Last night, as the sun set over the Capitol, The Alliance for Climate Protection’s softball team, The Lions, took on our climate’s greatest enemy: the oil lobby. They took to the field and scored 27 to the paltry 14 brought in by the Oil Barons.

What was so intimidating about the Lions last night? It could have been their grassroots mobilization and the record attendance of both players and fans. It could have been their on-message heckling. They didn’t pass up an opportunity to ask why the batters were against creating millions of clean energy jobs. It could have been their fans lining the field dressed in the famous oil barrels, which they’ve used time and time again to highlight the Deepwater disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Or it could have been the fact that every Lion scored at least one run and/or had an RBI with four homeruns scored.

At the beginning of the season, Big Oil came to the Alliance and specifically asked for the matchup. This was a much-needed win for the Lions and for clean energy. Let’s hope they lobby just as badly as they play softball!

Around the globe, we are on track to see the hottest year yet in 2010. From the flooding in Pakistan to droughts in Russia and landslides in China, the effects of this year’s extreme weather are catastrophic and undeniable.

The recent pattern of extreme weather events is consistent with what scientists have projected to result from climate change: temperature shifts, severe rainfall and snow in some parts of the world, and major droughts in others.

Check out Repower America’s fact sheet on extreme weather and share it with your friends.

Despite the overwhelming facts, skeptics — like the now infamous Koch brothers¹, Massey coal² and Lord Monckton³ — will no doubt continue to spend big bucks to keep spreading misinformation about global warming.

But if we want to fight the skeptics, we’ll need a growing number of people to get informed. As the evidence mounts, leaders like Russian President Dmitry Medvedev are finally speaking out about climate change. President Medvedev spoke out at a United Nations Security Council meeting and said,

“What is happening now in our central regions is evidence of this global climate change, because we have never in our history faced such weather conditions in the past. This means that we need to change the way we work, change the methods that we used in the past.”⁴

In Pakistan, nearly 1,600 people have died this summer from the worst monsoon-related floods in living memory. And around the world, 2000-2009 was the warmest decade on record⁵, and 2010 is on track to be the warmest year the world has seen in 131 years.

Extreme weather events are putting lives in danger all around the world. Make sure you get the facts and spread the word.

Learn more about the link between extreme weather and climate change today.

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1. Jane Mayer, “Covert Operations: The billionaire brothers who are waging a war against Obama,” The New Yorker, August 30, 2010. http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/08/30/100830fa_fact_mayer

2. Tom Zeller Jr. and Ben Werschkul, “A Coal Executive Pushes Back,” The New York Times, August 17, 2010.
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/17/coal-executive-pushes-back/

3. Suzanne Goldenberg, “Climate change denier Lord Monckton meets Glenn Beck,” The Guardian, October 30, 2009. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2009/oct/30/lord-monckton-glenn-beck-copenhagen

4. The Kremlin, “Speech at expanded Security Council meeting on fire safety measures for strategic facilities,” August 4, 2010. http://eng.kremlin.ru/transcripts/724

5. National Climatic Data Center, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, “State of the Climate in 2009,” June 2010. http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/bams-state-of-the-climate/2009.php

Here at our Washington headquarters, there’s plenty of disappointment that the Senate failed to act on a climate change bill. But that doesn’t mean we’re about to give up. On the contrary, we are rolling up our sleeves and turning our attention to the future.

That’s why it was so encouraging to hear our Chairman, Al Gore, on a “virtual town hall” this week with thousands of our supporters. If you haven’t heard the call yet, click here to listen now:

http://www.repoweramerica.org/discuss

The Vice President made it clear to everyone that our fight is not over. You’ve seen the headlines about record-high temperatures, and there are still millions of gallons of oil polluting the Gulf. Our work isn’t done until our leaders stand with us and help solve the climate crisis.

Here’s what Vice President Gore said:

“So how do we move ahead? How can we? Well, we have an ally on our side. Reality. And millions more people, all the time, are recognizing what’s going on.”

And we’re asking for help from each and every one of our members. Click on this link to join a discussion about the Vice President’s call and share ideas on what to do next.

http://www.repoweramerica.org/discuss

As the Vice President said: “I’m personally asking you to recommit to joining me in the fight that lies ahead. We have to continue to make certain that we protect the future of our civilization, that we protect the global environment, that we protect those who are leading the way on clean energy and climate solutions – help those who were with us during this battle, and who we need to continue to be with us.”

The Senate has decided that we won’t get a comprehensive climate and clean energy bill before the August recess — which most observers interpret as a death-knell for the legislation this year.

This failure would be hard to understand at any time, to say the least. But coming as it does in the middle of a record-hot summer and a series of environmental disasters, Washington’s abandonment of this effort is all the more confounding and frustrating.

However, this setback only makes our work more necessary. As long as we care about our country, our planet, and the future we’re leaving for our children and grandchildren, we must continue to fight.

Remember: The climate crisis isn’t going away. And neither can we. It is getting worse, so we have to redouble our efforts.

We’re already planning the next phase of our work, and I’m counting on your continued involvement. I’d like to invite you to join me next Tuesday, August 10, for a conversation to discuss how we should move forward from here. I’ll be answering some questions from Repower America members like you — so please submit a question for discussion.

“Next Steps for the Climate Movement”
Virtual Town Hall
Tuesday, August 10 at 8:30 p.m. EDT
RSVP to join and submit your question

The Senate’s decision is a major disappointment for the climate movement, but there is a silver lining. In the last year, supporters like you have organized on an unprecedented scale. And we’ve built overwhelming popular support for action on comprehensive climate and clean energy solutions.

But by using the right-wing media echo chamber, record campaign contributions and an army of well-paid lobbyists, the oil and coal industries have stopped at nothing to protect the status quo and their profits. They want to keep using the atmosphere as an open sewer for the dumping of their greenhouse gas pollution.

The Senate’s inaction reflects that reality. We have always known that solving the climate crisis is a generational challenge — and the urgency of the climate crisis demands that despite these substantial obstacles, we must fight for every inch of progress. The science has never been more clear and the evidence is mounting day by day.

For those of us who understand the stakes, it’s a moral obligation.

And so we must fight even harder. Together, we must continue to beat back repeated assaults on the authority in the Clean Air Act to regulate carbon pollution. We must continue to pressure our elected leaders — local, state and national — to stand with the American people instead of the fossil fuel industry. We must each take individual action to transition to clean energy in our daily lives. And we must win the ongoing battle of science against spin.

We can and must continue the fight. Please join me on Tuesday, August 10 at 8:30 p.m. EDT to discuss our next steps.

http://acp.repoweramerica.org/jointhecall

I just want to yell at somebody.

We’re in the middle of the one of the worst environmental crises in the history of our country. And a minority of Senators in the pocket of fossil fuel interests are blocking any action in the immediate future on a bill that limits carbon pollution and helps solve the climate crisis.

Instead, it looks likely that the Senate will vote on a narrow oil spill response bill that only includes minor energy provisions — and completely fails to address the underlying causes of the climate crisis and fossil fuel catastrophes like the oil spill.

Make sure your Senators know that band-aid measures are unacceptable — and that you’re disappointed and not going away. Join Repower America and pledge to call your Senators this Tuesday when they’re back in Washington. Tell them that you and millions of Repower America supporters won’t give up until our country takes leadership on climate change and clean energy.

Click here to pledge that you’ll call the Senate on Tuesday, July 27.

Once you sign up, we’ll email you on Tuesday and give you everything you need to make the call.

This disappointing announcement from the Senate follows what could only be described as a shock and awe campaign by corporate polluters. The oil and gas industry spent $213 million lobbying in this Congress alone.*

Apparently, that’s what it costs to block action on this crucial issue.

But stopping debate doesn’t just benefit big oil and dirty coal. It also robs Americans of the opportunity to reap the benefits of clean energy, including:

• Creating millions of new American jobs
• Ending our addiction to oil and dirty fossil fuels
• Addressing the threat of climate change
• Strengthening our national security

We need to change this storyline.

This is not the future I want to leave my kids and future generations. Like every parent, I want to provide them a world with better opportunities — and a healthy, prosperous planet is non-negotiable.

Remind our leaders of our priorities, our values and our resolve. Join me today in pledging to call your Senators.

Sign up and make the pledge here.

Then stay tuned for our Tuesday email with calling instructions.

Very soon, the Senate could begin debating climate and energy legislation. And it’s vital for our leaders to adopt a proposal that helps us solve the climate crisis.

In recent months, several legislative proposals have been under consideration — and we’ve put together a simple and clear chart to compare them.

Download full chart with sources.

What the chart shows is that it’s critical to include a limit on the carbon pollution that is warming our planet. Some of the proposals on the table don’t include a carbon limit. The chart shows that under these proposals, carbon pollution would actually increase.

Click here to see the chart. And click here to watch Climate Protection Action Fund Legislative Director Kevin Curtis provide more details on the chart’s contents.

A limit on carbon emissions is our best way to provide incentives for the private sector to invest in clean energy. Otherwise, we risk losing the chance to build a clean energy economy and the millions of new jobs that come with it.

“This chart makes the clear and powerful case that only through comprehensive legislation that limits greenhouse gas emissions will we reduce the pollution that is threatening our nation and our planet,” said Action Fund CEO Maggie L. Fox. “Anything less will not address the challenges before us or put us on the path toward a clean energy future.”

And here’s how David Yarnold, Executive Director of the Environmental Defense Fund, put it in an op-ed this week: “Let’s get serious and pass a real clean energy law this year. Because flying halfway to Paris is no fun at all.”

There’s clear scientific evidence that pollution from fossil fuels is changing our climate. And now an authoritative new report makes it clear that if we don’t act now, the consequences could stay with us for centuries.

The National Research Council released a report last week that looks at the climate change impacts we might expect in the future – depending on how much we allow the planet to warm.

According to the report: “Because carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is long lived, it can effectively lock the earth and future generations into a range of impacts, some of which could become very severe. Therefore, emissions reductions choices made today matter in determining impacts experienced not just over the next few decades, but in the coming centuries and millennia.”

Click here to read the report.

The future of our planet is at stake. We have no time to lose before we reduce harmful carbon pollution from fossil fuels. And that’s why we’re working so hard to adopt comprehensive climate and clean energy policies this summer.

“We must shoulder the responsibility of curbing greenhouse gas emissions now at the beginning of the 21st century,” said Maggie L. Fox, President and CEO of the Alliance for Climate Protection. “Ignoring the scientific evidence of climate change will lead to unimaginable hardship for future generations.”

Added Fox: “This is not a responsibility we can shirk or put off until later. Our urgent task is to begin to reduce our dependence on the fossil fuels polluting our environment. Personal actions taken by individuals all over this great country must be matched by leadership in the U.S. Senate to build a clean energy future.”

This Thursday, as 90-degree weather descended on Washington, some of our friends and a crowd of very committed young people unveiled an ice sculpture on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol. In block letters, it spells out “Climate Deniers” below a sculpture of the globe.

So for the rest of the week, our lawmakers will be able to watch the ice melt as they discuss legislation to combat global warming.

Since last November, climate deniers and oil-backed skeptics have mounted a well-coordinated campaign to try to discredit climate science. They tried to cherry-pick statements in stolen emails from scientists at the University of East Anglia in an attempt to throw their research into question.

We know the deniers are wrong. And in recent weeks, climate scientists have been repeatedly vindicated. No fewer than three independent, comprehensive investigations have exonerated the scientists involved in so-called “Climategate.” And the scientific evidence of climate change remains as strong as ever.

The melting ice sculpture says it all: Cynical attempts to deny climate science are melting away. And there’s never been a more urgent time to pay attention to the science and work toward clean energy solutions.

1. University of East Anglia, “University response to Sir Muir Russell report,” last accessed July 13, 2010. http://www.uea.ac.uk/mac/comm/media/press/CRUstatements/muirrussellreport

This week, the Alliance for Climate Protection went to Hollywood to attend the red-carpet premiere of Inception, a new film starring Leonardo DiCaprio. All proceeds from the premiere went to the Alliance, which will help fund our efforts to solve the climate crisis.

The stars of Inception had some great things to say about our cause. Click here to see our video from the red carpet:

Former Vice President Al Gore, Chairman of the Alliance, spoke to attendees about the impacts of the climate crisis and the Gulf oil disaster, and the need to end our reliance on fossil fuels. Also in attendance was Alliance President and CEO Maggie L. Fox. The stars and screening attendees even had a chance to see some of Repower America’s ads.

Following the premiere, Oscar-winning composer Hans Zimmer and guitarist Johnny Marr (The Smiths, Modest Mouse, The Cribs) performed a special concert backed by a 20-piece orchestra.

Now in theaters, Inception is directed by Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight) and tells the story of a modern-era corporate thief with the power to enter the dreams of others. In our video, Composer Hans Zimmer had this to say about it: “One of the things about this movie is really that one idea can change the world.”

What keeps me fighting is the folks we’re fighting for.

And one story that’s stuck with me is Michael Karder’s. He’s struggling to bring manufacturing jobs back to Akron, Ohio building wind turbines — because he knows clean energy is the future of our economy.

This video is exactly why I’m in this movement — and you should see it.

Watch Michael Karder’s story and help him fight for our clean energy future.

Michael’s voice and the voices of others like him are so powerful that next week we’re planning to bring hundreds of Americans — Gulf Coast residents, veterans and clean energy manufacturers — to Washington, D.C. to remind our Senators why they need to be champions for clean energy and climate.

But their voices will be even more powerful if we join ours with theirs.

You can stand with these real American voices for clean energy by signing our letter to the Senate demanding strong climate and clean energy legislation, and our grassroots advocates will deliver it during their meetings in the Senate.

We already have 67,000 signatures — sign your name and support people like Michael today.

It’s bewildering that despite catastrophic disasters and undeniable public outrage, so many Senators are still struggling to find their backbone on comprehensive climate and clean energy legislation.

Next week, we’re going to remind them why we need action in a powerful way, and you can be a part of it.

Watch Michael’s story and add your name before we deliver it to the Senate.