Global Warming

Global warming is often described as an abstract, distant issue. For any of us who grew up in Wisconsin in the 1980's, it is far from that. In 1988, as the news was breaking of the dire environmental threat of global warming, even worse than the hole in the ozone layer,the worst drought since the Dust Bowl era struck. It decimated  our lovely Wisconsin summer, the pay off for enduring frigid Arctic winters, and was the starting gun on what would become a painful, dry decade. For an area that's home to most of the planet's fresh water, where the lakes are both Great and plentiful, it was scary stuff. I remember that the fire of my environmental activism was further enflamed by those long hot summers.

If you want to save the planet, it pays to care about the budget.

That's the message you helped send to Congress in the last two weeks.Together, more than 100,000 of us have signed, emailed and called on our elected leaders to the Billion Dollar Big Oil Bonanza.

And it has made a huge difference.Check out the video report-back we put together from our visit to DC, and share it with your friends and family online. Then, chip in $5 to help us keep fighting, because this campaign is FAR from over.

President Obama sent mixed signals on his commitment to environmental protection when he announced his nominations to lead the U.S. Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency. 

His EPA nominee, Gina McCarthy, is a tried and true environmental advocate with a proven track record on regulating pollution that causes global warming. But Obama's nominee to run the energy department, Ernest Moniz, is an apologist for fracking and nuclear power who said that renewable energy isn't ready to power our economy (obviously we know it is).

If this administration is going to seriously tackle global warming, it needs leaders like McCarthy, not Moniz. And we're going to need McCarthy to step up, and if necessary step OVER Moniz and other less-bold climate warriors in Obama's cabinet. Here's what we think should be on her to-do list as soon as the Senate confirms her appointment:

Earlier this month, we launched an action calling on the President to drop his support for his so-called "all of the above" energy policy and to instead use the first State of the Union address of his second term to lay out a clear plan to stop global warming.

Since then, President Obama said some pretty momentous things about climate change in his inaugural address. And policy advisors from the Vice President on down have been backing up the sentiment by promising more real action on global warming. And that's all good news. 

In fact, it’s so good that a bunch of people have asked, "Should we really be picking on the President? Why not go after Congress and demand action? Or the oil and coal companies?"

Of course — the answer is that we should do all those things — and a bunch more. But there's a really good reason to KEEP our attention focused on the President. Only President Obama can say "NO" to five of the 14 biggest climate-killing projects in the world:

Let's go green with Grover! No, not that Grover. We mean Grover Norquist, the country's most powerful anti-tax activist.

UPDATED - The last debate is tonight! Share this graphic to help get Bob Schieffer's attention before 9 p.m. and spread the word.