million euros ($64 million) to begin the clean up and containment of the massive oil spill in Lebanon. The oil slick spans 87 miles (roughly the distance between New York City and New Haven, CT), and efforts to clean it up are greatly hampered by the war still raging. See Seymour Hersh’s recent article in the New Yorker about U.S. interests in the conflict.

Some of you may have read House Majority Whip Roy Blunt’s (R-MO) claim that if he’s reelected, there will be no action taken on global warming in the 110th Congress. It was reported in Energy and Environment Daily yesterday. An appalling claim, and one that adds fuel to the fire of all of us working to get climate change on the political agenda for the ‘06 elections.

Yesterday, six activists in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, attended a panel on renewable energy convened by Congressman Michael Fitzpatrick (R-PA). Representing Greenpeace’s Project Hot Seat campaign, we donned red shirts that said “Stop Global Warming” on the front, and “Protect Bucks County” on the back. We were interviewed by CBS TV news (watch the video clip) as well as three local newspapers.

So the score is: youth climate activists: 1. Roy Blunt: 0.

Not letting Philadelphia’s 100 degree temperatures stop them, activists with Climate in the House! (and the Senate) performed a friendly demonstration at a book signing for An Inconvenient Truth on Tuesday. More than 1,000 Philadelphians attended the book signing, eager to catch a glimpse of Al Gore during his ten-minute speech. Attendees were greeted at the door by costumed students from Middlebury College and Harvard University, handing out leaflets encouraging people to vote for climate-friendly candidates in November.

Climate in the House! (and the Senate) is a student-run campaign based in Philadelphia, aiming to elevate the importance accorded to climate change and clean energy in the upcoming elections. Southeastern Pennsylvania boasts three competitive U.S. House of Representatives races, a governor’s race, and a U.S. Senate race. In addition, students across the U.S. are targetting local districts. Join the ranks, adopt a district, and let’s get climate out of the doghouse and into the statehouse! Eventually the White House!