Chop Wood, Carry Water 7/31
Hi, all, and happy Monday!
I’m safely and happily ensconced in our old house in Rose Bay, NS. More family members are arriving by the minute. The next two weeks will be precious, sweet, loud, and restful, and will enable me to charge back into the fray with all the fervor you’ve come to expect.
Does that mean you won’t hear from me at all? Doubtful. I’ve found myself incapable of entirely unplugging—for the simple reason that the enormous number of emails I get every day must be hacked away at, lest my inbox present too daunting a behemoth when I return. So I’ll be a sporadic presence for the next two weeks, but not absent. There’s simply too much going on to turn my back on it completely.
Still, know that I am re-creating in the truest sense, and will return to the states rejuvenated. You deserve no less.
Now let’s get to work!
Call Your Senators (find yours here) 📲
Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is ______.
I just learned that there are no federal protections that ensure that workers are able to take breaks to drink water and rest when working in extreme heat. Without these protections, their health and lives are at risk. I want the Congressmember to support creating federal workplace heat standards, so that all workers have the protections they need to stay safe on the job. Also, we need to do more on climate. Cutting climate funding—which I know Republicans are trying to do right now—would be catastrophic.We need MORE action, not less, and I am becoming a single-issue voter on this very quickly. I’ll be watching how the Senator votes. Thanks. [H/T Indivisible]
Call Your House Rep (find yours here) 📲
Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is _______.
I just learned that there are no federal protections that ensure that workers are able to take breaks to drink water and rest when working in extreme heat. Without these protections, their health and lives are at risk. I want the Congressmember to support creating federal workplace heat standards, so that all workers have the protections they need to stay safe on the job. Also, we need to do more on climate. Cutting climate funding—which I know Republicans are trying to do right now—would be catastrophic. We need MORE action, not less, and I am becoming a single-issue voter on this very quickly. I’ll be watching how the Congressmember votes. Thanks. [H/T Indivisible]
Extra Credit ✅
Get Smart! 📚
Read this new Navigator polling on Americans’ changing views on climate change and extreme weather! Totally encouraging. I wish the weather weren’t getting so scary, but the good news is that it’s changing hearts and minds pretty quickly and dramatically. One interesting takeaway? It’s better framing to talk about “using more clean energy” than about “using less fossil fuels.” Go figure. But messaging matters.
Spread the Word! 📣
Cutting way back on beef is sort of a no-brainer for climate—there’s lots of data to back that up. Perhaps more people will be receptive to an article like this at this moment in time. Maybe spread the word?
Give 💰!
[H/T David Pepper:]
With less than two weeks to go until Election Day, more than 60,000 voters (who modeling shows are highly likely to Vote No on Issue 1), have requested their absentee ballots but NOT yet returned them.
Because we expect the "Yes" voters to show up mainly on Election Day, this total number of outstanding ballots could be the difference in winning and losing this campaign.
We want to directly communicate digitally with every single "outstanding" voter to be sure they send their ballots back in time to count.
Every fifty dollars helps us reach roughly 1,000 of these voters. Please help us fund this effort with whatever amount you can.
Win Races! 🗳
A very important message from Activate America:
Postcarding is over for the Ohio August 8th special election, but we are hard at work on the phones. Our volunteers have already made over 8,000 calls, but we still have 22,000 voters to reach.
Every Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, we are reaching out to Ohio voters on hosted Zoom phone banks from 3-5 PDT (6-8 EDT). You can sign up HERE. Note that on Election Day, we’ve added shifts from 10am to 3pm to get every possible voter to the polls.
Experienced phone bankers can also sign up to make calls on their own everyday – register here to get all the materials you need.
We are finding that some of the voters we reach don’t know about the upcoming election or don’t understand what is at stake. And when we reach people who already plan to vote, we encourage them to remind three friends to vote.
Activate America phonebanks are so fun and easy and they really need more volunteers for these last critical days. Can you help?
Resistbot Letter (new to Resistbot? Go here! And then here.) 💻
[to all 3 reps] [H/T] [Quick send: text SIGN PHKISN to 50409]
I am writing to ask you to co-sponsor and pass the FATCAT Act (Fueling Alternative Transportation with a Carbon Aviation Tax), which will increase the jet fuel tax from 22 cents per gallon to $1.95, and apply the new revenues toward air quality monitoring and the development of clean transit alternatives.
Currently, private jet travelers are producing 14 times more CO2 emissions per passenger mile than commercial flight travelers, and 50 times more than trains, emitting as much as millions of private automobiles. In just one hour, a single private jet can emit two metric tons of carbon dioxide. According to a report by the Institute for Policy Studies and Patriotic Millionaires, the wealthiest 1% of air travelers are responsible for about 50% of all passenger flight carbon emissions.
Private jet travelers are among the richest people in U.S. society, with a median net worth of $190 million. They should pay for the environmental damage caused by their travel choices. Revenues from this legislation will be transferred to the Airport & Airway Trust Fund and the Clean Communities Trust Fund to expand environmentally sound transportation alternatives, including passenger rail and bus routes near commercial airports.
I ask you to co-sponsor and pass this critical legislation that will make polluters pay and help to develop transportation alternatives that are good for the planet at the same time.
OK, you did it again! You helped save democracy! You’re amazing.
Talk soon.
Jess
So very happy for you, Jessica!! Nova Scotia is such a beautiful place and the people are lovely. One of the best places I can think of anywhere to decompress. Please enjoy every minute, commune with Nature and get lots of sleep. Recharging, especially for someone as active and engaged as you are,
is a must!!
I hope you have a great time, you're in a beautiful place.
In respect of a beef free lifestyle, more people are likely to respond positively to eating sustainably raised beef, pork, and chicken than to giving it up entirely. All three meats are readily available in most places, and some major stores like Fresh Thyme offer them as their primary options. Bought on sale, they're not significantly more expensive than standard commodity products and offer better flavor, more forgiving cooking and the bonus of improving the ecosphere.