DIANE LENTAKIS: I am the lead volunteer organizer/campaign manager for a national campaign called Ready for 100. This is a national campaign that consists of people working together to inspire our decisionmakers to transition their towns and cities to be powered 100 percent with clean, renewable energy. This collaboration is asking mayors, CEOs, religious leaders, civic and community leaders, environmental organizations, environmental justice organizations, parents and students, especially, to commit to solutions that help us achieve 100 percent clean, renewable energy by 2035 or sooner for the electric sector and by 2050 or sooner – and I emphasize “or sooner” – for the other sectors – transportation, heating and cooling sectors.
This campaign is different from traditional grassroots campaigns in the following regard: The goal is to win substantive action-driven local clean energy victories as to execute national communications and movement-building strategies that will collectively shift the national public will to transition our energy sectors to 100 percent clean, renewable energy. Ready for 100 creates networks of local leaders who support each other in building a powerful, well-organized movement from the ground up. We have been using certain tools in this campaign, such as community mapping and power mapping, and it helps us identify – especially the community mapping – the different organizations within the particular town or city we’re working in to encourage them to work with us as a group and encourage the leaders to transition their towns and cities to 100 percent.
Some of the groups that we’ve already done presentation in are Hamden, New Haven, Hampton, Westport, Mansfield. The group that’s been up and going is right here: We have a Ready for 100 New Haven group; I think they’re really enthusiastic to work together to make this happen. The reason why we chose New Haven to start with is it’s already a progressive city as far as the environment is concerned. I see it here with the kids, thank you very much. (Applause)
That was Diane Lentakis from Connecticut Sierra Club and 350CT. Sixth-grader Sam Rosenberg wrapped up the rally.
SAM ROSENBERG: In humankind’s history, we have made marvelous inventions: the Planck (law – quantum physics and electromagnetism), the car, electricity. The examples I just mentioned, and others, are in our daily lives so much we hardly notice or think about them. But if they have a negative effect on the environment, then they’re all for the worst. When people take actions, they can have an effect on the environment. Depending on the action, this effect can be positive or negative. Almost any action you do has a carbon footprint. A carbon footprint is the amount of carbon dioxide we put into the atmosphere due to what we do or buy, and the effects of our actions have a huge impact. According to 97 percent of all scientists, our carbon footprints are causing more storms, more floods and more droughts. They are causing mass migration, which can lead to conflict and casualties. Shouldn’t our actions cause the opposite? (Yes, Yeah)
But why should we care about our effect on the environment? Why? Wouldn’t the high-powered people take care of it? Should we even think about this? But it’s not just their fight! Not just the U.S.’s fight; not just Mexico’s fight; not just Canada’s fight; not just France’s fight; not just all the other countries’ fight. It’s our fight, it’s the entire world’s fight! (Applause)
And as our fight, it’s our responsibility to keep the environment healthy! It’s our fight to think about our impact to the climate! It’s our fight to do things that will lower our carbon footprints! It’s our fight to let our representatives know how we feel! (Applause)
It’s our fight to contact our state’s senators and tell them we want more environmental regulations, statewide, countrywide and worldwide! (Applause)
So this is where I bring my speech to the end. What does the future hold for our climate, for the planet, for us? Who knows? All I know is if we take care of the environment, the future will be for the best. (Applause, cheering)
Group chant: It’s our fight (repeat)
