Dear Friends,

America urgently needs a heroic, collective response to climate change. We need the kind of mission-driven national mobilization that fired-up our country during World War II. A new initiative called the Pledge to Mobilize gives people a clear way to demand that politicians get behind the major climate mobilization we urgently need.

And Iowa is now front-and-center in the campaign to make that happen.

In the months leading up to the Iowa Caucuses, Shari Hrdina (who bears a striking resemblance to Rosie the Riveter, does she not?) and I will work with The Climate Mobilization to build a grassroots movement in Iowa. We are excited about this, and hope you’ll sign the pledge and volunteer to help get the message out across the state.

During last year’s Great March for Climate Action, 90% of my time was spent walking through so-called “Red America.” I talked a lot with conservative Republicans. I would tell the story my Dad told me when I interviewed him for a book about his life after he was diagnosed with terminal cancer. My Dad was a kid during World War II, growing up in the South Bronx, the son of Irish immigrants. He couldn’t understand why America was doing nothing in response to the atrocities occurring in both Europe and the South Pacific. Then Pearl Harbor happened, and the entire nation mobilized. My Dad would go down to the railroad tracks and collect cigarette boxes. He’d remove the foil for the scrap metal drives that were crucial to the war effort. That was his contribution, something he felt proud of.

And when America got involved as a nation, we retooled an entire economy in a matter of months.

With climate change, we again need that kind of national response, that collective sense of purpose and commitment. In Iowa, we have a unique opportunity to challenge the candidates running for President. We deserve to know if they are willing to confront the grave truth of the climate crisis honestly, courageously, and with the kind of determination our parents and grandparents demonstrated during World War II. We deserve to know if they have the wisdom and fortitude to pledge to mobilize NOW to fight climate change.

Will you work with Shari and I and The Climate Mobilization to bring the urgency of the climate crisis to the forefront of the Iowa Caucuses? Message me here if you’re ready to help or if you want to discuss further our plan to make this effort one of national and international significance.

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On today’s Fallon Forum:

1. Dr. Maureen McCue with Iowa Physicians for Social Responsibility discusses the global movement to eliminate nuclear weapons;

2. Attorneys Keith Puntenney and Bill Hannigan talk about the lawsuit filed last week over the question of whether the Iowa Utilities Board has the legal authority to grant eminent domain to an oil pipleine company;

3. Tim Kruse with Green Light Renewable discusses some of the breaking developments in the solar revolution;

4. Margaret Klein Salamon, founder of The Climate Mobilization, tells us about the Pledge to Mobilize.

Join us live every Monday from 11:00-12:00 noon CDT on KDLF 1260 AM (Des Moines) and online. Call (515) 528-8122 to add your voice to the conversation. The program re-broadcasts Wednesday on KHOI 89.1 FM (Ames) at 4:00 p.m. and Wednesday on KPVL 89.1 FM (Postville) at 7:00 p.m. Podcasts available, too.

Thanks! – Ed Fallon