Announcing a new activist project for any interested Kossacks: Adopt a Senator for ACES! It's a variation on the whip. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to find a Senator listed below the fold, call out the Senator's position on climate change legislation -- both good and bad -- and amplify by writing diaries. Educate us on the Senator's position, include a phone number, email address, or link when action is needed, and tell the Senator that we are listening. Track the Senator's public statements and tell us about any changes. You'll win friends, influence Senators and other people, and maybe even make the rec list at DailyKos*! (* results not guaranteed, your mileage may vary, see complaint dept for details)
More importantly, you will help to pass a law that sets up a framework for regulating greenhouse gases and leads us to a future of clean renewable energy. The enemies of the American Clean Energy & Security (ACES) bill are already using every unethical tactic at their disposal, from sending forged letters to astroturfing town halls. Without us, the bill will die in the Senate.
A brief discussion on why ACES is important:
ACES, aka Waxman-Markey, aka cap & trade, aka HR 2454, will be our country's first step to limit carbon emissions, create green jobs, transition to clean energy, give us credibility in the Copenhagen negotiations, and ultimately head off the environmental disaster of global warming. Notice that I said "first step," because I'm not going to pretend that Waxman-Markey, as passed in the House, will solve all our problems. I've previously detailed why we must not let the perfect become the enemy of the mediocre.
ACES is President Obama's climate change policy, for better or worse. It's one of his two signature pieces of legislation, along with health care reform. Health care reform is important, but while we were focusing on health care reform, Waxman-Markey turned into a coal porkfest. That can't happen again in the Senate -- and it won't, if we yell louder. Hence, the adopt-a-Senator project. ACES carries a political risk for Democrats that goes well beyond mere failure of a bill. Unlike health care reform, climate regulation may have a Plan B. The EPA has proposed regulation of greenhouse gases on its own, and the first steps may be taken by the end of August. While many environmental activists wish that would have been Obama's first action in office (ahem! polar bear rule, anyone?), a top-down EPA order carries huge political peril for Obama, because the outrage from people other than environmental activists will translate to Democratic losses in 2010 and 2012 (and can be undone by a Republican president in eight years). Thus, for political reasons if not policy reasons, it's far better to pass a bill through the democratic process.
We need to start NOW:
We're getting outhustled on this just as we are on health care reform. The health care reform debate has sucked all the oxygen out of the mainstream media, but the flow of money continues behind the scenes. The astroturfers have forged lobbyist letters to members of Congress. The American Petroleum Institute is holding Astroturf "Energy Citizen Rallies" throughout 20 swing states during the last two weeks in August -- right now! -- read the memo right here! In the next two weeks, we need to attend those rallies, attend Senators' town hall rallies (dates listed below in Special Bonus Section), and be heard. Once Congress returns on September 8, we need to keep a close eye on this bill, call Senators, and strengthen the bill. Representative Jay Inslee told us at NN09 that Obama's only chance to pass transformative legislation is this year: next year Congress will be focusing on midterm elections, and after that they'll all be in 2012 campaign mode. The fight over health care reform is part and parcel with the fight over ACES. If we don't act now, the bill will die.
Here's the timeline (h/t to 1Sky's blog):
•9/8: Boxer-Kerry- TBA(they're looking for a Republican cosponsor, good luck with that) discussion draft to be released (will include many placeholders to be filled in, including likely blanks on how allocations are handled)
•9/21 - 9/25: Tentative Environment & Public Works Committee markup
•9/8 - 9/25: Other climate committee markups held
•9/28: Mark-up deadline for all senate committees with climate jurisdiction
•After 9/28: Majority Leader Reid will then assemble committee reports into one Senate bill, ready for floor consideration
Why you -- yes, you, I'm staring at you! -- are important:
If it happened to me, it can happen to you too! I went to NN09 as just another blogger, and not a very important blogger at that as measured by the DailyKos user id hierarchy. I went to panels and skulked in the back. I listened to Representative Inslee argue with Greeenpeace director Phil Radford as to whether there's any hope coming out of the Obama administration on climate change. I stood up and made one announcement about Adopt-a-Senator, and...(dramatic pause)...suddenly I was important! People wanted to talk with me! Strangers gave me business cards! Congresscritters answered my questions! I had one-on-one time with Meteor Blades (who, btw, is even more awesome in person than online)! People bought me drinks, dinners, more drinksh, and still more drniksh!
Of course, no one here is working their tails off just to feed an ego. NN09 was a valuable lesson for a budding activist. DailyKos amplifies our voices. Congressional offices scrutinize this site. Every speaker in Hall B, from Bill Clinton to Valerie Jarrett to Debra Bowen, told us, and showed us by showing up, that they listen to us. We are important. Blue Dogs were able to water down Waxman-Markey in the House because we, the liberal netroots, were not paying much attention to it. I don't want that mistake to happen again. I don't want to spend years listening to pundits pontificating on the two biggest failures of Obama's first year, health care reform and climate change. Representative Inslee told me that many Democratic members of Congress want to do the right thing and vote for climate change legislation, but they need to know that they won't be run out of office. That's why they need to hear from us -- and we need to let them know the good things they do as well as the bad.
It's not enough just to be someone, nor to be someone with a voice. Use your voice, amplify your voice, and use it to say something worthwhile.
Who needs to be adopted?
Both conservative Democrats and several potential Republican crossover votes need to be adopted. Which of these take all their contributions from the coal industry? Who can be persuaded with just a little bit of horsetrading? (Representative Inslee phrased it a bit differently at NN09.) Who's the chair of an important committee? What's your Senator's vote history? Which Democrats will commit to cloture even if not committed to the bill itself? At DK GreenRoots and by email, I will provide you with Falling-Off-A-Cliff Notes to help you get started in writing a diary.
Baucus (MT): You know him from the health care reform diaries. He's still chair of the Finance Committee, he still expects to play a large role in crafting this bill, he still wants national lobbyists to donate but ordinary non-Montana citizens to leave him alone, and he's still a migraine. OTOH, recent Montanans are there for quality of life, tourist dollars will melt along with Glacier National Parks' namesake glaciers, he's already a little committed to positive action on climate change, and he might listen to reason. Let's adopt him.
Begich (AK): Alaska has the most to win, and the oil and gas lobby state with the most to lose, by climate change legislation.
Brown (OH): Mixed record, probably needs to know that the bill is not a jobs killer.
Burris (IL): Little is known, little is wanted to be known, but a good vote will raise his reelection odds from 0.00001% to 0.00002%.
Collins (R-ME): Even more endangered than Ursus maritimus, the Republicanus moderatus.
Conrad (ND): Last week went on record in favor of gutting the climate change provisions entirely and watering ACES down to renewable energy. Needs close watch.
Corker (R-TN): Interested in cap and trade or even a carbon tax, oddly enough; concerned about costs; can we convince him that ACES will be an economic win?
Dorgan (ND): See Conrad.
Harkin (Iowa): The chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee needs a lot of watching!
Tim Johnson (SD): Mixed-to-negative positions.
Levin (MI): Needs to hear about jobs.
Lieberman (CT): Do we trust anything he says any more?
Lincoln (Ark): Joined Conrad and Dorgan.
McCain (R-AZ): Back when he was a maverick, he voted for climate change legislation. Now, not so much.
Murkowski (R-AK): Very interesting possible dark horse crossover vote?
Pryor (Ark): Needs to hear about jobs.
Snowe (R-ME): See Collins.
Specter (PA): With a serious primary race, we need to keep the pressure on him -- or let him know that we will vote for Sestak -- now.
Tester (MT): Baucus-lite.
Voinovich (R-OH): Steady interest in issue; can we persuade him to do the right thing before retirement?
Webb (VA): Has been quiet.
The following have already been adopted, but if you have a particular insight into a home state or other Senator, adopt away!
Bayh (Ind.): Njhudelson
M. Bennet (CO): Colorado Is The Shiznit
Bingaman (NM): Mieprowan
Byrd (WV): W Va Blue
DiFi (CA): Greenmama
Klobuchar (Minn): Populista
Landrieu (La): Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse
Lugar (R-Ind.) -- Njhudelson
McCaskill (Missouri): Silverleaf
Ben Nelson (Neb): Oke
Bill Nelson (FL): sewenviro
Rockefeller (WV): W Va Blue
Wyden (OR): polar bear
Are you funny? Are you snarky? Are you allergic to research?
Are you funnier than Jeff Lieber? Are you Jeff Lieber? Do you want to Go after a Global Warming Denier, Criticize a Climate Change Naysayer, or Ridicule a Republican? You don't want to adopt Inhofe -- he's not housebroken in the least! -- but we can use diaries calling out the Worst of the Worst: Barrasso (WY), Bennett (UT), Bond (MO), Bunning (KY), Burr (NC), Chambliss (GA), Coburn (OK), Cornyn (TX), DeMint (SC), Ensign (NV), Enzi (WY), Hatch (UT), KBH (TX), Inhofe (OK), Johanns (Neb), Kyl (AZ), McConnell (KY), Roberts (KY), Sessions (AL), Shelby (AL), Vitter (La), Wicker (Miss), and anyone else who you think deserves it. Don't expect to influence any of these, but do expect to use your snark skills. Entertain us with a treasure trove of Goposaur material.
But what about the good Senators like ____?
If you want to adopt Boxer, Kerry, Sanders, or any other Senator with solid views in favor of climate legislation, go ahead. They need to be praised. The conservative Democrats and potential crossover Republican votes are highest priority, but if you want to let a good Democrat know that we have his/her back, this is the place to do so. Carrots work better than sticks (h/t to Hekebolos).
But what if I'm busy fighting for health care reform?
If you're calling a Senator for health care reform, you can ask about ACES at the same time. There's a huge correlation between health care reform and climate change legislation -- and just to get you started with talking points, here are six degrees of intertwining (h/t to A Siegel), beginning with the fact that clean air means clean lungs and healthy people, and clean water likewise cuts the cost of health care. The same lobbyists are opposing both changes. We can fight them on two fronts. We are activists. We can multitask.
Special Bonus Action Alert!
At least four Senators are holding town halls this week and next week. Some may be devoted to health care only, but most seem to be listening tours. Show up, check out whether the town hall is being taken over by global warming deniers along with health care deathers, and let us know what you see.
Thune, Wed. 8/19, DakotaWorks Farm Show, Mitchell, SD
Dorgan, Thurs 8/20 10:15 AM, Garrison, ND
McCaskill, Tues. 8/25 7 PM, Three Rivers Community College, Poplar, MO; follow her tweets for others
Whitehouse, 8/26 6 PM, Johnston Senior Center, Johnston, RI
Much of the details will be occurring on DK Greenroots, so join us (if you haven't already) and check that site often. You can also email me at azureblueskies at sbcglobal dot net (address in profile) with any questions.