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Yesterday I joined the newly formed Board of Directors of 350.org, coinciding with a range of exciting new changes at the organization. I have been a supporter of 350.org since I first heard about the wacky plan to turn a wonky scientific target into a global people's movement, and I'm thrilled and honored to be officially joining the team.

If you spend a little time as an environmentalist, one thing you’ll hear eventually from friends and family: “I wish there weren’t so many groups. It’s confusing—I don’t know who to volunteer for. Wouldn’t it work better if you all got together?”

For too long, the fossil fuel industry has had its way on the climate issue--its money has overwhelmed the scientific facts, delaying action on the largest challenge humanity now faces.

Right now, the the Clean Air Act is being threatened, the EPA is under attack, and big polluters are mounting an all-out onslaught that threatens to destroy our lands and scorch our planet. In short, we are losing ground.

In the face of these challenges, one thing is clear: if we want to win, we will have to come together like we never have before.

So this 1Sky/350.org effort to engage our citizenry in backing a strong national & international climate change movement is really serious -- and it’s being grown from the bottom up. Meaning: a grassroots movement that is attempting to drag our national leadership along, and a youth-driven movement which lends energy and new ideas and savvy communication mechanisms. Geesz, I’m hooked!

Rachel Dawn Davis: is biking 65 miles tomorrow morning.

I was going to devote this blog exclusively to the energy speech President Obama delivered at Georgetown University, but there are some disturbing reports in the press today that I need to address first.

This week the Senate could potentially hold the first set of major climate votes of the 112th Congress on up to four Dirty Air Acts: McConnell-Inhofe, Rockefeller, Baucus, and Stabenow. For years now the Senate has delayed comprehensive action on climate and clean energy - the only major votes held on climate have been votes on polluter-endorsed bills that would gut the Clean Air Act. This vote could set the stage for further Clean Air Act and climate fights as the 2012 election cycle approaches.

Just how low can the U.S. Chamber go? Pretty low, according to former Bush cyber security czar and counter-terrorism expert Richard Clarke. As part of its ongoing investigation into allegations that the U.S. Chamber engaged "private security firms" to sabotage progressive groups, Think Progress interviewed Clarke during a cyber security conference in Washington DC.

Last week Republicans in the Senate threatened to force a vote on the Upton-Inhofe Dirty Air Act. A vote will be delayed until after the one-week recess but it goes to show how committed big polluters and their allies in Congress are to gutting the Clean Air Act every chance they get. Energy-related disasters and conflicts in Japan and Libya continue to influence the U.S. dialogue on energy and climate policy.