What happens when Michael Moore starts making sense?

When Michael Moore isn't running around DC with a bullhorn or toting rifles around the local Walmart, he sometimes makes sense. Back in October, he posted an Action Plan (15 Things Every American Can Do Right Now), which largely boiled down to one notion: Speak up!

Now, I'm a pretty avid letter writer and petition signer, and a few of my pieces have ended up in the editorials page of small local papers, but as a whole I don't know that I've had much lasting effect. I tell myself that I'm so busy. I'm a senior in college, mother to two active teenagers, and I have a desk job, how could I possible do more? That's what I asked myself at ten o'clock this morning as I delayed starting an economics final. Three hours later as I harvested eggs from my virtual chickens, instead of finishing some philosophy reading, I started to feel rushed. By the time I'd finished watching an episode of Castle with my older daughter, played a few dozen games of Bejewelled, and harvested the virtual cows, I knew I was in that dangerous timesuck mode that can eat an entire day. So really, how busy am I? Too busy to write my representatives, but not so busy that I can best all my friends at online games? The truth is that I've gotten far too skilled at the games. And that's when it hit me...I'm not wasting my time efficiently enough.

So back to Moore's Action Plan. First on the list of things to do to make our representatives listen to us is this: Each of us must get into the daily habit of taking 5 minutes to make four brief calls. For my part, I'll start with my call to the President (202-456-1414) first. My daughters and I are moving back to Portland next month, so it's time for a new round of 'Meet the Reps'. Time to locate my Congressman and Senators and to let them know that I'm moving into their districts and that they should be prepared for my morning call and afternoon email. Of course, it's also time to meet the local Democrats and see if they are holding on to the energy of last summer.

My personal Action Plan calls for a couple of other steps: Staying up to date on policy legislation and finding groups who are working towards goals I feel aligned with. My concerns tend towards energy and resource policy, so to begin I have set up news feed searches on Science Daily, Greenwire, and Earth News, among others. I've made sure I'm on email lists for NRDC, the Int'l Journal of Environmental, Cultural, Economic and Social Sustainability, CARE.org, Recovery.gov, 350.org, and many others.

It is also important to remember the immortal words of the Smashing Pumpkins, "The World is a Vampire." In trying to save the world we can succumb to ever more timesucking, forgetting about our own watersheds and communities. Visiting sites like the Scorecard (which houses Environmental justice and pollution reports by zip code) and Volunteer Match are vital first steps to knowing the issues in your own community and those who are working towards more environmentally just communities. Stay tuned in the new year to see how these efforts take shape as we move into our new community.

So that's my starting point. My dear friend Em called me an idealist, which is somewhat amusing given that this blog came out of a feeling of overwhelming laziness. Here's hoping I can overcome my addiction to timesucks and become the idealist my friends believe me to be.