Urgent! Help pass this historic climate bill!

Greetings Action Corps!

After reading the message below, take this URGENT e-action.

URGENT: Vote this week!

Congress has taken a small step to help poor communities devastated by climate change. But this progress is fragile.

Make sure Congress passes the climate bill AND keeps funding for the world's poor.

Email your Representative today! CLICK HERE!

Thanks to you, the groundbreaking climate and energy bill now includes vital funding to help poor communities around the world adapt to climate change.

This is a major accomplishment, but we still have a challenge ahead: we must strengthen and pass the climate bill as it moves through the U.S. Congress.

Powerful oil and coal companies are spending millions to stop this historic climate bill.

Don't let big polluters undermine our progress – urge your Representative to vote YES on this bill.

The pressure that members of Congress are facing from the other side is incredible – even lawmakers who are on our side need to know this is important to us. Hard-hit communities around the world are depending on our Representatives to stay strong against the opposition and support this bill.

As you know, poor countries are least responsible for climate change, yet they are bearing the brunt: severe floods, droughts, debilitating storms, crop loss, and disease. Without funding for storm early-warning systems, irrigation improvements for drought, and other tools to help them adapt, entire communities are at risk.

This bill includes millions of dollars to help the most vulnerable communities in developing countries cope with the impacts of climate change and adopt renewable technologies – we can't let big oil and coal companies stand in the way of this opportunity!

Tell Congress to stand firm against the pressure and ensure the climate bill passes.

The American Clean Energy and Security Act takes a big step in cutting domestic global warming pollution and helping vulnerable communities, both here and abroad. The funding in the bill to help developing countries is not perfect, but we will keep fighting to increase it as the bill moves through the U.S.
Senate.

The United States is finally ready to face the climate crisis head-on. This bill takes a critical first step. Don't let this chance slip by.

Sincerely,

Raymond C. Offenheiser
Oxfam America Advocacy Fund

Looking forward!

Hey Action Corps,

Hope that everyone has been enjoying this summer and looking forward to more POAC events. Thanks to the addition of our new co-leaders Sandrina daCruz and Nan Sato, we have been working harder than ever on spreading the word about Oxfam America and its mission to end world hunger and social injustice.

So far there are many things that are in the works for POAC, member meetings, concerts and most importantly, Climate Change legislation.

Monthly Member Meetings:

Our next meeting is going to be on June 24th, 2009 at the University of Pennsylvania’s Sweeten Alumni House, which is where we had out last Sisters on the Planet screening. Click here for directions and map. The following is the meeting agenda:

• Quick “plus & delta” of past events
  * Last Monthly Meeting
  * SOP at UPenn
  * Lobby Visit

• Updates on Tasks
  * Congressional Leadership Working Group monthly calls
  * Reaching out to potential allied organizations
  * Sisters on the Planet screening with guest speaker
  * Business Cards

• Schedule future events
  * Concerts
  * Tabling at First Fridays
  * Future SOP Screenings

• Exchange of Ideas
  * Letter writing events
  * More ways to promote POAC
  * Fixed date for monthly meetings

Upcoming Concerts:

Check out our calendar for updated concert schedules.

06/24/09 - The Fray @ Susquehanna Bank Center (formerly Tweeter Center), Camden NJ
09/19/09 - Dave Mathews Band @ Susquehanna Bank Center, Camden NJ
09/20/09 - Dave Mathews Band @ Susquehanna Bank Center, Camden NJ
09/23/09 - Dave Mathews Band @ Toyota Pavilion at Montage Mountain, Scranton, PA

Climate Change Legislation:

The American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES) bill has been approved by the House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee, but faces several more hurdles in the House of Representatives since it has been referred to several other House committees with jurisdiction over it, such as the Natural Resources Committee and the Committee on Agriculture, which will debate, and possibly amend, areas of the bill relevant to their jurisdiction.

The ACES bill is expected to be voted on in the House sometime this summer, but could take longer. It is imperative that changes to the bill still address the effects of climate change on poor communities and that revenue is allocated for international adaptation.

Meetings and Climate Change Bill...

On Wednesday May 27th, we had our first member Monthly Meeting, which will be an ongoing happening for the Philadelphia Oxfam Action Corps (POAC). It was held at Sandrina’s house in Center City and several new members attended. We discussed where the Climate Chance legislation stands in Congress, as well as upcoming POAC events and planning for future/possible screening of Sisters on the Planet, lobby visits, concerts and canvassing events. For meeting minutes click here.

We also had a screening of Sisters on the Planet at the University of Pennsylvania’s Sweeten Alumni House last Wednesday, June 3rd. The event was a wonderful success and we had several new members who attended and learned more about Oxfam America and the human face of Climate Change. We are looking forward to more opportunities to spread the word about Oxfam, so if anyone has suggestions, please don’t hesitate to contact us and also join us at our next monthly meeting!

On other news, bellow is a recent article in an online political magazine called Politico.com, regarding the Climate Change Bill known as the “American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009”. Check it out!

Politico.com

In Need Of Climate Change Cash

By: Lisa Lerer May 13, 2009 04:36 AM EST

A loose coalition of international aid organizations, religious groups, environmental advocates and some businesses are lobbying Congress to include billions for international aid in the forthcoming climate change bill.

The groups argue that helping developing countries cut greenhouse gases and protect against the effects of global warming is a key to success at the international climate talks scheduled for December in Copenhagen.

"The U.S. can't go completely empty-handed to Copenhagen," said Oxfam America President Raymond Offenheiser.

Existing problems of poverty and malnutrition in poorer countries have been exacerbated by climate change, experts say, as changing weather patterns and intensified storms hurt agricultural yields and infrastructure.

Roughly 262 million people were affected by climate disasters annually from 2000 to 2004, with over 98 percent of them in the developing world, according to the Human Development Report issued last year by the United Nations Development Program.

Developing nations argue that richer countries should help them offset these effects, given that they produce significantly more of the other greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming. Rich countries "containing just 15 percent of the world's population" account for almost half of carbon dioxide emissions, according to UNDP.

Connie Hedegaard, Denmark's minister for climate and energy, told reporters that a deal at Copenhagen would be impossible unless richer nations bridge the divide between developed and developing countries with additional funds.

"Politically, it must be additional, and that could be a game changer," she told reporters last week.

The UNDP estimated that by 2015, developing countries would require $86 billion a year for climate adaptation, which includes measures such as reinforcing infrastructure, making sure water supplies are potable and helping poor countries adapt to changing agricultural conditions.

Last month, 23 Democrats sent a letter to Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), pushing the Energy and Commerce Committee chairman to include "robust" international financing in his energy and climate bill. The committee is expected to vote on the bill before the Memorial Day recess.

"Comprehensive climate change legislation should devote a significant portion of generated revenues to investments in international adaptation, clean technology cooperation and forest protecting activities in the developing world," the Democrats wrote. "It is an opportunity for leadership, innovation, economic growth at home and abroad, and trust building with developing countries."

Waxman's draft bill proposes the creation of a specialized international climate change program at USAID to provide assistance to the "most vulnerable developing countries."

Some aid organizations, religious and environmental groups would like 7 percent, or $7 billion, of any revenues generated by Waxman's legislation devoted to international adaptation efforts. The funding would have to be flexible enough to help communities deal with different needs, such as reinforcing buildings to deal with flooding from melting glaciers, reducing soil erosion with reforestation programs and diversifying agriculture practices to cope with changing environmental conditions.

Religious groups cite funding for international adaptation as their No. 1 priority for the bill.

"The moral measure of climate change legislation is how it treats the poor and vulnerable in our own country and around the world," John Carr, director of justice, peace and human development for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said in a statement.

Religious groups, sponsored by the faith-based, nonprofit American Values Network, are running ads on Christian radio in key districts in seven states and e-mailing more than 5.3 million evangelicals and Catholics, urging them to support climate change legislation that pays special attention to the needs of vulnerable communities at home and abroad.

The prospective funding could also help mitigate the new national security risks created by changing weather conditions, the groups argue. Droughts, famines and floods caused by global warming could destabilize regions around the world as competition increases for food and water.

"Supporting climate readiness now can help avert global instability and will save billions of dollars down the road in emergency relief and military engagement by reducing the worst effects of climate-related disasters," a group of 24 international aid and environmental groups wrote in a March letter to the heads of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and its Energy and Environment Subcommittee.

Cap and Trade: Swallow That Term

Democrats are getting their talking points in order as the climate change debate heats up this week.

On Monday, pollster Mark Mellman briefed Democratic press aides in the House on the most politically savvy ways to talk about climate change. The briefing aimed to prepare the press secretaries for the crush of coverage expected this week, after Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman unveils his complex climate and energy bill.

The meeting, a weekly confab for House press secretaries, was one of the most well-attended since January, according to one participant.

The phrase "clean energy jobs" is the best way to explain the benefits of climate change legislation, according to polling presented in PowerPoint by Mellman.

Using "cap and trade" to describe the legislation - which creates an auction market for carbon emissions - is a mistake, because voters find the term confusing. Also to be avoided is "green jobs," a phrase popular with environmentalists to describe careers in renewable energy, energy efficiency and other types of sustainable technologies. Voters think the term describes white-collar jobs for highly educated professors, according to Democratic aides at the meeting.

A Rasmussen poll released on Monday found that just 24 percent of voters correctly identified the cap-and-trade proposal as dealing with environmental issues. Slightly more - 29 percent - thought the term was about regulating Wall Street, and 17 percent thought it had to do with health care reform. Thirty percent had no idea.

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