BREAKING NEWS: Henry Waxman will be new Chairman of Energy & Commerce Committee (UPDATED)

11/20/08 | Posted by: Luis

From Politico.com:

California Rep. Henry A. Waxman on Thursday officially dethroned longtime Energy and Commerce Chairman John Dingell, upending a seniority system that has governed Democratic politics in the House for decades.

In a secret ballot vote in the Cannon Caucus Room, House Democrats ratified an earlier decision by the Steering and Policy Committee to replace the 82-year-old Dingell with his 69-year-old rival. The vote was 137-122 in favor of Waxman.

The ascension of Waxman, a wily environmentalist, recasts a committee that Dingell has chaired since 1981 with an eye toward protecting the domestic auto industry in his native Michigan. The Energy and Commerce Committee has principal jurisdiction over many of President-elect Barack Obama's top legislative priorities, including energy, the environment and health care.

This change in the Energy and Commerce Committee will have important consequences for climate policy. We'll have more on the significance of this stunning development soon.

UPDATE: From CQ Politics, a transcript of remarks by Waxman and Dingell after the caucus vote. Excerpt from Waxman's remarks:

We are at a unique moment in history. We have an opportunity that maybe comes only once in a generation. And I think that the Democratic Caucus agreed with me that we must meet that challenge and move forward on those important policies.

We have a unique opportunity. And we may well turn out to be as historical as the Congress was in 1933.

What I don’t want to see happen is the Congress end up the way we were in 1994, without success. I feel confident we’re going to have the success we need.

The American people are hurting all around this country. They’re demanding change. They’re demanding action. And we must live up to their expectations.

1Sky video briefing: Gillian Caldwell on the 2008 election and climate policy

11/20/08 | Posted by: Luis

Here's the first installment of what we hope will become a regular 1Sky feature. In this video briefing, Campaign Director Gillian Caldwell talks about the meaning of the 2008 election (and especially the election of Barack Obama) for climate policy, and what we must do next year to make bold climate action in Washington a reality. Please spread this video far and wide!

Climate Leadership Now day of action roundup thread

11/19/08 | Posted by: Melisa

This is the first post by 1Sky Organizer Melisa Stodieck. -- Luis

From California to Florida, success stories and pictures are pouring into 1Sky headquarters, highlighting the collective power of the Climate Leadership Now day of action. We are thrilled about the thousands of people across the country who met with their newly-elected Members of Congress and their staffs to welcome them to the new Congress and call for leadership on bold climate policy immediately.

Climate Action Now DC rally: freezing, but fired up for change!

11/18/08 | Posted by: Luis

Over 4,000 climate activists have been fanning out today throughout the country to welcome our newly-elected President and Congress and urge them to take bold climate action next year. More than 300 of them gathered near the U.S. Capitol today for a Climate Action Now rally co-sponsored by 1Sky, the Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN), 350, and other partner organizations. It was freezing in DC today (I should know -- I was there!) but the crowd was still fired up and ready to deliver the call for bold climate solutions to Capitol Hill.

Come to the Climate Action Now rally in Washington, DC TODAY at noon (UPDATE)

11/18/08 | Posted by: Luis

If you're in the DC Metro area, please join us for the Climate Action Now rally near the Capitol Today at noon! Here are the details:

• WHAT: Rally for Climate Action Now, featuring speakers and creative visuals
  
  
• WHEN: Tuesday, November 18th from 12-1pm
  
  
• WHERE: Upper Senate Park, Capitol Hill (see Google map below)
  
  
• Join us on the Hill -- RSVP here.

View Larger Map

Learn more about the rally here. Also, if you have a Twitter account, you can follow updates from the rally on our 1Sky Twitter page -- we'll be using the hashtag "#nov18climate". If none of this makes sense to you, check out Wikipedia's articles on Twitter and micro-blogging or this great Twitter video primer.

UPDATE: Well, that didn't work so well, did it? Unfortunately, Twitter decided to shut down for "database maintenance" just before the rally started, so I couldn't post any tweets during the rally. So, apologies if you were following us at that time. Hopefully our next live tweetering will go better!