sunrisemvmt

Yeah totally! Sunrise hubs (local chapters of the movement) are autonomous. The hub members at each location develop their own political strategy, outreach rhythms etc. There's lots of work to be done locally: we can win municipal or state level climate legislation in line with the goals of the Green New Deal, we can bring the conversation about the climate crisis and its solutions to our classrooms, libraries and houses of worship.

Another big think that needs to change is how the climate crisis is reported on in the news, especially how much air time it gets. Pretty much everyone understand that climate change is the biggest existential threat our species has ever faced. Yet news coverage of it is depressingly low. Everyone needs to be treating this as an emergency and that includes the media. Something you can do to help change this is by writing a Letter to the Editor, especially if your local newspaper barely covers climate change.

Yeah this is something we're thinking critically about as we structure our late summer and fall 2019 campaigns. We've been partnering with an org called iMatter to do youth organizing at the high school level but we don't have anything structured for college campuses yet. Right now college students can just register a regular Sunrise Hub (sunrisemovement.org/hubs) but we are thinking about a more streamlined campaign strategy that can be replicated across college campuses! Stay tuned :) but also if you have any neat ideas let us know!

We did electoral work during the 2018 midterm elections through a fellowship program we called Sunrise Semester. During this program young people 18+ devoted their summer and fall to to canvassing and phone banking for climate champions in five states. That program included just over 70 fellows and for the 2020 election cycle we're planning to run that same program with (hopefully!) over 300 fellows. We're still working out the details and which states we're going to based in but if someone you know might be interested you can send them this form to sign up: https://actionnetwork.org/forms/im-interested-in-sunrise-semester-2020

We're really fucking angry that the DNC has refused to hold a climate debate *and* banned 2020s from taking part in a non-DNC climate debate. It's a total failure of leadership and shows how horrifically out of touch they are with the American public (Democratic, Republican and Independent voters alike!).

The first debates are in Miami this week on Wednesday and Thursday. Volunteers all across the country are hosting watch parties and taking part in a social media campaign with the goal of making sure #ClimateDebate is a trending topic on twitter throughout both nights of the debate. The DNC needs to know how bad they're failing our generation.

That being said, the watch parties are a great space to dip your toes into Sunrise and meet some cool people in your community!! Check out the map and sign up to attend here (scroll down to the Miami debates section): https://www.sunrisemovement.org/changethedebate

The idea that we have to choose between our economy and saving our planet is a false choice, one that's been pushed for decades by the fossil fuel executives who are only interested in protecting their wealth. That's why a core aspect of what we're fighting for in the Green New Deal is a federal jobs guarantee and a jobs training program for fossil fuel industry workers in transition. We could create millions of jobs and strengthen our economy by investing in mobilizing our work force to move every sector away from fossil fuels and toward renewable energy.