Climate Crisis Action Day Rally at the Capitol

With that, here are some pictures and highlights from the speakers' remarks.

Mollie Passacantando, a 3rd grader at Stratford Landing Elementary School in Alexandria, talks about her efforts to save the polar bears.  Mollie notes that "polar bears can swim, but not forever."

Sen. John Kerry talks about how the Bush Administration has, for six years, procrastinated and "calcluatedly, willfully" stripped out and suppressed scientific facts on global warming. Today, we need to get serious, every power plant needs to sequester its carbon, and the country needs to place an economy-wide cap on carbon emissions.  The keys are energy efficiency (the "fastest, cheapest way to go") and renewable energy. Tackling global warming does NOT mean giving up our quality of life, but actually will lead to an INCREASED quality of life - healthier people, better jobs, places to hunt and fish, security - for all of us. We are the most profligate wasters of energy on the planet, and we're far behind on this issue.  Luckly, companies and mayors are stepping up and leading.  We need a the White House to do the same.

Rep. Ed Markey, the head of the new Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming in the House of Representatives, spoke about this being an "incredible moment in American political history."  Just a year ago, all the "experts" said there wouldn't be any action on global warming.  After the November elections, the "experts" said there MIGHT be action.  Today, the "experts" say there WILL be action on global warming.  November 7, 2006: "what a difference a day makes!"  The bottom line is that on global warming, "you are right and Bush is wrong." In Bush's State of the Union speech, he actually used the words "climate change."  The mystery is what did he mean?  Was this like the sled "Rosebud" in Citizen Kane?  Maybe Bush has fond memories of sledding as a child, and wants to preserve winter?  We need to increase the average for the entire fleet of U.S. vehicles by 10 miles per gallon in 10 years.  By 2020, we need 20% of electricity to be generated by renewables. We need a mandatory "capt and trade" system for greenhouse gas emissions.  We can't allow the Republican White House to use the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as a gas station.  We must become the "green generation" - either we meet this challenge or the planet will suffer the consequences.  "We're gonna do it this year."

Rep. Henry Waxman announced that he was introducing the "Safe Climate Act" today.  Says we need aggressive use of all tools at our disposal - energy efficiency, renewables, conservation, market forces (cap and trade).  "Global warming is a serious threat, and we all know it. We've lost 6 years with the Bush Administration in power."  The Bush White House is in a "state of denial" on global warming, trying to censor the mesage of brilliant scientists like Dr. James Hansen, putting an oil industry lobbyist in charge of the Council on Environmental Quality, trying to sow doubt just like the cigarette companies did with tobacco, etc.  "We must act now...we don't have 10 years to work on this."

"Weasel" said that "we're good at selling things" in this country, so why not tap into pop culture to sell the fight against global warming?  Al Gore is now a rock star.  Environmentalism is now a marketing plan.

Sen. Bernie Sanders spoke about the Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act.  Sanders said we need to start acting now to save the planet.  This country belongs to everyone, not just big oil, big coal, and special interests.  The time is long overdue for the US to become the leader in energy efficiency, clean and sustainable energy.  We defeated the Nazis in World War II, sent a man to the moon, we can turn our country and our world in a new direction on global warming. Unfortunately, this Administration is more interested in corporate profits than in science.  We need to get a handle on this crisis.  We need millions of people to come together and put pressure on the White House, Congress, etc.  We need sharp, mandatory reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, incentives for clean/alternative energies.  Major investors, the business community and environmentalists are joining together.  "This is the challenge of our lifetimes."

Other speakers:

Sen. Barbara Boxer noted that she had replaced Sen. James Inhofe - a global warming denier - as chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.  In contrast, Boxer believes that global warming is a huge threat and is co-sponsoring strong legislation (S.309) to do something about it. We need to focus on energy efficiency of buildings and power plants, clean fuels for transportation, etc.  "All it takes is some political will," but nothing happens without the support of the American people.  Earth is our home, and we have to take care of our home.

Rob Sisson of Republcians for Environmental Protection spoke about his state of Michigan, and how the Great Lakes are "in the crosshairs of global warming."  Among other things, global warming threatens Michigan's hunting, recreation, tourism and fishing businesses.  It threatens water levels in the Great Lakes, as well as crops inland.  We need to address this using technology and innovation, and we need to deal with it on a bipartisan basis.  Fighting global warming must be a priority of ALL lawmakers.

Rep. Mike Honda said that we need to understand the interconnectivity of everything we do.  He's a teacher, and it's obvious that some people are quick learners, some are much slower.  The White House will get it eventually...

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