One little victory! Can we score again?

You know, sometimes I think of being an environmentalist like Sisyphus pushing the rock up the hill. There really isn’t much of a difference. The battle rages on, and on, and on, and on. You get tired, you get worn, you get beat down to the point of not being able to look up anymore, but somehow you manage to keep the faith and keep pushing that f'in rock! You fight the good fight with a vision, but with the frightening specter of not being able to predict the future—when the future doesn’t always look so good… however…

However, every now and then the spirit of John Muir, or some other hero of days passed appears to help chip away at that stone and make the load a bit lighter. Maybe it’s when the Tohono O’odham or Navajo do their spiritual rain dances, who knows. If that’s the case, I think they should do it more often, because I believe they’ve had a positive effect on Capitol Hill with the energy bill (so far). I got this message just now:

Dear Paul,

What a fantastic victory for our environment! And your flood of phone calls to the Senate helped make it happen.

Last night, the U.S. Senate passed an energy bill that would greatly improve the fuel economy of our nation's cars for the first time since 1975 -- cutting America's oil dependence and global warming pollution in the process.

By a 65 to 27 vote, the Senate adopted a measure that would require cars, trucks and sport-utility vehicles to get 35 miles per gallon by 2020 -- compared with a paltry 25 miles per gallon today.

It was a stunning setback for the auto companies, who fought tooth and nail against an energy bill that will drag America out of our gas guzzling past and into a more energy efficient future.

And what a historic moment for millions of us who have worked so hard -- for so many years -- to break the automakers'

stranglehold on Washington for the sake of a healthier planet.

Thousands of you exemplified that can-do spirit yesterday when you received my emergency alert and swamped the Senate with phone calls in opposition to the automakers' latest amendment.

You spoke out for the vast majority of Americans who are sick and tired of our oil habit and the terrible price we pay for it.

And that's why the Senate, after decades of doing Big Auto's bidding, made a sudden U-turn last night.

What a difference five years makes! The last time we fought this battle, in 2002, the automakers barely broke a sweat. But since then, the American people have glimpsed an oil-dependent future of skyrocketing gas prices, catastrophic global warming and unending wars over fossil fuels.

America does not want to go there. You delivered that message to the Senate loud and clear, and the Senate heard you.

We still have to fight this battle all over again in the House before this fuel economy measure becomes law. And we'll be calling on you to make your voice heard in that chamber at the critical moment.

But you and I deserve one day to savor a victory that has been so many decades in the making. Thank you for doing your part to make it happen.

Sincerely,

Frances Beinecke
NRDC Action Fund

Ahh Frances, always on her A game keeping me informed up to the tee. Well there you have it, one little victory! Now to savor this moment and do a little dance! Bring out the show girls!!! S

“Celebrate the moment

As it turns into one more

Another chance at victory

Another chance to score

The measure of the moment

Is the difference of degree

Just one little victory

A spirit breaking free

One little victory

The greatest act can be

One little victory” —Neil Peart