This Sierra Club member's action opportunity is more vital than ever.  National Sierra Club, like all volunteer funded groups, is severely strapped for funds and cannot provide additional staff to help Chapters organize against the winning strategy of  dirty fossil fuel funded tactics.  We lost our own  important staff position of lobbyist because of lack of funding.  We are in danger of losing our best chance yet, with Obama in office, to make polluters pay for their damage and create lots of green jobs. We need to counter the refinery, coal, oil effective lobby to let them get a free pass too pollute

 

 

Energy Activist  - Club-Wide Call to Action on Global Warming and Energy
 
August 4 Notes
 
Focus -  actions members can take covered under C3 & C4
 
2 Priorities
 
A.  Education (C3) -  The Big Picture - Urge people to call their
senators asking  them to support Obama’s EPA, as it creates rules that
will make coal companies and other polluters clean up pollution created
by old dirty power plants, specifically coal ash, mercury, soot and
carbon pollution.
 
B. Ask people to sign Sierra Club’s  on -line petition
(actionsierraclub.org/bigpicture) for hard copy
 
2.  Urge people to call their senators early this fall asking for a
strong comprehensive senate  bill to include:
1.Good green jobs
2. Polluters Pay
3.  Assistance to consumers with energy costs
 
There is optimism that bill will go for a floor vote before Copenhagen
in December.  Initial indications show a stronger bill that will cover
RES renewal, more energy efficiency and provisions to shut down the
oldest and dirtiest coal plants.
 
Obama is gearing up to regulate coal through Endangerment Finding that
will allow EPA to regulate coal.  Part of the Big Picture Education
will include  mountain top removal, mercury emissions, coal ash, and
PM2.5, all the aspects of coal life requiring regulation.  There will
be a public comment process involving each of the above measures.
 
There is a lot of push back from the  ene
rgy industry including
fraudulent letters to senators( which will be forwarded in next email)
plus a great deal of money being spent to defeat this bill.
 
There is a new Sierra Climate Leadership Program for leaders to plug in
daily for the most up to date actions (sierraclub.org/climateleaders)
including:
 
1. Rapid response LTE countering arguments made by the opposition. 
There will be different templates by state regarding questions raised
on issues such as cost to small business
2.  Weekly distributed phone banking every Wed. Night
3.  Petition signing in August
4.  Town hall meetings
 
Strategies are being developed to reach our wide membership in light of
the limited financial resources.
5.  On line actions