Energy Action Coalition

Yes, Copenhagen is nearing, which is partly why the White House hosted a Clean Energy Economy forum with young progressive leaders last Wednesday, though there were a few patriots from the other side of the aisle also in attendance. Thanks to FM friend Sujatha from the PIRGS, we got invited to attend this forum as press (our video from the event is being edited now and should be up soon). The real push for this forum came from the Energy Action Coalition and its executive director Jessy Tolkan. Kudos, EAC.

As a first-timer to the White House, I followed the flock of well-dressed young leaders to an entrance and was promptly rejected and then redirected to the press entrance. This is proof that bloggers get some respect from the WH - thank you. My shots at how the WH ran the event come later; first, the good stuff.

The event was separated into two sessions, the first included speakers such as Labor Secretary Solis, Secretary of the Interior Salazar, Energy Secretary Chu, and EPA Administrator Jackson. Each speaker also answered audience questions in addition to delivering their prepared speeches.

On the HeadCount blog, Andy Bernstein shares his perspective on the second session, a breakout discussion between young leaders and "mid-level executive-branch staffers":

The final hour of the meeting was spent in breakout sessions with middle-level executive-branch staffers. That’s where I really started to drink the Kool-Aid and feel like I was getting an eyewitness view of democracy functioning as it should. Myself and about a dozen attendees sat down with Brandon Hurlbut, the deputy chief of staff to Energy Secretary Chu. He explained he quit his law job in spring 2007 to work on the Obama campaign in New Hampshire and joined the Department of Energy after the election. He shared some of what they’re working toward, such as an energy-efficiency rating system for homes realtors can use to increase property values. “I didn’t quit my job and come here to not get things done,” he said off-handedly at one point.

As press, I witnessed only the forum, which was not as exciting as the breakout session which Andy described in his blog. Andy describes what Congress and the youth activists are able to do well - lobby days.

I don't know if the breakout sessions allowed for digital participation, but if it didn't, then the White House should know that speaking to invite-only youth leaders isn't enough. The Obama administration has used online tools to collect and evaluate ideas and should use this tactic regularly with the collaborative-loving Millennial generation.

The forum itself felt like a pep-rally for young climate activists. Secretary Solis even brought-back campaign slogans and chants, which didn't seem to catch on with the live audience. The campaign is over, now is the time for governing and that's what the young leaders were eager to hear about.

Zachary Stark-MacMillan over at It's Getting Hot in Here expressed some of my own opinions about the disconnect between the administration and youth leaders:

Second, you urged us to take the lead and take action for what we believed was right. This is great advice to give to young people. However, you were speaking the “youth leaders” of the climate movement, to perhaps the most accomplished group of young people in the country. There were young entrepreneurs who have started their own businesses, founders and leaders of student groups, and veteran organizers who have made real change in their communities. We were at the White House because we have taken the lead, we are taking action, and we are powerful. We were at the White House because we want to start working with you on climate change, but if the administration keeps talking about ‘clean coal’, subsides for nuclear power, and 450ppm of carbon in the atmosphere instead of 350ppm, then we have serious disagreements. We need to resolve these issues and move forward together, before we end up fighting each other. We elected President Obama to be a leader on climate change, we would like him to start leading with strong and specific goals, and we will support him.

There was more than just a policy disconnect. When the secretaries were asked directly about how young people can help the administration move forward on climate change, there was the knee-jerk response - vote[!?]. And the other response was to convince your parents. Like Zachary mentioned in his open letter on It's Getting Hot in Here, the administration needs to understand that they are talking to the people who organized one of the highest voter turnout rates in modern history...on a budget. These leaders, regardless of age, are talented innovators and organizers. Telling them to vote and convince their parents is very nearly condescending.

Happy lazy Sunday. On this day of large newspaper reading, I wanted to point out two stories on serious policy issues that prominently feature some of the bigger youth coalitions working in DC, and across the country. First up:

Disillusioned Environmentalists Turn On Obama as Compromiser:

On the campaign trail, Mr. Obama used forceful and direct language on climate change, calling carbon emissions from human activity an “immediate threat” to the climate. His environmental critics say they miss that urgent tone.

“He was far too quiet during the House debate,” said Jessy Tolkan, the executive director of the Energy Action Coalition, a youth group in Washington that campaigns for clean energy. “He needs to live up to the promises he made to us when we poured our heart and soul into electing him.”

Ms. Tolkan said that her organization was hoping to take that point home to the Democratic Party before the midterm elections. “Those who played a leadership role in weakening this bill will feel the wrath of youth political power across the country,” she said. “2010 is not that far away.”

Kudos to Jessy and Energy Action for muscling youth into the climate policy discussion in the paper of record, and I think her point about the midterms is a smart one. Youth have turned up at the polls three elections in a row, but we are still not adequately represented at the policy table. With the possible exception of student loans/debt issues, which has seen some encouraging movement recently, I don't really see our concerns being met by action on the Hill. If groups like Energy Action can turn a few congressional races (or better, primaries) in 2010, that will do a lot for our credibility as an electoral threat, which will make for a louder voice in DC policy wrangling.

Next up, College Grads Face IOUs, Worst Job Market in Years:

The Class of 2009 finds itself in the worst job market in 25 years. Unemployment for all 20- to 24-year-olds is more than 15 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Just 20 percent of this year's graduates who applied for a job have one, down from more than 50 percent two years ago, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers.

The average student graduates with about $22,000 in debt, according to the Project on Student Debt, a Berkeley, Calif., nonprofit.

There is an estimated $700 billion in outstanding student loan debt — enough to merit its own bailout, some say.

Student groups applaud the changes, but say they do not address what they view as the underlying problem: tuition gone wild.

"What happens if you raise the loan limits is the colleges raise their tuition," said David Smith, 29, founder and chairman of mobilize.org, a Washington-based group focused on college affordability.

Mobilize.org, in turn, is a leader within 80 Million Strong, a new grass-roots advocacy and lobbying coalition dedicated to addressing high youth unemployment, high student loan debt, credit-card lending practices and health insurance.

"We are seeing some very unreasonable tuition increases," Mr. Smith said. "In many states that are getting into financial problems, they often balance their budgets on the backs of students.

"What it ends up doing is increasing the cost of education significantly, forces students to take another job, another loan or drop out of school," he said.

This is a great article on the debt burden placed on college students trying to earn a place in the middle class, and it is dominated by quotes from people working with the 80 Million Strong Coalition. Great press in advance of next week's summit.

What is it with Thomas Friedman and his insults? First, he wrote that Millennials were too quiet, too wrapped up in the internet to care about the country's direction. He then came back last December and tried to argue again that because we're not chaining ourselves to bulldozers, we're not doing anything and thus don't care about the trajectory of the country.

Yesterday, Friedman again assailed millennials, equating Facebook and other social network sites with laziness and apathy. The offending passage is in the last paragraph:

And then there is We the People. Attention all young Americans: your climate future is being decided right now in the cloakrooms of the Capitol, where the coal lobby holds huge sway. You want to make a difference? Then get out of Facebook and into somebody’s face. Get a million people on the Washington Mall calling for a price on carbon. That will get the Senate’s attention. Play hardball or don’t play at all.

Emphasis added.

The Energy Action Coalition pieced together a response it blasted to its e-mail list. I've provided it below:

As a young person, you care about global warming. You know that a clean energy economy will create millions of jobs and pathways out of poverty, reduce pollution, and save the planet. And you are willing to do whatever it takes to make that happen. Right?

Well, Thomas L. Friedman, the popular New York Times columnist, isn't convinced. In fact, Friedman concludes his latest column* by calling us out! He writes:

"Attention all young Americans: your climate future is being decided right now in the cloakrooms of the Capitol, where the coal lobby holds huge sway…. Play hardball or don't play at all."

Does Friedman have a point? Do we need to be bigger and louder?

I think the answer is yes.

Don't get me wrong -- I know that thousands of young people across this country are working tirelessly to usher in a clean and just energy future for us all. But if we want to truly achieve our goals, we need our elected officials to know that we are watching closely as they debate the climate policy that will shape the rest of our lives.

Take the first step. Let President Obama and your Senators know that you demand bold, just, and science-based climate solutions, and ask your friends and family to do the same.

Let's send a strong message to our President and Senators that we're here, we're watching, and we're ready for action. And let's ask our friends and families to do the same. It's going to take big numbers to fight back against the thousands of letters and calls generated by the dirty energy industry (not to mention their well-paid lobbyists).

Send a message to the President and your Senators, and forward this email to everyone you know.

But we know that sending email isn't enough. In order to drown out the voice of the dirty energy industry, we're going to need to mobilize in unprecedented numbers. Tom Friedman isn't kidding when he suggests we should have a million people marching in the streets.

Ready to take a bigger step? Sign up to be a leader in your community, and to help get millions of feet in the streets for climate solutions.

We've gone big before, but now we need to go bigger. And the only way we will get there is if people like you do more. Ready to take a bigger step? Sign up today to get active in your community, to get in the faces of our elected officials, and to recruit the huge movement it will take to win.

In it to win it,

Whit Jones
Acting Field Director
Energy Action Coalition

While the e-mail was inspirational enough, the problem with Friedman's column is that he once again lacks the understanding that change can be accomplished through a variety of means. Friedman (and there are many more who think just like him) discounts activism through institutions as nothing. In doing so, he insults those youth already busting their ass for this legislation and movement. For instance did Friedman say anything when Powershift '09 brought 11,000 youth activists to DC urging the government to act? Who was quiet then?

Granted, Whit's right -- we all can be a little louder on the issue, but it doesn't have to be limited to getting in the streets. We can continue our own brand of activism by using our technological proficiency and collaborative skills to push for the bill's passage. Yes, the bill's important (even if it has been watered down); but the 1960s are over. Youth have a plethora of tools at their disposal to create the change they wish to see. Unfortunately, Friedman either doesn't understand that, or doesn't want to.

Here's video of a panel hosted by Campus Progress asking the question, "Are young people political game changers?" The panel features Kat Barr, Political Outreach Director of Rock the Vote, Amanda Carpenter, with Townhall.com, Rev. Lennox Yearwood from the Hip Hop Caucus, and David Madland, Director of the American Worker Project, Center for American Progress. It's moderated by Erica Williams of Campus Progress.

Happy Holidays. Here's what's caught my eye this week:

• The Washington Independent notes that Obama's energy policy is being driven by (young) green votes.
• AlterNet asks, Will the youth movement save the labor movement?
• Daily Kos has data that Join the Impact's anti-Prop 8 protests have changed enough minds in California that the ballot measure would not pass a second time. And they have data to prove it. That's an effective use of the protest model.
• The National Journal credits young voters with Obama's win, noting that his advantage among Millennials is bad news for the longterm health of the GOP. Generation We, YDA and others get good play in this excellent article.
• Oregon local news notes that young people were elected to the state legislature in droves this year, doubling their numbers within the Democratic caucus. Jefferson Smith, one of the founders of the Bus Project, is one of those new Young Elected Officials and he is quoted in the article.
• Netcentric Advocacy gives us the Obama campaign by the numbers. Interesting stats here.
• This is a must read. In the Huffington Post, Jake Brewer of the Energy Action Coalition, son of a GM worker, gives a heartbreaking and insightful account of the state of the auto industry. Word on the street is that this piece is getting read by GM execs.
• MySpace and Change.org are partnering with a number of other youthy and techie c3s to ask for your ideas on what President Obama should do once he takes office. They've got a cool Digg-style site set up to rate ideas, which must be no more than 250 words in length.
• The Obama Transition Team wants your ideas on healthcare.
• The Daily Kos empire expands with the launch of Congress Matters, a new blog that will track what's going on in Congress and offer activists and regular citizens information on how they can most impact the policy process.
• Danah Boyd and some other smarties have finished a three year ethnographic study of digital youth. This should be interesting.
• Engaged Youth has a post up about the "Activism Style of Millennials."
• At Tech President, Micah Sifry interviews Marshall Ganz about Obama's field operation and the upside and dangers of Obama as the first President backed by a full-fledged movement.

I thought this was pretty cool. Green Owl Records has gotten together with over a dozen artists to make a compilation CD on behalf of the Energy Action Coalition.

These kinds of things can be great fundraisers for cash strapped organizations if you have the artist connections and can swing it. When MFA did the Future Soundtrack for America in partnership with Barsuk Records, MoveOn and McSweeney's, we raised over a quarter million dollars for our 2005 budget. I know that Punk Voter also sold over half a million copies of its Rock Against Bush compilations, though I'm not sure how much money that raised directly for the organization.

Here are the participating artists:

The Appletrees -"Look up to the Sky"
Feist - "Honey Honey" (BBC Session)
Harper Simon - "Henrieta"
Young Love - "Underground"
Muse - "Knights of Cydonia" (live)
The Exit - "Hey Man"
Of Montreal - "Feminine Effects"
Pete Yorn - "Old Boy"
The London Souls - "Someday"
The Citizens Band - "Fortune Teller"
Violens "Trance Like Turn"
Bloc Party "The Prayer" (Hadouken remix)
School of Seven Bells "Trance Figure"
Deerhoof "Plus 81" (BBC Session)
Juliana Hatfield "Back To Freedom"
Satori "Intimate Revolution"