Sara Haile-Mariam

Blackout Sabbath- I’m still pretty overwhelmed. The energy was amazing, the atmosphere and the music were incredible. In addition to the musical guests that I detailed in a previous post Jeannene Garofalo also provided us with some much needed comedic relief. You can checkout my remarks as prepared after the jump. I deviated from the script a bit but for the most part what you read is what you would have seen.

My name is Sara Haile-Mariam and over the course of the 2008 Presidential election, I became one of those young people that you kept on hearing about.

A college student whose involvement was sparked by a call to action- a call that resonated from coast to coast, and was initiated by the current President of the United States Barack Obama-

I found myself taken aback by a politician who did something unique…he asked for my help, not only to get him elected-but to go about the work that was necessary to change the country and change the world.

You see throughout the campaign I pledged on phone calls and on the doorsteps of strangers that if you elect Barack Obama you not only get him but you get me- and it’s for that reason that I’m here tonight, to follow through on that promise.

Tonight in particular we gather around the issue of energy reform and climate change.

Our inability to address the growing climate crisis makes us vulnerable in a world that is continually changing. In this century it is imperative that we become a nation that is energy independent so that we are no longer shackled to Middle Eastern oil and so that we are no longer bound to the kinds of energy consumption that would put future generations at peril.

We often hear politicians discussing freedom and liberty and equality, big government VS small government, democratic principles VS republican principles, but all of those things mean nothing if we don’t have a space within which we can pursue them.

Although it’s dark in here we find ourselves shrouded in light- in the acknowledgment that we can’t continue to consume energy at the rate that we have been. We cannot allow our government, our elected officials to hesitate on this issue any longer. Members of congress must answer us to all because when the Congressman from Texas or the Senator from California votes on anything regarding energy sustainability their vote not only impacts their state but this state, and this country and every country across the globe. The world is looking to America to lead- people from all over the world are looking for Americans to set an example.

That’s right- they’re looking to us. So although President Obama has prioritized energy sustainability, although the stimulus package recently passed by Congress has set aside millions of dollars to invest in solar power and wind power and bio diesel. Although it puts aside millions more to invest in green jobs that consist of workers weatherizing homes and renovating schools and building light rails. Although his budget proposes a cap and trade program that makes clean energy the profitable kind, although it does all of that- we cannot afford to fall prey to misconception that our work is done, that this problem will fix itself, that our government can handle this.

All of us have a role to play- all of us must educate ourselves on how we can be more energy efficient in our own lives and then we must propagate what we’ve learned to friends and family members and strangers a like. Whether it’s merely recycling, turning the lights off when we’re not in the room, buying products that are more energy efficient or simply just refusing to allow our sidewalks to exist as extensions of the trash cans that in New York exist on every other block…

We are living in an extraordinary moment in history, a moment that demands more from us as individuals, a moment that demands that we prioritize our collective destiny over what is expedient or easy. Generation after generation, the American people have often been faced with unsolicited challenges and through it all we have never backed down from a fight, we have never cowered in the face of adversity and in this moment we must stand up to insist that we continue to carry on this great tradition. That we will be relentless in our pursuit of solutions, that we will be determined on behalf of the future and that we will be successful, that we must be successful, because when we stand up for energy sustainability we’re not only standing up for the environment but for everything that exists in relation to it. We’re standing up for the freedom to breath clean air, for right to drink clean water, for the quality of life of the next generation. We’re standing up to insist that taking care of the planet that we call home is a prerequisite to pursuing happiness, to insist that something larger than us requires our attention.

Don’t allow anyone to let you believe that our voices are alone. Just this past weekend over 12,000 young people confronted Congress to demand immediate action on energy reform. Tonight our voices join with theirs as we raise awareness around Black Out Sabbath. So I ask you, as we anticipate the day where we turn the lights out to join me in speaking up. We must speak up so that we are heard in the halls of Congress, so that we are heard in the halls of the EPA and the Energy Department, throughout every city and town so that there is no longer any room to wonder where we stand.