Photo Credit: The White House - Energy Action representatives meeting with President Obama.

It’s been almost two years since I sat down across a table from the President of the United States, but I will never forget his words: “Your job is to push me.”

It was those six words that echoed in my mind last week as I stood on the National Mall and watched President Obama use his inaugural address to forcefully place climate action at the top of his agenda.

The inaugural address felt like both a validation of all the work we’ve been doing, and a renewed call to action. We’ve come a long way since that meeting on the eve of Power Shift 2011, but we’re not done pushing.

That’s why on Feb. 17, I’m heading back to the National Mall — and I need you there with me.

RSVP for the Forward on Climate Rally: wearepowershift.org/forwardonclimate

We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations. Some may still deny the overwhelming judgment of science, but none can avoid the devastating impact of raging fires, and crippling drought, and more powerful storms.
- Barack Obama, January 22nd, 2013

President Obama’s emphatic argument for the moral necessity of climate action is a moment we have been working toward for a long time. We have been asking the President to lead, and he couldn’t have chosen a higher-profile moment to step up.

But we know from experience that there is a big gap between vision and action, and that gap can only be filled by people power. The President can set the stage, but it’s up to us to get over the finish line. Now is the time to push harder than ever.

On February 17th, over 10,000 of us will be in Washington, DC to call on President Obama to take the first step and reject the Keystone XL pipeline, and show him that if he turns his bold words into bold action, we will be behind him — to have his back and push him to go further.

Will you join me there? wearepowershift.org/forwardonclimate

President Obama concluded his speech last Monday with a call for citizen action, saying “You and I, as citizens, have the obligation to shape the debates of our time – not only with the votes we cast, but with the voices we lift in defense of our most ancient values and enduring ideals.”

In other words: “Your job is to push me.”

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