Vote for Green Jobs

Some pending legislation would help create green jobs. This is from my local Sierra Club chapter:

Stop Climate Change With Green Jobs



Action: Contact your member of Congress

Message: Improve and Pass HR 2454

When: Congress will vote on Friday, June 26.

Why: The future of life as we know it on Planet Earth is threatened.

How:

I. Use the Club’s on-line alert:
Paste this into your browser:
https://secure2.convio.net/sierra/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=2459

Or click this Link.



II. Telephone:

Those in the US 10 district (SE half of Lake and NE Cook), please call US Rep. Mark Kirk's office, thank him for HR 55, the COMMUTER Act, and then ask that he vote for HR 2454. Call 847-940-0202, or 202-225-4835.

Those in the US 8 district (NW half of Lake and NW Cook), please call US Rep. Melissa Bean's office, thank her for reintroducing her 3 Green Innovation Initiative bills, and then ask that she vote for HR 2454. Call 847-519-3434 or 202-225-3711.


Strengthen and pass HR 2454, the bill for Green Jobs and Clean Energy ;
Require more energy efficiency and renewable energy sooner;

Retain EPA’s authority to make sure the necessary emissions reductions are achieved in time;

Invest in green jobs, not more giveaways to Big Coal, Big Oil, New Nukes, and other polluters.

Background:

The U.S. needs comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation to jumpstart our economy, create millions of new, good-paying clean energy jobs, make us more energy independent, and put us on the path to slashing global warming pollution 80 percent by 2050. Thanks to the effective leadership of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the support of committee members from every region and economic interest of the country, we have a bill that sets us on this path. We need to achieve these goals by supporting and strengthening American Clean Energy and Security Act (H.R. 2454).

As this bill is considered on the floor, we must strengthen it in three key ways: improve the renewable energy and energy efficiency provisions; allow the EPA to act as crucial backstop to make sure the necessary emissions reductions are achieved in time; and shift investments toward protecting consumers and the public interest, rather than more giveaways and bailouts for Big Oil, Big Coal, and other polluters. We must also defeat any amendments that weaken the bill, particularly those that undermine the legislation's clean energy incentives and emission reduction goals.

By voting to strengthen and pass the American Clean Energy and Security Act, the House will create vital momentum for action this year by Congress, and enable the President to show leadership in the international community. As we approach the December 2009 deadline for climate treaty negotiations in Copenhagen, Denmark, we must show the world the U.S. is finally ready to take action toward solving this urgent global problem. Be part of this solution!

The effects of Climate Change are already evident around the world, and the emissions we release are causing it to accelerate. The hottest years on record are within this decade, and are resulting in more violent weather, dropping levels of fresh water lakes, melting of glaciers and sea ice, sea level rise, and many other unwanted effects. The resulting shift in climate zones toward the poles and to higher elevations is disrupting the life cycles of plants and animals that depend on one another for migration and pollination, and as a result, we are presently witnessing the sixth great extinction. With the stability of global ecosystems threatened, our energy use habits are gambling with the diversity of life on Earth. We cannot sit this out and hope to win a future victory. This time we’re all in.

Also see my new book "The Cul-de-Sac Syndrome." www.culdesacsyndrome.com