Shifting Gears, Building A Movement

cross-posted at It's Getting Hot in Here and Blue Mass Group

Wow, Waxman-Markey narrowly passed last week; truly a historic occasion. This is cause to have a celebration – a chamber of congress has finally passed a bill aimed at reducing carbon emissions. The question of course is: what happens next? For many, that question is simple to answer – move on to the Senate to try to get it strengthened and sent on to the President.

Here in Massachusetts, we have a different approach. The window of opportunity we have leading up to Copenhagen is too important to miss. This summer 19 college and graduate students are devoting two months to bike through the state in Mass Climate Summer, a project of Massachusetts Power Shift, building a bigger, bolder, and better climate movement.

By all accounts, Waxman-Markey is not good enough. I’m not a climate scientist, heck I’m not a scientist at all, but it’s not a difficult deduction. Simply: if we are currently at 388ppm of CO2, and the north polar ice cap may be completely gone during the summer months as early as 2013, then the overly optimistic trajectory of 450ppm for Waxman-Markey is not tolerable.

If 388ppm is leading to wildly accelerating feedback loops in the arctic (tundra methane and carbon release, rapidly heating ocean endangering Greenland’s ice sheet, etc.) it’s not too hard to realize we need to have a number lower than that, something around say, 350.

But how do we get there from here?

One phrase from one of my political science professors sticks with me, “politics is the art of the possible.” And indeed, that’s what we’ve seen through the Waxman-Markey process. Good organizing, on the other hand, is the art of creating new political possibilities. By building an organized and powerful constituency that pushes for what is necessary instead of what is currently possible, we create new political realities.

That’s why Massachusetts Power Shift is working to Repower America with 100% clean electricity in the next decade to move us closer to the goal of 350ppm. This summer we’re shifting into high gear with 19 college students giving two months of their time to work with with Mass Climate Summer.

These students are biking through the Commonwealth, building a bigger and bolder movement. Three teams are biking from town to town, knocking on doors, talking with the press, and holding inspiring events across the state because we here in Massachusetts have a special responsibility to lead the country and the world. Massachusetts, after all, is where revolutions begin.

Already we’re starting to see new people engage, as residents across the state light up when someone bikes into town to let them know what they can do. Massachusetts Power Shift has teamed up with the Mass Council of Churches to arrange housing and events for the bikers, and we are partnering with local and regional environmental organizations across the state including Clean Power Now and chapters of the Mass Climate Action Network. And they are captivating the press with the novelty of their work.

So, consider this a re-introduction to our teams. The Western Mass Team is Steph, Antoine, Jane, Leila and Sam. The Cape Cod and South Shore Team is Heather, Lauren G, Jeff, Courtney, Justin and Vickey. The Cambridge and North Shore Team is Sally, Keane, Lauren T, Wenjun, Lesley, Kyle, Emily and Mark. We have a lot of work to do, so let’s get to it.