There has never been a more important and urgent time to contact members of Congress on federal climate policy. For the first time in history, the U.S. House of Representatives has passed a bill that would place limits on global warming pollution and require significant investments in clean energy technology and energy efficiency. The American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES), sponsored by Congressmen Waxman and Markey, is a strong federal climate policy to limit and lower global warming pollution that will create economic opportunities for the Midwest while protecting Minnesota’s precious natural resources from the worst impacts of global warming.

And now as attention shifts to the U.S. Senate, it is critical all our elected leaders in Washington continue to hear from Minnesotans around the state that passing strong federal climate policy is important to our economy and quality of life. Opposition groups and their lobbyists are flooding Congress members’ offices with negative phone calls and littering local newspapers with false claims about the costs of taking action on climate. We need to make sure members of Congress feel supported by their constituents and the businesses they represent who want strong action on climate and energy legislation this year.

Here are a few things you can do that will really make a difference!

1. Contact both Senators Klobuchar and Franken and ask them to champion passage of a strong and comprehensive climate and energy bill in the Senate. Check out the 10 Top Reasons the Senate should strengthen and pass ACES. Tell them why it’s important to you that Congress takes action now!

2. If you are represented by Congress members Ellison, McCollum, Peterson, Oberstar, or Walz – please call or write to thank your representative for his/her vote to pass ACES in the House. Consider submitting a letter to the editor supporting these members’ votes to broaden the public discussion of this important issue! These members are already under increasing pressure to vote against the bill when it returns to the House later this fall and need all the encouragement they can get.

3. If you are represented by Congress members Bachmann, Kline, or Paulsen – please call or write to urge your representative to reconsider his/her vote for final passage of a federal climate bill that will bring new jobs to their districts and create local opportunities for clean energy investments. These members did not support passage of ACES, and need to hear from constituents that this is one important issue we can’t afford to pass on to the next generation!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 15th, 2009 at 12:17 pm by Fresh Energy and is filed under Energy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.