Tell Congress how REAL constituents feel about climate legislation

The dirty energy lobby and right wing groups have been doing everything possible to derail a clean energy bill and convince Congress that the majority of Americans are against it. They have taken advantage of the channels used by citizens to communicate with their representatives and senators, and corrupted them. It's time for real constituents to make their voices heard!

Organizations representing the interests of dirty energy sent more than a dozen falsified letters on behalf of grassroots organizations to representatives urging them to vote against the bill. Belligerent citizens, riled up and encouraged by coal and energy lobbies, are turning up at town hall meetings held by members of Congress and doing exactly what the dirty energy groups and right wingers want - venting their anger on both the healthcare and climate bills. Groups such as the American Petroleum Institute (API) are now even holding their own 'grassroots-style' town hall meetings to "send a loud message" and ensure that their "views are heard."

Congress needs to know that these are the views of the industries that would benefit from a failed bill, not the views of informed constituents. Gather up your friends and co-workers, and attend a town hall meeting in your area and tell your lawmaker why a climate bill is important to you. Congress needs to hear the views and stories from individual citizens, not from organizations representing special interests.

Below is a list of states with upcoming town hall meetings. If you're interested in attending one of these meetings email congress@1sky.org and we'll send you more details about these events:

• Alaska: Meetings held August 20th- September 26th
  
  
• Arkansas: September 10th
  
  
• Colorado: Meetings held August 24th - September 4th
  
  
• Indiana: TBD
  
  
• New Hampshire: September 7th

For more details about what goes on at these events, check out a report from a staff member at Public Citizen Texas who managed to sneak in to an event held in Texas. API has also launched a website dedicated to this effort, arming people with misinformation and then asking them to sign on to petitions to their senators urging them to reject a climate bill, and provides them with an organizing toolkit to spread falsehoods. The effort is backed by 114 organizations, all representing the interests of the far right organizations, oil, gas, coal -- in other words, the usual suspects.