With the catastrophic earthquakes in Haiti and now Chile occurring within two months of each other, we can't help but be reminded just how powerful mother nature can be, possessing the ability to change our entire way of life in an instant. In the wake of such tragedies, the simple fact remains, there are many things in this world that we don't have the ability to change, predict or stop from happening. We must also realize the countless opportunities we are given each day to make what we can do count for something. This week the Rainforest Newsladder has reflected this notion by highlighting the ways in which some individuals, groups, and countries are seizing the moment and taking advantage of the power they do have. Along with our partner Rainforest Alliance, we encourage you become an active part of the movement.
The stance taken by the US Chamber of Commerce on climate change is damaging the confidence Americans have in business' ability to respond to current challenges. The Chamber has been fighting climate change legislation tooth and nail on behalf of the US coal industry that makes up a very small segment of their membership. Other business have taken notice, as the list of companies leaving the Chamber is growing. The Chamber chose to entrench its stance on the lead up to the Copenhagen climate conference and this resulted in the departure of Exelon Corp, Pacific Gas & Electric, PNM Resources, Mohawk Fine Papers, and Apple.
There's cold. There's New Hampshire cold. And then there's New Hampshire cold in January when even for a boy from Boston, it was freezing. I still remember how incredibly bitterly cold it was the Saturday before the primary in 2004 (yes, more than five years later, I still am warming up.) I was there working for the Kerry campaign, and we were doing a series of events to promote John. As I stood listening to his speech I noticed that one of the people who braved the bitter cold to attend the event that morning was a New Hampshire man in his 50's. With him was his 10-year old son. He had a notebook and listened intently to what Senator Kerry had to say. After our event, I spoke with him and learned that father-son team planned to go hear Senator Edwards speak, and then Governor Dean. The father was both making up his mind by listening to each of the candidates' views, and teaching his son a powerful lesson in fulfilling his duties as citizen of the United States of America. For anyone who has asked me since what I think about New Hampshire having the first primary, I always tell this story because, to me, they deserve to have it.
Hampshire is a state that often leads the union, and I have had the pleasure of working with some dedicated Granite Staters on building an online resource worthy of the citizens of New Hampshire like that father I saw back in 2004. Today, the Live Free or Die Alliance launches its new website and with it, a model for online citizen engagement for the rest of the nation to consider. The Virtual Town Hall is built to be a resource for informed discussion and debate of issues facing the Granite State. The Live Free or Die Alliance lays out the facts of an issue that both sides agree to, and then invites citizens to share their thoughts and debate the pros and cons with their neighbors and others from across the state.
Regardless of your political inclination, we all can see that pressing problems are everywhere. Yet the rancor, and partisan spin that dominates the public debate at every level of government keep reasonable and rational, fact-based discussion underground where it exists at all. In that environment, many citizens find little they can contribute to the mutual understanding that can allow compromise to happen and solutions to emerge. Seeing this problem, New Hampshire citizens Paul Montrone, Anna Grace Holloway and others decided to create an interactive, nonpartisan venue to inform New Hampshire citizens and stimulate their interest and engagement in the issues facing their state and their communities.
New Hampshire's politicians have already started to take notice. Governor John Lynch (D) will participate in an online chat in which members of the Live Free or Die Alliance can ask the Governor questions on a range of topics. In keeping with its purpose and to make sure the chat isn't just an opportunity for the Governor to put his spin on the questions, the LFDA has secured as a moderator for the event, none other than former New Hampshire Governor Steve Merrill (R). If you are in New Hampshire, I encourage you to join the Alliance(link), get actively involved in the Online Town Hall(link), and join the current and former governors on December 21st.
Thanks to all who have worked on this project, and to the people of New Hampshire for taking a stand for the duties of citizenship in America.
And thank you to that father and his son back in 2004. I don't know if you voted for my guy that Tuesday but I know you voted and, ultimately, that's what matters the most.
When Frances Beinecke, President of the Natural Resources Defense Council, set out to write Clean Energy Common Sense her goal was simple- To bring more people into the climate change conversation now. Now? Conversations on climate change are happening in real time across the internet, on talk radio, in nightly news casts, and beside the water cooler. With only weeks until the UN's Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, a book seems like the wrong medium to insert yourself into the conversation.
"Now you don't talk so loud/Now you don't feel so proud/ About havin' to be scroungin' for your next meal"-Bob Dylan
It is not that the big banks themselves are "too big to fail". They are too big because they can cause all of us to fail. In the military terms, that tragedy is cleansed by the use of the innocuous sounding term, "collateral damage".
The problem is this: One is just as dead from collateral damage as from a targeted hit.
We launched www.BreakUptheBigBanks.com because the political power wielded by the big banks is incompatible with a functioning democracy. Such political power renders regulation inadequate-we have already seen Congress bow to the will of the very people whom a year ago it rescued from oblivion.
