As for what leaders will join, my money is on Kucinich and Gravel, although I don't know if you can really call them real leaders in the power sense...yet.

Climate change is already an issue that most of us believe we should prioritize. While there would be a huge reduction in greenhouse gases if more of us were active in changing our light bulbs, recycling, eating locally, etc., the truth of the matter is that we need the right leadership in our local and national government to implement change on a more massive scale.

We cant assume that we have the right leadership in power. So what we need are people raising awareness and expressing their demands so that we can hold accountable our public officials. Tell Congress to step it up!

Hey, all:

Hey, Melinda: www.stepitup2007.org is the website. Sign up and they'll email you updates on progress and how to get involved.

As a great tie in to Step It Up and the politicians www.Congress.org is a great website that will tell you who your (or what) Congress(wo)man is, what the contact info is, and what issues you can nag nag nag nag them about. (Nag is used in the most honorable sense imaginable--the highest order of civic responsibility and courage.)

My sister (among 100s of thousands) went to an anti-war rally in Spring 2003 in DC, and one of the best signs ever was "Bush and Cheney: The REAL empty Warheads!!"

David
Messages done with sustainable energy, with Wind and Sun!

Hey, all:

Here is a little more about the 1Sky initiative on two websites. The first explanation is more detailed and from Step It Up:

http://stepitup2007.org/article.php?id=443

and the second is acknowledged to be a preliminary page from 1 Sky:

http://www.1skycampaign.org/

The program comprises three strong complementary requirements:

1. Increase "green jobs" by 5 million in the U.S. and at the same time cutting energy consumption by 20% by 2015.

2. Cut Carbon 80% by 2050, with an intermediate goal of 30% by 2020

3. No New Coal, a moratorium on new coal-fired power plants.


I personally think #1 is the most important. The U.S. could easily be the world leader in sustainability in energy and transportation, if we can put the political and economic will to work. I think it would be astounding to calculate the unused area of manufacturing floor space in the U.S., much of it from jobs now in other countries. That same floor space and those same previous employees could be put to great use for manufacturing photovoltaic (PV) panels, wind turbines, with the first production going on the very same roofs where they were made. Hundreds of other support products would light up now-dark factories. Other jobs in huge numbers would be created by the need to install PV panels on businesses and residences across the country. This also has great decentralization impacts on energy sources and adds to social and economic justice.

In transportation, little progress has been made in bringing new technology into use. All-electric transportation, either with batteries or Hydrogen fuel cells, can and should be pursued, but Big Auto and Big Oil lobbies have completely blocked it. A new generation of transportation technology products is available, which will transform climate and economy.

Anthropogenic climate change--global warming--is the most critical issue of all. When more and more of the unaddressed and under-appreciated, under-reported effects are realized, many other issues will shrink to insignificance. The goal needs to be stated strongly, clearly, and succinctly for all to understand--we need to Kill Carbon as an energy source. So many other issues would be solved or reduced in the process, such as habitat loss, ground level ozone, health costs for urban residents, global geopolitical struggles, i.e., wars, and many more will respond dramatically when we Kill Carbon.

Pushing #1 to its full extent would go a long way in reaching the goals of #2 and #3. The Step It Up event will help a lot in putting Washington politicians on record about how green and how committed they really are.
See the Step It Up website and contact your elected public servants--over and over and over and over and over and over.

David
Messages done with sustainable energy, with Wind and Sun!