Youth Clean Energy Forum at White House

From: Whit Jones, Acting Field Director, Energy Action Coalition

Last week we announced two exciting victories: Just one week before President Obama attends the Copenhagen climate negotiations, the White House is hosting a Youth Clean Energy Forum to hear from leaders like you.

This is an incredible accomplishment and opportunity. Just two years ago the only people the Bush Administration would speak to about energy policy were the CEOs and lobbyists of Dirty Coal and Big Oil. Now, the Obama Administration is inviting us into the White House, and we need to make sure we are present and heard.

One way to be sure you're heard is to host a viewing party to watch the LIVE webcast of the forum in your area and engage in the LIVE discussion. Throughout the forum, the White House is going to take questions and comments off of the Facebook Live Chat.

This is our opportunity to discuss strengthening emissions targets, ending mountaintop removal, investing in green jobs and pathways out of poverty, and revitalizing our economy. We have to let Obama's team know where we stand before he heads to Copenhagen.

Viewing parties are fun and simple. All you need to do is find a space, invite your friends or a couple of campus organizations, and turn on the live webcast. You can host a meeting in conjunction with it, invite local media so they can hear your responses to the forum, and blog or tweet about it.

Sign-up to Host a Viewing Party. RSVP if you're watching alone so we can keep track of participation.

Here are the details about the forum:

• WHAT: You, a couple of friends, a few campus organizations watching the webcast of the White House Youth Clean Energy Forum

• WHO: Top White House officials, including Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, Energy Secretary Steven Chu & the EPA's Lisa Jackson

• WHEN: Dec. 2nd from 4 pm - 7 pm ET

• WHERE: The forum will be webcast live on the White House website at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/live or on Facebook with a live discussion board at: http://apps.facebook.com/whitehouselive/
  

Don't miss it and be sure to host or attend a viewing party!

Energy Action Coalition is a youth-led coalition of 50 organizations working together to fight for a clean, just and renewable energy future. Join the new Local Community and get your neighborhood involved in the national push for a future powered by clean energy and not by dirty politics.

For a list of Energy Action Coalition partners, please visit our Energy Action Partners page.

McKibben to Obama: Stop Climate Spin -- Feel the Heat

Mother Jones
Mr. President: Time to Quit Fibbing and Spinning
By Bill McKibben | Monday, November 16, 2009

The real tip-off of Obama’s unwillingness to lead, however, has been the endless spinning of his climate negotiators. For 12 months they have been fibbing about the science—reiterating over and over again that their goal is the “scientific standard” of 450 parts per million of CO2 in the atmosphere. That’s no longer scientifically accurate—in the last two years, since the rapid Arctic melt in the summer of 2007, scientists have made it clear that a treaty that aimed at 450 ppm would be a treaty that left the planet free of ice, a planet where many current nations would disappear beneath the waves. We’re at 390 now—we’re already too high.

Read the full report here.Washington Post
Obama needs to Feel the Heat
By Bill McKibben | Sunday, November 22, 2009

As one of the U.S. spokesmen put it, "There was an assessment by the leaders that it is unrealistic to expect a full, internationally legally binding agreement could be negotiated between now and Copenhagen, which starts in 22 days."

This is not just spin, it's pathetic spin. Copenhagen has been on the calendar for years -- it's not a surprise that someone sprung on the president, who shortly after last year's election declared: "Once I take office, you can be sure that the United States will once again engage vigorously in these negotiations and help lead the world toward a new era of global cooperation on climate change. Now is the time to confront this challenge once and for all. Delay is no longer an option. Denial is no longer an acceptable response. The stakes are too high." [emphasis added]

Read the full report here.