As a new President and a new Congress are about to take office, ending eight long and difficult years under Bush/Cheney, we are glad to be writing to you about important national initiatives being undertaken by the climate movement. We are stepping up our activism to reflect the deepening urgency of the climate crisis, and we hope you will be joining in!
The major focus of these early-2009 initiatives is on coal, for some very good reasons. Coal is dirty and dangerous. It’s responsible for ripping the tops off mountains and creating toxic coal ash. We’re demanding no new coal plants and a quick — and just — transition away from coal to genuinely clean and renewable energy sources.
We need to Power Past Coal, and, indeed, that’s the name of an important new project linking a diverse network of organizations across the nation (www.powerpastcoal.org). USCEC was at the founding meeting of this effort in Charleston, WV. right after the November elections. We are proud to be playing an active role in its “100 Days of Action to Expose the True Cost of Coal and Plug into New Power.”
The 100 Days of Action campaign begins on Wednesday, January 21st with a national call-in day organized by CLEAN (http://theclean.org/clean_act.html) and will continue through April 30th. We urge you to call the White House and your Congresspeople on January 21st and to go to www.powerpastcoal.org to get involved throughout the 100 days.
March 2nd will be one of the most significant of the 100 Days of Action. On that day 1,000 or more people will come to Washington, D.C. to encircle the coal plant that provides power to the U.S. Capitol. Authors and activists Bill McKibben and Wendell Berry will be participating and had this to say in an open letter announcing their plans:
“There are moments in a nation’s – and a planet’s – history when it may be necessary for some to break the law in order to bear witness to an evil, bring it to wider attention, and push for its correction. We think such a time has arrived, and we are writing to say that we hope some of you will join us in Washington, D.C. on Monday March 2 in order to take part in a civil act of civil disobedience outside a coal-fired power plant near Capitol Hill.” (to see the full letter go to www.chesapeakeclimate.org/blog/?p=562).
We urge you to make plans to join USCEC and many others at this historic action on March 2nd. You can sign up and get more information by going to salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/423/t/8191/event/index.jsp?event_KEY=46909.
Let’s make 2009 the year that the great turning to a justice-based, clean energy society really began!
