Tag Archives: Sustainable energy

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee is poised to create a so-called clean energy bank that would funnel billions of dollars in loan guarantees to the nuclear and coal industries instead of supporting truly clean and less risky renewable energy technologies that will reduce global warming emissions at the lowest cost.

This Thursday, May 26, senators will vote on legislation that would create a huge new government loan program called the Clean Energy Deployment Administration (CEDA). As drafted, CEDA would put taxpayers on the hook for hundreds of billions of dollars in loans to established industries that are too risky for the private sector to finance while doing little to finance clean energy technologies.

Although CEDA is intended to support the commercialization of innovative clean energy technologies like renewable energy and energy efficiency, the nuclear industry sees it as a permanent financing mechanism for conventional nuclear reactors. CEDA would disproportionately favor large, costly projects over many other cost-effective, low-carbon options, thus giving large-scale conventional energy technologies an advantage at the expense of truly clean innovative alternatives.

The Senate vote on this risky loan program will happen this Thursday. Please call IMMEDIATELY and urge your senator not to support a CEDA that can give out unlimited loan guarantees and does not have strong congressional oversight.

Please Call – http://action.ucsusa.org/site/R?i=5SoGsDDgou0iXy0q3NOhEQ..

Sincerely,

Megan Rising

National Field Organizer

UCS Climate and Energy Program

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

There’s nothing courageous about it

04/15/2011 Nativegrl77

For days, I’ve been reading in the press about the “courage” of a Republican budget proposal that abolishes Medicare to pay for more tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires and slashes investments in energy, education, and infrastructure.

On Wednesday, I heard President Obama say exactly what I’ve been thinking: There’s nothing courageous about it.

The Republicans are pledging to cut investments to clean energy by 70 percent, education by 25 percent, and transportation by 30 percent. Their plan would see as many as 50 million people lose their health insurance in order to reduce the deficit. Instead of creating jobs, they want to create $1 trillion in new tax breaks for the wealthy.

That’s not a brave vision for the future. It’s a rejection of the idea that there are brighter days ahead.

Today, the House of Representatives will meet to vote on the GOP budget proposal, and if they insist on pushing this plan forward — if they can’t come together with the President to find common ground — we’ll make sure their constituents know about it. If they choose to try to privatize Medicare, we will put ads on the air and organizers on the ground, and we’ll talk about this vote over and over again. We’ll make this stick.

But we need your help to do it.

www.democrats.com

This week, President Obama offered a path forward that I believe in: $4 trillion in deficit reduction; responsible investments to improve our schools, fix crumbling roads, and develop clean energy; and a total rejection of the notion that spending cuts must come on the backs of seniors and poor children.

He laid out a vision where we all make sacrifices, but none of us is left to bear the burden alone. And he offered a forceful, unapologetic response to those who don’t believe in the responsibility we all share to move our country forward together.

This isn’t just about this week’s vote or the latest shiny object to capture the attention of Washington for a news cycle or two. This is about the very future of this country and the direction we take.

We know that because the Republican plan hasn’t just been adopted by a few ideologues in Congress — it’s been embraced by the candidates who want to take President Obama’s job.

If we want to win this fight about the direction our country takes, then we must start now — as Congress considers the GOP proposal.

Can you chip in?

http://my.democrats.org/Medicare

Thanks,

Patrick

Patrick Gaspard

Executive Director

Democratic National Committee

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Banks coming clean

03/09/2011 Nativegrl77

With the movement for clean energy growing stronger every day, the last thing we need is more oil pipelines. Especially when those pipelines are filled with oil from Canada’s dirty tar sands.

Citigroup doesn’t see it that way. Since 2008 Citi has raised more than $14 billion for the pipeline industry—more than any other bank. One of Citi’s biggest clients in the sector is TransCanada—the same company now proposing the infamous KeystoneXL pipeline to connect Canada’s tar sands to Gulf Coast oil refineries.

Guess what though? You can change the way bankers do business, even at Citi, just by connecting one-on-one to share your concerns.

http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=N3%2FV7gtTEeaYPOhQN40e2%2BxsQktoNWGN

Make a difference in all of our futures by picking up the phone today and calling a Citi banker.

This is no email petition, we’re actually putting you on the phone with the bankers who need to know about Citi’s financing of fossil fuels so they can help Citi change course. http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=3fOkJ%2FhFUlOnsTh8BH%2FJrZeWKDLLHRA3

The KeystoneXL pipeline would more than triple oil imports from the tar sands—effectively erasing the benefits of fuel efficiency standard s designed to break our crippling addiction to oil. Citi should clearly be financing our clean energy future, not outdated carbon-intensive fossil fuels.

Help us contact more than 2000 Citi employees today and enlist them in creating our clean energy future. It’ll make you feel great!

http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=JuxK4HRNsPJ%2BM3IrjlVbEZeWKDLLHRA3

For the future,

Brant Olson

Freedom From Oil Campaign Director

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

RepoWEr America …

03/02/2011 Nativegrl77

Inspiring. That’s the word that came to mind as I looked through some of the stories you sent us that share what your communities are doing about climate change.

Over the past few weeks, more than a thousand of you wrote in to tell us how you are doing your part to solve the climate crisis. And I was thrilled to learn how many of you are taking action — in your workplaces, schools, your local governments, and in your own homes.

Now, I’d like to invite you to read some of these stories. Will you take a moment to read a few of the inspiring stories we’ve received about people like you who are helping us solve the climate crisis? Click below to read the stories on our blog.

http://acp.repoweramerica.org/climate-stories

Read about a teacher who found effective ways to save energy at a Montessori school in Lexington, Kentucky. Or read about new solar panels that will provide 20% of the energy needs for the Cincinnati Zoo.

There may still be people out there who wonder if a clean energy future is achievable. Your stories prove that it is possible. All across America, people are standing up and taking steps that put us on a path to solving the climate crisis — creating momentum for the change we need around the world.

Click here to read some of the stories about people across the country addressing climate change.

Sincerely,

Maggie L. Fox

President and CEO

Alliance for Climate Protection

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

What’s Your Town Doing About Climate Change?

01/20/2011 Nativegrl77

If you listened to the professional pundits and climate deniers, you would think the fight against climate change has ended. That is not the reality. Despite the lack of leadership in Washington, we are moving toward clean energy solutions in our communities, our states and in our own lives.

All across America, neighbors and communities are coming together to do more than just demand change. They are making it happen.

When neighbors in Montgomery County, Maryland wanted to do something about climate change, they didn’t wait for Congress to pass a law. They banded together and worked their hearts out. Their work paid off: Last May, the Montgomery County Council passed a local law requiring polluters to pay for carbon emissions — the first of its kind in the United States.

Now, we’d like you to help us by answering a question. What’s happening in your community? Is your county, city or even state working to combat climate change? Are your schools, places of worship or local businesses embracing a clean energy future? We want to hear about it. Share your story with us here… click on link below

http://www2.repoweramerica.org/page/m/396e8d98/6fdeebac/4bff270/19ba7825/810372057/VEsE/

Climate change is a global problem, but the solutions are close to home. Take Oxford, a rural community in Southwest Ohio. Families in Oxford worked together to create a more energy-efficient school for their children, and now Talawanda High School is on track to be one of the first schools in Ohio to be certified as LEED Silver for its energy savings. The school is expected to use 40% less energy than an average building of the same size. That’s an important accomplishment.

When Louisville, Kentucky hosted its first “Kilowatt Crackdown” — a competition lasting a full year that invited building proprietors to improve energy efficiency — over 100 buildings competed. Across sectors spanning education, business, healthcare providers and hospitality, building owners came together and saved 4,766,977 kilowatt hours in 2009 as compared to the year before. That’s the same as preventing the carbon emissions from 385,092 gallons of gasoline.

Every day, people in communities across America are taking actions like these. We believe your stories can inspire even more to take action. Every successful local, state and regional initiative to fight climate change and promote clean energy will empower and inform further action. As we wait for our national leaders to catch up with us, we must build on these changes already happening outside of Washington, D.C.

We need your stories. We know these the communities mentioned above aren’t the only ones working locally to make change happen. What’s happening near you?

http://acp.repoweramerica.org/shareyourstory

We can’t wait to read about your project or accomplishment. Share your stories now and we’ll share some of them with the rest of our community.

Thanks for all you do,

Maggie L. Fox

President and CEO

Alliance for Climate Protection