Back2TopJune, 2016     
2016 is a critical Congressional election year!

Will you help make sure the greatest threat to future generations in human history is not ignored?

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Here's how you can make a difference:

Ask a couple of friends to join you to form a team (2-5 people) in your town, county, or congressional district to present Elders Climate Action's Climate Surveys to candidates for the US House of Representatives and Senate, and then follow up to urge them to participate. 

This is a project that you can invest as little or as much time and energy as works for your team.  And you'll have lots of support from ECA.

Fill out THIS FORM to indicate your interest in participating in this project.

Register HERE for the June ECA Members Call on Wednesday, June 8th, 5pm Eastern to learn more about this project.

Register HERE for a Conference Call in which the project will be explained in more detail, and your questions will be answered.


Join Elders Climate Action in Washington, DC 

Another Way to Make a Difference  on Climate Change 

June 19-22, 2016

Capitol Building Washington_ DC

A delegation of Elders Climate Action members is planning four days in Washington, DC this June:

June 19th and 20th:  Participate in the Citizens Climate Lobby Conference, where we'll get the latest information and the best training on advocating for climate fee and dividend legislation - our #1 policy priority for tackling climate change.

June 21st: Lobby Day.  We will form ECA teams to visit Congressional offices and bring our message of care for the grandchildren and future generations.

June 22nd: GCAD Planning.  
We will spend the day developing a vision and a plan of action for our next Grandparents Climate Action Day, in the Spring of 2017.

You can participate in one, two, or all three of these activities.

Please complete  this online form
to let us know which of the three parts of our Make A Difference on Climate Change days in Washington you are interested in participating in.  

You can also learn more on our June ECA Members Call to be held Wednesday, June 8th at 2pm Pacific Time, 5pm Eastern time.(Register here).  

Elders Joining March for a 
Clean Energy Revolution: Philadelphia, PA, July 24th

On the Eve of the Democratic National Convention, elders will march with thousands of others as part of the March for a Clean Energy Revolution for action to prevent climate catastrophe and present these demands to current and future policy makers. 

For detailed information, and to sign up to participate, go HERE.

ECA Monthly Members Call

Join our monthly Members Call to get the latest information on ECA activities, ask questions, and make suggestions: Every 2nd Wednesday of the month at 2pm Pacific time, 5pm Eastern time.

MOMS Clean Air FORCE Play-In for Climate Action: Washington, DC, July 13th 


Your opportunity to have a great time, and make a difference for the grandchildren 


Go here to learn more and register:  


Paul Severance, ECA Co-Chair, will be there to express the support of the Elders and Grandparents. Let him know if you can be there and help carry an Elders Climate Action banner:



VOICES OF ELDERS

Sue Sorensen, 
Conscious Elders Network  and 
Elders Climate Action  Volunteer

Sue Sorensen, center

Arrested at 75, Sue is an example of elders truly stepping up for their beliefs and convictions - even to the point of arrest.  Sue's passion for our planet, future generations and all life took her to Washington, DC this spring.The Tee shirts with "Elders Standing for Future Generations" says it all. Read the following article from Senior Planet about the march in Washington and the effort to take back democracy.

Senior Activists were at the Center of Recent Demonstrations, 
By Ellen Simon, April 26, 2016

Democracy is not for sale, we're not too old to go to jail." - Democracy Spring chant

Even though it was her birthday, Sue Sorensen wanted to get arrested. And she did. At 75, it was her first arrest. She was in good company. 
 
The mass arrests at the eight-day  Democracy Spring   demonstrations in Washington, D.C. earlier this month, where Sorensen was protesting, were the largest since the Vietnam War era. Also arrested were Ben 
Sue Sorensen Democracy Spring Cohen and Jerry Greenfield of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream, Harvard law professor Lawrence Lessig and actress Rosario Dawson.

Capitol Police made more than 1,240 arrests, according to USA Today. Many of those were elders.   Read the Article


Dominique Browning 
Co-Founder and Senior Director
Moms Clean Air Force

Moms Clean Air Force is a special project of the Environmental Defense Fund, and is a national movement of more than 740,000 moms - and dads too! - who are protecting our children's right to clean air - just as our parents fought for us, forty years ago, when the Clean Air Act was first passed.

She very recently became a grandmother for the first time and that has deepened her already strong connection to the earth. Dominique is a writer, editor, mother of two sons and now a grandmother.

Her message on Mother's Day was a simple one; "I want to be able to look my grandson in the eye and say I am doing everything to make your world cleaner and safer." Read Dominique's essay from the New York Times.  Becoming a Grandmother

 

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100Grannies.org 
for a Livable Future

100Grannies photo

In April 2012, ten women gathered for dinner; two hours later they rose from the table as 100 Grannies for a Livable Future.  With close to 150 members, we are an environmentally concerned, anti-fossil fuel group of women of a 'vintage age' (think fine wine).  We are not necessarily biological grandmothers, but are all older women concerned about future generations.  

We advocate, educate and agitate. We join with other groups in pursuing our goals.  We have been arrested at various protests.  We are in a coalition of Iowan organizations against the Bakken Pipeline.  Grannies have testified at EPA hearings about KXL, participated in the KXL blockade in East Texas, marched in the 2014 People's Climate March in Manhattan and led the group that hiked coast-to-coast across America last summer.  

We work with schools and libraries to reach kids, participate in fairs and events, collaborate with University classes and put on a lecture and film series at our Senior Center.  We write op-eds and letters to the editor and to elected officials and sponsor forums.  We're working to save the world!


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 May Mobilization



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In This Issue
 
Stay connected via our  
ECA website , Facebook page,
bulletins and newsletters for updates and opportunities in
your communities.



Elders Climate Action 
is  a Project of the 
Conscious Elders Network

The Conscious Elders Network (CEN) is an educational, non-profit organization fostering a budding movement of vital elders, dedicated to growing in consciousness while actively addressing the demanding challenges facing our country.

Action always beats intention graphic

Facebook is an essential tool in getting the word out about Elders Climate Action. The more our Facebook page is visited, LIKED, and SHARED, the more people we will reach. In order to be seen, we need you! Learn the Facebook basics here.
 
Like us on Facebook now!
 
  

There are many ways 
to get involved with 
Elders Climate Action.
Each person and their efforts 
can make a big difference! info@eldersclimateaction.org 
  

We value your feedback
so  let us hear from you on Facebook  what you enjoyed about this newsletter.  

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RETRACTION
It has come to our attention that a link we provided our last newsletter entitled "Trees and the Process of Photosynthesis" contains some inaccurate information. 

Movie Review

TIME TO CHOOSE

by Lynn Raskin


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The film Time to Choose is an excellent film and a good roadmap of what it will take to tackle climate change; namely putting extreme wealth accumulation secondary to the imperatives of restoring our ecosystems to sequester carbon, encourage rainfall and photosynthesis by stopping rainforest clear cutting, and ending destructive pollution from fossil fuel use and big agriculture. 
  
The film compares favorably and is similar in scope and content with the Years of Living Dangerously TV series by James Cameron.  I think it is a better, more comprehensive film than Naomi Klein's film based on her book, This Explains Everything, except in one regard.  Klein's film and Cameron's series spend more time depicting successful grassroots activism against the often corrupt and illegal governments that create fat cats at the expense of Earth and its citizens.  Time to Choose suggests more hope through renewable technologies (healthier investment opportunities too) than through activism. 
 
The film is in theaters starting June 3rd.  Find listings here.