Consequences, the youth outreach organization fighting global warming and demanding a sensible solution to the climate crisis, has announced a special conference call next Tuesday with Sen. John Kerry.
According to their email
"Senator Kerry will engage young people across the country to talk about this historic moment in the fight for clean energy. Senator Kerry, the author of the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act, understands the importance of youth action on the climate issue and wants to hear from us."
The call will take place this upcoming Tuesday, October 27th at 9pm eastern. You can RSVP on their website here.
U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe's abysmal record on the environment is a major issue among Oklahomans and could help pro-environment Andrew Rice in his campaign against the state's senior senator, according to a recent article in The New Republic.
The June 3 article, written by Marisa Mazria-Katz, notes how state Sen. Rice, 35, pictured right, has put "environment issues at the heart of his campaign."
On the trail, [Rice] emphasizes his efforts in the Oklahoma legislature to convert the state's vehicle fleet to clean-burning fuel and to require public schools to reduce their energy consumption. Rice is hoping his larger agenda of alternative fuel initiatives, which include better harnessing the state's vast natural gas resources, will appeal to a wide range of voters. "There is a segment of Oklahoma's population that is willing to swing to the other side for the first time in 20 years," Rice says.
Rice represents a district in Oklahoma City, but he continues to appeal to state rural voters who are tired of Inhofe's grandstanding on global warming. Environmental issues transcend political affiliation and the 73-year-old Inhofe seems out of touch with the latest scientific information about climate change. Even his own political party's presumptive presidential nominee has proposed a cap-and-trade system on carbon emissions. The article notes,
State Sen. Andrew Rice (D-Oklahoma), who is running for the U.S. Senate against Republican incumbent Jim Inhofe this year, was recently interviewed by Grist, a prominent online magazine dedicated to environmental issues.
In the interview, Rice, pictured right, discussed his campaign against Inhofe, who once called global warming a hoax and fights against any federal legislation addressing climate change. Rice also discussed how fighting climate change could benefit the Oklahoma economy.
Rice said, "This is a win-win for Oklahoma, particularly around wind energy. We're really in a position to be able to provide clean, renewable energy [to nearby states].
"I've got two bills [in the state Senate], one that's going to be converting our state vehicles to alternative fuels, and another that's going to be doing an energy-efficiency study of our schools and state buildings, trying to find ways to save money. I have rural Republican state Senate colleagues who were very supportive of these ethanol, biofuel, wind-energy initiatives we have; it's not a partisan issue for them, because they have constituents in their communities poised to benefit from developing these programs."
Rice's positions on climate change are reasonable and responsible and stand in marked contrast to Inhofe's over-the-top, anti-environment rhetoric, which has embarrassed the state.
(Yes, please, Inhofe already. It is time to send U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Oklahoma) into retirement. Check out his opponent in the 2008 election, State Sen. Andrew Rice (D-Oklahoma City), a true progressive who supports a full and open discussion on climate change and all environmental issues.)
U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe has brought more embarrassment to Oklahoma. The League of Conservation Voters (LCV) has designated Inhofe as the leader of its "Dirty Dozen" list for possessing one of the worst anti-environmental records in Congress.
Unfortunately, the designation ultimately reflects on the state's residents, many of whom do not support Inhofe's radical anti-environmental agenda and ideology. This must include some of his fellow Republicans. For example, in his ongoing gesture of absurdity, Inhofe calls global warming a "hoax" developed by liberals. He has been admonished by U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer twice at Senate Environment and Public Works Committee meetings for acting rudely to former Vice President Al Gore and a fellow senator as they tried to speak candidly about climate change.
After a few weeks on the road in Oklahoma and a whirlwind of meetings in Washington, D.C., it now seems likely State Senator Andrew Rice will soon be filing papers to challenge U.S. Senator Jim Inhofe in the 2008 election.
Since winning election to the State Senate from a diverse, inner-OKC district, Rice has already proven to be a skilled consensus builder who gets results. He offers a stark contrast to the right-wing curmudgeon, Jim Inhofe.
Rice still says he will make a formal announcement after Labor Day but fundraising prospects have surpassed his expectations and sources close to him say he may be “all in” within the next 10 days. He has received encouragement on a draft Rice Web site, www.runandrewrun.com, and in meetings throughout the state. We also hear the DSCC now views Rice as a potential upset challenger in the style of a Jim Webb or a Jon Tester.
Rice lost a brother in the World Trade Center on 9/11 and believes that Bush and Inhofe took their eye off the ball by waging war in Iraq while Al Quaeda rebuilt its global terror network. Inhofe, who once called global warming a “hoax,” boasts of being "one of the last true conservatives left in the Senate".
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