Now that important health care legislation has finally been passed, Congress is moving on to an even more urgent goal:  addressing climate change.

     The U.S. Senate is in the process of drafting climate and clean energy legislation, and Senate supporters hope to pass a strong bill this year. 

     But if the debate over health care is any indication, we can expect a bruising fight over whether to require significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.  Big oil, big coal, and other giant corporate polluters will stop at nothing to protect the status quo–i.e. big profits.  With the most skilled lobbyists money can buy, along with their climate change denying friends in Congress, these powerful interests will do everything they can to block climate change legislation, at the expense of the planet’s–and humanity’s–future.

     But despite intense and well-financed opposition, we won a historic victory on health care.  We can do it again on climate change.  And we must.  There is no way to effectively address global warming without strong leadership from the top.  But Congress will not likely pass a law that puts a serious dent in greenhouse gas emissions and begins the necessary shift to clean energy unless we make them do it.

     Here’s where you come in.  National organizations that advocate for meaningful climate change legislation are calling on all of us to write a letter.

     These groups are asking Americans to write a letter, the old-fashioned type with an envelope and a stamp, to each of their two Senators.  Even though email and tweets allow for instant communication, Capitol Hill staffers report that the most effective way to get the attention of one’s elected representatives is through a personal letter delivered by the U.S. Postal Service.  For that reason, climate change organizers are calling on citizens to write letters.  The goal is 150,000 letters from constituents, demanding that the Senate pass a strong climate change bill this year.

     This letter writing campaign follows on the heels of a phone-in campaign in which more than 20,000 people called their Senators’ offices over three days, calling for climate and clean energy legislation.  The effort was so successful, says Al Gore, that the Capitol Switchboard could not handle the volume throughout the days of calling.

     So here’s what to do:  

1.  Click the following link to get the mailing addresses of your two Senators:  http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm  

2.  Write a letter calling on your Senator to promote and vote for legislation to reduce global warming emissions and to begin the shift to clean energy.  Make a copy for your other Senator (changing the name and address, of course).  Don’t worry if you don’t consider yourself a great writer, or if you don’t have the latest statistics.  Just state your opinion.  Give any reasons that matter to you or that you think your Senator might find persuasive.  Remember, your Senator is not grading your letter.  S/he is getting the message that you are a constituent who cares so much about this issue that you are taking the time to write a personal letter.  And Senators know that for every constituent who takes the time to write a personal letter, there are many others of the same opinion, but who do not write.  Members of Congress will act when their constituents insist on it.  If they receive a lot of mail on this issue, you can be sure they will take notice.  Most of them have an eye on the next election.

3.  Mail your letters. 

4.  Send this posting to friends, and urge them to write a letter or two as well, for a healthy planet.–April Moore

 

         

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010 at 4:13 pm and is filed under Act now to save our beloved Earth!. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.