Chop Wood, Carry Water 7/20
Democracy on the fly...✈️
Hi, all! Happy Tuesday!
This is very late, and I apologize. Today my kid and I said goodbye to our giant East coast clan; I wanted to spend every moment before we left soaking up my family, so took the rare morning off. Now we’re at JFK waiting for a flight to Los Angeles.
Having said that, it’s not too late to make these calls today—especially if you’re on the west coast. I made my calls just now while waiting in line at Starbucks!
And since a vote on the infrastructure package could come this week, said calls are really important. (Then again, aren’t they always?)
Thank goodness democracy can be done on the fly!
Call Your Senators (find yours here)
Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is ______.
First, I’m calling to say that I support the Civilian Climate Corps Act of 2021 (S. 1057) and want the Senator to as well. In fact, I support all of the climate provisions in the American Jobs Plan—things are getting bad fast, and aggressive action is our only hope. Please stand firm and vote for the $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation bill that matches the scale of the climate crisis and puts our communities first.
Also please ask the Senator to make passing the For the People Act a top priority. Thanks.
Call Your House Rep (find yours here)
Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is _______.
I’m calling to say that I support all of the climate provisions in the American Jobs Plan—things are getting bad fast, and aggressive action is our only hope. Please ask the Congressmember to vote for the $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation bill that matches the scale of the climate crisis and puts our communities first. In fact, I wish we were spending more. We’ve got to go BIG if we don’t want climate catastrophe. Thanks.
Extra Credit
If your Congressmember is in the Progressive Caucus I need you to do something TODAY please. (Not sure? See CPC members by clicking here.)
Call or email them and ask them to vote yes on the CPC endorsing the Renewable Energy Act.
If at least two-thirds of CPC members agree, then the CPC takes an official stance and can leverage their power. This week it is critical to tell members of the CPC to support the Renewable Energy Act. You can read more about the progressive voting bloc here.
(The American Renewable Energy Act of 2021 establishes an ambitious renewable energy standard to require retail electricity suppliers to achieve at least 70% renewable electricity generation by 2030.)
Get Educated!
As of today, 26 states have either passed or have pending legislation to ban talking about systemic racism in the classroom. Educators, especially Black educators, are being threatened or fired for teaching about our country’s racist history. This is frightening and unacceptable.
For this and so many other reasons I encourage us all to attend an upcoming SURJ webinar, Fighting the Right’s Attack on Critical Race Theory, on Tuesday, July 27 at 5 pm PT / 8 ET.
In this webinar we'll learn about the Right's strategy with these attacks as well as how we can effectively organize to bring more white people into anti-racism and counter the far right's white nationalist recruitment through organizing for racial justice in education. Let’s make it clear that the truth about our history and ongoing systemic racism and white supremacy hurts us all.
Resistbot Text (new to Resistbot? Go here!)
[to your Senators] [H/T]
I’m writing because I want the Senator to push for common-sense climate solutions to be enacted as soon as possible. The urgency of the climate crisis has brought both liberals and conservatives together in calling for Congress to include the following solutions in the upcoming infrastructure package:
Invest in weatherizing and solarizing homes, schools, and businesses
Secure funding to deploy zero-emission school and transit buses, electrify ports, and add EV charging stations at public gathering spaces
Plant trees and conserve forests to capture carbon
Invest in convenient and frequent public transit service and increase low-emission transportation choices; and
Support sustainable agriculture by rewarding farmers for long-term emission reductions and regenerative farming practices.
These are all bipartisan solutions to help build better communities, green jobs, safer homes, and a clean energy future for all. As your constituent, I’m asking you to prioritize and include these solutions in the upcoming infrastructure package to reduce emissions and make our communities healthier and more resilient. We need these solutions now! Thanks!
OK, you did it again! You helped save democracy! You’re amazing.
Talk tomorrow.
Jess