Bill Scher of ourfuture.org wrote an article on Huffington Post earlier today about his disappointment with the lack of grassroots activism around the climate bill. As we know, the bill got passed by a tight margin--only with the work of a lot of last minute deals (and 300 pages worth of amendments).
Reading this made me reflect on the role of activism over the summer. Obviously, as a college environmental group, we have a much easier time rallying support during the academic year. We can go out to Red Square and hold call-ins, we can expect that our members are regularly checking emails, and everyone tends to be very engaged and politically active. Over the summer, people disperse, get busy with work, or get distracted with leisure.
What lies ahead, then, when the bill goes to the Senate?
One thing that I would recommend for everyone to do is to follow 1Sky on twitter. Some of you have twitter accounts, and some don't, but I truly appreciated the value of twitter last Friday. I was walking home during a lot of the debate on the House floor, but that didn't stop me from knowing exactly what was going on. 1Sky was tweeting the comments that each Rep was making, and better still, they provided a link to a site where you could send an email to the Reps who did not support the bill to tell them why their arguments were wrong. During the 45 minute walk back, I was hooked.
Back on the main point, I know our google group is not the best tool for the instant dissemination of messages because messages can be received in a weekly digest. Facebook messages can easily be ignored--since the amass too quickly. Facebook events also don't get immediate response.
Blogging can be valuable if you have a constant readership.
So, here is my question to all of you eco-active Hoyas: What do you think is the best way to organize in such a climate (that of dispersion/summer) for the sake of the climate?
as someone who has thus far thought twitter is pretty silly, your description about how useful twitter was during the House debate was very winning. I may consdier getting a twitter account after all.
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