When our South Bay 350 Climate Action Group asked for Congresswoman Jane Harman’s help with our October 24, International Day of Climate Action we got it. Her Environmental Deputy, Diane Moss, has been not just accessible but also terrifically responsive in a straight forward, no bullshit way the Greenius really loves.
And what I also love is the obvious way the Congresswoman studies the issues and isn’t afraid to say and do the right things – despite opposition from the far right as well as the far left of her own party.
If you’re a regular Creative Greenius reader you know that I’ve been writing for quite a while about California’s leadership on climate, renewable energy, environmental legislation and energy efficiency issues.
I’ve also been pounding away about the climate fate of the vulnerable small island states and sea level rise for many months now.
So you know how much I love seeing Congresswoman Harman call these very issues out in the powerful statement she released today with her reaction to the just concluded Copenhagen climate talks.
“Though President Obama’s personal intervention at Copenhagen salvaged a modest non-binding agreement among major polluter nations, he acknowledged that much remains to be done at the international and national levels.
The shortcomings at Copenhagen reinforce the truth that the most substantive leadership on the issue is coming from the state and local levels. Nowhere is this truer than in California, which has long been at the vanguard in the nation on progressive climate policy.
I continue to look to my district for inspiration, where Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, Torrance and Los Angeles have signed the U.S. Conference of Mayors Climate Action Agreement to honor or exceed the Kyoto Protocol, and where forward thinking policies have been adopted like Hermosa Beach’s recently passed rooftop wind ordinance.
Added to the list are impressive grassroots efforts like the South Bay Climate Action Group and business community innovations like Balqon’s all electric heavy duty trucks and LEDtronics’ high efficiency lighting.
That no bold or binding agreement was made to cap greenhouse gas emissions, despite decades of dire warning by the scientific community, is stunning. It is irresponsible to the poorest, most vulnerable nations, and it also neglects the citizens of the California coast, where rising sea levels threaten real estate values and problems like wildfire and drought are increasingly worrisome. “
I’m proud to be represented by a Member of the House in DC who knows what she’s talking about and who tells it like it is. There aren’t nearly enough like her in Congress and she’s a key ally to environmentalists and climate activists like me.
Thank you Congresswoman Harman. I appreciate your help and support on key environmental issues and you can count on my help and support in your upcoming election. I haven’t endorsed anyone else running for office in any race in 2010, but I’m endorsing you. I want to make sure you get to keep on doing what you’re doing without interruption.
Creative Greenius 
Joe,
I am disappointed to read that you are endorsing a candidate who
worked to re-elect George Bush and extend his denial of global warming
for four more painful years. Harman’s lobbying of the New York Times to
suppress the story about the Bush administration’s illegal wiretapping program
kept the crimes off the front pages for a year. Had the American public known the extent of the constitutional violations, approved by Harman, perhaps
we would have been spared the additional years of environmental deregulation and resulting destruction.
As you know, I am a strong environmentalist, putting the California Democratic Party on record opposing offshore oil drilling and the Peru Free Trade Agreement (which Harman supported) that has worsened global warming through deforestation. If you visit my web site, winograd4congress.com, you can learn more about my support and advocacy for Green policies.
It’s unfortunate that you have thrown your support to the status quo: war as usual because we know that war leaves a carbon footprint like no other.
Thanks for your time and consideration,
Marcy Winograd
The Greenius: That’s okay, Marcy, I can live with your disappointment because your entire on-going campaign against Congresswoman Harman is a disappointment to me. For my money, you’re an inexperienced and strident one-trick pony who is much more interested in boosting her own ego and name recognition than you are in actually accomplishing anything tangible. And the results you’ve delivered since I’ve been following you, prove it.
I have visited your web site and I was not impressed. But it’s obvious YOU are very impressed with yourself. Congratulations on your own pride in how proud you are of Marcy Winograd.
Your over-the top-accusations against Congresswoman Harman sound desperate, shrill and frantic as does your entire campaign. Fringe-worthy is a good name for it. It’s hard to take them or you seriously in any way. Just as it’s hard to take the idea of you serving in Congress seriously. I find it the height of vanity for you to think that your first experience serving in public office should come at the national level as a member of the House and at this district’s expense too. No thank you. I’d rather not pay for your on-the-job training. I don’t have the confidence you can do the job.
Hell, your empty resume in this area makes Sarah Palin look like she should be on Mount Rushmore by comparison. But you want my vote for Congress? Get real.
Why don’t you try paying your dues and getting elected to a city council, or ANY public office – even dog catcher – before pretending you have the skill-set or the expertise to be an effective representative of me or any other citizen in this district? And no, I don’t think all your Democratic party work counts at all. Neither does most of the general public.
You can claim to be a strong environmentalist all you want, but to me you seem mostly like a strong talker and a strong advocate for Marcy Winograd on a nonstop basis. When you had your chance to put the issues and the environment first on International Climate Action Day on October 24, all you cared about doing was shouting your own name as loudly as possible. Your supporters were rude, loud and there to heckle and not to help. If their priority was 350 or global warming you could have fooled me.
Meanwhile, Congresswoman Harman actually listens when you talk to her, responds to environmental concerns and gets results. Her support is tangible and means something – unlike yours. I have seen her grow and learn and change with the times while she has been in office. Frankly Marcy, she seems like an adult compared to you.