General

From guest blogger Jan Hammett, a Climate Precinct Captain in South Carolina.

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On Monday, June 22, 2009 Representative Bob Inglis held a town hall Meeting at the Spartanburg Main Library. As a Climate Precinct Captain with 1Sky, and in light of the fact that this week the House would most likely be voting on the American Clean Energy and Security Act, I phoned several people and asked them to attend. It was good to see Amy Coker Pascoe and Jonathan Blanton show up in support of the Waxman-Markey bill.

According to what we are hearing from Hill sources and confirmed in several newspaper stories -- including this one from Roll Call -- we expect that there is likely to be a vote on the clean energy bill this week.

1Sky is taking part in United We Serve, a national effort launched by President Obama to engage more Americans in serving their communities this summer. We're encouraging our climate precinct captains to volunteer and recruit volunteers for energy efficiency projects. United We Serve kicks off today and runs through September 11th, which will be marked for the first time as a national day of service and remembrance. The initiative focuses on four key areas: education, health, energy and the environment; and community renewal. 1Sky’s participation (along with Grist) is part of the energy and environment initiative.

Check out this video from First Lady Michelle Obama about United We Serve (transcript at the end of this post):

To sign up for an event, just go to 1Sky's Summer of Service signup page.

The U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) released a new report today on the impact of global climate change. The report's release coincides with the potential vote next week on the Waxman-Markey American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES) bill.

This has definitely been one busy week! With the House vote quickly approaching (hopefully) everything and everyone is focused on the bill. Unless, of course, you have been without internet, newspapers, or the like, in which case you are in luck, as this post is chock-full of ACES (that’s the American Clean Energy and Security Act) information. In fact, check out this guide to everything ACES. If you are up-to-date with the ACES happenings, there has been a lot going on this week, so, you’ll still find this informative.

America's clean energy economy has grown despite a lack of sustained government support. The number of jobs in America's emerging clean energy economy grew nearly two and a half times faster than overall jobs between 1998 and 2007, according to a report from The Pew Charitable Trusts:

Pew found that jobs in the clean energy economy grew at a national rate of 9.1 percent, while traditional jobs grew by only 3.7 percent between 1998 and 2007. There was a similar pattern at the state level, where job growth in the clean energy economy outperformed overall job growth in 38 states and the District of Columbia during the same period. The report also found that this promising sector is poised to expand significantly, driven by increasing consumer demand, venture capital infusions, and federal and state policy reforms.

Check out the whole report (PDF) here.

1Sky and our close allies Energy Action, Green for All, and USCAN (U.S. Climate Action Network) just finished a one hour conference call with Chairmen Henry Waxman and Edward Markey and their staff.

The Members of Congress fielded detailed questions from climate advocates: More than 225 questions were emailed to 1Sky by concerned Americans who want a clean energy future.

Join us TODAY at 4:30pm ET for a national conference call with Chairmen Waxman and Markey on the Waxman-Markey American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009.

A while ago, NYT Dot Earth's Andrew Revkin called for a contest to see who could best use the visual arts to go beyond the "burning embers" graphics on IPCC reports. On Monday he posted an update with some good news:

Now a nonprofit group, Artist As Citizen, has answered the call. The group’s mission is to encourage art students to pursue “pragmatic social engagement, asking them to confront issues that will directly impact American society and their own lives.”

The contest, for undergraduate and graduate art students and recent degree recipients, includes significant cash prizes and is entirely the private organization’s idea and responsibility.

Wondering what is in it for the art students? Well, Revkin’s blog will link to the finalists and readers get to vote. Pretty nice exposure for a young artist. Plus, they will be helping to save the planet. And, did I mention a cash prize? There's no online entry form yet but you can sign up to the Artist as Citizen list and be notified when there is one available. The deadline is July 31.

Shout out to Green for All’s new leader Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins for her blog yesterday where she argues, in a compelling narrative of the General Motors bankruptcy, that green jobs are the jobs of the present and the future. She writes:

Are we a country whose economy runs on batteries from China and oil from the Middle East? Or will we manufacture our own clean energy in the United States, creating green-collar jobs for American workers?

The promise of American economic growth and jobs still remains in manufacturing, though the products we make must change.

Our industrial manufacturing economy has relied on unregulated consumption of fossil fuel for too long– consumption which steadily destroys our air, our communities, and our planet.

We should not salvage the gas-guzzling U.S. auto industry. But that does not mean the factories in Flint, Michigan, should stay shuttered. Instead, the manufacturing industry in the United States must be revitalized to build the infrastructure for a clean energy economy.

Imagine America’s 'Rust Belt' transformed into a green belt of clean energy manufacturing. Imagine the factories of Detroit making wind turbines and solar panels to power America.

The rest of the world is already racing to implement clean energy solutions. The U.S. must catch up and blaze a new trail.

China spends 12 million dollars per hour to develop its own energy sources. Germany has already created 250,000 jobs in the clean energy sector through government investment and incentives.

As a nation, it is time to make a choice.

Read the whole thing at Anderson Cooper's 360 blog.