A Farewell to the Climate Bill? Let's Hope Not

For the last two years as Global Climate Change Specialist with the Michigan League of Conservation Voters Education Fund, I have worked to highlight the need for strong, comprehensive energy legislation among Michigan's citizens and legislators.

During this time I have traveled throughout the state to present well-founded reasons why a clean energy and climate policy is necessary, engaged many disparate voices on this issue of our times, and raised awareness with elected officals and voters through in-person meetings, public events, and an active paid and earned media presence.

And we have had some successes: The MLCVEF, as a member of the statewide Clean Energy Works coalition, helped enlist more than 130 Michigan businesses to join our cause. Last year, the House of Representatives passed by a narrow margin the ambitious American Clean Energy and Security Act. And last month, a resolution which would have limited the EPA's authority to regulate air pollution was defeated in the Senate.

But last week, the leadership in the Senate opted to quit on this issue, which is supported by an ever-growing majority of Americans, because of the failure to gain bipartisan support among legislators, and timing which would push any potential vote too close to mid-term elections.  Not altogether coincidentally, I have decided to leave MLCVEF to care for twin boys my wife and I are expecting next month.

This at a time when the U.S. tries to cope with its worst oil spill ever in the Gulf of Mexico and, on Michigan's Kalamazoo River, perhaps the worst oil spill ever recorded in the Midwest.

And while the Senate may be done with this, and I say my adieus, the Clean Energy Coalition is far from finished. Tuesday, more than 300 organizations from around the country lodged a joint statement condemning the Senate's inaction to resolve this crisis. Here in Michigan we are also mobilizing our resources, the most powerful of which is YOU, the voter. We are asking you to engage with your elected officials and tell them how important this issue is to, your family, our nation, and that comprehensive clean energy legislation is needed TODAY, not two or more years from now.

One way you can help is by sending an e-mail or fax to Senators Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow. All you have to do is visit our website and click on the the tab that says “Join the MI Action Project.” You will then be able to send a letter expressing your concern. You may even add your own comments, if you like.

On Friday, members of the Clean Energy Works will be highlighting this issue through a press conference in Calhoun County, where we are experiencing our own very real oil tragedy.  I encourage you to attend and make your own case why we need to transition away from dirty fuels which imperil our wildlife and forms of recreation.

Another way to take action is by joining me and other Clean Energy Works organizers at one of many phone banks throughout the state. Many more will follow in the weeks to come.

Other events which will highlight this problem are planned to occur while the Senate is in recess --- August 9 through September 13 --- perhaps the best time to get legislators' attention, when they're in their hometown and have to face their electors. Among these events will be clean energy jobs rallies, an encore visit from the veterans of Operation Free, and the release of a report highlighting the harmful effects of extreme weather events which are the result of climate change.

As I bid my farewell to MLCVEF and the work of the staff climate change specialist to welcome my new family into the world, I hope I can take heart that my two precious newborns will enter into a world that has decided to free itself from the shackles of fossil-fuel addiction and pollution, and which embraces a clean energy economy. Thank you, keep up the fight, and all the best.

-posted by Mark Neisler

-photos courtesy of ANDRE J. JACKSON/Detroit Free Press, AP Photo/Kalamazoo Gazette, Jonathon Gruenke and AP Photo/Kalamazoo Gazette, Jonathon Gruenke, respectively.