PowerShift: Climate-Energy Legislation Now

The Power Shift '09 Lobby Day on March 2nd was the largest lobby day on climate and energy in our nation's history. Power Shift '09 called on the United States Congress to pass comprehensive climate and energy legislation in 2009 that adheres to the following principles:

1. Cut Carbon Dramatically and Immediately

• Reduce global warming pollution by the targets science tells us are necessary: 25%-40% below 1990 levels by 2020; and 80%-95% below 1990 levels by 2050.
• Set an aggressive cap on carbon immediately. If a cap-and-auction mechanism is chosen, 100% of pollution allowances must be auctioned. Any revenue generated from this cap must be used to address the climate crisis in a just and equitable way; none of this money should go to polluting industries.
• Conserve and restore the world’s forests, ecosystems, and carbon sinks, which are the best natural defense in a warming world.
  

2. Invest in a Green Economy

• Create 5 million new jobs through investments in clean energy
• Develop a “Clean Energy Corps” to create service, training, and job opportunities in the clean energy economy
• Train a generation of workers and volunteers to build our clean energy future and help communities adapt to the already changing climate

3. Power our Future With Clean Energy, not Dirty Fuels

• We see a future powered by clean, renewable energy like wind, solar, and geothermal; 100% of our electricity should come from these sources, and we should invest in sustainable transit and energy efficiency
• End our dependence on dirty energy by enacting a moratorium on financing and development of new coal and nuclear plants, and oil shale and tar sands infrastructure
• Immediately begin phasing out dirty and dangerous energy sources and methods of extraction, while also ensuring a just transition for affected workers and communities
  

4. Lead the World to a Clean and Equitable Energy Future

• Work with other nations to reach a strong new global climate treaty in Copenhagen that puts us on track to reduce carbon below 350 parts per million
• Assist vulnerable communities and developing countries in the transition to low-carbon economies and with adaptation to the changing climate
  

The future of the young people hangs in the balance of Congressional decisions. There is no waiting. There is no higher priority. As such, young citizens who support the Power Shift '09 principles demand the passage of bold climate and energy legislation in 2009.

The full document is at Power Shift '09 Lobby Day

TIME.com article about Power Shift '09: Environmentalism, Millennial-Style

PowerShift 2009

Young People to Swarm Capitol With Green Agenda
Sunday, March 1, 2009
WASHINGTON -- Thousands of young people, many of them emboldened by the 2008 presidential contest, will descend on the Capitol tomorrow to urge the government to take radical action to stem climate change and plant the seeds of a green economy.

Arriving Friday from every state in the union -- as well as every Canadian province and more than a dozen countries -- about 12,000 people, most between 18 and 26 years old, are in the District this weekend for Power Shift '09, a summit aimed at raising environmental awareness and lobbying leaders on green issues. Full story in The Washington Post.

PowerShift 2009, the video:

Here is a small sampling of a long list of fine speakers at PowerShift 2009:
Two Obama administration officials spoke. EPA administrator Lisa Jackson said that “science is back” at the EPA. Ken Salazar, Secretary of the Interior, promised that the department would no longer be the department of fossil fuel extraction. Youth climate leader, Billy Parish stressed the need to tell Congress that clean energy is a better investment than dirty energy because it creates more jobs. Other youth climate leaders included the Energy Action Coalition Executive Director Jessy Tolkan, and Adam Gardner of the eco-friendly band, Guster. There were multiple keynote addresses, including those by Bill McKibben, environmental author and founder of 350.org, and by legislators Rep. Ed Markey and Rep. Donna Edwards, and by Majora Carter of the Majora Carter Group and founder of Sustainable South Bronx, and Van Jones of Green For All. Accompanied by her two little children and sources of inspiration, was Gillian Caldwell of 1Sky.
Speaking sessions ended at night with musical performances by Santigold, The Roots and The London Souls.

For running instant updates via Twitter, the Youth Climate way, click here. For more information, visit PowerShift 2009.

Youth Powers a Shift to Clean Energy

Fans of renewable energy will love what's going on in our Nation's Capitol this weekend.

Washington DC is super-charged with the renewable energy of young voters attending PowerShift 2009 to demand a clean energy future. More than 10,000 young folks are expected to attend the February 27 - March 2 event, the largest gathering of its kind.

Politicians in DC are paying close attention. They had better since the young people played a huge role in the last presidential election: 23 Million of these energy-charged citizens voted!

To drive their concerns home, these young adults will show up at the Pol's Capitol Hill offices on Monday March 2 to lobby for the cause of a clean energy future. Makes you proud to be an American, doesn't it?



The events, activities and names of key speakers are listed here.
The home page is PowerShift 2009

Burning Coal Sparks DC Protest Plans

A coal-fired steam-generating plant, the Capitol Power Plant, sits right in the heart of our nation's capitol, unbeknown to most in Washington DC. On March 2, the Capitol Power Plant will become more visible because it will be the site of a mass protest against the continued and seemingly unending practice of polluting our planet by burning coal. The Capitol Power Plant will be exposed as a dark symbol of all that is wrong about burning coal, and all that is wrong with politics as usual in Washington.

On March 2, concerned citizens will demand change on burning coal, calling for a complete transformation in our national energy policies and priorities. In protest of the Federal Government's inaction on these issues, a number of prominent people will gather at the Capitol Power Plant and engage in acts of non-violent civil disobedience, in the tradition of Ghandi and the Civil Rights Movement. Two authors who want to protect and preserve the environment, Bill McKibben from Vermont and Wendell Berry of Kentucky, have made it known that they plan to cross the legal boundary of the power plant and expect to get arrested. Below is a video featuring Bill McKibben in an interview about 'clean coal' and global climate change.



Why is McKibben willing to go to jail in protest of burning coal? To find out, Click Here. Actress Susan Sarandon narrated a video asking others to join the March 2nd protest, called the Capitol Climate Action. NASA climatologist, Dr. James Hansen, is also soliciting participation in the protest to stop global warming pollution in a video presentation at CapitolClimateAction.org. A long list of individuals and organizations endorsing the Capitol Climate Action is shown here. The protest follows PowerShift 2009, a separate event that will draw thousands of students and young people to Washington for the purpose of holding elected officials accountable for rebuilding the economy through bold climate and clean energy policies that help create new jobs.

UPDATE, Feb.26: Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid released a letter asking the Capitol Architect to switch the Capitol Power Plant from coal to 100 percent natural gas by the end of 2009. The call comes just three days before more than 2,500 people will converge at the power plant for the biggest civil disobedience on climate issues in U.S. history. The Capitol Climate Action will still go forward on March 2nd. Read more here.

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