... an energy plan that I find far more comprehensive and thoughtful than anything the think tanks have produced. It's been read and reshaped by thousands of readers; it will serve as a useful model should the Democrats retake Congress and have the ability to move legislation.
Bill McKibben, the New York Review of Books

It's been almost two years since the Energize America experiment got underway and today, just coming back from the YearlyKos panel that described the new perspectives ahead of us, I wanted to retrace the history of this unprecedented attempt at netroots-run policy-making.

Bill McKibben, who participated to another YearlyKos panel on global warming, was kind enough to write the words above more than a year ago. He is himself involved in another amazing netroots-born effort, Step It Up, to call for concrete policy measures to fight global warming. Coordinating our efforts, linking our communities and building on one another's collective energies will be a big part of what we hope to do in the coming months. Adam Siegel, who chaired the Energize America in Chicago last week, has put up some diaries summarising the presentation we made, outlining our achievements up to date (up to and including advanced discussions with Congresspersons from both sides on proposed legislation) and highlighting the opportunities and challenges we have ahead of us. These diaries can be read on the Energize America website (Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3) and I can only encourage you to go read them. But it's worth looking back on how we got there.

Note as well that I posted an earlier diary on Energize America here on the Oil Drum a few months back to introduce the plan to TOD readers.