Citizen's Climate Lobby
Today I drive to Utica in a borrowed car to go to a Citizen's Climate Lobby meeting. I was the youngest in the room by far, but I expected as much. I'm glad I did it!!
Ever since I heard about CCL I have thought that their work is important. Their stated goal is to create political will for a liveable world. Their main work is to provide an alternative narrative on capital hill to the 2000+ paid lobbyists for the oil, gas, and coal industries.
I love grassroots movements and I fantasize about the day when the people of the US take the streets in a way that the government has to respond to. I don't even care why we take to the streets and in fact I hope it is for a variety of reasons. Sadly, I see far too many people complacent or resigned to the way of the world, so I am not hopeful that this glorious people's revolution is coming down the pipe anytime soon.
In some ways I am hopeful because I have seen a marked increase in global acts of unrest: Occupy, Spanish Revolution, Egyptian Revolution, Arab Spring, Iceland financial, etc, but I while I believe that these sorts of things can be powerful and are gaining a type of momentum, I also think we need to come at the major problems facing our world (wealth inequality, unjust usages of power, marginalization, climate change, etc.) from the other direction.
Rather than tearing down the current societal order, CCL recognizes that the fastest, surest way to address huge problems is to work through the systems we have in place. CCL's main work is empowering people to raise their political voice. They try to inspire people to write letters to the editor, talk to their congressmen, and generally become more involved members of the community. To me, their work seems predominantly to be one of hope-bringing, turning cynicism and disengagement into inspired participation, thus creating political for change.
Obama has said it a few times "make me do it." Bernie has also made it clear, that even if elected, his hands are tied in all the most meaningful ways UNLESS the people demand it of their elected officials.
I believe CCL is potentially the only environmental group that offers a solution that matches the scale of the problem. They advocate for a Carbon Fee and Dividend plan. In a nutshell: this plan would incentivize life style, investment and infrastructure shifts by placing a steadily rising fee on fossil fuels at the source, give all the revenue from the carbon fee back to households so the lower and middle class are not bearing the strain of change, thus giving the populace more purchasing power, creating jobs, and all while reducing dependence on fossil fuels.
This plan should be able to garner bi-partisan support because it is revenue neutral and has been shown to stimulate the economy!
Don't take my word for it, all the data is there:
I look forward to spreading the word of CCL and their Carbon Fee and Dividend plan to family, friends, congressmen, and anyone who will listen!
Join me!!
In the style of Earnest Shackleton, I can't promise you fame or fortune, or an easy ride, but I can promise you the fulfillment and community that comes with fighting the good fight!
