Connect with Nevadans Meeting with Senator Harry Reid

On October 9th 2008, the Las Vegas Action Corps had the opportunity to meet with Senator Reid in his office with twelve other community members at the Connect with Nevadans meeting. Tonopah Greenlee and Angelica Cox introduced themselves to the Senator and shared their concerns with the change in climate around the world, especially in developing countries. They explained what the Action Corps is doing locally to educate people on the issue. Senator Reid listened to their concerns, but stated that the U.S. must focus on the economic crisis now. He explained that once we get our country on the right track, we can help other countries.

Meeting @ Espee's

LV OAC's last meeting was held on September 25th at Espee's Gourmet Tamales. Gabby, Renee, Lauren and Angelica reviewed the following:

I. Potential meeting with Senator Reid- Senator Reid's staffers contacted the LV OAC and invited us to meet with the Senator on Monday September 29th to discuss our mission and our goals for the year. However, the meeting was put on hold due to the financial crisis. We will hopefully meet with him this month. If you are interested in coming, we'll see if we can squeeze you in.

II. Sisters on the Planet Screening- We have the funding for the screening, but we need some motivated individuals who want to put in some extra hours to organize this event. We have a few peeps who are volunteering. Gabby will be calling some libraries in LV for potential screenings, and Louie & Ruthie will be looking at UNLV and local theaters. Tonopah has contacted NPR to see if they would announce the
event. Also, we thought of having our next meeting at a member's home to watch the film before actually doing the BIG screening. This will give us time to discuss the documentary and digest our thoughts.
---To get more info about the doc go to:
http://www.oxfamamerica.org/whatwedo/campaigns/climate_change/sisters-on-the-planet

III. Adaptation 101: During the meeting we decided to review the Adaptation 101 packet. We discussed and shared our thoughts about the literature. It was great reviewing the packet to refresh our memories. If you have time, I encourage you all to take a few minutes and reread the Adaptation 101 packet. It really gives you some
perspective!

IV. Hunger Banquet: Will be discussed at the next meeting.

NEXT MEETING: OCTOBER 29TH, 2008 @ 6:30 pm---- LOCATION- TBA

We'll see you all on the 29th of October!

Tabling at the UNLV Involvment Fair

The OAC participated at the UNLV Involvement fair on September 9th to get more students engaged in the LV Oxfam Action Corps. Angelica and Tonopah talked to several students about our grassroots constituency. Those that were unable to get involved, were interested in signing our petition, which asks the next U.S. president to take climate change seriously. The two members met several interesting people, including a doctor who previously lived in South Africa and had traveled to over 100 hundred countries! He shared his experiences abroad and talked about his encounters with Oxfam in developing countries. The OAC members also met a volunteer for Amnesty International who is interested in working with the LVOAC.
As a result, the tabling event was a success!

Visit to Senator Reid's office

On Friday August 22nd Tonopah and Angelica visited Senator Reid's office to discuss the work that Oxfam is doing in Las Vegas and around the world. Kate and Katie, the two staffers, were excited to meet with the two OAC members to hear more about what our grassroots constituency is doing. The members shared concerns about the challenges poor people in the U.S. and in developing countries face-- flooding, droughts, cyclones, hurricanes, etc. They presented the "asks"-
1) Stop Hurting- by reducing our carbonemissions
2) Start Helping- by helping the poor ADAPT to the changes in climate. Overall the meeting went well! The staffers were very kind and genuinely interested in
OAC's concerns. Angelica and Tonopah have been in contact with them and they stated that Senator Reid takes this issue seriously.
Senator Reid is taking steps to reducing our emissions. He is also concerned in helping the poor adapt to natural disasters.

August Montly Meeting @ McMullin's Irish Pub

The OAC team met on August 27th to discuss tabling and event updates, upcoming events, and lobby visits.
The following is what was reviewed in the meeting.

I. National Clean Energy Summit-- Lauren and Angelica shared their experience at the Summit with OAC members and discussed what they learned.

II. Tonopah and Angelica visit Senator Reid's office-- The two members discussed the outcome of the lobby visit.

III. Unity Rally at CSN--- Lauren and Angelica discussed the tabling event at CSN.

UPCOMING EVENTS:
I. UNLV Involvement Fair-
What: Tabling event at UNLV
When: September 9th and 10th 11:00 am- 3:00 pm
Where: UNLV Student Union
Who is volunteering: Tuesday (Angelica, Tonopah, Gabby)


II. Sisters on the Planet- Film Screening of the Oxfam Film. We have
some $$ to organize the event!
What: Four short films about women, in both rich and poor countries, who are determined to do whatever they can to put a stop to climate change.

III. Hunger Banquet at UNLV- November 20th at 5 pm, Student Union
208A--- more info to come

Next meeting Thursday September 26th. See you there!

Unity Rally

Angelica and Lauren tabled at the Unity Rally, on August 23rd at the Henderson campus of CSN.

This event was awesome! Renee invited us to come down and have a table at the Unity Rally sponsored by Nation For Change. We were able to speak with Dina Titus and she remembered the Adaptation packet we had given her at the Clean Energy Summit. It was just a really different crowd that concerts, or some of our other events - they seemed much more educated on the Climate Change issue in general and Oxfam's work. That being the case, almost everyone that stopped by signed the petition!

The following Guest speakers discussed Yucca Mountain, Nevada’s high rate of home foreclosures, renewable energy, and the lack of affordable health insurance for our community:

Peggy Maze‐Johnson
Local Expert on Yucca Mountain

Vicenta Montoya, Chair
Si Se Puede Democratic Club of Southern Nevada

Sanje Sedera, Chair Asian American Democratic Caucus

Greg Gilbert, Managing Partner
Holland and Hart, LLP

Clean Energy Summit

Oxfam America was kind enough to pay for Angelica and I to attend the National Clean Energy Summit, at UNLV, on August 19th.

"Industry leaders, scientists, policy experts, citizens, and the media gathered in Nevada at the national summit hosted by the Center for American Progress Action Fund, U.S. Senator Harry Reid (D-NV), and University of Nevada, Las Vegas, to chart a course for our nation's clean energy future. This is a pivotal opportunity to focus on defining a policy agenda that accelerates the development of renewable energy, energy-efficiency technologies, and robust clean energy markets in Nevada, the nation, and the world."

We made some important contacts and heard a few really impressive and compelling speakers. We were able to give Adaptation packets to Dina Titus and Hilda Solis. Further, it was just really encouraging to sit in a room of hundreds of people from across the country, all gathered in Las Vegas, of all places, and discussing such an important and prevalent topic. It wasn't a debate, or even really an exploration. It was an agenda, with goals and hopes for the future.