This newsletter can also be read on line.
Dear Planet Coolers,
Wow - this newsletter is packed - with important local actions, policy actions, stuff for and about youth, and a glowing report of VCCool's totally excellent kids' bike rodeo 2008 (with photos courtesy of our photographer George Vye).
Stay Cool!
-From the folks of VCCool
www.vccool.org
VCCool's Kids' Safety Bicycle Rodeo - A Wonderful Event
Free helmets, free tools, custom helmet art, bike rides, skill course
VCCool's Kids' Bicycle Rodeo was a fantastic event for getting kids and parents excited about bikes for transportation, and ready for the road. We estimated 500 participants and about 47 wonderful volunteers! We fitted and gave away 182 helmets. In fact, this is such a great way to impact our community to ride bikes, the VCCool board has voted to make this an annual event! Thank you to our sponsors, and congratulations to the many volunteers for a wonderful event.
Special Report: VCCool's 2008 Kid's Bike Rodeo
SLAP!
Ouch! What was that for?
S.L.A.P. Installation and Global Warming Youth Rally
Sunday, June 29
12 noon - 1:00 p.m. (kid's march from city hall)
1:00 - 3:00 p.m. (rally)
116 San Clemente Street
Ventura, CA 93001
Promenade Park, near Surfer’s Point
S.L.A.P. stands for "Sea Level Awareness Project." It's being put on by the other local global warming action group - Kids vs. Global Warming.
Here's the scoop: This Sunday, nearly 100 local youth will gather at city hall and march down to the Promenade to install ten SLAP (Sea Level Awareness Project) poles, warning Venturans of the effects of sea level rise due to global warming. A rally will follow with local youth rock bands and speakers to focus Ventura on the issues of global warming and what we can be doing about it as a community. (There will be bands, T-Shirts, speakers, activists, and of course the Sea.)
Poster
Press Release with More Info
Contact Victoria Loorz, co-founder Kids vs Global Warming, 805-200-8747
The Future of California Agriculture - Your Input Needed
Monday, July 7
12 p.m. – 3 p.m.
Oxnard Performing Arts & Convention Center
Thousand Oaks Room
800 Hobson Way
Oxnard, CA 93030
The State Board of Food and Agriculture and the California Department of Food and Agriculture are launching a series of listening sessions that will provide a forum for the agriculture industry and public to give their input into a California strategic agricultural vision. This vision will be used to guide public policy and investment priorities at the state and national level for the next 20 years. Don't be shy. Your voice and ideas need to be heard.
Help Set Standards for Global Warming Policy - Call your US Representative
There is all kinds of great legislation and cheesy legislation being proposed to respond to the climate crisis. What we need are some standards so we don't have to duke it out from square one every time.
There is a letter circulating in the US House of Representatives, initiated by Henry Waxman and others, that has just such a list. Please call your US Representative and urge them to sign on to Waxman's "Principles for global warming legislation" letter.
The principles recognize four key goals for global warming legislation:
- Reduce emissions to avoid dangerous global warming;
- Transition America to a clean energy economy;
- Recognize and minimize any economic impacts from global warming legislation; and
- Aid communities and ecosystems vulnerable to harm
from global warming.
The "Dear Colleagues" letter (with the sign-on letter)
Press Release
CA Representatives who have signed on to the letter include: Berman, Capps, Davis, Eshoo, Farr, Filner, Harman, Honda, Lee, Lofgren, McNerney, Tauscher, Thompson, Tauscher, Schiff, Sherman, Waters, and Waxman.
Take the City of Ventura's Budget Survey
Currently the City of Ventura is requesting input on their upcoming budget. As you probably already know, there are budget cuts across the board due to the state of our union. Fill out the City's Budget Survey, and help make sure that global warming issues such as bicycles, walking, and public transit take a key role in the future our our city.
Make Global Warming Part of the Presidential Debate
Dear Presidential Candidate:
"Please adopt the 1Sky policy platform today: 5 million green jobs, 80% carbon cuts, and no new coal plants."
Sign the Petition
Watch an Inspirational Video about 1Sky
Join the folks who plan to eat locally for 2009!
Sunday, July 6th
3-5 p.m.
E.P. Foster Library - Topping Room
651 E. Main St., Ventura
A Locavore is a person who get's their food from local sources.
Come learn about the local Locavore Project at Citizen's for a Peaceful Resolution's next speaker meeting. There will be farmers, activists, and other folks interested in participating. This is a great chance to learn more - and maybe even sign up and give it a try!
What Kids Can Do
Do too many car ads, beer ads, and too much "news-American-style" have you feeling overwhelmed and uninspired? Well flip off the TV and get a load of Severn Suzuki who at 12 years old was a key speaker at the U.N. She's 23 now, and one more citizen of the planet showing us how we can make a difference, a big difference. And Friends - if ever there was a time to make a difference, it is now.
Video: Severn speaks at the UN 1992
Current interview with Severn Suzuki
VCCool Main Office - On Vacation
The main office of VCCool will be closing during the first two weeks of July so that our President, Rachel Morris, can hop a train and go on vacation. There are tons of green local things to do in July, and we'll be back in the saddle working on our next big project soon. It's an all-day citizen's training on how to affect city and county planning as related to global warming!
If you received this message from a friend, and you'd like to be on Ventura's Global Warming email list, send a note to the action@vccool.org with instructions to add you to the global warming e-mail list.
To remove yourself from our list, simply send a note to action@vccool.org with a request to remove you from the global warming list..