TAKE ACTION TODAY

At this moment we urgently need support for a climate bill being debated right now in an influential committee of the US House of Representatives. We are asking for your specific help to call upon your Representative in the House to support a historic climate change bill.

Currently, the Energy and Environment Committee is drafting the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009. This bill has the ability to transition our nation to clean and affordable energy, create quality jobs, and could generate crucial international financing to help vulnerable communities cope with the devastating impacts of increased floods, droughts, famine, water scarcity, disease, environmental migration, and armed conflict over resources.

It is essential that we get Congress to support a fair and safe bill by taking these two simple actions. (Even if your Representative is not on the Energy and Commerce Committee this is important to do, as all Representatives may soon vote on the bill.)

Two simple actions:

First, click this link and send this e-action. It only takes a moment. https://secure.oxfamamerica.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=983

Secondly, if your Representative is one of the following members of the Energy and Commerce Committee, please call his/her office: Bobby Rush (IL), Jan Schakowsky (IL), Elliot Engel (NY), Charles Gonzalez (TX), Anna Eshoo, (No. CA), Doris Matsui (No.CA), Peter Welch (VT), Jane Harman (So.CA), and Henry Waxman (Chair of Committee, So. CA). The full list of members can be found at http://energycommerce.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=160&Itemid=61

Simply call his/her office and ask him/her to support international adaptation on the Clean Energy and Security Act. We have provided you with sample text below that you can use as a guide. You can find your local office’s number using this online congressional directory, or contact his/her office in Washington DC by calling the Capitol Switchboard at (202)224-3121 and asking for him/her by name. Call during business hours. If you can’t, then call anytime and leave a message.

Please write us back!

Once you call, email us back at chicago@oxfamactioncorps.org and let us know how it went.

Thank you for all your hard work in helping us create solutions to poverty and injustice!

WHAT TO SAY: Draft phone text:

Hello, my name is [fill-in] and I am a resident calling to voice some comments on the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 that Representative [fill-in name] and other members of the Energy and Commerce Committee are currently working on.

First, it is very important that the bill allows for substantial funding for international and domestic adaptation by auctioning carbon permits. Adaptation funds will help poor and vulnerable communities around the world cope with more erratic weather and increased floods and droughts. Climate change is a global problem and it will require global solutions. Investing in international adaptation helps our world become less prone to conflict and migration. It is the right thing to do especially since the U.S. emits over 25% of the world's greenhouse gases.

Adaptation funding also gives low-income consumers in the U.S. access to affordable clean energy, and will allow our state and the larger U.S. to invest in green-collar jobs, energy efficiency, and renewable energy.

Finally, I want to voice my support for maintaining the emission reductions proposed in the original draft of the bill. In order to avoid future disasters we need an 80% decrease in greenhouse gas emissions below 2005 levels by 2050.

I want to thank Rep. [fill-in] for his/her active leadership as a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee. His/her guidance can help pass strong and effective climate legislation.