montana audubon -- actions -- August 2010
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Oil Spill Disaster & what you can do
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energy & climate legislation withers -- please act
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We need your voice - write a letter to the editor
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Montana Rural electric cooperative members - sign the letter
Gulf Coast Oil spill, Montana & what we can do
Most of "Montana's birds" migrate and winter to the west of the Gulf Coast. However, some eastern Montana migratory birds are likely part of the "Central Flyway" It is possible that a portion of our white pelican populations, and perhaps some shorebirds use the Gulf Coast during winter months (we simply don't know just who goes where...). Time will tell how birds, other wildlife and entire ecosystems will fair. For more on Montana birds, read this short article in the Missoula Independent and this from the Billings Gazette.
We can learn from this tragic lesson - it is an opportunity to help people understand the consequences of energy consumption. We know that extracting fossil fuels is harmful to our environment, whether leveling a mountain to get coal, pock-marking western grasslands with natural gas wells, or drilling for oil under thousands of feet of water. We know that burning fossil fuels adds greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, which in turn is hastening the rate of global warming. It’s time to make the move to more efficient and cleaner energy systems!
We can:
- Write a letter to the editor about the impacts of oil spill to birds and ecosystems, connecting to Montana birds. Feel free to point out that oil companies, lobbyists and special interests have fought energy reform for decades to protect their profits! It's time for the polluters to pay and it is time to transition away from nasty fossil fuels. Conclude with need for real energy solutions and climate change legislation.
An aside, sort of: see this New York Times article about oil subsidies. And this about fossil fuel subsidies and fairness more generally.
- Call elected officials and urge them not to give up on clean energy and climate legislation.
Oil companies and lobbyists have fought energy reform to protect their profits for far too long. The spill in the Gulf is a call to action for our nation's leaders to implement comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation this year that will enhance our security, cut our dependence on oil, create millions of American jobs, and preserve our planet for future generations. This oil spill disaster underscores the urgency of making the transition now. Every day that Congress refuses to act on a clean energy bill that invests in clean renewable energy sources – like wind, solar, geothermal and efficiency measures, hurts our economy and threatens our coastlines, natural ecosystems and the birds that so need these habitats.
- Be sure you are signed up with Montana Audubon for our action alerts – we can keep you posted on how to respond (pretty low email traffic all in all). Go HERE >>
- Learn more from National Audubon Society.
clean energy & climate legislation ---
August 8, 2010. The Senate has decided NOT to bring climate legislation forward (for reasons go here). We are not going away nor can we give up. Our collective futures depend on what we do next....
Need some inspiration to keep working for solutions? Watch this video
The BP Gulf Coast oil spill is the biggest environmental disaster in US history. Or is it? It is a wake-up call that we need clean energy now more than ever. We have to question why we continue to rely so heavily on carbon-polluting fossil fuels – whether it’s oil from hostile foreign nations or along America’s coasts, or coal from Eastern Montana.
There's a narrow window for building a clean energy future and reducing carbon pollution. We must bend the global emissions curve downward, and we need every one of us to voice your concern. You can attend EVENTS, TALK to your friends, WRITE a letter to the newspaper, or VOLUNTEER... contact Amy.
With no action in the Senate, we need the EPA and the Clean Air Act to protect our health and planet. Big oil, gas and coal companies, joined by Montana’s electrical co-ops, want to limit the EPA’s authority to protect public health. They claim they would rather Congress enact a law to regulate greenhouse gases. The truth is they have not only failed to support any meaningful Congressional regulation of such pollutants, they have fought against them. They cannot have it both ways – no laws and no regulations – while continuing to pour polluting greenhouse gases into our environment. A simple message to our Congressional delegation: protect the Clean Air Act. 
Every day the Senate fails to pass comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation is another day we look for more ways to drill and mine in sensitive lands. It’s another day we endure greater disruptions from greenhouse gas pollution. The longer Congress delays, the more we will have to decrease future carbon emissions to reduce the current “overflow” of CO2 in the atmosphere; the job will become more abrupt, more painful, and more expensive.
We will continue to work for strong energy and climate legislation that will build a clean and safe energy economy to create jobs, make our country more secure by reducing our dependence on oil, and fight global warming.
Call or email our Senators and tell them we are not going away and they still need to figure out how to pass strong clean energy and climate legislation.
Sen. Max Baucus: call: (202) 224-2651 max@baucus.senate.gov
Sen. Jon Tester: call: (202) 224-2644 senator@tester.senate.gov
Here's a simple message:
Please continue to work for clean energy and climate legislation. Inaction is not an option. We cannot afford to wait. And we cannot afford to weaken the EPA's ability to protect our health and regulate greenhouse gas pollution.
Did you read the Guest Opinion we wrote with 11 other Montana conservation groups?
Contact Amy Cilimburg. 406-465-1141
letters to the editor
We need letters to the editor asking for solutions to global wamring - we are not giving up in our efforts to pass strong energy and climate legislation. Speak up for clean energy, more jobs, & reduced pollution! BP's disaster in the Gulf, huge ice sheets breaking away from Greenland, unprecedented heat waves in Russia, and floods in Pakistan provide dramatic evidence that we need to break our addiction to fossil fuels and take action now to avert even more catastrophic climate change
Tips for writing good letters are HERE >>
A list of Montana newspapers and links to send in letters is HERE >>
Here are some great opinion pieces that might give you ideas:
- Clean Energy Creates Jobs, Stops Warming: 13 Montana conservation groups
- Climate Change Threatens State's Ag Economy: Montana farmers and ranchers
- Energy act good for farmers, jobs, future: Kathy Hadley (NCAT) in the Missoulian
- Climate Legislation means jobs for Montana: Business leaders write in favor of action.
General Talking Points for letters: (see below for wildlife/natural resource talking points)
- The BP oil spill disaster is a call to action for our leaders to implement real energy reform. It's time for the Senate to pass a clean energy and climate bill that creates jobs, cut our dependence on dirty fossil fuels, and reduces carbon pollution.
- America would benefit from independence from fossil fuels and foreign oil. Encouraging energy efficiency and home-grown renewables is patriotic.
- Carbon pollution has led to major impacts to human health, communities and natural resources. America's reliance on foreign oil threatens our national security.
- Doing nothing will cost more in damage from droughts, spread of insect-borne diseases, more intense weather events like fires, hurricanes and storms, and ever increasing insurance rates. We must invest a modest amount now to get cleaner air, greater energy security, and new energy jobs.
- Focus on the benefits of jobs - businesses in the emerging clean energy economy have grown at a faster rate than U.S. jobs overall.
- Delay is not an option. We must reduce carbon pollution. America must become a global leader in clean energy for the 21st century.
- The world needs our leadership.
- The time is right to urge Senators Baucus and Tester to strengthen and support clean energy and climate legislation.
Talking Points for wildlife enthusiasts, sportsman, and nature lovers:
- Over 600 groups across the Nation have called on the Senate to pass" "...comprehensive climate and energy legislation that reduces greenhouse gas emissions and dedicates funding for natural resources adaptation in order to safeguard fish and wildlife and the natural resources on which we all rely.." Thank you to Senator Baucus for your leadership on wildlife adaptation funding!
- Our natural resources make enormous contributions to our national, state and local economies. The combined economic contribution of outdoor activities such as birding, fishing, hunting, hiking, camping and other forms of wildlife-dependent recreation, if combined into one business, would rank in the top 10 Fortune 500 companies.
- Birds and butterflies are already moving north and are impacted today. The recent inter-agency scientific report "State of the Birds" show US birds are vulnerable to a warming world and action is needed now.
- Losses of western trout populations are predicted with warming waters. Trout are especially vulnerable to climate change because they are dependent on an abundance of clear, cold water. As coldwater habitats warm, rising temperatures will negatively impact a variety of trout life history phases – from eggs to juveniles and adults.
see Amy for more of these..
Here are TIPS to help you write an effective letter and get it published:
- Be timely - Many papers are covering the energy debate in Congress. Your letter will have a greater chance of being printed if it is in response to an editorial, op-ed, or story about the current energy debate. Mention the name or date of the article.
- Follow the paper's guidelines - BELOW is information about where to email a letter to the editor of any of Montana's eight major newspapers, and the word limit for each.
In general, you should:- put your final letter into the body of an email (don't send as an attachment);
- put the editor's email address in the "To" field;
- put "letter to the editor" in the "Subject" line;
- have the salutation read, "Dear editor," followed by your letter; and
- include your name, address and phone number with the letter (many papers will call to confirm authorship before running a letter).
- Get personal - Share your expertise. Editors are more likely to publish a letter, and the letter will have more impact, if it demonstrates local relevance. If you are a business person, talk about the importance of your industry and clean energy jobs. If you have solar panels on your roof-share that information.
- Refer to our Congressional delegation - Senator Max Baucus, Senator Jon Tester and Representative Dennis Rehberg - by name. If your letter includes a legislator's name, staff will usually give him the letter to read personally.
- Keep your letter short, focused, and interesting. In general, letters should be under 200 words, 150 or less is best. Stay focused on one main point - in this case, urging our delegation to pass the American Clean Energy and Security Act. Get to the main point in the first two sentences.
- Write the letter in your own words. Editors want letters in their papers to be original and from a reader. Write the letter in your own words.
- Read these 5 pointers for talking Climate & Energy from the Sightline Institute.
- Follow-up with Montana's delegation. If your letter is printed, clip out your printed letter and send it to the elected officials you mentioned with a brief cover note. This way you can be certain that your elected official sees it.
- Contact the newspaper if your letter doesn't run. If your letter doesn't appear, contact the editor after a few days to ask whether it will run.
You may find it a little intimidating to write a letter to the editor. Don't be afraid to ask for help -- contact Amy Cilimburg if you'd like specific ideas or help with your letter. 406-465-1141.
You can also download a helpful "How To" guide HERE >>
MONTANA NEWSPAPERS:
- Billings Gazette, (406)657-1200, speakup@billingsgazette.com word limit: 250
- Bozeman Daily Chronicle, (406)587-4491, citydesk@dailychronicle.com or Bill Wilke, bwilke@dailychronicle.com word limit: 300
- Great Falls Tribune, (406)791-1444, tribletters@greatfallstribune.com word limit: 250
- Helena Independent Record, (406)447-4000, irstaff@helenair.com word limit: 200
- Kalispell Daily Interlake, (406)755-7000, newsed@dailyinterlake.com word limit: 300
- Missoulian, (406)523-5200, oped@missoulian.com word limit: 300
- Montana Standard (Butte), (406)496-5500, Roberta.Stauffer@Lee.Net word limit: 400
- Ravalli Republic. editor@ravallirepublic.com
Thanks for speaking up for clean energy, jobs and reduced pollution!
Montana Audubon is working with a collaborative group of conservation groups and advocates as part of the Clean Energy Works campaign. The more diverse voices the better!
Contact Amy Cilimburg. 406-465-1141
montana rural electric cooperative members
There is a statewide grassroots effort ramping up this spring to lend a new voice to the Coops. We thought we'd help get the word out. If you are a member of any Montana rural electric cooperative and would like to see a more forward thinking energy future, your voice is needed.
Help encourage the Montana Electric Cooperative Association (MECA) to support strong federal energy and climate policy. Read this letter and if you can sign, please let Amy Cilimburg know. And consider passing this letter (or web-link) on to other coop members!
Closing date for signing on to this letter is end of July, 2010
Contact Amy Cilimburg. 406-465-1141