Please contact me immediately if you wish to meet with Rep. Mollohan in his WV office to ask him to support Energy bills in Congress while he is on the July 4th recess during the next two weeks (before July 16). Such a meeting might also be a good time to talk about Allegheny's TrAILCo powerline. I will be scheduling the meeting soon, so please let me know what dates you are available.
We would like to have other interested groups that support our position to join the Sierra Club in the meeting, so please let me know if you are also a member of another group or would like to invite them to participate. These could include: reps from the faith community, other enviro groups, Trout Unlimited, etc.
The Senate passed an increase in the CAFE standard, and action now turns to the House. The Club is making an all out effort to pass the bill there, with the strongest possible CAFE standard and a renewable energy portfolio standard. In addition, we must oppose coal-to-liquid subsidies in any form, as America must not start down that path if we are to avoid a dramatic surge in greenhouse gas emissions. Over the next couple weeks, we will be targeting Mollohan and Rahall to ask their support. This will be more difficult than it seems, as both have sponsored coal-to-liquids bills, and both have raised objections to wind farms in their districts. Nevertheless, an increase in CAFE standards has been a Club goal for many years, and the Senate bill is a good start. We are unlikely to see a better bill in this Congress, so we must do our part to get them on board.
Thank you, Karen Grubb and Jim Kotcon
TIPS from Glen Besa, Regional Director Sierra Club Appalachian Region:
You'll probably meet a staffer rather than your congress member -ask them to relay your position to the Congress member.
Be courteous! Be Prepared! Use the fact sheets as talking points. If there are several of you, assign roles and rehearse what you want to say. See goals below:
Report the outcome of your meeting on the attached form above and return it to your staff contacts.
GOAL OF IN-DISTRICT MEETINGS: To secure action by Congress that addresses global warming and oil dependence, we will ask Representatives in the House to support legislation to accomplish the following three goals:
1) Establish a national Renewable Energy Standard (RES) of at
least 20% by 2020; See Udall-Platts Factsheet
2) Mandate a 4% annual improvement in fuel economy (CAFE)
standards; See Markey-Platts Factsheet
3) Prevent environmental damage from motor fuels with a particular
focus on blocking any provisions that would jumpstart a new liquid
coal industry. See Coal Energy Bill factsheet.
RESOURCES:
Many other documents including fact sheets on bills are posted on the web in two locations:
1. The public website: http://www.sierraclub.org/energy/grassroots/ 2. On Clubhouse at: http://clubhouse.sierraclub.org/go/committees/energyhq/grassroots/ which is password protected
Additionally, you can access the text of the bills and their status on www.thomas.gov http://www.thomas.gov/