Quick update on energy bill timing

From MoveOn e-mail dd 7/9/2009
.........................

Energy and health care are the two biggest issues on Capitol Hill right now, and MoveOn Councils are planning fantastic local actions this month urging their senators to support clean energy jobs and a public health insurance option.

And we just heard some news about the energy fight that we wanted to share. As you may know, we've been expecting a key vote on the big clean energy bill in the Senate Environment and Public Works committee by the end of this month.

Today, Senator Barbara Boxer—the Chairwoman of the key Senate committee now considering the big clean energy bill—announced that her committee won't vote on the bill until after the August recess.1

Actually, this doesn't change much for our summer organizing plans. The bill is still being written and debated now. And grassroots organizing to pressure key senators while the bill is in committee remains our best chance to fix it.

So we're moving ahead with our national day of action on July 23rd. That's when Councils working on health care and energy will hold media events all around the country to spread our message!

To check which actions are planned by our council please go to:
http://www.moveon.org/team/ and sign in

If you haven't joined a council yet you can check planned activities by searching for councils using your zip code

Let's Celebrate & Plan for the Senate!

Let’s celebrate! ACES passed and MO can take a lot of credit for making that happen! More than 44 Representatives signed the letter to Speaker Pelosi, asking for the three amendments we wanted.

The JC-Hoboken Council was responsible for getting Rep. Rothman to sign it! Thank you Glenn for getting our meeting with his aide!

But the bill passed the House by only seven votes, and the Senate will be tough; we will also strategize what to do in August.

If you know anyone who would like to get involved, invite them to RSVP.

Next Thursday, July 9 @ 7PM we'll get together to celebrate and discuss the next steps. (at the moment we have not yet decided where we will meet, so check back at the link below for further details)

Here is the link to sign up for this brainstorming event:
http://pol.moveon.org/event/events/hosts/index.html?event_id=94188&id=-10000761-HvxU2cx

POWER POINT PRESENTATION ON CLEAN ENERGY & CLEAN JOBS FOR AN EMERGING ECONOMY

Talking points to call your Congress Representative about the Clean Energy Bill

MoveOn.org - Because Democracy Is Not a Spectator Sport

Call on Congress to Pass a Strong Clean Energy Jobs Bill to Jump-Start Job Creation in New Jersey

Congress is currently considering a clean energy jobs bill that has the potential to start us on the path to a new energy economy. But Big Oil and Big Coal are working hard to keep us reliant on dirty energy for decades to come.

We ask you to contact our Senators and Congressman to urge them to lead the nation and serve their constituents by working to strengthen the bill so it creates clean energy jobs here in New Jersey, with more money-saving energy efficiency and more reliance on cleaner, cheaper sources of energy like wind and solar.

It's important to let our elected officials know that we support the WAXMAN-MARKEY ENERGY BILL. If they know that their constituents support it, they'll be more likely to keep fighting for it. Plus, other senators and congressmen who are on the fence will take notice, too.

Here are some points to help you make the call

Talking Points for Clean Energy Jobs

There are real, tangible benefits in craeting a clean energy economy in New Jersey: we'll get new, high-paying jobs that can't be outsourced, a stronger local economy, and savings for local residents. Clean energy is a growth industry that provides better-paying jobs—and more of them—while lowering the cost of utilities for the average household. And every local business will benefit from a stronger economy and lower energy costs that aren't set by big oil and coal companies.

If Congress passes a strong clean energy jobs bill, successful businesses in New Jersey will grow and we will be able to put people back to work. A new energy economy means we'll ramp up manufacturing for solar and wind equipment, get people back to work making homes and buildings more energy efficient, and expand businesses to install clean energy technology at our homes, schools, post offices, and other public buildings.

A strong clean energy jobs bill would mean that these businesses will be able to compete with big oil and coal companies that have gotten rich by getting government tax breaks for decades. A strong clean energy jobs bill will level the playing field and mean that innovative companies can compete in the marketplace against giant oil companies.

We urgently need legislation to move us to a clean energy economy. But the bill that recently passed the Energy & Commerce Committee isn't there yet and it might not be enugh. Big Oil and Coal have weakened the bill as they work to keep our country hooked on old, dirty and expensive energy sources. We urge Congress to strengthen the American Clean Energy and Security bill so it moves us to cheaper, cleaner energy sources like wind and solar, and creates the clean energy jobs we need to jumpstart our economy and invest in America's long-term prosperity.

Listed below are the names, phone numbers and Web sites for New Jersey’s two senators and the three Congressmen who represent different parts of Hudson County. You have to go to their Web sites to e-mail them. If you don’t know who your congressman is, you can go to the Web site of Project Vote Smart -- http://www.votesmart.org/. It’s a fabulous resource.

Senator Frank Lautenberg
Newark Office 973-639-8700 Washington Office 202-224-3224 http://lautenberg.senate.gov/

Senator Robert Menendez
Newark Office 973-645-3030 Washington Office 202-224-4744 http://menendez.senate.gov/

Rep. Albio Sires
Jersey City Office 201-222-2828 Washington Office 202-225-7919 http://www.sires.house.gov/

Rep. Steve Rothman
Jersey City Office 201-798-1366 Washington Office 202-225-5061 http://www.rothman.house.gov/

Rep. Donald Payne
Jersey City Office 201-369-0392 Washington Office 202-225-3436 http://www.house.gov/payne/



For a summary of the current version of the bill please go to:
http://energycommerce.house.gov/index.php - scroll to the announcement on May 15th that has the latest info on the Bill, including a Summary or
http://apolloalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/apollo-summary-of-waxman-markey-bill-041009-3.pdf - has a very quick reference summary

CLEAN ENERGY JOBS DAY

MoveOn.org - Because Democracy Is Not a Spectator Sport

Political Action Green Initiative Meeting

Jersey City/Hoboken Council


CLEAN ENERGY JOBS DAY

Call on Congress to Pass Strong Clean Energy Jobs Bill to Jump-Start Job Creation in Hudson County

The clean energy jobs bill, called the American Clean Energy and Security Act, is expected to come to a vote in the House of Representatives this summer. If passed, the bill will allow successful businesses in Hudson County to grow and we will be able to put people back to work, reduce electricity and heating costs for local households, and keep America competitive in the global economy.
In order to drive home this point, on:

Thursday, May 28, at 10:00am
Room 104 in the Babbio Center at Stevens Institute of Technology
1 Castle Point on Hudson, Hoboken

Small-business leaders and residents of Hudson County will host a meeting with local clean energy companies to talk about their businesses and how investments in a clean economy will have quick economic benefits and create local jobs

A new energy economy means we'll ramp up manufacturing for solar and wind equipment, get people back to work making homes and buildings more energy efficient, and expand businesses to install clean energy technology at our homes, schools, post offices, and other public buildings. Businesses like, 3rd Rock Systems & Technologies, which installs solar panels on large commercial areas (including Stevens Institute) then sells power to companies cheaper than PSE&G, are already based here and are looking to expand their business and workforce.

Please join us and show your support for new jobs and a cleaner world
To sign up for this event go to: http://moveon.org/
click on Upcoming Events (bottom right side), type in your zip code and follow instructions

Light refreshments will be served at 9:30am - Meeting will start promptly at 10:00am

N.B. - The Babbio Center was built with sustainable technologies, a showcase “environmentally conscious” structure

UPDATE ON CLEAN ENERGY DAY - May 6th - CONFERENCE CALL

I just wanted to bring you up to date on what we discussed during the conference call last night.

MaryAnn has contacted a few businesses that we might showcast on May 28th - Clean Energy Day

She is going to collect all their information on a Google doc that we can all share
It seems that there are a few of them very interested.

Also Jacquie Germany is going to do a presentation on her business which is green design for the home (we posted her presentation on google docs for us to take a look at and see if it would work.)

Andy Velwest also contacted a company which does home design and green inspections and he'll get more information on that.

We will probably organize the Clean Energy Day as a big media day but instead of touring green businesses we were thinking of using one green business facility to hold a kind of a mini conference where all the invited clean energy businesses will do a presentation on their business and explain what they are doing, how the new bill would impact them, how they can create jobs and what kind of jobs they would be creating, etc...

We are still debating the pro and con of this format but we should discuss it further.

While we wait for the list of businesses participating to be finalized:

- Tom Rosensweet will start to alert our members and other groups about this event, so that we will try to have several people participate. The goal is 15/20 people. The event is on a working day (Thrusday) in the morning so we are not sure what kind of turn out we will have but we are hoping people will still participate if at all possible. It would be great if you could get veterans, unions and other group working with people that need jobs, to attend this event. It might be a good chance for them to hear about possible future jobs in details.

- Rossella and Bill I will compile a list of Media that we can contact as soon as we have all the deatils about the Clean Energy Day.

We'll have another conference call next Wednesday at 7:00pm to finalize all the details and put the planning into motion, I hope you will have time to participate.

We'll keep you posted if anything else comes up.
If you'd like to participate to the Conference call please send an e-mail to jc.h.council@gmail.com and we'll send you the number to call.

Obama’s Emissions Plan Needs Tweaking, E.U. Climate Chief Says

Obama’s Emissions Plan Needs Tweaking, E.U. Climate Chief Says

Read More:

http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/07/obamas-emissions-plan-needs-tweaking-eu-climate-chief-says/#more-8089

Discussion Draft Summary - The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009

Here's the link to the discussion draft of the Clean Energy bill being duscussed in the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

The bill is over 400 pages but this is a pretty good summary.

http://energycommerce.house.gov/Press_111/20090331/acesa_summary.pdf

Undecided reps on House panel hold key to climate bill

http://www.grist.org/article/2009-05-02-undecided-reps-on-house-panel/

It don't mean a thing if you ain't got those swings

Posted 7:07 AM on 2 May 2009by Kate Sheppard

UPDATE ON 5/2 MEETING and GREEN JOBS CAMPAIGN

• 
  During the meeting on Saturday May 2nd,we came up with a general canvas for what we need to do to organize the Clean Energy Job Day on May 28th.
  On Wed. May 6th at 8:00pm we will have an Organizing Conference Call with all of you who could not attend the meeting and we'll iron out the final details.
  Please join our Organizing Conference Call this Wednesday to help out with this effort. Even if you can't attend the event on May 28th, we would be very grateful if you could help us out by making a few phone calls.
  
  General ideas for the Clean Energy Job Day.
  
  The goal of this event is to pressure congress to strenghten and support the clean energy jobs legislation. This event will take place on May 28th around 10am. We'll showcase at least 3 clean energy businesses. We'll ask the businesses to give our delegation a tour and we'll try to get media coverage for the event.We'll take pictures during the tour.We'll send the pictures and comments to legislators.
  
  
  We need help from our members
  
  · We need somebody to call the businesses and ask them if they are interested in participating and showcasing their business
  · We need somebody to call the media and get them to the event (our media coordinator will help with calls details and a list of media outlets we need to call)
  · We need members to call other community groups, unions, political groups to ask them for their support and if they can send some somebody to join us during the event
  · We need to identify speakers who will explain to the attendees and the media what this action is all about.
  · We need to have at least 15 people attending on May 28th around 10:00am, which is a Thursday and might be a tough day to take off from work
  
  All these calls need to happen within 10 days, but they should not take much time.
  Please join our Organizing Conference Call this Wednesday to help out with this effort.
  
  Even if you can't attend the event yourself we will very grateful if you could help us out by making a few phone calls.
  Details about the conference call to follow.

UPDATE ON 5/2 MEETING and GREEN JOBS CAMPAIGN

During the meeting on Saturday May 2nd,we came up with a general canvas for what we need to do to organize the Clean Energy Job Day on May 28th.



On Wed. May 6th at 8:00pm we will have an Organizing Conference Call with all of you who could not attend the meeting and we'll iron out the final details.


Please join our Organizing Conference Call this Wednesday to help out with this effort. Even if you can't attend the event on May 28th, we would be very grateful if you could help us out by making a few phone calls.

General ideas for the Clean Energy Job Day.

The goal of the Clean Energy job Day is to pressure Congress to strenghten and support the clean energy jobs legislation. This event will take place on May 28th around 10am.

We'll showcase at least 3 clean energy businesses.

We'll ask the businesses to give our delegation a tour and we'll try to get media coverage for the event.We'll take pictures during the tour.We'll send the pictures and comments to legislators.

To organize this event we need member to help us out.

• 
  
  We need somebody to call the businesses and ask them if they are interested in participating and showcasing their business


• 
  
  We need somebody to call the media and get them to the event (our media coordinator will help with calls details and a list of media outlets we need to call)


• 
  
  We need members to call other community groups, unions, political groups to ask them for their support and if they can send some somebody to join us during the event


• 
  
  We need to identify speakers who will explain to the attendees and the media what this action is all about.


• 
  
  We need to have at least 15 people attending on May 28th around 10:00am, which is a Thursday and might be a tough day to take off work for many people
  All these calls need to happen within 10 days, but they should not take much time.
  Please join our Organizing Conference Call this Wednesday to help out with this effort. Even if you can't attend the event yourself we will very grateful if you could help us out by making a few phone calls.
  Details about the conference call to follow.More details and info can be on our blog at http://jerseycity-hoboken-moveon.blogspot.com/
  Thank youRossella AquilaCouncil Coordinator

Clean American Dream

WEBCAST at our Organizing Meeting

Connect to a MoveOn.org national conference call where we'll hear an update on the Power Up America campaign -- including recent successes in our small business organizing drive, and what lies ahead in the next few weeks.

http://s3.moveon.org/audio/webcast.mp3

5/2/09 AT 2:00PM - ORGANIZING MEETING AT 517 MANILA AVE.,JERSEY CITY

5/2/2009 POWERUP AMERICA ORGANIZING MEETING

To sign up click here:
http://pol.moveon.org/event/events/event.html?event_id=93104&id=-8727613-zXE1H4x

On May 28, all over the country, we'll be organizing a Clean Energy Jobs Day -- a national day of action to turn up the heat on Congress by showing the promise of the clean energy economy to our senators and representatives, the media, and the public. We'll highlight the clean energy jobs and businesses that already exist in our communities, and we'll showcase the ways in which they could expand. During the Jobs Day, we will organize a press conference at a clean energy business, and then lorganize tours of a few other clean energy sites. We'll call on our senators or representatives to support President Obama's plan for a new energy economy.

To effectively plan for and build up to the Jobs Days, we'll hold an Organizing Meetings on May 2nd at 2:00pm.

In order to run Clean Energy Jobs Days-- we need to recruit clean energy business leaders! Click here for an outline for your conversations with clean energy business leaders in your community to invite them to join with the Council for the Clean Energy Jobs Days.
The best way to find clean energy business leaders who are willing to participate in the Jobs Day is to ask everyone on the Council to brainstorm local clean energy business leaders who they know in the community.

We also should call all of the small business leaders recruited through the Small Business drive to ask them to help recruit clean energy business leaders specifically. We can also contact members who who signed MoveOn's online petition.

Members feedback

We'd like to get feedback from all council members.

Please share your thoughts on:

• what MoveOn has done right during this year campaign and where it was lacking
• what excited you about MoveOn and what turned you off,
• what MoveOn is planning and what you would like to see MoveOn do in the coming months,
• how our council can engage the local community and work with local community and faith based groups
• how can our council grow
• how do we keep people interested and active
• any other feedback members would like to share

MOVEON AGENDA FOR NATIONAL GREEN JOBS DAY

"We're in a pivotal moment on passing ground-breaking clean energy jobs legislation through congress. We need to quickly ramp up pressure on the House Energy & Commerce Committee, which is writing the legislation now; and we need to begin organizing to place pressure on the Senate, so that conservative senators can't kill the legislation later. So in Energy & Commerce committee districts, we're organizing small-business district meetings by May 11th (Note: Frank Pallone, Jr., is the only representative in NJ on the committee and he represents the Sixth District of New Jersey which covers most of Middlesex County and a good portion of Monmouth County, including the Bayshore and 16 communities on the Atlantic Ocean. It also encompasses small portions of Somerset and Union counties). And all over the country, we're organizing a "Clean Energy Jobs Day" during the next congressional recess -- a national day of action to highlight clean-energy businesses and the local opportunity of the new energy economy."

"In the coming weeks, we have an important window of opportunity for our Power Up America campaign:

• The Energy and Commerce Committee, sometimes called the Waxman Committee, is debating a big, potentially economy-shifting and game-changing energy bill. We're hearing that this committee's bill is increasingly important -- so we need to quickly organize some extra pressure on ALL members of that committee.
• At the same time, we need to take our target-focused campaign to the next level, so that this big energy bill can't be watered-down and killed in the Senate.
  We know that the biggest obstacle to progress is fierce lobbying by pollution-based companies like Big Coal and Big Oil. To counter them, we need to continue to elevate the voices of small business owners, and look for ways to highlight clean energy businesses. So, we're planning two exciting tactics to rise to this pivotal moment:
• In House Energy & Commerce committee districts, we're organizing district meetings featuring small business owners. We need to move quickly on these, since the committee will begin voting on amendments to the legislation around May 11th. These meetings will include some media work -- a press conference outside the office, so that media can cover it and other members can come.
• And all over the country, we're organizing a Clean Energy Jobs Day -- a national day of action in late May (28th) to turn up the heat on Congress by showing the promise of the clean energy economy to our senators and representatives, the media, and the public. We'll highlight the clean energy jobs and businesses that already exist in our communities, and we'll showcase the ways in which they could expand. During the Jobs Day, each Council will organize a press conference at a clean energy business, and then lead a tour of a few other clean energy sites. They'll call on their senator or representative to support President Obama's plan for a new energy economy. To effectively plan for and build up to the Jobs Days, we'll hold an Organizing Meeting on May 2nd.
  
  IN BRIEF: We're organizing Clean Energy Jobs Days all over the country for late May. In House Energy & Commerce committee districts, we're also organizing small business district meetings with Congress. And there will be other additional tactics for councils that are really energized and want to do more.
  In all our organizing for the coming weeks, we're pivoting out of the small business outreach that we've been doing. It should be an exciting drive, and it's directly relevant to the political moment we're in."

Intense negotiations over Waxman Markey

ISubject: intense negotiations over Waxman Markey

f the testimony from Al Gore yesterday spelled out just how important this bill is, the top stories in this summary of the news shows you why our efforts over the next few weeks are so important -- there are significant backroom negotiations underway right now that will determine just how strong a bill this is. We need to let Congress know that passively going along on this bill is not enough. We want them to be among those pushing for this bill to stay strong.
http://climateprogress.org/2009/04/25/energy-and-global-warming-news-for-april-24-25-the-inevitable-watering-down-of-waxman-markey/

Reaching out to small business owners to create a clean energy economy

Shifting to a clean energy economy means creating good local jobs that can't be outsourced, which means rising employment – and that’s good for business. A massive weatherizing program would mean that small businesses and homeowners would save money on monthly utility bills – and that’s good for the bottom line. Overall, the clean energy economy vision is good for America, and good for local business – and it’s the future of America’s economyRight now, MoveOn Councils are reaching out to thousands of small business owners around the country. These business voices are very powerful in calling for a shift to a new, clean energy economy. So our goal is to gather letters from as many small business owners as possible--and then to start making their voices heard by delivering those letters to members of Congress.
On April 16, we'll deliver the first round of small business letters to our target members of Congress.
Do you own a business in New Jersey? Does anybody in your family own a business? Are you self employed?
Will you sign the letter at the link below endorsing a clean energy economy?
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dd7vn3z5_0gdqndpgt

Here’s what we need you to do:
Print out the attached letter either or your company’s letterhead or on plain paper
Fill in the blanks and have the business representative sign it
Fax it to : 973-324-5763

We need to collect all the letters by Wednesday April 15th to deliver them to Congressman Albio's and Senators Lautenberg and Menendez's offices on Apil 16th.

Make your voice heard
This is an ongoing effort, and we’ll continue working to recruit local business leaders to our campaign
You can sign online by going to: http://pol.moveon.org/smallbusiness