Today, NRDC Action Fund launched an exciting new video and call-to-action campaign: .

The video features Leonardo DiCaprio, Jason Bateman, Justin Long, Edward Norton, Forest Whitaker and others calling for strong action for a clean energy future.

Take a moment to watch the video, share it with your friends, and email your Senators to tell them this is our moment.

The United States of America can lead in the development of clean energy technology and manufacturing while we lead in the fight against global warming.

Everyone knows we have a dependence on oil we buy from countries that don’t share our values. This threatens our security and our integrity. And it needs to stop. We know it does. Still, we’ve seen our dependence on foreign oil grow and pollute the air we breathe and endanger our planet. But we can change that. Now.

There’s a bill in the Senate that will break foreign oil’s stranglehold on our country, reduce carbon pollution, and create jobs right here in America—good jobs that pay well and can’t be outsourced.

It’s one of the most important pieces of legislation of our time. It’s a clean energy bill. And it’s been a long time coming.

Yesterday, the University of South Dakota published an op-ed from LeighAnn Dunn, a USD grad student who served in Iraq as a member of the South Dakota National Guard. In her letter, Dunn aplies the Bush first-strike doctrine to the need for action against the imminent threat climate change poses to our national security:

This year’s Veterans Day finds our nation at a crossroads clouded by political wrangling. Lobbyists for oil and coal companies want to kill climate change legislation in Congress right now, because their clients get rich keeping things the way they are, even though our military and intelligence leaders know climate change will create a series of wars around the world…

Our nation has a stronger obligation than ever before to avoid wars that can be prevented to preserve our national interests. I can think of no better response than to pass the Clean Energy Jobs & American Power Act in Congress, and put our nation in the leadership position to end this threat now.

Full op-ed from the USD Volante:

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Nation at a crossroads this Veteran’s Day
By LeighAnn Dunn

Published: Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Updated: Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Before the Iraq War, our nation had a policy of not striking a potential enemy unless our interests were clearly endangered of imminent attack.
The Iraqi invasion changed that policy.

This “first strike” standard also obligates our nation to another standard, which is to take extraordinary steps to prevent wars our leaders can see developing in the future. One threat we clearly see and can prevent is further damage from climate change. The U.S. Department of Defense, the CIA, the State Department and the National Intelligence Council see this threat and are all incorporating man-made climate change as a security threat into their long-term planning. Here are some climate change scenarios our nation’s top military minds are looking at:

Climate change dries up water and creates famine. Nations panic. Wars erupt. American troops get deployed.

Climate change makes sea levels rise, creating tens of millions of refugees. Refugee camps are ripe recruiting grounds for terrorist organizations.

Climate change fuels radical storms to occur more frequently. This stretches military resources from their primary mission: defending America against our enemies.

Top military and intelligence authorities are working on strategies to respond:

In February the Pentagon and State Department will include a climate section in their next respective Quadrennial Review.
Last year, the National Intelligence Council said “global climate change will have wide-ranging implications for U.S. National security interests over the next 20 years.”

This fall, the CIA launches a center on climate change to examine security risks.

This year’s Veterans Day finds our nation at a crossroads clouded by political wrangling. Lobbyists for oil and coal companies want to kill climate change legislation in Congress right now, because their clients get rich keeping things the way they are, even though our military and intelligence leaders know climate change will create a series of wars around the world.

Our nation spends $1 billion per day on crude oil from other countries, some of which are unstable or hostile to America’s security. American consumers are forced to help fund both sides of the war against terrorism. Add to the monetary costs the lives of American soldiers, like those who served with me in Iraq. Since 1973, we’ve known America remains threatened as long as we depend on foreign oil.

Our nation has a stronger obligation than ever before to avoid wars that can be prevented to preserve our national interests. I can think of no better response than to pass the Clean Energy Jobs & American Power Act in Congress, and put our nation in the leadership position to end this threat now.

LeighAnn Dunn
USD Graduate Student and member of the S.D. National Guard

As far back as I can remember, water was a right, and right there for the drinking. When I was a kid, I would turn the knob and cool, clear H2O would just come out, as much as I could want.

Water covers 71% of the Earth’s surface and is recognized as one of the absolutely essential elements in the development of life as we know it…meaning without water, we wouldn’t be here. Due to climate change, that staple of human life is becoming a bit harder to come by.

Check this factoid from the EPA:

All regions of the world show an overall net negative impact of climate change on water resources and freshwater ecosystems. Areas in which runoff is projected to decline are likely to face a reduction in the value of the services provided by water resources. The beneficial impacts of increased annual runoff in other areas are likely to be tempered in some areas by negative effects of increased precipitation variability and seasonal runoff shifts on water supply, water quality and flood risks (IPCC, 2007)

This means that due to climate change, water is becoming a precious commodity. While over 90 percent of the world delivers water as a public utility, water privatization is on the rise in poorer countries and now in stressed areas of the US, as the climate of our planet steadily changes.

By 2013, thirty six states will experience some sort of water shortage. And the enterprising businessmen of America would love to step in and charge us to supply fresh water, even though the industrial pollution of our waterways (often by the same businessmen who support privatization) is a primary factor in the climate change that is leading to these water shortages!

The effects of privatization on lower income communities are drastic. Water bills skyrocket and invariably, the city runs dry. Check this real life story, entitled “Water Warriors”:

You’d think that if you’re paying high prices for a substance as fundamental as water that it’d be pristine and non-toxic. According to a recent report by the New York Times, that isn’t always true. Forty percent of community water systems have violated the Safe Drinking Water Act on – at least – one occasion, which is a startling factor.

So, we could look at it this way: we could purchase overpriced, potentially polluted water from multinational corporations or we could urge the administration to rexamine and come down on climate change profiteers, who purchase and poison the water systems of our communities.

Some things are too priceless to sell, and it is an affront to all Americans that we would be required to pay a privately owned company for what is, in affect, the ability to stay alive, if the climate keeps changing. That isn’t consumer choice, that’s piracy, and the question is, what are we going to do about it? Will we stand back and accept corporate control of our very ability to live and breathe?

It’s our call, and it’s about time we make it.

Take Action: the Public Citizen Foundation’s Activists’ Guide to Fight Water Privatization is an introductory guide to organizing against water privatization in your community. Get informed and get involved!

The League of Young Voters Education Fund is a youth run non-profit, organizing in urban and low income communities around green jobs, marriage equality and health care reform. LYVEF makes civic engagement relevant by meeting young people where they are, working on issues that affect their lives, and providing them with tools, training, and support to become viable players in the civic process.

Apple today became the latest company to resign from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.  They join a series of high-profile companies who are fleeing the Chamber in droves over its climate science denialism and opposition to meaningful action.  In a letter to Chamber President Thomas J. Donohue an Apple VP wrote:

As a company, we are working hard to reduce our own greenhouse gas emissions by relying on renewable energy at our facilities and designing more energy-efficient products for our customers. We have undertaken this unilaterally and without government mandate, because we believe it is the right thing to do. For those companies who cannot or will not do the same, Apple supports regulating greenhouse gas emissions, and it is frustrating to find the Chamber at odds with us in this effort.

Apple’s resignation comes in the wake of several other big names leaving the Chamber including Pacific Gas & Energy, Public Service Company of New Mexico, and Exelon, as well as Nike’s resignation from the Chamber board.  Progressive Media released a great video detailing the Chamber exodus. Check it out:


In other reasons why Apple is cool, they have a page with a full breakdown of the environmental impact of their product line, product-by-product. Find out how much your iPod Touch is contributing to global warming.

Make our voices heard on September 24th

On September 24, students and youth all over the country will be taking action and calling on their Senators to pass a strong climate bill that creates millions of new jobs and protects our future. The Student PIRGs have teamed up with Campus Progress, the Energy Action Coalition, and the Clean Energy Works youth table to make thousands of calls into the Senate from strategic states.

It’s not too late to plan your own call-in day event – download the TOOLKIT with a three-day plan!

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee is set to introduce comprehensive legislation to combat global warming next week. Student Leaders will be targeting key states to pass the Senate climate bill and strengthen key provisions (in House-passed ACES) including the Clean Air Act loophole and the Renewable Electricity Standard.

This week, as the G20 meets in Pittsburgh, the international community is looking to the United States Senate to pass a global warming bill before the next phase of Climate Negotiations in Copenhagen in December 2009. As young people, we need to pressure our Senators to pass a bill this fall!

Here are a couple examples of the dozens of events going on around the country – overall, we plan to make 5,000 phone calls into the Senate on Thursday! Join us by planning your own event (here’s the easy how-to toolkit)!

Students and young people are ready for the clean energy economy. Let’s call on our Senators to pass a stronger version of the house-passed American Clean Energy and Security Act this fall.