Action Alert!!!!!!!!!

I came upon this post in the comments section over at Atrios place this morning and am bound and determined to spread the word . . .

Senator John Warner, who owns a vacation home in Cape Cod, has slipped an amendment into a bill in conference committee that would halt development of the Nantucket Sound Wind Farm and other off-shore wind-based renewable energy initiatives in the US.

Here's the press release from Alternative-Energy.net where you can learn all about Senator Warner's amendment, slyly inserted at the last minute in to the Defence Authorization Bill.

Think about this: Here we are, in the middle of a war that we all know is about oil; we're clearly facing environmental crises and energy shortages based on our continued dependence on an ever-deminishing oil supply (read all of Deep Blade Journal's oil-depletion posts and then start reading DBJ daily to keep abreast); and this fool of a senator wants to cut off development of off-shore wind energy without debate!

Indeed, as the scenes about the Patriot Act in Michael Moore's film, Fahrenheit 9/11, demonstrated, shoving legislation through Congress without due deliberation is one of the Republicans' favorite tactics. As a matter of fact, you can read the first article in the Boston Globe's extremely important 3-part series on this very subject here.

Now, most of the above is background, but here's what you need to do:

1. Call the House and Senate chairs of the conference committee and tell them you specifically oppose Senator Warner's amendment and that you oppose, in general, tactics used to get legislation passed without informed debate -- especially legislation dealing with such an important issue as our country's energy future.

2. Also let the chairs know that you are calling your own senators and congressmen to let them know about the amendment and to tell them you object to these tactics. You can even ask the person you're talking to in the committee chair's office to transfer you to the office of your state's senator or representative.

3. Pass this information on to everyone you know and ask them to make their calls as soon as possible, and to get in the habit of calling Congress to let folks there know they're being watched by the electorate.

4. Finally, learn more about wind energy. I've found a site that provides an educational exercise for learning more, not just about wind power, but about the interests and concerns of various stakesholders in the issue. I've only scanned the exercise so far, but I think I may learn a lot from it; I'll let you know.

In the meantime, just google "off-shore wind" or "wind energy" to start learning more. There, you have your assignments. Now, go . . .

Comments

[Cyndy]

Whew! When I went to the press release link I found this:
"To all of you who read and acted on the message from yesterday, concerning the proposed Warner amendment to the Defense Authorization Bill that would have killed the wind energy industry in this country,

THANK YOU ! Late last night I heard from Washington that Sen. Warner's amendment had NOT been included in the final bill. It seems that the Senate members of the committee were deluged with phone calls and messages that told them in no uncertain terms that the people want renewable energy, and would not tolerate back-door tactics such as Warner used. "

[cs]

Thanks for the update, cyndi. It's great to see what uppity voters can do . . .

[The Liberal Avenger]

I live overseas, but I hail originally from Massachusetts.

Unfortunately, Ted Kennedy has apparently been leading the charge against this project. NOT IN MY BACKYARD, I guess.

I always thought that the project sounded cool.

[cs]

Liberal Avenger -- You may be right about this. I know there are arguments about the effects of off-shore wind farms on the marine environment and no doubt many other issues that need to be addressed. I'm just beginning the process of learning more myself, with a special interest because I live in a Great Lakes state. We sure didn't have enough public discussion back in the 50s and 60s when the public was being told nuclear power would resolve all our energy problems forever. It's the debate -- the democratic process in action -- that I want to see.