Over 150 sign-carrying Santa Feans flooded the corner of Paseo de Peralta and St. Francis in front of Bank(rupt) of America to protest its significant investment in the Dakota Access Pipeline, my wife and I were there. Here are five things you can do this week to have an impact.  

Not all blogs will provide in-depth analysis of issues. Some will simply suggest ways in which your action can create a more progressive, sustainable world. Here are five suggestions, all but one of which could be completed right this moment.

1.  Attend the Working with the Legislature Training on Th. Sept 15 from 6-7pm at 1420 Cerrillos (Center for Progress & Justice).  Sen. Peter Wirth will explain the ‘ins and outs’  of how to most effectively lobby at the Roundhouse after which Paul Gibson will demonstrate strategies for researching bills and legislator voting records.  Ok, this one has to wait til tomorrow.
2. Contact PRC Commissioners via email and phone to voice your opposition to the proposed Rate Hike upon which the PRC will vote on either Sept 21 or 28.  Click here for a link explaining what is at stake and click here to get contact info. Valerie Espinoza, the Santa Fe Commissioner, is solidly opposed to the hike, but the other four typically vote with PNM.  However, in June the Bernalillo Commissioner was voted out for shilling for PNM and this has caught the attention of other Commissioners. There is no need to disclose where you are calling from or emailing from, so I’d recommend writing and calling all the Commissioners.
3. Stand-up for Standing Rock Sioux.  Retake the Roundhouse focused on the Dakota Access pipeline issue last weekend and many of us took to the streets yesterday to protest the Bank of America’s investment in the pipeline.  Click here for more on the pipeline and the Dakota Sioux’s heroic opposition and click here for ten things you can do.

4.  Contact two people and send them the link to www.retaketheroundhouse.org/contact and encourage them to sign up for this blog. We have nearly 200 folks signed up now, but most have done so as a result of emails to Democratic Party delegates and to our SantaFe4Bernie e-list. To expand further will require YOU to send notes, post on Facebook and even make calls. If we want to have an impact in November, we need many more than 200!  This is important.

5.  Begin to purchase your values.  Retake the Roundhouse will begin a weekly series focusing on how you can use The Better World Shopping Guide to inform your purchases. We will feature one product area a week and provide a pdf of the ratings page from The Better World.  If you find this useful, I’d suggest you purchase a copy at Santa Fe Hemp, on Water St. in Santa Fe or you can order one online at Better World Shopper.  The Better World researches companies that sell consumer services, but not according to how good it tastes or how well it works, but according to set criteria related to

• Human rights
• Environmental sustainability
• Community involvement
• Animal protection and
• Social justice

The Better World will help you reward those companies who are doing good and penalize t
hose involved in destructive activities.  Here are the top ten areas in which Better World feels your shopping choices can create a better world.  In our next blog, we will begin to feature specific ‘boycotts’ you can use to put your dollars where your values are.

Hint: A very good place to start is by moving your money to a local credit union or commercial bank and out of BoA, Wells Fargo, etc.

Categories: Actions, Activist Organizations, Boycotts, Indigenous Rights

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