In case you have been living in a cave (though I’m guessing that even those hiding around the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan have heard the news) we have a new President! Barak Obama has been given the daunting task of repairing our crumbling infrastructure, revitalizing our sagging economy, restoring our relationships and image abroad and reducing, reusing and recycling government policies, personnel and expenditures. I’m very optimistic about President Obama’s intentions, his candor and am convinced he will lead our country out of the mess we are in. 

What can we do to help? We can continue to produce media that is positive, spiritual, sustainable and inspiring. We can also encourage our fellow citizens through conversation, blogging, articles, advertising, events, movies, TV and music to take ownership and to take action with the idea of inspiring others to make a difference for our planet and for future generations. Vote (green and fair trade) with your dollars and discover new ways to be green or to offer your services in a more sustainable way. For green solutions and an opportunity to share your knowledge, go to www.creativecitizen.com where there are hundreds of free, green tips. 

Last but not least, we must forgive the mistakes that have been made in the past (though I’d love to see a documentary called “Bailout”) and actually acknowledge the Bush administration for the gift that it has give us - the opportunity to come together as a nation to rebuild our society, our government, overhaul our regulatory system and to renew our resolve to make a difference.

Happy New ERA!

By Michael Allen Howard, ATMA Sustainability Editor

Michael Allen Howard is a freelance photojournalist who writes about sustainability, green conferences, expos and festivals. He may be reached at:
Sustainability Editor/Green Business Coach
michael@transformedia.org
310-230-5657

A BIG P.S. New Article Michael urgently requests we read in our quest for sustainability:

Hi,

I just saw the movie FUEL for the second time and I'm writing to you to encourage you to see and support this movie as it was produced locally and is about the grassroots movement to end our addiction to oil (and hopefully coal too) and to promote and fund alternative energy (such as solar, wind and biofuels made from algae) so that our children and grandchildren (as well as the other inhabitants of our planet) will have a cleaner and greener planet, better air and water quality and a sustainable system of energy production for generations to come.

Please read the words of Josh Tickell, the Director of this film, below to find out more about FUEL and to see how important this movement is for present and future generations:

Happy President's Day and let me know what's going on in your life!

Michael Howard

FROM: Josh Tickell
Director, FUEL
Founder, The Veggie Van Organization
Author, From the Fryer to the Fuel Tank

Dear Friend in the Green Community,

There is an exceptionally important film that has just been released in Los Angeles this past weekend in two theaters - the AMC Broadway on 3rd Street in Santa Monica and the Sunset 5 Leammle in West Hollywood (on Sunset & Crescent Heights). The film is called FUEL and it is a powerful indictment of our fossil based political system and a clear vision for how to repair our broken economy with Sustainable Green Energy - not 5 years from now - but today!  As President Obama attempts to pass a plan to reconstruct America, this film, which has in it the formula for solutions for our ailing communities - must be seen by citizens across the country- NOW. FUEL is not backed by a major distributor, and the film has been blocked, time and time again, from being seen in conventional ways. BUT it has a heart and soul that has moved audiences to TEARS and to ACTION - in every theater where it was screened. After test screenings in Texas and Oregon and Washington, audiences changed laws, enacted new policies, created community gardens, erected wind turbines and cleaned up dirty school buses. Made by over 1,000 people during the last 11 years, FUEL is a people's movie that speaks to the heart of what Americans everywhere are demanding - CHANGE.

It is only with your help that FUEL will succeed in Los Angeles. In order to be considered a success and go to national theater screens, FUEL must to be seen by 2,000 people at each theater. While that number may sound small, getting 4,000 people to come out and vote for green, sustainable change with their dollars on a weekend is a challenge. In short, it will not happen without a groundswell of support - your support.

Friends, I have spent the last 23 years of my life doing little else other than working for change in green energy. I began doing this because, living amongst the petrochemical industries in Louisiana, I saw members of my own family get sick and die from acute pollution related cancers. My own mother had 9 miscarriages. It has not been an easy road these past two decades fighting for green energy. But I have learned one thing that does make a difference - community. Using the power of community we can accomplish anything.

Too long have we been slaves to the interests of big oil and big coal. The dirty politics that has resulted from a near monopolization of our energy - from the time of Rockefeller's Standard Oil - to the Southern Company and ExxonMobil of today - has threatened our democracy at every turn. Friends, these industries now threaten the very future of our nation. If left unchecked, they will suck the remaining little money from our national coffers, co-opting the presidents' new bill into a thinly veiled incentive for oil and coal (already $50 billion of appropriations is included for the oil and nuclear industries). Nothing sickens me more than these industries masquerading as 'green,' purposefully obfuscating the issues with their slick commercials and billboards.

I will not stand by and let this nation, and a great leader, be taken over once again by dirty companies and dirty politicians. And that is exactly why I made FUEL and exactly why I need your help. Because I believe you don't want to stand by either.

Many of you have written to me over the years asking what you can do to make a difference. Now is your opportunity. I need you to get every person you know out to the theaters next weekend. I mean everyone. FUEL plays to audiences rich and poor, young and old, Republican and Democrat. Its message isn't full of blame or shame - it's just straight and funny and it tells the story of how American people can take their country back.

We need you - every single one of you. We need your help here in our office in Santa Monica on the phones. We need you to forward this email to everyone you know. I need you to be part of our street teams. If you think you can give 3 hours of your time, give 5. If you think you can give a day, give two. We need people to poster the town, to hand out postcards at health food stores, gymnasiums, colleges, parties, events and to answer phones, to drive around with magnets on your car - to do whatever it takes to get people into the theaters next weekend in Los Angeles. This country must hear the message of FUEL - that every person deserves clean food, clean water, clean air and clean energy - and we have the solutions - NOW.

So I invite you, humbly, to join with me and the FUEL team - to volunteer with us during the next week - to bring as many Los Angeles residents to the movies for a very special experience - an experience I guarantee will change their lives and the lives of so many more.

Here is how you sign up to help: send an email to streetteams@thefuelfilm.com with your name, email address and phone number or simply call us directly at 310-452-7731.

For more information about FUEL, visit our web site at http://thefuelfilm.com

And remember, your ticket to this movie is a VOTE for GREEN SUSTAINBLE CHANGE that will be heard across the nation and around the world.

Humbly and in service of our planet,

Josh Tickell