We are deeply saddened and frustrated to hear that yet another oil spill has occurred in the U.S., this time in Michigan.

As our friends in the Midwest cope with the potentially devastating environmental, economic and health impacts of 800,000 gallons of oil flowing freely down the Kalamazoo River, we can’t help but wonder – when will Congress finally say “enough”?
 
It has been just over 100 days since BP’s oil gusher began spewing millions of gallons of crude oil into the Gulf, and we had all hoped that when Congress saw how dangerous oil production is, they would finally realize that the supposed benefits are not worth the costs.
 
But they didn’t.
 
We had hoped that, backed by the climate movement that you helped build, the Gulf oil spill would motivate our leaders to take a courageous stand against fossil fuels.
 
But it didn’t.
 
Congress has killed our only hope for a climate bill this year, and now, 100 days after the Gulf disaster, another oil spill is wreaking havoc too close to home. So we've got more work to do to get our message out, because it's not yet being heard in Washington.
 
Now more than ever, we need to demonstrate to Congress that we’re ready for a clean energy, low-carbon economy. They need to see how climate change and fossil fuel addiction are affecting our lives, and they need to see what we’re doing to be part of the solution.
 
We’re ready to turn up the heat on our Senators during the August Recess. If you’d like to join us, go to www.350.org/heat. And as always, please feel free to write to us at organizers@350.org with any thoughts, insights or updates as we prepare for the Global Work Party on 10/10/10.
 
 
 

After a week has passed and the news has sunk in about US Senate inaction on climate change, it's time to get organized. That's a common reframe here at 350.org, but with an entire month-long Senate recess starting August 9, it's time to get prepped.

If you live in the U.S., your senator is coming home to visit, and this is a great time to really let them know how outrageous it is for them to throw up their hands about the climate crisis during this session.

So we hope you'll take a look at the toolkit we made, and sign up to "shadow" your senator during the recess.

We made a little video guide as to what not to do, take a look:

In my excitement to blog Indian President Patil's annoucement that the Rashtrapati Bhavan, the Indian President's residence and office, now has solar power, I forgot to mention a few neighboring leaders also helping lead the way with solar installations...

It was back in April that Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the installation of solar panels on the Prime Minister's office in Dhaka!  So she got started even before we launched PutSolarOn.It.

And in the same neighborhood, the Governor of West Bengal in India, Gopal Krishna Gandhi, installed solar panels on the Kolkata Raj Bhavan, the Governor's Residence, in December of 2009.  And in case you're thinking "Oh, it's just a Governor.  No big deal."  West Bengal is a state of over 90 million people!  And this Governor's initiative was also supported by President Patil in Delhi, so certainly she was moving in this direction already.

It's very exciting to see leaders taking these steps.  And we'd love to see even more, which is precisely what PutSolarOn.It is trying to help achieve. But of course, solar installations are just first steps -- helping raise public interest and momentum towards more ambitious, transformational actions.  So what better way to thank and celebrate these leaders solar achievements by inviting them to a party -- the 10/10/10 Global Work Prty! 

If you're in India or Bangladesh, use this as a chance to send an invitation to President Patil, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Governor Gandhi, and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh too.  (Online tools to support sending those invitations are coming soon, but feel free to find your own way starting now).

Looking for a good movie to help spread the word about clean energy solutions? Look no further than Carbon Nation, a great new film that shows how the US can get off carbon here and now. Here's a clip about what the Department of Defense (not your usual "birkenstock wearing hippies" as one general puts it) is getting to work on clean energy:

If you're interested in watching some more clips or learning more about the Carbon Nation film, make sure to join their Facebook page.

And as you're planning about your 10/10/10 work party, think about how you can best document the work that you are doing in your community. Making a short movie about your work is a great way to share some inspiration with people around the world.

Here at 350.org headquarters, we'll be looking to collect video from around the world on 10/10/10 so that we can get good clips to the media and out to supporters all over the planet. Send us a good video and who knows, maybe it will end up on CNN or in a film like Carbon Nation!

At the same time that we're gearing up for the Fall launch of the Great Power Race, there are some other great activities underway from our partners. Climate Counts has a great program called Back-2-Cool that profiles companies' records on climate change. This is very timely as students and parents consider back to school purshcases. Climate Counts focused on the sectors most involved in school shopping.  In the face of lacking federal action, this is a great way to gauge how companies' PR matches their records!

Check it out on Facebook here.

Spencer Paxson recently killed it at the National Mountain Bike Championships, finishing seventh overall which is particularly notable because when he isn't mixing it up with other top-ranked professional riders, he's working 40-50 hours a week developing wind and solar projects around the country for Ridgeline Energy, a Seattle-based renewable energy development company.

Here's what he's been up to:

What does a day in the life of Spencer Paxson look like?
There is rarely a dull one, that is for sure.  Here's a classic from last week: Up at 6:45 to kit up for a short morning spin, getting into the office early to sort out the next week's worth of race travel..and devouring a bowl of Kozy Shack rice pudding.  Put away the bike suit and get down to business by 8:00 for a meeting to discuss environmental permitting and construction timelines for a large wind project, then complete a research project for implementing GIS into the small-scale solar-PV site prospecting.  The afternoon is spent on the phone coordinating with project managers and tending to various tasks.  By 6:00 it's time to roll out the door to the weekly crit series at Seward Park, great mid-week training for this time of year.  I'm feeling good these days for all the big races coming up, so my teammate and I go on an early break and lap the field, catching enough cash winnings for a stop by my favorite burrito truck on the way home.  Mellow-out time with some good music...and maybe some ever-ongoing bike maintenance before leaving for a big race in Colorado the next afternoon...  

Compare training and Mountain Bike racing to the sustainability movement?  What can each learn from each other?
Good planning, discipline, sacrifice, patience, balance, confidence...Both involve setting specific goals, and achieving those goals depends upon recognizing incremental achievements along the way.  I started preparing for Nationals in February, and as with any big endeavor, there were plenty of times along the way where it would have been easy to become disenchanted by the small defeats along the way.  Not every training day is warm and sunny, and many races are finished far from the podium  I'm trying to be competitive against others who get paid to ride their bikes with lots of time for training, and with the best equipment and advanced coaching.  Having those luxuries someday would be awesome, but for now I am motivated by my lack of those elements.  I've learned that once you realize that a passion makes you part of something larger than yourself, it's a waste of time to view that passion (bike racing, sustainability movement, music, renewable energy, etc.) in opposition to the other obligations of life.  It has to be integrated.  Embrace the challenges, then the little defeats turn into fuel, and then you focus on all the little achievements on the way to the big one.  350 seems to be driven in a similar way.  Big goals have to be balanced with everything else, priorities have to be connected to one another.  For me, I treat racing like the job, albeit the fun one (even though working on wind projects is really fun, too), with a workman-like approach to training and racing, where the default setting is "win", meaning "ride well"...even if I've experienced a setback.  I feel like setting these standards for myself has informed the rest of what I do, and it would certainly cross over to something like the sustainability movement.  

Are there other riders on the scene that understand 350?
I've definitely seen more green wrist bands this year.  I see a number of other 350 athletes on the mountain bike circuit, and people who don't know about it are always curious to find out.

What are your plans for the rest of the year?
For general plans, I just moved into a house, and can't wait to build a fully functional bike shop in the basement.  At work, I'm looking to take on a larger roll at work as Permitting Manager, handling the timelines, budgets, and the thorny details of everything from federal land permits, avian surveys, to Renewable Portfolio Standard eligibility. For racing plans, I have my sites set on the World Cup Finals in Windham, NY at the end of August, and am hoping my performance at Nationals will be good enough to earn me a spot on the US team for the World Championships in Quebec this September.  Regardless, the season has been a big success.  Soon enough it will be time for a break, then cyclocross, and then prep for next year.

350.org is hosting a work day on 10/10/10, do you have any plans?
I'll be at a bike race.  Getting people on their bikes is a good way to promote the fight against global warming and right now that is my work.

The following is a guest blog post from our friend Jamie Pleune, an environmental lawyer and lead organizer for a powerfully symbolic event that will begin on 10/10/10:

“Hope is an action not an emotion.”  A rabbi spoke these words in the sweltering heat, standing on a patch of lawn near the Capitol.  His voice, hoarse with age, shook with emotion as he spoke to the small crowd—proxies for the desired audience—Congress.  Hope is hard to come by these days.  We are living in a time of existential crisis.  Even though the consequences of climate change threaten the lives and safety of millions of people around the world, our leaders refuse to act to curb our national patterns of indulgence.  In this political environment of denial, I struggle to find hope, so I was glad to hear of it described as an action.  But, if hope is an action, what kind of action does it entail? 

The science is clear, if we want to preserve life as we have known it on this earth, we must reduce the concentration of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere to 350 parts per million.  To accomplish this reduction, we must voluntarily walk away from the economic, social, and political patterns that dominate our lives in the United States.  The only way to tackle such a monumental journey is one step at a time.

To symbolize this epic journey, and to urge our political leaders to “get to work” on addressing climate change, we celebrate 10/10/10 by beginning a 350 mile walk through Utah.  Beginning in the oil and gas fields of Vernal, Utah, we will walk away from this extractive landscape through some of Utah’s beautiful and unprotected wilderness quality landscapes.  Every mile of this journey will be both personal and political.  At the end of each mile, we will take a picture that will become a postcard urging our political leaders to act immediately to address climate change.    

FDR purportedly once said to some social activists who had convinced him of the merit of their reform ideas, “Fine, you’ve convinced me, now go bring the pressure.”  We hope that our walk and our letter writing campaign will join the actions of thousands of others around the world to “bring the pressure” on our politicians.  Like small tributaries that trickle down mountains, congregate in valleys, and eventually meet the ocean with the pressure and force of the Mississippi, we hope that our individual action will join with the myriad of individual actions around the world in a constant trickle of public pressure flowing into the halls of power so steadily that eventually the seams burst, exposing politicians and agency bureaucrats to the enormity of the challenge facing us all.  Perhaps then, we will begin to see some action that will give us reason to hope. 

To get involved with our 350 miles: 350 postcards project, or to contact us visit www.thewildernessproject.com.

Last week, students from across China came together in Shanghai for the International Youth Summit on Climate Change. One of the topics at the summit: the Great Power Race, our growing student clean energy competition. (The photos in this post are of some of our lead GPR organizers at the US and Indian buildings for the Shanghai World Expo).

There’s been a lot of news lately about China’s investments in clean energy. Late last week, Chinese officials announced that they would institute a carbon trading program as part of its 12th five-year plan which will begin in 2011. You can read more about the announcement here. China is clearly already moving down the track towards a clean energy future.

In contrast, the US Senate seems to be walking away from the track altogether. On Thursday, Senate majority leader Harry Reid announced that he wouldn’t put forward a comprehensive climate bill this year.

There’s still a chance that Congress could take some small steps forward. Most important, would be passing a strong Renewable Energy Standard. Today, 27 senators wrote a letter in support of the measure, which would could create 274,000 jobs in the US. In their letter, they wrote: “We urge you to ensure that we give our country the opportunity to win the clean energy race by including the Renewable Energy Standard in energy legislation that is considered this summer.”

At least some people in the US government are getting the message.

India also made an exciting announcement today. Just a matter of weeks after we launched the PutSolarOn.It campaign, President Patil of India announced that the President's estate, Rasthrapati Bhavan, is now a certified green building, including the installation of solar power. Now that’s getting to work!

With over 500 campuses now registered for the Great Power Race, it looks like the race for clean energy is heating up around the world. Can we get to 1,000 registered campuses by September 1st? It’s going to be a challenge, but that’s what this Race is all about. Together, we can show our political leaders that you don’t walk away from tough challenges like climate change. You take a deep breath, stretch your legs, and start running towards them.

In case you missed it, 350.org has teamed up with our old pals at Brighter Planet and our new partners at Global Greengrants for something new and interesting: a web-powered microgrant contest for grassroots climate-action on 10/10/10. 

All you need to do is go to the fund website for your region submit your project idea by August 7.  And without further ado, a post about the effort, crossposted from the Brighter Planet blog:

Empowering 350.org’s Climate Action Fund

In the latest chapter of our perennial partnership with 350.org, Brighter Planet will provide the technology and underwriting to make 350′s crowdsourced Project Funds for Climate Action a reality.

Last fall, 350.org organized what CNN called “the most widespread day of political action in the planet’s history,” inspiring more than 5,000 events in 181 countries as part of the International Day of Climate Action. They continue to push the issue of climate change to forefront, inspiring a much needed sense of urgency in the fight to prevent catastrophic global change. Their slogan for this year, “Get to Work,” encourages grassroots action around the world, challenging people to step up and be the drivers of change in their communities, forcing our leaders to take action. In conjunction with 1010global.org, which has already signed close to 80,000 people since January in demanding a 10% annual reduction in carbon emissions, 350.org has put forth 10/10/10 as a global day of action.

Beginning today and leading up to the 10/10/10 Work Parties, 350.org will give out eight $1000 microgrants every month through their 350 Project Funds for Climate Action, funding Work Party projects that raise awareness about climate change, promote renewable energy, and show clearly that progress is possible.

Like Brighter Planet’s Project Fund, the 350 Project Funds for Climate Action will powered by our new wowcrowd platform, and the contest structure will be similar. Anybody can submit project proposals, anybody can vote on their favorite ideas, and each month the project with the most votes will be awarded a grant. Project ideas range from organized tree plantings to retrofitting buildings with more efficient CFL’s to setting up bike repair workshops.

As part of our partnership with 350.org, we’ve donated this month’s Project Fund grant money to the 350 Project Climate Action Fund. You can do your part as well—we encourage you to cast your ballots to help determine the winners, and to Action Fund">submit your climate project ideas to the fund.  And as 10/10/10 approaches, you can also participate in helping make 350 ppm a reality by joining a local Work Party or registering your own. With your help, thousands of communities will come together to make 10/10 the biggest day of practical action to cut carbon the world has ever seen.

–the Brighter Planet team

Check!

Just a matter of weeks after we launched the PutSolarOn.It campaign, President Patil of India has announced that the President's estate, Rasthrapati Bhavan, is now a certified green building, including the installation of solar power! Click here for the full announcement.

Score for India, score for PutSolarOn.It, and score for the planet!  Which country will be next?

Ask your leaders to put solar on their roof today: click here.

Our latest movement dispatch is a global round-up by Latin America organizer, Kelly Blynn...

Dear friends,

A friend recently asked me: "What's the single best way to solve the climate crisis?"

The question made me stop and think. I've been getting so many amazing updates about the climate solutions people are working on for the 10/10/10 Global Work Party, it's nearly impossible to pick just one.

The truth is, there is no silver bullet to stopping the climate crisis, no single technological solution that can fix everything at once.  We don't just need solar power, or wind power, or efficiency. We need all of these things and more.  What we need, in a word, is diversity.

I feel the same way about building the climate movement. We can't rely on just one campaign, one event, one organization, one country, or one strategy-to build a powerful climate movement we need a bit of everything.

This is why we have such a diverse campaign plan-and such a broad alliance--at 350.org. For those of you wondering what we've been up to and how all the pieces fit together, here's a quick round-up of the latest news from our various campaigns:

10/10/10-and Grants to Support Local Climate Action!
You probably already know all about our plans for 10/10/10, "The Global Work Party."  (If not, check out the invitation here)  It's less than 3 months away, and people's plans are really starting to take shape:  teams insulating schools in London,  a bike-caravan of lighting retrofitters in Mombasa, and hundreds and hundreds more.  With events in 116 countries and counting, it will be massive. 

One new development here: we now have a small pool of MONEY to support your local climate solutions projects for 10/10/10.  Submit your 10/10/10 plan by August 7th, get enough people to vote on it, and you could receive a grant of $1,000 USD to make it happen.  Check out www.350.org/funds to learn more
 
The Great Power Race: NEW VIDEO
Next up is the The Great Power Race, a clean energy competition between students in India, China, and the United States.  Starting this September, students will get to work making their campuses models of sustainability and spur our nations to create whole new industries-and win great prizes while doing so. The race doesn't officially start for more than a month, but the registration drive is underway. India already has over 200 campuses signed up.  Can China and the USA keep up?  As the young founders of the Great Power Race are saying:

"Our parents raced for the Moon. Our generation will race for the Earth."

We also have brand new video to get people fired up about the Great Power Race--check it out: www.greatpowerrace.org/video

Put Solar On It!
Just two weeks ago we launched the "Put Solar On It" campaign, and it's making big waves from Washington DC to Delhi.  We're calling for world leaders to go solar on 10/10/10-and to couple this symbolic effort with a real commitment to pass policies that can unleash the clean energy economy we need.  We've partnered with Sungevity, a solar provider who has agreed to donate the panels to any world leader who will go solar on 10/10/10. President Nasheed from the Maldives has already committed to going solar on that day-will other leaders follow suit?  Only if we build our numbers, so get all your friends to sign on today: www.PutSolarOn.It

US Campaigning
It's nearly impossible to make global progress on climate change without getting the US to act, which is why we've been working hard to kickstart climate action in Washington DC and beyond.  We've turned up the heat on Senators to make sure they didn't settle for a weak and watered-down climate and energy bill and we helped organize hundreds of rallies against offshore drilling. 

***THIS JUST IN***
Senate democrats have decided that definitely there will not be a climate portion of a bill in the coming weeks. This is bad news--and further evidence that we have to keep working on the ground to shift the political climate as fast as humanly possible.

There's lots more brewing at 350.org, but that gives you a good overview. If you've read this far, thank you.

Looking over the list of campaigns above, it becomes clear: there actually is one silver bullet to solving the climate crisis, and it's not solar power.  It's people power. 

We can't do this without you. Let's keep building this movement.

Onwards,

Kelly and the 350.org team

Today, the Senate failed yet again to bring forward a comprehensive climate and clean energy bill. Could what’s missing be a healthy sense of competition?

350.org just released a new video to jump-start the Great Power Race, a clean energy competition between students in China, India and the US. The campaign’s goal is to push all three nations to start racing towards climate solutions.

Al Gore offered his endorsement of the competition: “I'll be keeping a close eye on the outcome of the Great Power Race, because it's exactly the kind of competition we need --a friendly contest to create a vision for our collective future, one where we don't cling to the past but instead strike out boldly in a new direction.

Almost 500 campuses have already registered at GreatPowerRace.org, with India leading the Race with 215 campuses signed up, China in second place with 173, and the US trailing with 102.

“We think a little healthy competition may be what’s needed to finally get some progress in the US,” said May Boeve, 350.org US Coordinator. “Low carbon technologies will drive job creation for the coming decades and the US can’t afford to fall behind. We need to be competing and, better yet, working with other countries to build this new economy.”

Students in each country are racing to sign up as many campuses as possible before the competition officially launches in September. Then, campus groups in America, China, and India will compete to implement their clean energy projects.

Projects are likely to include light bulb exchanges, lowering thermostats, education events, installing solar panels on campus, growing organic gardens, encouraging a campus president sign on to a climate pact, and more.

“Students are setting an example for our politicians,” said Whit Jones of the Energy Action Coalition, a youth climate campaign that’s leading the Great Power Race and Power Vote in the US. “This fall, we’re bringing clean energy to campuses, and mobilizing to make sure our politicians join us in the race.”

"Youth across India are already working on solutions to the climate crisis. The Great Power Race will be an opportunity for us to highlight and build on their efforts," explained Roselin Dey, an organizer with 350.org in India.

The video released today features an American, Chinese, and Indian student donning sports jerseys, stretching, and lining up at a starting line.

In the background, President Obama recites, “From China to India, from Japan to Germany, nations everywhere are racing to develop new ways to produce and use energy. The nation that wins this competition will be the nation that leads the global economy.”

The Great Power Race campaign will work to make sure politicians get the message by keeping them updated on the Race standings and inviting them to come visit campus projects during the 10/10/10 Global Work Party, an international day of events focused on climate solutions.

"Every nation is not created equal in this climate crisis," explained 350.org Founder Bill McKibben. "If we can't get the biggest polluters and the biggest economies to change, then we'll never win. "

One of the great benefits of being a global movement is watching and learning from our friends and partners around the world as they address global warming in diverse and wonderful ways. Some of you have used your art to get the word out and inspire creative solutions. Now, our friends at the CoolClimate Art Contest are calling on artists worldwide to participate in the first online art contest exploring climate change in its many forms – how it is impacting our lives and what can be done to ensure a sustainable future for all of Earth’s inhabitants.  Go to www.coolclimate.deviantart.com to learn how to submit a work of art and be eligible to win prizes and to be displayed online and at events nationwide on 10/10/10.

A panel of esteemed judges will select 20 finalists from the submissions on DeviantArt. The finalists will then move to Huffington Post for public voting utilizing the Huffington Post’s innovative online social voting tool.  Judges include;  Mel Chin (artist),  Philippe Cousteau (ecologist), Agnes Gund (collector & philanthropist), Van Jones (environmental activist),  David Ross (curator),  Carrie Mae Weems (artist), Jackson Browne (musician) and Dianna Cohen (artist), Chevy Chase (Comedian) and Jayni Chase (philanthropist).

Submissions are now open and will close on August 23, 2010. Historically the creative community has always helped to create new and expanded visions of possibility during difficult times and we look forward to the artist’s vision for a cool and sustainable future. Entries will be judged on the following criteria: Originality, Creative Application, Effectiveness in Communicating Ecological Challenges or Solutions; and Technical Skill. Good luck and have fun making climate art!

We're pleased to announce the launch of our partner Interfaith Power and Light's 10% Challenge, which encourages congregations to cut their carbon footprint by 10%.

This is a big effort, which will reach hundreds of communities of faith, who will choose from a variety of activities to participate in. Some groups will perform energy audits, others will switch to more efficient lighting in their churches.

Not only will these actions help get Interfaith Power and Light to their own 10:10 commitment, but many of them will plan work parties as well!

In other faith partnership news, we've just begun working more closely with members of the Episcopal communion, who will be taking part in the big day.

To learn more about 350's work with faith communities, visit 350.org/faith

We recently launched a new campaign, PutSolarOn.It, to encourage world leaders to install solar panels on their most iconic government buildings, but as some of our friends have reminded us, that's not the only place you can install a solar panel.

Take a moment to check out the Greenheart Project based in Japan, an organization focused on building a low-cost, zero emissions small cargo ship. The vessel would use clean and sustainable sail and solar power to provide coastal communities around the world with an affordable means of transport.

Whatever you're looking to put solar on, 10/10/10 will be the perfect day to do an installation. We've rocketed past 1,000 actions around the world. Let's keep that number moving!

It's with great sadness that we bring you news of the passing today of Stephen Schneider, a giant of climate science. I've known and admired him for a quarter century--he's one of the reasons that we know the trouble we're in, and the possible ways out. He was a friend of 350.org, and a friend of the one sweet planet we all inhabit.

Any moment now, Harry Reid will unveil climate and energy legislation for the Senate to begin debating as soon as July 26. Dealing with climate change is already a race against time: just last week another round of scientific evidence revealed how little time is left to dramatically cut emissions. Nervous Senators may want to delay action, but it's unlikely chemistry and physics will bend to fit the political calendar. As politicians continue to whine, the planet continues to warm.

Meanwhile, on the other side of this warming planet, some political leaders are walking their talk. This weekend, six developing countries made commitments to cut emissions by as much as 40%, some committing to full carbon neutrality. Low-lying Maldives, which is already committed to carbon neutrality, convened the gathering.

Maldives, Costa Rica, Samoa, Ethiopia, Marshall Islands, and Antigua and Barbuda, some of the developing countries in attendance at the summit, can fairly claim to have done practically nothing to cause climate change. They're not legally required to cut their emissions, due precisely to this lack of historical responsibility. And yet, they're doing everything they can--literally everything--that's what 100% emissions reductions indicates.

Developing countries weren't the only nations that attended the meeting. The so-called Cartagena group also included the UK, Australia, and France, among others. It's notable that these developed countries didn't announce sweeping commitments at the meeting's conclusion. So what were they doing there?

Trying to drive a wedge between especially vulnerable countries and the G77 + China, the larger developing country negotiating bloc? Sincerely trying to find some common ground and make progress?  Both? Observers on all sides will be reading the tea leaves from these increasingly frequent informal discussions to try and divine what’s in store for the formal UN climate process.  

Either way, drastic emissions reductions commitments are necessary, and require bold leadership. The developing countries at the summit announced their commitments with little fanfare, but they amount to a message of "Shame on You!" that's sorely needed to move the Big Polluters.

On October 10, thousands of communities worldwide will make the same statement to our leaders. We'll be planting urban gardens, sealing leaky windows, and putting solar panels on schools, all to show our politicians the way forward--so they can take the big steps we all need to reign in climate change.

Here in the U.S., where senators apologize to BP, claim global warming is a hoax, and otherwise demonstrate very little leadership on this issue, it's striking to see just how much other countries will do to try and fix the problem.

We can do more here in the United States. Retrofitting homes across this country, erecting wind turbines, and otherwise tooling up to transition away from coal and oil are precisely the kind of job-creating, emission-cutting policies we need. Last weekend's news is a good reality check from an opposite corner of the hot globe we all must share and repair together.

Photo: 4700 school children in Male' Maldives on 17 October, 2009.  Organized by
ECOCARE, the Maldives Photographers Association, Maldives Girl Guides
Association, and the Scouts Association of Maldives.

We ended last week's blog with a bit of somber note regarding US leadership (or lack thereof) on climate change, but this week we can start things off with some much more uplifting news...

Over the weekend the "Cartagena Group / Dialogue for Progressive Action" met in the Maldives to discuss new ways forward towards an ambitious outcome at the UNFCCC and plans for becoming or remaining low-carbon emitters.  The Maldives has already been leading the charge with a commetment to be carbon-neutral in 10 years, and President Nasheed has already joined the PutSolarOn.It and 10/10/10 campaigns by planning to add solar panels to the President's office as part of the path towards carbon neutrality.

Now, 5 more countries are making bold commitments to either carbon neutrality or low carbon pathways:

• The Maldives and Costa Rica reaffirmed commitments to carbon neutrality by 2020 and 2021, respectively.
• The Marshall Islands pledged to cut its carbon dioxide emissions by 40% by 2020, from a 2009 base year. 
• Antigua & Barbuda aims to slash emissions by one quarter by 2020, from 1990 levels.
• Ethiopia plans to be become carbon neautral by 2025.
• And Samoa also commited to reach carbon neautrality by 2020.

Now that is what real climate leadership looks like!  It's heart-wrenching that it's mostly countries that have had little to nothing to do with the current levels of CO2 in the atmostphere, and it's also inspiring!

And it's particularly exciting to know that the countries understand not just significance of these measures in fighting climate change, but also the benefits of such actions.  As President Nasheed put it, "These developing countries are pursuing low carbon growth and green development because it is in their fundamental economic and security interests to do so.”

Perhaps those of us in some of the larger pollutting and more powerful countries, can learn from these countries and begin to match their ambition in getting to work to reach 350!

Participants at the 'Cartagena Group / Dialogue for Progressive Action' in the Maldives were: Antigua & Barbuda, Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Ghana, Indonesia, Malawi, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Samoa, Spain, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Uruguay, UK and the European Commission.

All week, we've been closely monitoring the discussion about what form a US Senate climate bill will take. The latest news makes matters seem worse, not better. Hundreds of you called your senators to let them know we know exactly what they're deciding between: the interests of people, and the interestes of big polluters. Many of those calls resulted in statements of support; others received mixed answers depending on which staff member they spoke with.

Meanwhile, where is President Obama as the debate heats up? In a recent speech in Michigan, he made no mention of the climate bill, even though the speech was ostensibly intended to garner support for climate legislation. Then, more under wraps, he and a team of senators lobbied the Export-Import bank to reverse a decision and grant approval for a new coal plant in India.

This doesn't look like leadership to us. We hope you'll keep your calls to senators coming, and keep letting them know you'll be ready to meet them when they're home in August.

We just sent this urgent (yet uplifting) update & call to action to tens of thousands of supporters all across the US...and hope you'll join us in telling our Senators that they work for us (and not BP!)

Dear friends,

Right now in Washington D.C., Senators are preparing to debate climate and energy legislation.

Thousands of lobbyists are sweeping the Hill, millions of dollars are being dumped into TV ads, and the BP's of the world (Big Polluters and Bad Politicians) are doing everything they can to weaken and corrupt the climate bill.

Watching this debate unfold reaffirms one of our core beliefs at 350.org -- solving the climate crisis will take a strong grassroots movement. Until we have a strong climate movement that can make our politicians work for us, they'll keep working for the big polluters. We need to get to work changing our country from the bottom up.

Everywhere I look, that work is beginning to happen.

Right here in the US, and in over 100 countries on Earth, thousands of communities are already getting to work on climate solutions and preparing for our major day of action on October 10th. Hundreds of universities in China, India and the US are joining the Great Power Race, a campus clean energy competition. Tens of thousands of you have told President Obama to get to work putting solar panels back on the White House.

Now, it's time to turn up the pressure on Washington.

As Congress finally begins to debate climate and energy legislation, take a minute to ask your Senators a simple question: are you working with me or are you working with the big polluters?

Click here to get a list of numbers and some talking points to help make your call.

For the next three weeks, big polluters are going to be trying to weaken this bill. They'll try and secure more handouts for nuclear and coal, strip the EPA of its authority to regulate greenhouse gases, and weaken the cap on emissions. In short: big polluters will try and get our Senators to work for them.

It's time to remind our Senators that they work for us:

www.350.org/they-work-for-you

Take a minute to call your Senators and tell them that you're working to build a movement for clean energy and climate solutions in your state. Tell them that you'll be watching them closely over the next few weeks to see who they really work for. And if you've already registered a 10/10/10 work party, invite your Senator to attend and get to work with you, literally.

Five months ago, when 350.org launched the Global Work Party, it was clear to me that this day could be a major turning point, when the world finally gets to work solving the climate crisis and building a sustainable future.

That's what's happening here in the United States, and it's happening around the world too. We're closer to something historic than anyone ever imagined we could be.

Thank you for building a movement.

Onwards,

May Boeve,

USA Coordinator, 350.org