House passes Climate Change Bill (ACES)

As you may already know, the House of Representative passed the historic American Clean Energy and Security Act bill on June 26th, 2009. 219 votes in favor and 212 against, with 218 required for it to pass. This was a narrow margin, but a win nonetheless. Thanks all your hard work to educate and mobilize support for this bill and your calls to your Representatives!

The following 8 Representatives in Pennsylvania voted in support of the bill:

Robert Brady - Philadelphia
Chaka Fattah - Philadelphia
Joe Sestak - Edgmont
Patrick Murphy - Bristol
Paul Kanjorski - Nanticoke
John Murtha - Johnstown
Allyson Schwartz - Jenkintown
Michael Doyle - Forest Hills

If you haven't had a chance to, it would be great to contact your Representative and thank him/her for casting a vote for a clean energy future. Thank your Representative today to say "thank you" for voting to put the US on a pathway to reducing carbon emissions and also providing funding for poor communities in the US and abroad in order to survive the effects of climate change.

Now that the climate change bill passed the House we need to start gearing up for an even tougher fight in the Senate, where it will require 60 votes to pass. It is imperative that funding for international adaptation is not reduced or cut from the bill.

Oxfam efforts were acknowledged during the floor debates. Representative Payne (D-NJ) cited Oxfam as he spoke to the needs of the poor and robust funding for international adaptation, and Representative Jim McGovern (D-MA) spoke persuasively on the same topic.

Monthly Member Meetings:

Its official, our monthly meetings are going to be held on the last Wednesday of every month. Our next meeting will be on July 29th, 2009 at the Whole Food Market, located at 929 South Street (9th and South St) from 6pm-8pm. Click here for directions and map.

We are happy to announce that Brian Rawson, Senior Volunteer and Community Organizer with Oxfam America will be joining us to share some updates with us and welcome new members!!!

The following is the meeting agenda:

• Quick “plus & delta” of past events
  * Last Monthly Meeting
  * SOP at UPenn
  * Lobby Visit
  * Fray Concert

• Updates on Tasks
  * Congressional Leadership Working Group monthly calls
  * Reaching out to potential allied organizations
  * Sisters on the Planet screenings with guest speaker
  * Business Cards

• Schedule future events
  * Potential concert opportunities
  * Tabling at First Fridays
  * Future SOP Screenings

• Exchange of Ideas
  * Quarterly call with Brian Rawson
  * Letter writing events
  * How to target Senators Specter and Casey
  * More ways to promote POAC