Check out the new Share the Road PSA

Check out the new Share the Road PSA from @bikeleague and @aaanews: vimeo.com/60585187 #bikePHL #nbs2013
— Bike Coalition Phila (@bcgp) March 5, 2013

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Share the Road from AAA Public Affairs on Vimeo.

Sequester Will Negatively Impact Clean Air and Water Programs at State and Local Level

This article from Pew highlights the cuts to basic clean air and clean water programs across the states if the sequester takes place. From my experience in Millbourne, I'd say it's already difficult to get action on clean air violations. Cutting the staff and the program would logically make things much worse.

 Everyone, please call your congressman and comment.

-- Jeanette MacNeille
Borough Council President of Millbourne, PA
Sierra Club Volunteer Activist for Clean Air

Forward on Climate Rally

On Feb. 17, 2013, several local environmental groups organized a caravan of buses to the "Forward on Climate" rally in Washington, D.C. The rally was organized by 350.org, the Sierra Club, and the HipHop Caucus, as well as other groups, to call on President Obama to act quickly on his statements in his State of the Union Address earlier that week. During this address, the President said, "...for the sake of our children and our future, we must do more to combat climate change." As a short term goal to address climate disruption, the rally challenged the President to reject Transcanada's planned Keystone XL tar sands oil pipeline that is proposed to run from Canada to the Gulf Coast. For the long term, we call on the President to take strong measures to protect the planet from greenhouse gas emissions and pollution associated with fossil fuels.

Locally, Sierra Club, Penn Future, PA Interfaith Power & Light, and Clean Air Council sent about 150 people, which filled two and a half buses, to this historic demonstration, the largest climate change rally in U.S. history. Estimates of the crowd at the rally and march were in the range of 35,000 to 50,000. Speakers included Michael Brune, Bill McKibben, Van Jones, Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, Rosario Dawson, Chief Jackie Thomas, and more. In the biting cold, the throngs rallied near the Washington Monument and then marched around the White House and back to their starting point, where circles of people danced in the sunshine, celebrating an important milestone in the US environmental movement.

-- Sue Edwards

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Which Would You Cut, Something Important or Oil Subsidies?

The NRDC has a great campaign comparing oil subsidies to other cuts made in the sequester. Click here to check out the photos on their Facebook page.

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Kids' Concert for Clean Air

A Kids' Concert for Clean Air on Feb. 2, 2013, Groundhogs Day, at the Lucien E. Blackwell West Philadelphia Regional Library, co-sponsored by Sierra Club and Mom's Clean Air Force. It was a free concert featuring Meg Russell of Meg's Melodies.

It was attended by about 35 or 40 people, two thirds of them children. It was a lively event, and the children got to move, play and hear songs about healthy eating and exercise, pretend to be a variety of things, make sounds like rain and thunder, and play with percussion instruments, a beach ball, ribbons, pompoms, and a parachute. They were greeted by a large green groundhog (aka William Kramer) as the concert got underway. Sierra Club activist Kevin Little spoke at the end about riding bikes, walking and using public transportation, turning off lights, and taking other steps to reduce climate change. Parents and older children took the opportunity to write short notes to Pres. Obama or Sen. Toomey about clean air and protecting our environment. Moms Clean Air Force had petitions to sign as well as stickers, notebooks and pads of paper for participants.

--Sue Edwards

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Inauguration Party with Our Environmental Friends As It Was Tweeted

As we waited for the #Inauguration at the Ross Commons of @drexel, we recruited additional environmental activists. twitter.com/PAcleanAir/sta…

— PA Clean Air Sierra (@PAcleanAir) January 21, 2013

Here, Sue is working to recruit new members, & to sign up folks to petition 4 @epagov rules on power plant pollution. twitter.com/PAcleanAir/sta…

— PA Clean Air Sierra (@PAcleanAir) January 21, 2013

We were watching the #Inauguration hoping to hear that President Obama would emphasize environmental action. twitter.com/PAcleanAir/sta…

— PA Clean Air Sierra (@PAcleanAir) January 21, 2013

Here he goes...waiting to hear about.... twitter.com/PAcleanAir/sta…

— PA Clean Air Sierra (@PAcleanAir) January 21, 2013

...Climate Disruption! Yea!.... twitter.com/PAcleanAir/sta…

— PA Clean Air Sierra (@PAcleanAir) January 21, 2013

...and the devastating impact of climate disruption causing raging fires...Yea!... twitter.com/PAcleanAir/sta…

— PA Clean Air Sierra (@PAcleanAir) January 21, 2013

...and the importance of a sustainable path to energy...Yea!... twitter.com/PAcleanAir/sta…

— PA Clean Air Sierra (@PAcleanAir) January 21, 2013

...because sustainable energy is how we will preserve our planet..Yea!..So let's explore, enjoy and protect the planet twitter.com/PAcleanAir/sta…

— PA Clean Air Sierra (@PAcleanAir) January 21, 2013

Full video: President Obama takes the oath of office and delivers his second inaugural address: at.wh.gov/h06KQ #inaug2013

— The White House (@whitehouse) January 21, 2013

Encourage President Obama to Address Climate Disruption: 100 Days of Action

Overview: President Obama’s second term will be a pivotal four years in the fight to stop climate disruption and move America to a clean energy

future. The coal industry is on the ropes, clean energy is on the

rise, and extreme weather has put climate disruption back on the front

page. In his victory speech, the President invited a climate conversation, and we intend to take him up on that offer. At the same time, the coal, oil, and gas industries are all rallying and regrouping for the fight of their lives. The Sierra Club must match this moment by setting a clear, bold, and credible climate and clean energy legacy (sometimes referred to as “Obama’s Climate Agenda” below) for President Obama’s second term.

Goals:  Our campaign has been designed to reach two goals:

1) Push the President to provide strong, consistent American leadership on climate and clean energy in his second term, and provide a specific policy agenda that represents the best course of administrative action he can take.
2) Unify our Sierra Club campaigns and the larger climate movement behind a well-framed, concrete agenda with specific demands that will help us reach our climate goals, while also allowing people to focus on their specific campaign objectives.

Strategy: We will push President Obama to define his climate and clean energy legacy by doing the following:

● Secure key wins early in his second term and leverage public support on clear policy pieces to embolden further, bolder administrative action.
● Build the climate movement by uniting coal, gas, oil, clean energy, and lands activists, and by engaging key allies and working together on shared solutions.
● Focus our campaign on issues that matter to constituencies with a vested interest in the success of a clean energy economy that are most likely to motivate President Obama to act.

Taking delivery on this climate legacy will require a consistent,

focused, well-resourced effort for the next four years. Several of

these protections now have a life of their own and began unfolding in

December, and we will have to fight hard and steadily on every single

one over the next two years. Our success or failure will significantly

affect the national momentum and appetite for bold action on climate

and clean energy.

Right out of the gate in December and the first quarter of 2013, we

will be faced with activity on several major fronts that will become a

major focus of attention for the environmental community, White House,

and Congress. In December 2012 through the first quarter of 2013, EPA

will finalize a soot standard, issue a draft environmental impact

statement for Keystone XL, propose new Tier 3 standards for auto fuel,

propose new safeguards for fracking, and possibly finalize new source

carbon standards. All will come under fierce and immediate attack.

Creating some opportunities for wins early on is essential to our

ability to maintain our momentum on climate and energy for the next

four years. If the White House cannot move these forward, their

appetite for further bold climate and energy action will likely drop

dramatically. Conversely, if we can hit these protections and hearings

out of the park and demonstrate strong public support for them, that

will create greater momentum for heavier lifts to come on climate and

energy, like the existing source carbon standard, mountaintop removal,

fracking, and future decisions on Keystone XL.

Laying out a broad agenda will benefit the larger momentum around

climate because it will make it clear to the Obama administration that

we are playing on several fronts. To weaken the power of the coal and

oil industries, we’ll need to build powerful alliances with those

communities that have a vested interest in the success of a clean

energy economy. We’ll need youth, clean tech businesses, people of

color groups, organized labor and low-income organizations to show

that there are viable clean energy alternatives to coal and oil that

will make life better for everyday Americans.

President Obama’s Climate and Clean Energy Legacy: A Call for Leadership

President Obama, now is your time to lead in the fight against climate

disruption. The science is real, the damage to our planet and our

economy is real, and -- particularly after a year of extreme weather

including droughts, wildfires and Hurricane Sandy -- the effects on

American families and their pocketbooks are very real. We can turn the

corner on climate disruption, and put the nation on a path to meet the

emissions reductions that science demands, but only if America acts

now. We call on you to use the Office of the Presidency to:

● Make climate disruption a key pillar of your second administration, take bold administrative action and stand up for climate science.
● Connect the dots so Americans understand how carbon emissions have led to a climate disruption, which can trigger more climate-related disasters.
● Speak often about the issue to the American people and the world and encourage all lawmakers -- from Heads of State, to Congress, to local cities and towns -- to support meaningful administrative action on climate disruption.

The following agenda presents a specific, achievable and meaningful

strategy that the Office of the President and your administration can

take to substantially address climate disruption, reenergize the

American economy, and create millions of jobs. The time is now, and

the American people are looking to you to lead on this issue. The

American people are ready and willing to join you in this fight that

is not only winnable, but in which we are already beginning to

succeed.

Obama’s Climate and Clean Energy Agenda -- Five Policy Planks

1. Hold fossil fuel polluters accountable for their pollution.

● Adopt and enforce coal pollution protections for carbon, soot, smog, sulfur, water toxics, and coal ash, and set water pollution standards that will end mountaintop removal mining.
● Enact standards and close loopholes to protect water, air, and climate from fracking and other forms of oil and gas production.
● Finalize Tier 3 clean fuel standards, finalize emissions standards for refineries, and establish strong mileage standards for medium and heavy-duty vehicles

2. Reject proposals to import dirty fuels and stop the rush of fossil

fuel exports.

● Stop Keystone XL and other tar sands infrastructure.
● Halt expansion of fossil fuel exports, including liquefied natural gas export facilities, new coal export terminals, and increased oil exports.
● Increase US-backed international finance of renewable energy and energy efficiency, and phase out fossil fuel lending.

3. Double down on clean energy.

● Open innovative financing and investment avenues for energy efficiency and renewable energy.
● Facilitate environmentally responsible leasing and deployment of clean energy generation and technologies on public lands and waters and within federal agencies.

4. Protect communities from future climate disasters and ready a

robust and just response.

● Release equal and just national climate resilience plans that help create strong and sustainable communities, infrastructure and ecosystems.
●  Hold EPA and FEMA accountable for ensuring equal, appropriate and just federal emergency and disaster response, including better equipping state and local officials to develop and support climate resilient communities.

5. Protect our lands water and wildlife from the impacts of fossil

fuel development and climate disruption.

● Stop the rush to expand oil and gas drilling, coal mining, and dirty fuels development on our public lands and the Outer Continental Shelf; reform the Department of Interior coal leasing program; and protect the Arctic Refuge and national parks from fossil fuel leasing and development.
● Ensure that lands and wildlife can adapt to climate change by protecting large scale landscapes that connect wildlife habitat, and ensure that every national forest addresses the impacts of climate disruption and protects carbon-storing old growth forests as part of their management plan.