Senate staffers expecting a typical morning commute were in for a surprise yesterday when they stepped out of Union Station and into a Big Oil Carnival.

While our literal Big Oil Carnival — complete with oil-themed midway games, Tony Hayward clowns, and an enthusiastic, stilt walking Uncle Sam — may have been out of the ordinary, it should have felt familiar for anyone who works on Capitol Hill.

The unfortunate reality is that every single day in the U.S. Senate is a carnival of Big Oil.

At every opportunity, a minority of Senators who are in the pocket of America’s largest polluters choose political games and obstruction over working together to solve America’s energy and climate crisis. As a result of their actions, the big polluters will continue to reap record profits at the expense of Americans.

Even before a BP oil well started gushing millions of gallons into the Gulf, a comprehensive climate and energy bill which breaks America’s oil addiction and curbs carbon pollution was a common sense and critically necessary policy.

Now, as we witness the worst industry-caused environmental catastrophe in our history, the deadliest coal mining disaster in 40 years, and sweat through the hottest first 6 months of any year on record, it should be a no-brainer.

It’s time to end the CarnivOIL in Congress. The Senate can no longer play games with our clean energy future.

Today, Big Oil can continue to celebrate their victory over clean energy. However, Senators should know that as long as they fail to act, America’s energy crisis won’t just go away…and neither will the generation of young people fighting for a clean energy future.

Uncle Sam MCs at CarnivOIL

Tony Hayward Knocks Out a Crab

See more photos from CarnivOIL

With a record heat wave and an undeniable mountain of evidence, the climate smear campaign—heavily promoted in last winter’s blizzard of denial—is rapidly melting away.

Unfortunately, so is the time left to act:

• The last decade was the hottest decade on record
• The past 12 months was the hottest year-long period on record
• This past June was the hottest June on record

Last week, we built a giant “Climate Deniers” ice sculpture on the Senate lawn. This visual should be clear enough for even the most conservative senator to understand.

CNN joined us to watch it melt, along with any remaining doubts about the need for action.

This week, the Senate is finally preparing to act on long-delayed energy legislation. We must make sure they listen to climate scientists, not climate deniers.

Watch the CNN video and tell your senators not to let our clean energy future melt away.

We’ve spent the last year fighting for a comprehensive climate plan to secure our clean energy future. Now senators have to make a choice:

They can take action to cut carbon pollution, create jobs, and enhance our national security… or they can let our clean energy future melt away.

It’s their choice, but it’s our future. Tell your senators we are paying attention: http://consequence2010.org/MeltingAway

This our moment. In the next two weeks, we’ll find out where our senators stand. We’re ready for the fight.

As the Senate decides what to do about climate change, we unveiled a giant ice sculpture on the Capitol lawn to melt away along with the false attacks of climate deniers. Check out the video of our three great speakers.

Dan Lashof, Director of NRDC’s Climate Center, told the crowd: “We are facing our last, best chance to prevent a meltdown of the environmental systems upon which all of us depend.”

Brenda Ekwurzel from the Union of Concerned Scientists: “We didn’t choose our energy from coal and oil, previous generation made that choice for us, and we have learned through science that we’ve been paying a price.”

Energy Action Coalition Co-Field Director Ethan Nuss: “I call on the U.S. Senate for urgent, bold, and strong action to pass comprehensive climate and clean energy legislation now! We need a cap on carbon pollution, and a common sense policy to create millions of clean energy jobs for my generation.”

Clean energy supporters launched two ad campaigns this week which fight back against misinformation from Big OIl and their allies who want to block comprehensive climate legislation.

A new Clean Energy Works ad wich will run on national cable networks is designed to counter television ads from the American Petroleum Institute by calling out their “multimillion-dollar smear campaign to stop clean energy legislation.”

In a separate effort, the American Values Network is rolling out bus ads targeting Sarah Palin for her continued support of increased oil drilling even in the wake of the BP disaster.

American Values Network:

In the wake of the greatest environmental disaster in the nation’s history, Sarah Palin continues to promote domestic drilling as the solution to America’s energy needs. But she knows that domestic drilling will not even begin to address our dependence on foreign oil. We need a smarter approach to energy independence. The BP oil spill puts in sharp focus why political slogans do not make good policy.

AVN is also asking supporters to tell Palin that America needs a smarter approach to energy policy by posting on her Facebook page: post on her wall letting her know why “Drill, baby, drill” is not the answer!

Facing a climate crisis that will shape our future, young people have driven an unprecedented grassroots campaign for clean energy solutions.

Yesterday, we got a big boost from the top.

Speaking at Carnegie Mellon, President Obama declared: “The time has come, once and for all, for this nation to fully embrace a clean energy future.”

More importantly, the President matched his words with a promise for action.

Many of you signed a letter to President Obama last month, calling for clean energy leadership. Today, he responded with a strong commitment to fight for comprehensive climate legislation. Locking eyes with students in the crowd he told them:

I want you to know, the votes may not be there right now, but I intend to find them in the coming months. I will continue to make the case for a clean energy future wherever and whenever I can. I will work with anyone to get this done — and we will get it done. The next generation will not be held hostage to energy sources from the last century.

President Obama concluded with a familiar message: “It’s our job as a nation to advocate on behalf of the America that we hope for – to make decisions that will benefit the next generation.”

It’s our generation, and it’s our job too. We are leading the fight, the President is with us, the truth is behind us, and the senators can either get in line or find themselves on the wrong side of history.

Send the Senate the message that we will not be held hostage to special interests and petty politics. It’s time for them to fully embrace our clean energy future.