Follow up to "Look What Al Gore Did to Me!"

On Sunday, I posted a diary entitled "Holy crap, look at what Al Gore did to me!!!" about the amazing opportunity that my wife and I were given to work on addressing global climate change because of the film An Incovenient Truth.  We were both completely overwhelmed by the great mojo and ideas we received in response to our simple question: "What should we do?"  I just wanted to take a quick second to follow up and let those of you who want to help us succeed know where we're headed.  

First, thanks to Wojo for trying to sum up all the great and disparate suggestions in response to my diary, and for his own idea for what we should do.  I'm impressed that you slogged through 700+ comments! It took me a few days but I finally got through them all myself. We now have a long list of ideas that I thought were worth considering, as well as a slew of links to check out.  

It was interesting to see the themes that emerged (working with youth; focus on local models; supporting lower-income Americans to live green; energy policy; green building; food & climate, etc.).  Some confirmed ideas we were already considering, while others had never crossed our minds.  

I can't stress enough how fortunate--and humble--we both feel to have received such positive vibes and great suggestions.  It will take the world community to address global climate change and it's with community input (both here on dkos and our personal community of friends, family and colleagues) that we hope to come up with the best approach for us to take in making the most of the amazing opportunity we've been given.

Here's what I plan to do: Once the election has passed and we've kicked those sorry assholes out of one-party rule, I'll post a follow up diary to share what ideas we've narrowed our scope down to, as well as the criteria we're using to make our decision.  I hope that people will take the time to share any thoughts/considerations/opinions they have and perhaps help us flesh each one out a bit.

We also want to build upon and honor the tremendous work that kossacks have put into developing Energize America (btw, Jerome et. al, the website appears to be down) and so we intend to review the plan and consider whether or not furthering this work is where we should commit our energies (no pun intended).

Thanks all! And now let's take back our goddamn country!

•  Cool - thanks for the update.

  It's exciting just knowing about someone else experiencing this kind of opportunity. You update us and I can update the people I told ("...there's this couple who got one of those close-family-friend chances you daydream about...").

  by blueteam on Thu Nov 02, 2006 at 09:08:33 AM PDT

•  Do keep us informed after we've

  started the task of temporarily re-channelling the Potomac through the Capitol. Decontaminating the water after it's poured through that stable of filth will be a serious ecological problem in itself.

  by Cowalker on Thu Nov 02, 2006 at 09:15:41 AM PDT

•  A small suggestion

  This is such a great story and I know you got an enthusiastic response.

  I think it would be a good to come up with a little name that is catchy like Energize America, just so people can look it up if they miss your updates or want to share it with someone off Kos.  Or if they want to diary on something pertaining to it, they could use it as a tag.

  "Holy crap, look at what Al Gore did to me!!!" is just a little to long IMO.

  Perhaps while you are GOTVing you can let it percolate in the back of your mind.

  This name doesn't have to be the permanent one that you launch with in a year.

  by Bionic on Thu Nov 02, 2006 at 09:18:49 AM PDT

  •  I really like Energize America

    that's a good one.

    by hypersphere01 on Thu Nov 02, 2006 at 09:37:49 AM PDT

    •  It's already taken

      Jerome a Paris' organization is called that.

      by Bionic on Thu Nov 02, 2006 at 10:00:00 AM PDT

      •  yeah, i know

        i really like the name.  

        by hypersphere01 on Thu Nov 02, 2006 at 10:14:32 AM PDT

  •  We actually have a makeshift name already...

    Climate Changers.  Imagine superheroes in spandex. Ok, don't... In my case, not an appealing image at all.

    Does that suffice?

    by princemyshkin on Thu Nov 02, 2006 at 10:17:29 AM PDT

    •  Could be good

      Do a little research and see what comes up on google.
      Whether it's already being used or whether it pulls up a lot of garbage.

      The point is to have something that others can search for you (and I know you can hotlist but not everyone does) or pass on easily to friends.

      It doesn't have to be the full concept that will distill who you are and what you do, as you hope your name will when you determine in a year what that will be.

      by Bionic on Thu Nov 02, 2006 at 01:49:01 PM PDT

    •  Climate Changers ...

      Could be great ... even though that is what all of us are tending to do already ...  Exxon / Peabody Energy / Bush-Cheney / Australia are real experts in this domain ...

      In any event, no matter what you choose, consider creating a tag that you will use in all your diaries and that people who are trying to specifically call issues to your attention can use in their diaries.

      by besieged by bush on Sun Nov 05, 2006 at 12:40:56 PM PDT

      •  Exactly why we took it.

        The idea is to make changing the climate a positive action, not a negative one.

        I've tagged these diaries with Climate Changers, in case anyone wants to keep abreast of developments.

        by princemyshkin on Mon Nov 06, 2006 at 08:12:14 AM PDT

•  If you need an environmentally conscious

  accountant, let me know.  I'm in job market, looking to do something on the "green" side.  ;-)

  by FoundingFatherDAR on Thu Nov 02, 2006 at 09:24:28 AM PDT

  •  Cool. Thanks for the offer.

    I hope that we'll be able to grow the operation large enough that we'd need the help!

    by princemyshkin on Thu Nov 02, 2006 at 10:18:47 AM PDT

•  Energy is one of the fundamental answers

  Changing to solar and wind will have such a large impact on everything from the environment, to technology, to shifts in political power.
   

  by Thom K in LA on Thu Nov 02, 2006 at 11:48:40 AM PDT

  •  No ... THE fundamental issue

    Check out The Terrawatt Challenge. Richard Smalley makes a good case as to why energy is the core issue for the 21st century. Getting "it" right makes every other issue easier to deal with well. Getting energy wrong means that everything else will be harder to get "right" (and, IMHO, could doom us to extinction).  I prefer the getting energy right.

    by besieged by bush on Sun Nov 05, 2006 at 01:53:15 PM PDT