Fellow New Yorker "No Impact Man" is asking for help

He can explain it best - here is an edited version of his post:

I really, really need support from all of you today (and I'm unashamedly bribing you with the offer of free Reverend Billy DVDs). But first I have to give you some background. Just read the bits in bold if you're in hurry.

Next Friday, May 30, Representative Jerrold Nadler of New York's Eight Congressional District has kindly agreed to meet with me in his New York office. As one of his constituents, I intend to ask Representative Nadler to support an effective global warming mitigation policy that is based not on what is politically possible but on what is scientifically necessary.

More specifically, I intend to ask him to:

• Introduce, as soon as possible, a non-binding resolution to the House of Representatives asserting that we need a climate change mitigation policy with a goal of no more than 350 ppm of atmospheric carbon dioxide (read why here). Furthermore, the resolution should say that the United States must collaborate with the international community to achieve an effective successor to the Kyoto Protocol that will achieve the 350 goal or better (depending on how the science progresses).
• Pledge to support the 1sky.org policy platform that also includes creating five million green jobs (through, for example, weatherizing our buildings and manufacturing solar panels and windmills), and placing a moratorium on the building of new coal power plants.
• Pass on to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi a letter addressed jointly to her and Representative Nadler, in his position as Assistant Whip, asking them both to push for the introduction of new and the strengthening of currently pending climate change legislation to reflect the crucial 350 goal. This means, at the very least, aiming for an 80% reduction in climate emissions below 1990 levels by 2050 and a 25% reduction by 2020.

Now then, here's how I was hoping you could help. My dream is to present Representative Nadler and Speaker Pelosi with between 350 and 3,500 (10 x 350) emails of support for these policy objectives.

Can you help? All it requires is a cut and paste job (see below).

Fellow bloggers: would you be willing to pass this request onto your readers?

Everyone: would you email this around and get your friends to pitch in?

Two bits of good news:

1. Representative Nadler has been an ardent supporter of environmental issues ranging from the thorough cleanup of the World Trade Center site to securing federal funding for state conservation and wildlife grants. He received a score of 95% for his voting record in the 1st session of the 110th Congress from the League of Conservation Voters.
2. Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping have provided me with five copies of their new DVD, What Would Jesus Buy (watch the trailer here). I'm going to give the DVDs to people who send in their emails of support (the 1st, the 35th, 100th, the 350th and the 1000th).

Here's how to send in your email of support:

Simply cut and paste the below, making sure to substitute in your name, mailing address and email address, and send it to noimpactman+nadler+pelosi@gmail.com (it looks like a weird email address but, don't worry, it will work).

Dear Representative Nadler and Speaker Pelosi--

Thank you for your hard work on behalf of the people of the United States. It is indisputable that the health, happiness and security of the American people depends upon the well-being of our planetary habitat. It is also indisputable that the anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases is causing changes in our habitat that will adversely effect Americans on every level--from our health to our economy.

On May 30, Colin Beavan aka No Impact Man will visit Representative Nadler to express to him support for a number of climate change mitigation policies that are much stronger than those currently passing through Congress. Please consider this a letter of support for the measures Colin Beavan will be advocating.

Specifically, I support Colin Beavan in requesting that Representative Nadler and Speaker Pelosi both, together or separately:

• Introduce, as soon as possible, a non-binding resolution to the House of Representatives asserting that we need a climate change mitigation policy that accords not with what is politically possible but what is scientifically necessary--a goal of no more than 350 ppm of atmospheric carbon dioxide (read why here). Furthermore, this resolution should assert that the United States must collaborate with the international community to achieve an effective successor to the Kyoto Protocol that will achieve the 350 goal or better (depending on how the science progresses).
• Pledge to support the 1sky.org policy platform that also includes creating five million green jobs (through, for example, weatherizing our buildings and manufacturing solar panels and windmills) and placing a moratorium on the building of new coal power plants.
• Push for the introduction of new and the strengthening of currently pending climate change legislation to reflect the crucial 350 goal. This means, at the very least, aiming for an 80% reduction in climate emissions below 1990 levels by 2050 and a 25% reduction by 2020.

Yours sincerely,

[Your Name]
[Your Mailing Address]
[Your Email Address]

Chasing Utopia article in Times (17 May)

Reminding me of our “furniture” conversation, and how it makes a huge difference once you start owning good furniture (and caring for it, storing it, and wondering why it is more important than traveling Europe): A New York Times article called, “Chasing Utopia, Family Imagines No Possessions” (May 17, 2008, by Ralph Blumenthal and Rachel Mosteller) talks briefly about “downsizing.” Aimee and Jeff Harris from Austin, Texas, are giving/selling/ridding themselves of possessions, down to and including their wedding rings, to become organic farmers/homesteaders in Vermont (by this June!). They want to eat healthy and clean. They have a blog: www.cagefreefamily.com. A few other families also are mentioned paring down to basics, one to live in a traveling RV, another a catamaran. The reference points are Mary E. Grigsby, associate professor of rural sociology at the University of Missouri and the author of Buying Time and Getting By: The Voluntary Simplicity Movement, and Juliet B. Schor, a sociology professor at Boston College and author of The Overspent American.

US Veggie Pride Parade, Sunday, 18 May

The first US Veggie Pride Parade (www.veggieprideparade.org) intended to give some visibility to vegetarianism will be held this Sunday, starting at noon, Hudson and Gansevoort Streets (near West 13th and 9th Ave?), across Bleeker and West 4th, and culminating by 1 pm at Washington Square Park the eastern/southern side. The Cheryl Hill Band will perform, awards given for best costumes and sign-board slogans, along with other presentations, will continue till 4:30 or so. Some of the organizers are from www.vivavegie.org and www.equaljusticealliance.org.

Did you know? 70 percent of the water that is taken from the world’s rivers, lakes, and underground wells goes to agriculture, and 40 percent of the world’s grains goes to feed animals for slaughter. (Worldwatch Institute)

Resources related to this month's VS circle - Your relationship with Money

Thanks everyone for a fun get together and welcome to the new attendees - it was great having you. I just wanted to follow up by posting some of the things we talked about as well as some additional resources.

Examining your relationship with money:
Financial Literacy Month's Tools for Success - I searched the web for hours and finally found some great tools on this website. They are in PDF format for easy printing:

• Income Worksheet - Use the income worksheet to help you determine the amount of income you can realistically count on.
• Net Worth Worksheet - Calculating your net worth is as simple as comparing what you owe (liabilities) and what you own (assets).
• Debt Load Worksheet - Create an accurate picture of your debt obligations.
• Financial Priorities Worksheet - Creating a list of needs and wants can help you establish your financial priorities.
• Financial Goal Worksheet - Smart financial goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Rewarding, and Trackable. Use this worksheet to identify short-, mid-, and long-term SMART goals.
• Goal Certificate - Create a "fridge friendly" personalized goal certificate to help you stay motivated.
• Record of Daily Expendatures - Knowing where your money is going is critical for a successful budget. Track your daily expenses and then ask yourself if you're spending your money wisely.
• Expense Worksheet - Create and follow a spending plan. A realistic monthly spending plan is a valuable tool to guide your spending and saving decisions.

Money Management International is the largest nonprofit, full-service credit counseling agency in the United States and they have very useful links:

• Financial tools and calculators
• Travel planner
• Personalized holiday gift planner
• Free customized personal gift certificates - (I had been looking for this service!)
  
• Educational articles
• Money Choices - This free online program (sponsored by VISA for people who have had problems with debt) teaches the skills necessary to maintain financial health and well being.

Links about Social/Community Investing:

• Coop America's 7 Ways Your Investments Can Fight Climate Change - To change course and turn back the climate crisis, we can all use our investor power to advance clean energy, and to push polluters to clean up their acts. You can make a difference whether your investments are large or small — even by using your checking or savings account. Our list below tells you how.
• Social Investment Forum - The Social Investment Forum is the social investment industry's trade organization. Their members integrate economic, environmental, social and governance factors into their investment decisions and SIF provides programs and resources to advance this work. The website has a lot of information about social and community investing.
• Community Investing Center - The Center’s mission is to provide financial professionals with information and resources to help them channel more money into community investing. Community investing is capital from investors that is directed to communities underserved by traditional financial services. It provides access to credit, equity, capital, and basic banking products that these communities would otherwise not have. In the U.S. and around the world, community investing makes it possible for local organizations to provide financial services to low-income individuals, and to supply capital for small businesses and vital community services, such as child care, affordable housing, and healthcare.

Links about responsible/green/frugal money habits:

• Coop America's Real Money - Selected articles from their bimonthly newsletter about green living, purchasing, and investing tips
• Money and Values Blog - Connecting personal finance with ethics, values, and priorities: frugal living, socially and eco-conscious consuming, and other financial choices for a fulfilling and meaningful life
• Greener Pastures: Personal Finance Blog - Focusing on Frugality, Personal Finance, and Sustainability
• Financial Learn: A Frugal Living Blog - This site was created to educate and more importantly motivate you and myself in living a happy and debt free life.

We also ended up talking a bit about Fast Fashion and I found a related reported published by Cambridge University's Sustainable Manufacturing Group

And relatedly we talked about branding and two books were mentioned:

• William Gibson's Pattern Recognition
• Naomi Klein's No Logo

Finally, we discussed that right livelihood may be the focus of next month's circle.

Circle this Thursday May 8th, 2008 - Topic: Your relationship with money

We have a Voluntary Simplicity Circle this coming Thursday May 8th, 2008 - 7 to 9 pm,
28 East 35th Street (between Park and Madison Ave. - red door, ring the bell for the gallery)

Topic for this month's circle: Your relationship with money

We are going to talk about the thing no one wants to talk about: our relationship with money. As we have tossed the idea back and forth, I realize that we may need to just bring to the circle the issue related to money that is most important to each of us. Since we haven’t talked about money for a while, I think we need to brainstorm about it in a general way to see where we are at and then pick out topics that we want to go further in depth on at another meeting in the future.

Here are some things that came us to get us started thinking:

How do we earn our money, invest our money, save our money, (not) spend our money, donate our money in a way that coincides with our voluntary simplicity goals? Who do you inherit your spending habits from? How do we make money real?

In Your Money or Your Life (YMOYL), Dominguez and Robin define money as “something we choose to trade our life energy for. Our life energy is our allotment of time here on earth, the hours of precious life available to us. When we go to our jobs we are trading our life energy for money.”

From YMOYL: Step 4: Three Questions That Will Transform Your Life
1. Did I receive fulfillment, satisfaction and value in proportion to life energy (money) spent?
2. Is this expenditure of life energy (money) in alignment with my values and life purpose?
3. How might this expenditure change if I didn't have to work for a living?

In thinking about what we do to earn money – the concept of “Right livelihood” is based around the Buddhist concept of harmlessness, and essentially states that practitioners ought not to engage in trades or occupations which, either directly or indirectly, result in harm to other living beings or systems. Right livelihood can also be defined as “the ideal of finding a way for your true work or vocation to be your paid work as well” (this is how Dominguez and Robin define it, though they don’t particularly advocate for it)

I will bring some resources. Please bring anything interesting that you want to share.

Kirsten

Topic for the next VS circle?

Our next circle is coming up next week - Thursday May 8th. Continuing on what we talked about at the end of the last circle - I was thinking that we could talk about the thing no one wants to talk about: money. How do we earn our money, invest our money, save our money, (not) spend our money, donate our money in a way that coincides with our voluntary simplicity goals? I would love to get feed back if there is something in particular people would like to focus on. I can't wait!
Kirsten