With all the focus on health care, you may not also realize that the environmental community is in the biggest fight of the decade. The US House will vote on a landmark clean energy package today or tomorrow, an excellent piece of legislation called the American Clean Energy and Security Act.
As you can imagine, Big Coal is mounting a full-court press and several of key votes – Etheridge, Shuler, Watt, McIntyre – are rumored to be wavering at this time. It's my understanding that Larry Kissell is leaning toward voting no.
I hate to ask you to do this, but it's time to pick up the phone again. Call your representative today. Call Larry right now, too.
Kissell seems to think that most people in his district are against this bill. That's nonsense. Most people in his district don't even know the bill exists. And more to the point, what if they were? What if most people in his district were in favor of racial segregation? Would that mean he'd vote us back to the Jim Crow days?
Larry, we the people are paying you to think for yourself about important strategic issues. In this case, you seem to swallowing the lies of Big Energy as though they're quoting holy scripture. THEY ARE LYING. This legislation does not mean the sky is falling. It will not make the US less competitive. It will not export jobs to China. Don't believe the bullshit.
This legislation is a critical component of a new, forward-looking national energy policy. Please vote for it.
______________________________________
Okay people, make your voice heard.
https://forms.house.gov/kissell/contact-form.shtml
202-225-3715
Comments
Contact Larry now
https://forms.house.gov/kissell/contact-form.shtml
Kissell - voting No ...
... as of 1:30 PM, acording to his Rockingham Office. There is still time to get messages to him.
I'm voting No also
If Larry votes NO on the agenda we sent him to vote YES for, then my answer to him in the future will be a resounding NO.
North Carolina. Turning the South Blue!
Other Reps Still Undecided!
Unfortunately, Kissell is definitely not voting for this bill. While it's important to express your disappointment in his decision to his office, you can do that after today's vote! There are still several NC Reps who are undecided, and they have specifically asked to hear from their constituents before they decide to support the bill when it comes time to vote this evening!
Reps who need to hear from you today:
BOB ETHERIDGE (Chatham, Cumberland, Franklin, Harnett, Johnston, Lee, Nash, Sampson, Vance, Wake)
DC office - 202.225.4531
NC office - 888.262.6202 (toll free)
HEATH SHULER (Buncombe, Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Macon, Madison, McDowell, Polk, Swain, Transylvania, Yancey)
DC office - 202.225.6401
NC office - 828.252.1651
MEL WATT (Cabarrus, Davidson, Forsyth, Guilford, Mecklenburg, Rowan)
DC office - 202.225.1510
NC office - 704.344.9950
MIKE McINTYRE (Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, Cumberland, Duplin, New Hanover, Pender, Robeson, Sampson)
DC office - 202.225.2731
NC office - 910.323.0260
Find your Rep and see a sample call script from Organizing for America
Mel Watt voting YES
Acording to his Washington office at 2:50pm!
Thank goodness for that
I appreciate the update.
Me too
I was headed out of town after work, but now that I know the constituents of the I-85 corrider will be taking to mass demonstrations of glee in the streets, I'll re-route.
He doesn't care what you think
unless you live in his district.
You see, Larry seems to believe that the only thing in the world that matters is his little ol' district. If that means flushing the entire planet down the toilet so one of his flat-earth climate change denier constituents in can save a penny on a gallon of gas, then so be it.
If Larry votes against this legislation, I will personally do everything I can to shut down his ability to draw on the Chapel Hill community for support in the future.
NOTE TO KISSELL STAFF: You can interpret the Congressman's no vote as an invitation to stop asking me for money or support. That will be the last of the last straws. I'm sick of this shit.
I'm from his district.
Would you like for me to forward your message to him?
Already have
But it would be even better coming from you!
Done.
And calling the 4 who are still open.
If Larry doesn't care what I think
then why did he come to Durham and Chapel Hill and Raleigh raising money for his campaign?
What a betrayal - the most important environmental vote ever, and Larry's a 'NO'.
202-225-3715
Call Larry now.
Call Heath while you're at it...
When I talked to a legislative assistant yesterday, he said the calls were running 50/50.
Rep. Heath Shuler’s phone number in DC is 202-225-6401. You can also call him at his WNC office at 828-252-1651.
Scrutiny Hooligans - http://www.scrutinyhooligans.us
Shuler voted Yes
Thank you, Heath.
Supporting Democrats is getting tough.
The entire country is leaning further and further left, yet the people we elect to assist us move the governance of the country in that direction show up in Congress and start acting like a completely different person than the one we got to know during the campign.
Larry! Wake the hell up and vote like a liberal! We didn't bust our asses out here, donate our hard earned money and give our time to your cause so you could turn into a Blue Dog.
You better see the handwriting on the wall early, Rep. Kissell, because just a very few more votes in the wrong direction on the President's early attempts to turn this rudderless ship of State around and you are going to see some people start seriously working to elect someone other than yourself in 2010. I'd rather have a Republican in your seat if you are going to vote like one. At least it would be less embarassing than answering peoples questions, like: What on Earth is wrong with Larry Kissell?
North Carolina. Turning the South Blue!
NASA chief arrested protesting coal
James Hansen is so convinced that the climate cannot afford one more splurt of coal into the skies that he joined ranks with protestors and got arrested. I plan to tell Larry Kissell, to whom I contributed the grand sum of $100, that he needs to put his thinking cap on and do the right thing. See this: http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/60-second-science/post.cfm?id=nasa-climate-researcher-hansen-...
Greg
Ah, who cares about a bunch of commies
The people of the 8th District - and their Congressman - apparently don't give a shit about the world going to hell in a handbasket. From the way Larry's voting, you'd think they'd happily watch the coast slide under 20 feet of water than side with the pinko environmentalists.
Two strikes...
I'm an 8th District-er. I do give a shit, so enuff. Rep. Kissell's actions don't necessarily reflect the will of his district.
Hoping they keep him there...
Hansen's credibility is gone...he's a paid hack who doctored climate data, models, etc. Why don't you loons investigate how rich Hansen, Gore and their minions are gettting off of "man-made" global warming?
***************************************************************************************
Government crises are usually manufactured to pick your pocket.
Equalizer
I'm inviting you to play nice and stop calling people names. It's the new kinder, gentler me, so take advantage of it while you can.
Otherwise, I'll ban you from BlueNC without a second thought.
Just so you know.
An excellent analysis of this bill
Maybe it's excellent because I agree with it, especially the last sentence.
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/6/26/746866/-Climate-Change-Protection,-or-Climate-Change-Ass...
Dissapointments
I, and I think many others who voted for Mr. Kissell, expected more out of this representative. Many of us worked quite hard to put him in office, largely because we expected him to do what is right for his constituents and for the environment. If he does indeed vote no on this historic legislation, I will be very disappointed.
chrisNCCN
Watch Obama's ACES endorsement
Read the transcript and watch Obama's call to action on the White House blog:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/A-Historic-Energy-Bill/
Just the fax, Ma'am
Our friends at 1 Sky have provided an easy method to send a facsimile message to your representative on this matter (although my posting it may be a little late due to funky e-mail problems):
bio fuels
I don't have a lot of details, but from what i heard him say the reason Larry had problems with this bill had to do with the use, or non-use of bio-fuels. The 8th District is very rural(except for the far eastern and western end) and has a lot of farmers.
There are a lot of problems with this bill
which is why Greenpeace is against it. But at this point, doing something is better than doing nothing, even if the something is just a baby step.
Let's face it...
These guys care more about getting elected than anything else. But some of them, I'm really surprised at. I would be very disappointed if Etheridge and Watts did not eventually vote in favor of the bill. I can't speak for Watts, but I know Etheridge's seat is more than safe.
Bryan
Voting no
I just had a long conversation with Zack at Kissell's DC office, and he confirmed Kissell is voting no...he had lots of excuses,claiming it was all about economics but I wasn't buying any of it. Ugh!
Disapointed doesn't begin to describe how let down I feel about this.
BTW, Zach is Kissell's energy advisor and he's answering the phone at the moment....
Bullshit
Mr. Kissell doesn't just need a new energy adviser, he needs a brain transplant.
Ah well. My list of Democrats to support in the future is getting so short I might just have to start a new party.
Buh, bye, Mr. K. I wish I could say it's been fun, but frankly, it's been pretty darn close to a nightmare. You might want to remove "27514" from your mailing list.
more to report
McIntyre voting no, told me to go pound sand as I'm not in district, Ethridge staffer won't say how he is voting, Watt is leaning yes...still trying to reach Schuler.
The most disturbing part is all the staffers I spoke with report getting alot of calls against the bill...who is calling, Exxon employees?
WT@#&!!!
They aren't lying, and you should be disturbed
I've called too, and heard 500 to 1 against, 1000 to 1 against, and other figures equally as disturbing.
The Right is just better at activating average, everyday, non-activist constituents on stuff like this and always has been. Echo chambers like blogs just compounded the frustration by making it "elite."
Let me ask you this Fredly, what do the folks in your Church, PTA and Junior High Booster Club think about this? Any idea?
Because they vote, call their Representative, write LTE's and there's a heck of a lot of them.
What a great way to govern
This whole situation is so pathetic that I can hardly stand it.
The determination of how an elected official will vote is made by how many lemmings (from either side) can be activated to make phone calls and send emails?
No wonder our country is such a fucking train wreck.
I'd hardly say you can hardly stand it
You're composing yourself like a Gentleman that just woke up from a long nap and read a newspaper.
I've seen Twilight Zone and the new reality you're facing is a hard thing to muster.
I know
I am feeling a little like Rip Van Whatever. I've known this is how it gets done all along, but for some reason the last couple of days have driven the stake through my heart. Dis-heart-ening in every sense.
I think I'll go back to sleep now.
All I know
is that 90% of my friends are progressives and support this bill, and most others, like work friends, PTA, church folk, are apolitical and rarely get engaged in this stuff.
One of the staffers I spoke with secretly confided that she hopes ACES passes, but that there is a lot of fear mongering going on out there...I heard Shaddeg (R) on CSPAN this morning claiming that people don't believe in climate change anymore, and we should wait for better science..because we can't afford to address this now...this at the same time that scientists continue to release ever more disturbing data on the catastrophic climate change we are facing.
I wish I know how to get the normally apolitical folks to understand the urgency, and harness their energy to act....in my opinion there is way to much apathy.
Oh, of course, I think even the NO's want it to pass
And I think it will, and the Public Health Option will as well, but only due to what happens today, and if you don't think both votes are related, well God bless ya, buy me a Coke.
Chess is a good game to learn for politicos.
It's black and white and yet so much more.
Whoops!
Thought we had it, but all the D's just left the building to answer phone calls from Progressives in other Districts, MoveOn and far flung donors that want to be players but don't get the term "Representative" one bit while Boehner moved for more debate and started kicking our ass on the floor. Kicking it. KICKING IT.
Thanks.
Way to target there, Friendly Fire.
It's now a filibuster.
Put on CSPAN if you care what you did to the environment today.
GreenPeace was right.
I've had C-SPAN on
for the last few hours, when there was only about 15 combined minutes of yakkety time left.
Part of me hates filibusters, but another part loves them. Weird.
He just turned 1.5 min into 120 min
But Pelosi took back over and it's now a vote!
First Replacement Amendment, then real deal.
So excited.
I'm so lighting a bonfire, BBQ'ing and driving to SC to set off fireworks if Climate Change passes tonight.
Done!
And done. Have fun!
Schuler
Spoke to a staffer in NC, Schuler still undecided...they are also getting calls against the bill, 10 to 1...
Please make a call if you haven't already done so, or another even if you have....
Same with Kissell
Astroturf call campaign?
If astroturf...
We should seriously consider getting better at it.
We're getting schooled.
Whew
That was close...
No Kidding
I really thought Kucinich was with us this time, but those darn oil companies got to him too.
Bought, Paid For, and Insert Hyperbole here!
I'm seriously considering not sending Dennis Kucinich money any more.
Seriously.
How they voted:
The Dem 44: Altmire, Arcuri, Barrow, Berry, Boren, Bright, Carney, Childers, Costa, Costello, Dahlkemper, Davis (AL), Davis (TN), DeFazio, Donnelly, Edwards (TX), Foster, Griffith, Herseth Sandlin, Holden, Kirkpatrick, Kissell, Kucinich, Marshall, Massa, Matheson, McIntyre, Melancon, Minnick, Mitchell, Mollohan, Nye, Ortiz, Pomeroy, Rahall, Rodriguez, Ross, Salazar, Stark, Tanner, Taylor, Visclosky, Wilson (OH).
The GOP 8: Bono, Castle, Kirk, Lance, Lobiondo, McHugh, Reichert and Smith (NJ).
Dennis Kucinich voted against the bill because it became too weak, not because money got to him.
Dear Banana
I don't know if you've decided to depart this "circle jerk" as you call it or not, but I'll add my thoughts to what others have said.
First, it's hard to know whether your intellect is masked by your sarcasm, or trumped by it. In either case, the approach is off-putting to me. This website is a community of sorts. We do not ridicule one other.
Second, there is indeed a double standard here, but it's not based on opinions or views. It's based on longevity. People who have been around for a long time (some as many as three years) get a break, as would any old friend. New guys, especially smart asses, encounter a more skeptical audience.
Third, I'm of the opinion that it is good to take apologies to heart, in both directions. You seem to feel as though once is enough, but it's not. And just because someone is being a jerk to you doesn't mean you should be a jerk back. Asking for and getting forgiveness is good for the soul. Most of us need all the goodness we can get.
Finally, we have only one formal standard for judging when someone crosses the line of acceptability. The phrase we use is "intolerably obnoxious," and it is admittedly subjective.
I personally hope you'll stick around, which is something I say to most people who come by, even when I disagree with much of what they write. You are smart and well informed and have a unique view of important issues.
For what it's worth, you seem to be challenged in the "be nice" department. I have been there myself and can easily recognize it in others. I invite you to consider working toward the sweet spot.
Just a thought.
Kucinich is not a tool...
“Passing a weak bill today gives us weak environmental policy tomorrow”
“I oppose H.R. 2454, the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009. The reason is simple. It won’t address the problem. In fact, it might make the problem worse.
It sets targets that are too weak, especially in the short term, and sets about meeting those targets through Enron-style accounting methods. It gives new life to one of the primary sources of the problem that should be on its way out– coal – by giving it record subsidies. And it is rounded out with massive corporate giveaways at taxpayer expense. There is $60 billion for a single technology which may or may not work, but which enables coal power plants to keep warming the planet at least another 20 years."
The problem is coal. CCS is bogus.
This "Climate Security Act" gives subsidies to pursue using coal.
The last "Climate Security Act" (AKA- Lieberman/Warner) gave subsidies to nuclear.
I agree with Kucinich and I'm tired of them letting the tools for coal and nuclear lobbies write half-assed bills.
A lot of people say this is better than nothing but I can't stomach them giving more tax payer dollars to these toxic industries.
We need to pursue clean sustainable energy solutions.. IE solar & hemp..
We need strong legislation that targets polluters not subsidizes them.
We need a clean break from coal, oil and nukes, period.
jim's op/ed
Thank the right folks now, please.
In the 219-212 win on Waxman-Markey,
--NC went by party line except for
--Kissell, McIntyre voted no.
Thanks go to Shuler, Watt, Miller, Etheridge, Price, and Butterfield.
We recognize especially that Heath Shuler and Bob Etheridge in particular are in districts where the GOP will use this to attack them. You're stand-up folks. We also appreciate Mel Watt, Brad Miller, David Price, and G.K. Butterfield sticking with us and doing the right thing.
Mike McIntyre, unfortunately, has never been a reliable Democratic vote.
Larry Kissell, we're extremely disappointed.
Dan Besse
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