General

The Obama Administration announced they will continue the moratorium on permits for offshore oil drilling in light of what is now the largest oil spill in U.S. history. This will delay drilling in places such as Alaska, Virginia, and the Gulf of Mexico. The administration also said they would announce stricter oversight on drilling safety regulations.

Just one week after Earth Day, a "spaghetti western" of climate news played out in three interweaving stories through the blogosphere: the Obama administration approved the nation's first offshore wind farm (good), the Gulf of Mexico oil spill is huge and headed to shore (bad), and American Power Act bill framework announcement was halted after one of the chief bill proponents pulled out (ugly). But, let's get the ugly over with first:

Along with the rest of the country, I am watching yet another environmental disaster caused by dirty energy. I have been extremely worried about the Gulf Coast over the last week ever since a British Petroleum off-shore oil rig exploded and sank. The site is now leaking 42,000 gallons of oil a day. My heart goes out to the families of the missing oil rig workers.

The Clean Air Act has helped Americans breathe easier for the last 40 years. But this week, energy industry lobbyists took a big step forward towards a long time goal: shredding the Clean Air Act.

It's been a couple of big weeks for climate movement hero Van Jones. After enduring a relentless right-wing smear campaign and resigning from his post as the White House's top green jobs advisor, Van has stepped back into the spotlight, ready to continue his fight for a clean energy economy that benefits all Americans.

We’re continuing our push on Senate offices this week with the movement-wide call-in campaign. The timing for 72 Hours for Clean American Power continues to be spot-on. Senator Lisa Murkowski continues to hammer away at the Clean Air Act's ability to regulate greenhouse gases. House members are also attacking the Clean Air Act. And Senate leaders like Lindsey Graham continue to toss around ideas for a bill structure and try to frame the debate. Your calls matter because they provide a real-time voice and feedback for what our Senate leaders need to hear: keep the Clean Air Act strong and pass bold, comprehensive clean energy legislation.

In the fight to stop a global climate catastrophe, we have more than science on our side: we have the best ideas to tackle climate change and create millions of clean energy jobs. But for those ideas to become a reality, we need to make them a priority for decision-makers in Washington. Today you can help us do that today with just a few clicks.

Change.org (with 1Sky as a partner) recently launched the 2010 Ideas for Change in America competition, which empowers citizens to identify and build momentum around the most innovative ideas for addressing the challenges our country faces. The top ten ideas will be submitted to the Obama Administration, and Change.org will mobilize their community around those ideas. We have submitted the 1Sky Solutions as our ideas to tackle two of those urgent challenges: climate change and job creation. But the voting deadline for the first round is February 25, so we need you to act fast. Help put the 1Sky Solutions in Change.org's top ten: click on all three and vote for them today!

• Get off coal so we can invest in renewable energy
• Focus job creation on creating millions of green jobs
• Cut carbon emissions at least 80% below 1990 levels by 2050

The work that our friend Colin Beavan (a.k.a. No Impact Man) has been always at its core educational. He's been educating all of us about the benefits of a carbon-neutral lifestyle for our health, our wallets, and our planet. Now those same lessons will be available to schoolchildren across the country -- for free! The No Impact Project, inspired by Colin's work, has just released a free secondary-school curriculum focused on earth-friendly living featuring a lesson about energy with 1Sky.

This week's action in the climate community has been centered around doing everything we can to stop an appropriations bill amendment that would greatly damage the Clean Air Act's ability to regulate carbon emissions. More information came out regarding the coal and oil lobbyist who worked on the amendment and others involved.

Since the publication in 1989 of his seminal book, The End of Nature, environmental activist and educator Bill McKibben has been one of the most influential thought leaders of the climate change movement. Now the founder of 350.org is kicking off the new year by revisiting his 2007 bestseller: Fight Global Warming Now The Handbook for Taking Action in Your Community. The book draws from McKibben's experiences organizing the 2007 Step It Up national climate rallies, and teaches readers how to launch online grassroots campaigns, generate effective political pressure and draw media coverage of events, among other practical steps.

To put the events of the past year -- including the Copenhagen conference -- in perspective, our friends at the Progressive Book Club are hosting a special climate briefing with Bill McKibben on Wednesday, January 13, at 8 PM Eastern Time. Send your RSVP today to join this live conversation on Wednesday. In addition, if you join the Progressive Book Club, you'll get a free copy of Fight Global Warming Now. RSVP and get your free book today!