Senators, If You Want the Youth Vote, Provide a Cleaner Energy Future
Posted by: Heather Taylor-Miesle - 02/01/10
Categories: cleanenergy
This week, NRDC’s Action Fund launched a web-based video in which Leonardo DiCaprio, Edward Norton, Justin Long, Emmy Rossum, Forest Whitaker, Jason Bateman, Chace Crawford, Felicity Huffman, and Cornell West urge people to tell their senators to support clean energy and climate legislation.
We are hoping the video will appeal to young people, not only because they are the bread and butter of the climate movement, but also because they have a powerful role to role in the mid-term elections.
We want senators running for reelection to know that if they want young people to vote for them, then they need to pass the clean energy and climate legislation that will secure a safer, cleaner future for this generation.
I mean, let’s face it, if we don’t start confronting the climate crisis now, these young people are going to bear the brunt of costly storm damage, heightened security risks, and a nation that will have fallen behind China and the EU in the clean energy marketplace. Their future is at stake here.
It is no secret that the youth vote played a huge role in November 2008. But what we saw in the off-year elections and the special election in Massachusetts is that young people aren’t energized to go to the polls when Obama isn’t at the top of the ticket.
Young people are feeling disenfranchised. That doesn’t mean they vote for a challenger or a member of another party. They just stay home. In Massachusetts, 58 percent of young voters supported Martha Coakley, but only 15 percent of them turned out to vote, compared to 57 percent of older voters. We all know how well that worked for Coakley.
That is why senators --Republican and Democrat--running for reelection should galvanize the youth vote. And one of the best ways to do that is through climate and energy issues.
After all, environmental issues have always mobilized young people. If you look at all those photos from the first Earth Day, you don’t see old faces in those pictures; you see young people.
Young people are more apt to dream big and believe in their ability to improve the world. And that youthful confidence dovetails with environmental politics: we dare to expect better, to say we can get this done, whether it is preserving a piece of land or preventing catastrophic climate change.
Nowhere is this more evident than in the clean energy and climate movement. Most of the major groups, from 360.org to 1Sky to Energy Action Coalition, are run by people under 30. The visuals from the Copenhagen climate talks show that the foot soldiers are just as young.
These people know that this isn’t about dreaming big; this is something we can do. They don’t have hang ups about the OPEC oil crisis and Jimmy Carter’s sweaters. CFL light bulbs and hybrid cars are routine to them. They know renewable energy works, they we can be less dependent on dirty fuels from despotic nations, and most of all, they know green jobs may be the best opportunity they have in the worst employment market in decades.
As for as these young activists are concerned, this is our moment.
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Comment by: Oh My Oh my at: February 11, 2010I think you meant Carbon DIOXIDE, not MONOXIDE (which is lethal in large quantities to both animals and plants, inclulding humans, as we are of course animals too). I just love uneducated people posting rubbish like this on the net, such a source of amusement; thanks for making my day old chap!
Comment by: Tired of celebrities at: February 5, 2010Typical say nothing, feel good liberal campaign. Flood the Senator's mailboxes with support for this bill to make the world better....what bill. The devil's in the details. I'm all for clean air, reducing oil consumption, reducing dependence on foreign oil, renewable energy, etc. What is in the bill? Cap and Trade does not work, will not work. It will only unilaterally burden American Manufacturing, which is on its last legs as it is. There are other ways to go about it. Yeah, don't bother with the details. Just click the button, they made it really easy. Flood in boxes, they won't even read them, they will just do something to make everyone feel better. Typical lib.
Comment by: 4v4t4r at: February 4, 2010Almost forgot, http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=7553 Only around 600 professionals (various are engineers, such as railroad and civil engineers) at the IPCC agreed on man-made climate change. The IPCC makes up the primary data-gathering group for the UNFCCC, the Kyoto Protocol, the Bali Roadmap, and COP15 Copenhagen. Recently, however, an IPCC scientist who led the "retreating glacier" 'research' admitted to using faked data to pressure world leaders into signing at COP15. http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2010/01/24/ipcc-scientist-admits-fake-data-used-pressure-world-leaders So much for so-called science and man-made global warming. They're falling left and right, peeps.
Comment by: betiuxxx at: February 3, 2010I respectfully respond to army girl. It would be a stretch to call me ignorant. I have a B.S.M.E and have a California Mechanical engineering registration. Also, I have been the lead mechanical engineer for a company that does on good years over a billion in business and has almost 1000 employees. Needless to say, I have taken lots of mathematics, physics, and chemistry. So I do have a good handle on these subjects. Roy Spencer Ph.D.(University of Wisconsin) is a meteorologist that worked for NASA, as a Senior Scientist, and did studies along with Dr. John Christy on the climate. He is one of these scientists that doesn't agree with man made global warming. His website is: http://www.drroyspencer.com/about/ In his website you have all the scientific reasons why people like you are wrong. On top of all the scientific reasons against global warming, just look at the weather!!! Havana, Cuba had 38 degrees!!!! As a result you had over 20 patients die in a hospital!!!! It was pretty much the same all over the world (not just weather patterns). The Himalaya glaciers are actually growing!!! The ice in Greenland at the center of the country is actually getting thicker!!! It is thinning at the coasts only. Don't believe state media (MSNBC, CNN, etc.).
Comment by: Anonymous at: February 3, 2010Stop. Look. Listen. Don't act without thinking. The legislation is deceptive. Obama, Kerry and other democratic leaders have given up on cap and trade and are giving in to offshore drilling, coal and nuclear power. "Clean" coal does not eliminate CO2 emissions, it just separates it for temporary storage in the ground, where it eventually leeches into groundwater and the atmosphere. Nuclear power plants each generate about 20 metric tons of nuclear waste annually, with a half life of 5,000 to 10,000 years. There are approximately 70,000 metric tons of nuclear waste being temporarily stored on site at existing nuclear power plants, with no place to go since the "permanent" Yucca Mountain storage facility has been derailed by Nevada residents. Nevertheless, Obama's budget provides $54.5 billion for nuclear power and only $5 billion for renewable energy. The legislation will do vastly more harm than good. Don't rely on actors or anyone else. Learn, think and act for yourselves.
Comment by: armygirl at: February 3, 2010Anyone that is interested in learning the real story behind global warming please read the Kyoto Protocol in the U.S. government records. Learn what the many thousands of scientists from around the world from biologists to oceanographers have stated about global warming it is not a hoax and the people that say it is are either working for the oil companies or are ignorant. Ignorance is not bliss only foolish
Comment by: betiuxxx at: February 3, 2010There are over 30,000 scientists that disagree with man made global warming views. But really, in the scientific community, a consensus has never been necessarily the final determining point as to something being true. The discoveries of Galileo, Pasteur, Einstein, and others come to mind. They were in the minority. What is really worrisome is the politicization of science. Isn't science about finding what the truth is? Not some hidden agenda. CO2, as mentioned in some of these blogs, is not a pollutant. Plant life requires it!! And, animal life requires the existence of plants for food and also their production of oxygen. The only thing we need to stop, is the destruction of the rain forests (almost nothing is mentioned about it these days). That is where the focus should be. In summary, leave the politics to politicians and the science to scientists who want to be true to their profession.
Comment by: 4v4t4r at: February 3, 2010Oh, and how about fusion. Fusion, anyone? Perhaps some funding for research into it? Hmmm? No? Of course not, because that would answer ALL our energy problems, and we can't have NO ONE profitting obscenely off of this faked situation. Good game, bankers/Gore...
Comment by: 4v4t4r at: February 3, 2010Carbon footprint? CO2 emissions? Is everyone going freaking crazy? Last I checked in my 4th grade physical science textbook, CO2, water, O2, and sunlight were considered the building blocks of life on Earth. Perhaps we should be considering some things. Clean energy is the cat's meow, but demonizing and taxing carbon dioxide is signing our own financial and ecological death warrants. "Yes, I DON'T want the trees to BREATHE, so I'm going to REDUCE CO2 levels around the globe and kill myself and my fellow man off!" Sounds like a great plan.
Comment by: Don Mc at: February 3, 2010Has anyone else read this bill? It's advertised as a bill that will, "break foreign oil's stranglehold on our country". It doesn't come close. In the first few pages it states that we will contain some CO2 emissions with "geological storage". Know how this is done? Blast the wastse into mountains. Yeah, this won't affect future generations. This bill is another talking point that, if passed will cripple some businesses. GET WITH IT, Dems! You control Congress. Put forth real legislation that concentrates on solar, wind, etc. And pass it. When Bush (43) was Prez, and had Congress, he pushed forth everything he wanted, including the Patriot Act! Why can't you get things done? Obama is a great orator, but actions speak louder. Present a bill that REALLY will wean us from oil. Don't wait. The clock is ticking.
Comment by: Paul at: February 2, 2010We need to QUADRUPLE the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere to prevent starvation. We need to go from 388ppm to 1,500ppm CO2 which is the concentration that is ideal for plant life and at which plants produce the most food. Plants evolved to do best at 1,500ppm of CO2. 150ppm CO2 is the suffocation point for plants. Historically, we are near the lows for CO2 concentration on this planet. Greenhouses use CO2 generators to keep concentrations above 1,000ppm. CO2 is very safe for humans. Submarines try to keep CO2 levels below 8,000ppm. In a crowded auditorium, the CO2 concentration can get to 10,000ppm. CO2 is a trace gas, about 1/3 of 1/10 of 1% of the atmosphere. This is all that plants have to live on. Animals live on the 19% O2. CO2 does not cause global warming- there is an 800 year LAG between temperature and CO2 concentration in the atmosphere. Also remember that BIOFUELS KILL. People are dying because crops are used for fuel instead of food, also driving up the cost of food in poor countries. This is a crime!
Comment by: Burghthing at: February 2, 2010Don't let the fact that man made climate change is a hoax deter your from your crusade.
Comment by: Burghthing at: February 2, 2010Don't the the ever widening facts that climate change is a hoax deter you from your crusade.
Comment by: Laine at: February 2, 2010Mmmm.. if it includes nuclear power I'm all over it.. otherwise I would rather not encourage my reps to vote for things that are faslely cheapened by the government. You know all those solar power incentives the government is giving out to homeowners like drug-laden pop-rocks to kids? Yeah, who really pays for that? WE DO. THE AMERICAN TAX PAYERS DO! Nothing is free people. The government isn't some end-all answer. It's a freaking blood sucking, brainless LEACH. Get wise. The advancements that have occured in nuclear energy over the past few years are amazing, there are safety measures in place that can ensure no meltdowns, and guess whats the kicker? What the heck do you think the sun is?? One big freaking mass of a nuclear reaction. Only, it costs more to harness energy from it.. soo, that's my $.02.
Comment by: MalcolmTheProfessor at: February 2, 2010EFFICIENCY - if we want any future. Let alone a clean energy future. To compete. We MUST use 50% less energy. Do more, but with less. Renewable energy is ok. Contrary to conventional wisdom, we should import oil (but reduce consumption) to stretch what we have in the USA. Guess who our biggest foreign oil supplier is? Obama unilaterally increased CAFE when Congress dithered. He's the greatest.