The Countdown Has Begun

The countdown to the Democratic Convention has begun—two weeks from today it kicks off.  Back in June, I was elected at the North Carolina State Democratic Convention to be one of the state-wide delegates pledged to Obama at the National Democratic Convention.  There are 135 elected delegates from NC traveling to Denver to attend the convention from August 25^th-28^th.  I have never done this before and am extremely excited to experience and participate in the political process firsthand.  So to prepare, I have held a fundraising party in Durham and thanks to everyone’s generosity, I have been able to purchase my public transit pass for Denver, airfare and carbon offsets for my travel to the convention.  The Democratic Party has touted that this convention will be the most environmentally sustainable political convention in modern American history.  This goal includes waste minimization and energy conservation.  While I remain skeptical about the ability to hold a convention of this size and have it be environmentally sustainable, I will wait for further judgment until I arrive in Denver.  However, on a positive note, after some cajoling, the NC Democratic Party has decided to cover the costs of carbon offsets for the entire North Carolina delegation’s trip to Denver.

Besides organizing my travels, I have been involved in other activities leading up to the Convention.  A few Sunday’s ago, I hosted and facilitated a ‘Listening to America’ environmental and energy policy platform meeting at my apartment.  Over one thousand of these meetings were held across America on various topics, including the environment, health care, foreign policy and so on.  Fifteen folks, including Duke graduate students, RTP tech workers, and retirement home residents from the Triangle area converged at my apartment to discuss for two hours their visions for environmental and energy policy for the United States.  While many issues were discussed and some conflicts arose, the group was able to form a relatively cohesive overarching goal statement-- “The crises our country faces in energy, climate, and national security are interrelated, and an innovative energy policy must be an urgent priority for all Americans.  Energy dependence makes our nation vulnerable.  Through education we must recognize our responsibilities as individuals, communities, cities, and as a nation to address these issues in bold and proactive ways so we can protect and sustain our environment for future generations”.  

Once this overarching statement was hashed out, the group discussed more specific points they wanted to include about the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, sustainable agriculture and the development of mass transit.  Once the discussion was over, I uploaded our “mini-platform on the environment and energy” to the Obama website for use at future platform development meetings in Cleveland and Pittsburgh over the next few weeks.  Once the platform of the party has been formed, the delegates will vote on its approval at the Convention.

Well, that’s it for now.  Stay tuned to hear more about the activities of the Democratic Convention!