It's hard to believe three years have passed since I joined 1Sky as its first Campaign Director, and how far we've come in such a short time because of your hard work and dedication. Which leads me to the decision I'm announcing today.

It's with a bittersweet mixture of excitement and sadness that I am stepping down from my role at 1Sky to consult on social justice issues near and dear to my heart -- including, of course, climate change.

1Sky has grown from being a start-up in 2007 with a devoted founding board of directors, just one staffer (i.e. me) and no office, into a powerful grassroots campaign that has worked tirelessly nationwide to push our leaders in Washington for bold solutions to the climate crisis.

Together, we've grown the climate movement, helped to pass President Obama's economic recovery plan that contained a whopping $87 billion in green investments, and protected the Clean Air Act from dirty polluters and their allies in Congress itching to gut it.

Even though our leaders have deeply disappointed us so far this year by failing to pass a climate bill or even an oil spill recovery bill, I'm proud of our achievements and I'm confident that we've laid a solid foundation for climate action in the future.

I am also pleased to announce that our current Deputy Campaign Director, Liz Butler, will be taking over for me as Campaign Director. With more than 17 years of organizing experience and senior leadership in the environmental movement, Liz is a great choice to lead 1Sky into its next chapter, and you'll be hearing from her in the next few weeks as she lays out the campaign's priorities for the coming year.

Liz and the rest of the 1Sky team will need our support now more than ever as we head into another challenging year in the climate fight. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to 1Sky today.

Big Oil and Dirty Coal have lavished nearly $15 million in campaign contributions on members of Congress since 2009, and that money has bought them a pass so far on climate, clean energy and taking responsibility for the BP oil spill, just to name a few. We need to keep building and strengthening this grassroots movement to take them on, and your generous contribution will do just that.

Three years ago, I threw myself into the climate movement because I knew that the poorest and most marginalized people on the planet are being hit first and worst by the ravages of global warming. But I also did it because I wanted to leave my children Tess and Finn a cleaner, safer world.  Despite recent setbacks, I'm confident that the arc of history for the climate movement is bending towards the change we so desperately need. That's why I'll continue to support 1Sky after my departure and I know you will, too.  It's the fight of our lifetimes -- we can't just throw up our hands in despair and walk away.

By 1Sky blogging working group member Andy Silber. See Andy's bio at the end of this post. -- Ines

It must be difficult to remain a climate change denier and read the news. The headlines are covered with stories that are exactly what the climate models predict:

• 2010 is the world's hottest year on record
• More rain threatens to worsen Pakistan floods
• Moscow heat wave death rate doubles to 700 per day
• Massive ice island breaks off Greenland

And that's just within the last week!

This open letter was originally published on August 6, 2010 in response to the Senate's failure to pass climate legislation. Please share it widely and you haven't already, consider making a generous tax-deductible donation to 1Sky, then tell your friends and family to do the same. -- Gillian.

From members of the 1Sky Board of Directors: Jessica Bailey, KC Golden, Bracken Hendricks, Bill McKibben, Billy Parish, Vicky Rateau, Gus Speth and Betsy Taylor

As we find ourselves surrounded by the tatters of the climate debate in the U.S. Congress, it seems fitting to take a moment to step back and ponder where we go from here. While the blogosphere is buzzing with assignments of blame for the failure of the Senate to act, we are much more concerned about how we move forward with urgency and clarity of purpose. Unfortunately, we do not have the luxury to pack our bags and go home as the Senate did only moments ago. We just staggered through the hottest six months in recorded history worldwide. People everywhere are being impacted by the damage we have done through decades of carbon loading, and it is clear that our ailing planet will not sit idly by as our political leaders have done.

In reflecting, we find ourselves returning to the founding principles of 1Sky when we formed in 2007: We must redouble our efforts to unite American society across all divides in an unyielding call for action on the scope and scale of the enormous challenge and opportunity we are confronting. We are galvanized by the understanding that the political, human rights and economic repercussions of climate change transcend the ‘environmental issue’ label, and present a nation-wide challenge requiring a unified response. As United States citizens, we understand our moral and ethical responsibility to act with resolve – both as members of a global community, and as the leading per capita emitters of global warming pollution. We must succeed in building a nationwide movement that changes the politics of what is possible to deliver what is necessary; our very lives depend on it.

The central aspirations of our campaign as embodied in the 1Sky Solutions which have been endorsed by more than 600 allied organizations nationwide continue as our north star:

• Reduce global warming pollution at least 35 percent below current levels by 2020, and at least 80 percent by 2050.
• Create 5 million green jobs and pathways out of poverty by rebuilding and refueling America with a comprehensive energy efficiency mobilization including immediate investment in a clean-energy infrastructure.
• Re-power America by imposing a moratorium on new coal plants that emit global warming pollution and replacing dirty fuels such as coal and oil with 100 percent renewable energy.

But what lessons can we learn from the last three years, years in which the advocacy for action on climate change was better funded and coordinated than ever before? We all had high hopes, and the debate was closer to center stage than it has ever been. But in the end, we are left largely empty-handed.

We feel it is imperative to pause, ask tough questions about what went wrong and why we as a community failed to achieve our aspirations, and – more importantly - to look carefully at what is most needed given the new legislative and political landscape. Toward this end, we are holding a retreat in mid-November with key allies, organizers, 1Sky staff and board, but also with leaders from other sectors to help us see in fresh ways, and to explore what role 1Sky can best play as we move into the next chapter.

As we prepare for the strategic discussions we will be having, six key lessons strike us as salient and worth offering now for discussion and debate. We don’t pretend to have the answers, but we are committed to grappling with the tough questions and to road-testing solutions. Our thoughts at this time:

This week started with ire over the Senate's delay in bringing a climate bill to vote before the Senate recess. And the week ends with... ire over the Senate delaying in bringing a BP accountability and efficiency bill to the floor! The Senate can't even get 60 votes to pass a small, "no-carbon capping" bill with number of non-controversial measures that easily passed bi-partisan Senate subcommittees, like Home Star? more »

By 1Sky blogger Janelle Corn, Ph.D. See her bio at the end of this post. -- Luis

Alex Bea recently posted a review of a publication (.pdf) that will help us all communicate more effectively about climate change. This led me to consider how I, as an ecologist, might add to the discussion about effective communication.

By 1Sky intern Amy Plovnick. -- Luis

It’s hard to believe that it’s been three months since the blowout of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico. That's three months of seeing pictures of oil-soaked birds, hearing about failed attempts to stop the spill, and reading stories of people’s lives being devastated by oil reaching their shoreline and crippling their livelihoods.

To commemorate the three month anniversary of the spill, volunteers from many environmental groups, including 1Sky, gathered in front of the Capitol for a rally on July 20. We listened to many speakers, including residents of the Gulf who had come to lobby their senators to pass a climate and energy bill. With signs and chants, we called for an end to dirty energy money in politics, an end to offshore drilling, and a shift to clean, renewable energy sources. Many people covered their hands in oil-like substances to illustrate the devastation in the Gulf and to represent the oily hands of the politicians who accept donations from dirty energy companies. After the rally, many volunteers visited the offices of the ten members of Congress who have received the most campaign contributions from BP and demanded that they give this money to relief efforts in the Gulf. Here's a slideshow of images from yesterday's event:

I'm proud to announce that our own Deputy Campaign Director Liz Butler has been honored with a 40 Under 40 Award from the New Leaders Council. Liz is recognized among a diverse group of young leaders ranging from doctors, elected officials, inspiring community organizers, nonprofit and policy leaders. The group includes winners from our friends at the Sierra Club, Change.org, and the Center for American Progress, among others. There are very few honors for progressive leaders under 40 who, as the New Leader’s Society states, “exemplify the spirit of progressive political entrepreneurship.” Liz definitely fits the bill.

Earlier this week, legendary West Virginia Senator Robert C. Byrd passed away. It is unlikely that an environmental organization would have written positively about a pro-coal senator, but in recent years the late Senator Byrd realized the toll that the coal industry was taking on the environment and his beloved West Virginia. Robert C. Byrd, who once fought hard for coal mining and against regulating it in his early years, had an epiphany:

The industry of coal must also respect the land that yields the coal, as well as the people who live on the land. If the process of mining destroys nearby wells and foundations, if blasting and digging and relocating streams unearths harmful elements and releases them into the environment causing illness and death, that process should be halted and the resulting hazards to the community abated.