After finding myself stranded in London over the weekend as a giant cloud of volcanic ash covers the European skies, I'm glad to finally be back in U.S. soil in time for Earth Day.
This year's Earth Day celebration is special, but not just because the holiday turns 40 today. It's special because the climate movement has decided to turn the holiday's anniversary into a rallying cry for bold solutions to the climate crisis. All across the country, the climate movement is spreading the message that the most important thing we can do for the Earth at this moment is to tackle climate change head-on.
The 1Sky campaign has been doing its part in this effort. Over the past few weeks, volunteers from 1Sky and other organizations have been organizing a series of "Storms" (unannounced group visits) of local congressional offices around the country to demand from our reps and senators firm commitments to support strong climate legislation and keep the Clean Air Act (CAA) intact. As of today, these volunteers have stormed 35 congressional offices from Oregon to Maine and everywhere in between.
I'm deeply grateful to everyone who has participated in these Storms. Because of their willingness to act boldly, these Storms have received significant press coverage and helped nail down firm commitments from lawmakers like Sen. Michael Bennet (CO) and Rep. Mark Schauer (MI) to fight back against any attempts to weaken the Clean Air Act. With the CAA under withering assault from Dirty Coal, Big Oil and their allies in Congress, this grassroots pressure will be invaluable if we're going to succeed in keeping the CAA intact.
Take a look at some of the great videos and pictures our volunteers took during these events, or read their accounts in their own words on our blog. I hope you'll find them as inspirational and energizing as I do, and that they'll inspire you to do your part to tackle climate change.