What a dense and dizzying month it has been; it’s not easy to know where best to set our minds right now. My wonderful colleague, Kafia Ahmed, encourages us to tend to the truth, and to our wounds, and to let the light in. I’m leaning on Marge Piercy, who, in “To Be of Use,” offers:
I want to be with people who submerge
in the task, who go into the fields to harvest
and work in a row and pass the bags along,
who are not parlor generals and field deserters
but move in a common rhythm
when the food must come in or the fire be put out.
It’s in that spirit that we reflect on the past year and begin to look ahead to the next one. Indeed, we’re coming up on Third Act’s second anniversary! I hope you’ll join our national All-In Call on December 13 with Sen. Bernie Sanders, Akaya Windwood, and a whole bunch of Third Actors.
There are hopeful signs and new visibility for our cohort––Golden Bachelor aside, we’re building real momentum. The upcoming issue of Yes! Magazine will focus entirely on Elders (Third Actors included—be sure to check it out) and the Environmental Voter Project reported just last week that, after the youngest voters, older Americans are now the second most likely group to prioritize climate.
Let’s harness that energy for real wins, especially as we gain some sense of our potential: Heatmap just credited our early push at Third Act for fomenting the Biden Administration’s big investments to spur domestic production of heat pumps. That’s a good feeling as the colder weather has many of us eyeing our thermostats.
I hope we can all turn toward something warm and beautiful this week as a reminder of why we work for a safer, abundant, and just world, and that the light in our hearts can help illuminate a world that’s beginning to heal.
Vanessa Arcara
President and Co-Founder, Third Act
Upcoming Events
The Role of Business in Fixing Our Troubled Democracy
November 28 | 7:30 PM Eastern Time / 4:30 PM Pacific Time
Third Act Lawyers are thrilled to present an important discussion with Daniella Ballou-Aares, CEO and Co-Founder of the Leadership Now Project, a cross-partisan membership organization of business and thought leaders taking action to protect and renew American democracy. Our conversation will focus on why current threats to our democracy are threats to the long-term health and stability of our economy and the strength of American business; and why support of the business community is critical to safeguarding democracy.
December 5 | 2:00PM Eastern Time / 11:00 AM Pacific Time
YES! Media and Third Act are partnering on the 108th issue of YES! Magazine, themed “Elders.” To celebrate the launch of the issue, we invite you to join Third Act lead advisor, Akaya Windwood, in conversation with Yes! Media’s executive editor, Evette Dionne. Immerse yourself in the inspiring stories of elders who are making a significant impact, and join us in connecting with the power of intergenerational change.
December 13 | 8:00 PM Eastern Time / 5:00 PM Pacific Time
Join us on December 13th for our last All-In call of 2023! We’ll have Senator Bernie Sanders on the line with us to celebrate Third Act’s two-year anniversary; share analysis about where we are; and motivate us as we move into action for 2024! And speaking of 2024…we’ll be making a bigannouncement that evening about our work to end the era of fossil fuels.
Third Actors have been out in force gathering signatures for our Costco: Clean Up Your Credit Card petition. We’ve sent friendly and inviting letters to Costco’s leadership and Board members, telling them we appreciate the company and want to leverage Costco’s power as a big client to pressure Citibank to stop funding the expansion of polluting fossil fuels. In the new year, we’ll deliver petition signatures in creative ways with partners and Third Actors in step with Costco’s annual virtual shareholder meeting. Stay tuned!
We are getting close to our goal of 30,000 signatures and just need 7,000 more from Costco members and non-members alike. Please continue to share the petition with friends, family, neighbors, community partners, and on social media. See if you can get one person from your Thanksgiving festivities to sign!
Notes from Election Day 2023
Tom Mikulka of Third Act Maine teamed up with a local college student to gather petition signatures urging the Cape Elizabeth Town Council to endorse the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty initiative. “Working together as a tag team we got 500 signatures, which represented 20% of the voters. A great reminder of how important it is for Third Act to partner with youth whenever we can.”
Election Day 2023 was a dress rehearsal for 2024––and it went remarkably well. People stood up for women’s rights, for climate action, for local representation and for a real democracy. From Pennsylvania to Ohio and Virginia to New Jersey, the postcards you wrote (31,000!) and the doors you knocked paid off with wins. Third Actors showed up in droves, canvassing, working the polls, and casting ballots:
Working as an election officer on Election Day was long hours (5 am–9 pm), but you really get an understanding just how safe our voting system is. ––Lisa Finn
I canvassed for local and regional candidates who support democracy and saving the planet (including our new State Delegate Amy Laufer, pictured on the right). Happy to report that everyone I worked for won! ––Donna Shaunesey
I think our canvassing and help at the polls made a difference…the defeat of Dominion’s deadly, gas-powered Reliability Center is now within our reach.––Bill Muth
I am a poll worker and one big takeaway for me was the number of elderly voters who commented that there was too much at stake to stay home. ––JoAnn Karsh
We didn’t win everywhere––outspent 35-1 by the fossil fuel industry, the remarkable advocates for a public utility in Maine came up short. Notably though, in the areas within the state where Third Act and the campaign invested resources and where our relational organizing and canvassing was most present, we fought the big money to a 50-50 draw, showing that when we connect and get our message out, ballot initiatives are a viable new strategy for holding utilities accountable.
Stop the Expansion of LNG Exports
A couple of weeks ago, we wrote to you about how the US is planning to quadruple the export of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) from the Gulf of Mexico over the next few years…and then you wrote 500 handwritten letters to the Department of Energy urging them not to issue permits for these new facilities! We need Sec. Granholm and the DOE to reject these projects on grounds that they are very far outside of the public interest; the emissions associated with them will wipe out every bit of progress the U.S. has made on reducing carbon and methane since 2005. Below are some excerpts from Third Actors who took up the pen:
My concern is very personal: I have family in Louisiana. I’m already deeply worried about their safety during hurricane season. The addition of another 20 LNG terminals—methane bombs—would fly in the face of reason. ––Linda Butler
This is a question of environmental justice, and you are in a position to do the right thing for our nation and the world. Please do! ––Stephen Cooper
I am a physician at Temple University Hospital in North Philadelphia, one of the poorest communities in the U.S. The patients I serve already experience disproportionate problems with their health from climate related illness. The increase in LNG terminals will only accelerate climate change. Our patients, especially the elderly, will not survive and thrive. ––Mary F. Morrison
Our children and grandchildren depend on us to give them a planet that is habitable. ––Debra Packard
It’s an easy answer: let’s opt for life over gas ––Tom Poirier
We’ll announce more upcoming work to ensure that CP2 and other new LNG terminals never come to pass. In the meantime, keep the letters flowing!
Thanks to many of you who have supported this fund, now at $340,000 to help expand our organizing efforts. When we reach our $500,000 goal, we expect to:
Add two additional organizers to our team to expand the support we can provide, and start Working Groups where we don’t yet have them,
Increase the direct support we can offer to Working Groups for their own trainings, actions, and materials,
Expand digital support to offer for Working Group leaders in building a web-presence, coordinating events online, and for maintaining our CRM, data, and privacy work; and
Support two (out of five) in-person regional convenings.
Third Act’s No Time to Waste program will significantly expand our presence into all 50 states, with priority in vulnerable communities and political hot spots in advance of the 2024 election season. Donate today.
Can you chip in now to help resource Third Actors to respond quickly––as needed, when needed, where needed?
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