The Citizen’s Guide to Climate Policy

Hi All,

It’s been a long time since I last blogged, but I wanted to fill everyone in on a new document that my friend Lois and I just put out, entitled “The Citizen’s Guide to Climate Policy.”

Here’s our press release:

July 10th, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Ben Wessel, (202)-316-6364, ben.wessel@sustainus.org

New “Citizen’s Guide to Climate Policy” Aims To Help Climate Advocates

Washington, DC – Two college students released “The Citizen’s Guide to Climate Policy” today, a short booklet aimed at helping climate change advocates and activists engage with their elected officials on energy and climate policy. Lois Parshley and Ben Wessel, students at Middlebury College in Middlebury, VT, analyze and explain the policy debate over crucial elements of climate legislation in the 44-page guide in order to help concerned citizens gain a voice in the legislative debate. The guide features a forward by environmentalist and author Bill McKibben and focuses heavily on the Waxman-Markey American Clean Energy and Security Act, the climate bill that just passed the House of Representatives last month.

The guide is released as many environmentalists around the country are examining the Waxman-Markey bill and move to strengthen the bill in the Senate. “Now is the time for people all across the country to get active on climate legislation,” says Wessel, “Our guide will help engaged citizens join the debate without having to wade through the wonky policy talk of Washington.”

The guide goes in depth on specific issues that have been sticking points in the debate over legislation so far, including pollution permit auction and allocation, emissions reductions targets, and carbon offsets. It also has a chapter on the intersection of American domestic policy and the international climate negotiations that will culminate in December at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark. “We wanted to help expand the climate movement’s power in Washington by making citizens more informed,” says Parshley, “By explaining the major elements of the bill and putting forth reasons to support or reject them, we feel we’ve done that.”

Most importantly, the guide is action-oriented and urges interested readers to get engaged and help secure strong, science-based climate policy. In his forward to the Citizen’s Guide, Bill McKibben writes, “This booklet…is a scorecard. But not for passively sitting by and watching the game. It’s an invitation to get in the game, to become passionately involved while there’s still some hope of affecting the outcome.”