It’s Getting Hot In Here

“Show me what democracy looks like! This is what democracy looks like!”

As we’ve fought for our clean energy future, we’ve passionately chanted these words again and again, asserting that citizen action is what truly drives political change.   With the growth of our movement, we’ve all engaged in amazing citizen actions, pressuring our elected officials to solve the climate crisis in every way we know how.
Despite our continued efforts, Copenhagen was a flop, and our elected officials are falling victim to big oil and big coal.  We can’t afford to watch this happen.  It is time for us to ramp up the action.  We need to take democracy back.

After witnessing the devastating effects of U.S. inaction in Copenhagen, we created the Show Me Democracy campaign.  We aim to pull our generation together to demand that the United States step it up dramatically before the next major international climate negotiations in Cancun, Mexico this December.  But this time, we are going to do more than just send emails and write petitions.  We are going to consistently engage our elected representatives, storming Senate field offices across the country with a simple, united message: take immediate action to halt global warming at home… and then go to Mexico in December with a serious plan for an international climate change agreement.

Continue reading ‘THIS Is What Democracy Looks Like’

Today in the United States, we celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  King was a clergyman, a civil rights activist, and a public servant in the 1950s and 60s.  He rose to prominence after the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955 and is perhaps most famous for his “I Have a Dream” speech, made during the 1963 March on Washington.  A recipient of the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize, King dedicated his entire life to the fight to end racial discrimination in the United States through non-violent civil disobedience.

King believed that discrimination exists out of peoples’ lack of understanding of others.  Out of this lack of understanding comes a resolute fear in the “other,” and results in prejudice and injustice.  King became the face of a movement he helped to build, representing a vast constituency of average Americas fighting for their right to equality.  The idea that citizens rallied around Dr. King’s message is what makes the Civil Rights Movement one that will be forever recognized in United States history.

I could never hope to fully capture the energy of MLK Day in the United States in a blogpost, there’s simply too much to say.  In short, MLK Day has two primary purposes.  It is this day that we sit back and reflect on the state of our world and the oppression that still exists despites Kings’ best efforts.  And it is also a day of service, where citizens are encouraged to go out and honor King’s life by giving back to their community.

But what does Martin Luther King, Jr. Day mean for the climate change movement?  As such an incredible force in the broader context of advocacy, King’s teachings have significant meaning in the fight for climate justice. Continue reading ‘What Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Means For The Climate Movement’