If you were like me, you were watching President Biden’s State of the Union last night. I heard the shouts of ‘liar,’ ‘it’s your fault,’ and so much more.
Back in 2009 when Representative Joe Wilson yelled ‘you lie’ at President Obama it was a big deal — he was rebuked by his own party. NOW, this is normal and commonplace. That’s not acceptable. We demand more from our elected officials.
The truth is it’s so easy to feel discouraged with the House of Representatives being controlled by hard right-wingers. That was on full display last night.
In his remarks, President Biden said ‘The climate crisis doesn’t care if your state is red or blue. It is an existential threat. We have an obligation to our children and grandchildren to confront it.’
We couldn’t agree more.
While it’s great to see President Biden call for more aggressive action on climate – something that is the result of years of pressure and organizing – his policies don’t match this call to action.
President Biden is approving more drilling on public lands at a quicker pace than Trump, wasting billions to prop up oil and gas industry scams like carbon capture and hydrogen energy, and is pushing to increase the export of dirty fossil fuels.
That’s NOT ok, and we aren’t satisfied with playing defense and you shouldn't be either. Change only happens when we work together.
You may ask — what is Food & Water Action doing in an off-election year? We aren’t taking a break — unfortunately, there’s no time for napping on the job. Here are a few things we’re up to this year:
Demanding more from President Biden. The climate crisis is an existential threat. We must demand that President Biden not just ‘finish the job,’ but do the job better by stopping drilling on public lands, stopping carbon scams, and stopping the export of fossil fuels.
Electing local leaders. Change starts at home and that’s why the elections right in your own backyard are more important than ever. Our team is on the ground canvassing in Pennsylvania — working to elect our longtime ally, State Representative Sara Innamorato, to Allegheny County Executive, one of the most powerful elected offices in Pennsylvania. Western Pennsylvania could head towards a clean energy future, or it could choose to double down on its fossil fuel past, building out hydrogen and petrochemical hubs. Electing Sara will build capacity in a swing state and win us a clean energy future.
Empowering volunteers. We only have 100 staff and that’s not enough. So how can we have a greater reach? We are actively building and expanding our Food & Water Volunteer Network, but we can't do this alone. I know we are all busy, but if you can commit to just a few hours a month – that would make all the difference. Haven’t volunteered with us yet? No problem. Join us tomorrow for our first-time volunteer action call. Sign up and hear what you can do.
There’s plenty more in store this year for Food & Water Action. Join me on this journey, and let’s build to 2024 when our team will be electing more climate champions. Hopefully, in 2025 we’ll be focusing more on issues that matter — a livable future for everyone.
Food & Water Action and its affiliated organization, Food & Water Watch, are advocacy groups with a common mission to protect our food, water and climate.
This email was sent to [email protected] - and we're glad you got it because it's one of the most important ways you can reclaim political power, hold elected officials accountable and resist corporate control. We're excited to keep working together to make an impact! But if you need to, you can
adjust your preferences or unsubscribe.
