The Waxman Letter

US Representative Henry Waxman, a strong proponent for environmental protection and human rights, has prepared a letter to be presented to the US House of Representatives this summer. Although Rep. Waxman's letter is not an official policy statement from Oxfam America, it does hit on some of the key "asks" that we are stressing in this campaign. A summary of the letter appears below.

Key Principles (Or Asks)

1. Reduce emissions to avoid dangerous global warming

   
   

   1. US must do its part to keep global temperatures from rising more then 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit (2 degrees Celsius) above pre-industrial levels

      
      

   2. Cap and cut global warming emissions. Targets are:

      
      

      1. Reduced to 15%-20% below current levels in 2020

         
         

      2. Reduced to 80% below 1990 levels by 2050

         
         

   3. Make emission targets certain and enforceable

      
      

      1. Cost-containment measures must not break the cap on global warming pollution. Any offsets must be real, additional, verifiable, permanent, and enforceable.

         
         

   4. Require the United States to engage with other nations to reduce emissions through commitments and incentives.

      
      

2. Aid Communities and eco systems vulnerable to harm from global warming
   
   

   1. Assist states, localities and tribes to respond and adapt to the effects of global warming to respond to harm from global warming and adapt their infrastructure to its effects, such as more severe wildfires, intensified droughts, increased water scarcity, sea level rise, floods, hurricanes, melting permafrost, and agricultural and public health impacts.

      
      

   2. A portion of auction revenues should be provided to help the developing countries most vulnerable to harm from global warming and defuse the threats to national security and global stability posed by conflicts over water and other natural resources, famines, and mass
      migrations that could be triggered by global warming.

      
      

   3. Assist wildlife and ecosystems threatened by global warming.

      
      

3. Transition America to a clean energy economy

   
   

   1. A significant portion of revenues from auctioning emissions allowances should be invested in clean energy and efficiency measures

      
      

   2. Preserve states authorities to protect their citizens

      
      

4. Recognize and minimize and economic impacts from global warming legislation
   
   

   1. Use Cap and Trade

      
      

   2. Emissions allowances should be auctioned with the revenues going to benefit the public, and any free allocations should produce public benefits.

      
      

   3. Revenues from auctioned allowances should be returned to low- and moderate-income households at a level sufficient to offset higher energy costs.

      
      

   4. Return revenues to workers and communities.

      
      

   5. Protect against global trade disadvantages to U.S. industry.
      

      
      
   
   

Monthly Meetings

We met at The Ragazzi Room on May 14 to catch up on everything we'd done in the past month, and talk about what's coming up. Our next meeting will be Wednesday, June 14 at 7 PM, and we'll be watching An Inconvenient Truth.

The "Come to a Meeting" link in the sidebar will be updated as soon as we have more information. Meanwhile, please email us or leave a comment if you'd like to join us.

Concerts, Concerts, Concerts!

We've attended three concerts in the past month, with excellent results.

Our first show was the Breeders concert at the Glass House in Pomona on April 29th. The turnout was great; we got nearly 100 new signatures for our petition. Some people may have been drawn to us because we had the only non-vendor table at the show, but whatever caught their attention, they seemed very interested in our campaign, and in Oxfam America in general.

On May 15, we went to the Ra Ra Riot concert at the Troubadour in West Hollywood. It was the first time Oxfam had set up a table at this kind of venue, but the response was fantastic. We got about 80 signatures.

Our third concert was particularly special, though. Crowded House played the Orpheum on May 16 and 17. Not only is the Orpheum a spectacular theater, Crowded House's lead singer, Neil Finn, is an Oxfam Ambassador. The fans and staff stopped by to talk; they were very encouraging about our work on this campaign.

There are a lot more concerts coming up - this is a great way to spread our message and raise awareness about our campaign (and also a great way to get into some fabulous concerts!). If you'd like to join us, please let us know.

Earth Day!

On April 20, 2008, we attended the Green Apple Festival at the Santa Monica Pier. Because our table was right on the pier, we were ideally situated to appreciate the sparkling water and clean ocean air. It was a perfect setting for a day focused on creating a green, sustainable future for all, especially those in the world's poorest communities.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by - our Oxfam signs, tent and gear attracted a lot of visitors! More than 500 of you signed our petition, and you seemed eager to talk to us about its message - "Stop Harming, Start Helping." This petition will be sent to the presidential candidates, to help them see how important our mission, to not only reduce America's contribution to climate change, but help the poorest communities in the world adapt to the effects of climate change, is to American voters. A number of you also signed up to volunteer with our campaign - we look forward to working with you in the months to come.

The highlight of an amazing day, though, was our Climate Justice Walk around the pier. More than 30 people joined us, and the visual impact of our group, clad in white t-shirts and carrying buckets to symbolize our commitment to creating real, lasting change for the world's most vulnerable communities, was profound. We would like to extend a very special thank you to everyone who joined us. Your presence was very powerful, and very much appreciated.

If you'd like to read more about this event (and see some great pictures - you do want to know what we did with those buckets, don't you?), check out the coverage from Santa Monica Close-up, the Broo-Waha, and Oxfam America's Flickr set, which includes photos from Climate Justice Walks all over the country.

And if you'd like to get involved in our next event, let us know!