I testified at a Public Service Commission hearing on the Washington Gas request for a rate increase on April 29; it was the fourth such hearing. I was one of some 30
people who went to the mike to decry the WG request – of all ages, from early 20s to
late 70s, from all parts of the city.

It was an amazing and heartening experience. Almost all of those testifying were
clearheaded and well-spoken. Many had done careful study of the WG proposal, which
would increase rates for households by almost 18% on average. Almost all were
objecting, and vociferously so – on the grounds the rate increase would unduly burden
low-income households already paying too much, as well as the thousands of newly
unemployed in a city struggling with the effects of the DOGE shocks. And on the
grounds that the proposal for a rate hike to finance replacement of the entire pipe
infrastructure (1200 miles!) in the city — to deliver methane — is inconsistent with the DC
government’s commitment to address the climate crisis.

Here’s what I said:

I’ve lived in this city for almost 60 years – most of my adult life, and I love the city.
My seventh grandchild was born yesterday. I hope she lives a long life, with half the
luck and privilege I’ve enjoyed. But her future is at huge risk if we don’t deal with our
onrushing climate catastrophe in this country.

I’m an economist and I promise you that Project Pipes, if it goes ahead, will become
what economists call a “stranded asset.”  Mark Carney, who was just elected Prime
Minister in Canada, has been the Governor of the Bank of England and the Bank of
Canada. He pointed out a decade ago that oil was becoming a stranded asset – an
“asset” that has lost its value in a changed market. The whaling ships of the 18th century
New England lost their value overnight when electric lamps replaced oil lamps. Today’s
examples include coal mines, auto factories that cannot easily be renovated to make
electric vehicles, and beach houses at risk of sea level rise.

Washington Gas should be held accountable for quick repair of dangerous pipe
leaks–not look for higher returns for its shareholders with a dying approach.

Project Pipes would be a classic stranded asset. For one thing, in DC the use of natural
gas (methane) has been falling, and at an increasing rate, as households that can afford
it switch to heat pumps, electric hot water heaters and electric or induction stoves. (One
of those who testified pointed out that companies in DC who own their buildings are
going electric – it’s cleaner, easier to manage and less vulnerable to needing repairs.
That will increasingly leave households holding the bag on Washington Gas rate rises.)

I have a second objection wearing my economist hat. The proposed rate increase has a
component that is outrageously regressive: Washington Gas proposes a higher fixed
charge for Project Pipes, independent of household use! The poor who turn down their heat to 50 degrees pay the same fixed rate for PP on their bills (if it goes ahead) as the
rich.

Washington Gas should be held accountable for quick repair of dangerous pipe
leaks….not look for the higher returns for its shareholders it can get with a dying
approach to build new infrastructure – infrastructure that would be an embarrassment
for you and for us 10, 20, and 30 years from now.

Please say no to tearing up our streets and tearing up my grandchildren’s future. Please
say no to Washington Gas.

Last summer I broke my leg.   I’ve pretty much healed but I still walk slowly and worry about being knocked over in a crowd.   Clearly, I couldn’t go down to the Mall on April 5th to participate in the Hands-Off rally which made me sad.   I’m 92 years old now and have marched in demonstrations since the Vietnam War but this one was clearly beyond my reach.

My neighbor Susan told me that her friend in a senior residence on Conn. Ave. near the Beltway was organizing her friends to stand on the West side of Connecticut Ave. waving signs to greet cars and busses coming into the city. I was invigorated!   We could do the same in our very large co-op on Veazey Terrace.

First we made colorful notices announcing our activity on April 5.  We put up the notices in five elevators in our building.   Management took them down.   We put them up again, this time we did it at night.  Same result.   We found other places in the building which residents would see as they exited the building.  The buzz of excitement was palpable as neighbors whom I had passed in the hall for years but never really spoke to beyond ‘hello’ were asking me for information.   At that point we realized not everyone had poster board and magic markers for making a sign so another neighbor organized a sign-making gathering on the balcony outside our lobby, scheduling it for two days before the Rally.   More than 50 neighbors turned out for it for that so we knew we had hit a nerve.

I tried reaching the local PBS station, WAMU, just down the street from our building but got no response.   Same with the Washington Post.   Then I sent a short notice to our very local newspaper, “The Forest Hills Connection,” and that elicited great interest.    I wrote a piece for the paper which featured a 100-year-old resident of the Van Ness North Co-op who had been organizing and picketing and marching for even longer than I have.   The paper published it, our building listserv reprinted it, and we were ready to roll.

What I wasn’t ready for was a call the night before the rally from the local NBC-TV station asking if they could interview the organizers — by now we were three — for the 9:00 a.m. news.   It was just the break we were hoping for.  The live coverage was seen by people as far away as Australia!

Our signs said Hands Off many things–social security, Medicare, science, our freedom, our lives! My neighbor Philippa Strum said:  “I joined the protest because I am concerned about assaults on the rule of law and the independence of judges, which are crucial to our democracy.”

We wanted to give people a chance to show their strong feeling about what the government is doing and how it  is hurting lots and lots of people.  Things have gone off the rails and we are here to say
“Hands off….no more!”

After waving my sign for an hour a neighbor and I drove up Connecticut Ave. to the Beltway.   All along the route there were pockets of people holding signs while cars passing by honked and passengers rolled down their windows to show support.    But of all of those groups, the Veazey Terrace gang was the largest–more than 60!   We formed a single line all the way down Connecticut to Van Ness St. and up almost to Windom Place.    We didn’t achieve my dream of a human chain from Dupont Circle to Chevy Chase Circle but we did give people a chance to be part of something larger than themselves, and to demonstrate democracy in action.  We’re ready to do it again!

–Barbara Green, Third Act DC Member

• Map out the work in our three major program areas
• Identify leadership and volunteer gaps and ways to fill them
• Develop outreach strategies to cultivate/engage new members

Katie Ries and Geoff Barron, TA/DC’s two new Co-Facilitators, led the retreat and were joined by CC members Deirdre Joy, Karen Gladding, Jim Lardner, Mark Rasmuson, Nancy Birdsall, and Fred Solowey.  In addition, Anne Anderson from the League of Women Voters for DC (LWVDC) and Carol Hamblin, a previous CC member, joined the discussions.

The day’s deliberations resulted in the following strategies and tactics identified for 2025 in Third Act’s 3 main program areas.

Democracy and Voting

With the overall goal of Protecting Democracy in Washington DC, the group identified defending DC Home Rule as one of its top priority strategies in this area.  Third Act DC will work closely with the LWVDC, FreeDC, and other partners on implementing the strategy, through tactics including promotion of the DC Statehood petition, lobbying Congress to resist cuts in DC’s budget, and engaging Third Act Working Groups in other states to encourage their state legislatures to support DC Statehood.  (Residents of Washington DC have only token representation in Congress, despite paying federal taxes, serving in the military, and having a larger population than some states, such as Vermont and Wyoming.  We have one non-voting representative in the House and none in the Senate. DC’s annual budget requires approval by Congress.)

Another top priority will be to support federal workers and agencies who have been adversely affected by the Administration’s drastic cuts, in partnership with partners such as Indivisible and MoveOn.

Power Up Communities (Clean Energy)

Third Act’s overall goal in this area is to mobilize citizen participation in government decisions to shift climate and energy policy, with two focal points: Stopping Methane Gas and promoting Smart Local Solar energy.

The strategies TA/DC identified as top priorities are to support DC’s Healthy Homes Act and the Fight Project Pipes project.  The Healthy Homes Act provides funding for low-income families to get off gas and equip their homes with cleaner electric energy.  It was passed by the DC Council last year, but its funding is at risk.  Fight Project Pipes is an initiative to prevent DC Gas from implementing an expensive and unneeded replacement of gas lines throughout the district.  Third Act is supporting the work of a number of partners on these initiatives, including the Sierra Club, CCAN, and Beyond Gas DC.

Under the Smart Local Solar rubric, TA/DC’s top strategic priority is to help fast-track the adoption and implementation of solar and other clean energy projects in the District, in collaboration with partners such as Solar United Neighbors, the Solar for All program of the DC Department of Energy and Environment (DOEE), and the Anacostia Coordinating Council.  We will also work with Third Act VA and Third Act MD to carry out activities during Third Act’s National Sun Day on September 20-21, a nationwide mobilization and celebration of solar and other clean energy in the same spirit and tradition as Earth Day.

Climate Finance

In the Climate Finance area, Third Act’s overall national goal is to push for alignment of global financial flows with global climate goals, reducing investment by big banks in the extraction and burning of fossil fuels and expanding it for renewable sources, especially solar and wind.  The retreat participants identified TA/DC’s top priority as helping people to Align Their Money with Their Values—shifting their bank accounts and credit cards to banks that do not support fossil fuel investments.  A committee of Third Act DC volunteers is already at work developing an educational program that helps people move in this direction.

Volunteer Opportunities

In addition to identifying program priorities for 2025, the retreat analyzed TA/DC’s current structure and identified priorities for recruiting new volunteers.  Here are some of the volunteer opportunities:

• Co-lead our Climate Finance and Volunteer Coordination teams
• Organize and participate in tabling for TA/DC at events
• Design flyers, signs, and other materials
• Participate in rapid response actions (as part of a lobbying group, at rallies)
• Help us research solar focused issues before the DC Public Services Commission
• Join National Sun Day planning committee
• Monitor news to glean relevant updates related to our campaigns (CM newsletters, DC agencies, WGL/Pepco, Council legislation/calendars, mayor’s office communications and calendar
• Attend Beyond Gas, CCAN meetings
• Create outreach team for DC’s Advisory Neighborhood Commissions (ANC)
• Serve as TA Liaison to FreeDC, Anacostia Coordinating Council, and other partners

If you are interested in one of these volunteer opportunities or would like more information about the retreat, please contact us at dc@thirdact.org.

So I have been grateful to have the Third Act community to turn to for support and inspiration and joyful distraction.  We have been called to and joined in action by both the Third Act Central team and our Third Act friends in Maryland and Virginia.  The turmoil in the federal government has inspired countless protests and demonstrations to express support and gratitude to federal workers–at the Lincoln Memorial for the Women’s/People’s March, Capitol Building on President’s Day, and at agency headquarters all around the city including Treasury, HHS, OPM, CFPB, and USAID.  (Sorry for all the acronyms.)  And Third Actors have turned up for most of them, even in the most frigid winter weather.

Perhaps most impressively, Third Act DMV folks initiated a series of  weekly protests at Tesla dealerships throughout the region with calls to boycott the brand and “stop the Musk coup.”  These have been exuberant affairs, eliciting loud honking of support from passing motorists, drawing larger crowds week after week, and inspiring similar efforts elsewhere.

It’s easy to feel helpless and fearful in the face of what’s going on.  The Third Act community offers a powerful antidote.

If you would like to join other Third Actors who are protesting in the DMV you can join our Signal Chat to find out where and when the rallies or events are happening or just be part of the community.  Here is a signal primer to help download the app and get started.  If interested or have questions, send us an email (dc@thirdact.org)  and we’ll tell you how to sign up.

–Mark Rasmuson, Third Act DC Communications

This very simple method is intuitive and effective. Why? Any one of you that has phone-banked, text-banked, or gone door-to-door canvassing knows of the great feeling of a rewarding conversation that gets a voter to the polls. But these are rare and challenging. Sometimes you’ll get no answer, and it can be hard to connect with strangers.

Call “Low-propensity” Environmental Voters in Swing States. The Environmental Voter Project uses multiple databases to identify a subset of Americans who care deeply about the environment and climate change but don’t usually make it to the polls. Through gentle nudges and reminders, EVP turns these people into dependable voters, focusing on swing states and districts where their numbers are sufficient to make a difference. All you need is a (landline or cell) phone, web-enabled computer or tablet, and yourself! First-time phone bankers will get a full training before they start. This is low-stress phone-banking with a proven impact. Sign up here.   

Call Arizona voters in support of Ruben Gallego.  A crucial race in a crucial state. This former Marine and Iraq veteran is running for the U.S. Senate against the election denier — and would-be election over-turner — Kari Lake. Make calls almost any day of the week with Third Act partner Activate America from 11 a.m. on. Click here to sign up or to check out Activate America’s other phone-banking plans.

Register College Students and Young Adults. Every year, more than four million Americans turn 18 and become eligible to vote. Fewer than half of them do vote; once registered, they vote in large numbers. Third Act has forged a “senior to senior” partnership with the Civics Center to register voters in high schools and colleges. This work will resume in September. Vote for Astra is another group that focuses on registering young adults.

Donate to Swing Left or another group that runs a clean and sharply targeted operation. Swing Left promises to spare you from “the usual drama” and “inbox spam.” “We’ve done the research and designed these strategic funds so you can be sure—with a single donation—your dollars are going directly to the tipping-point races Democrats need to win.” The Movement Voter Project is another good option. Wherever you give, do it soon, so candidates will know how much money they have and be able to spend it strategically.

Register Voters of Color. Reclaim our Vote is a grassroots, volunteer-led group that focuses on increasing BIPOC voter turnout. If you participate in one of its phone-banking sessions, you’ll be providing people with early voting locations and times, voter registration deadlines, information on free rides to the polls, and phone numbers for county election officials. In 2021, calls to Black voters increased turnout by 17.3%. Click here to learn more.

Check Out Mobilize.Us. You’ll find a list of nearby election-action opportunities (and community-building get-togethers) at this Democratic-Party-aligned website.

And, of course, ThirdAct.Org has its own list of actions – a list that will be updated to reflect the places and the strategies that seem most important as this campaign continues.

A mass of Third Actors – also known as the Rocking Chair Rebellion – made their way to New York City for Elder Day – day four of the twelve-week Summer of Heat campaign targeting Citibank and Wall Street.

DC Third Act Helps Kick off Summer of Heat

The Washington DC area was well-represented in an action that drew people from up and down the East Coast and, in a few cases, from across the country. The night before, most of the hundreds of participants attended a high-spirited prep session at Summer of Heat’s staging site in downtown Brooklyn. At seven a.m. the next morning, they gathered again in a lower Manhattan park before marching to Citi’s 59-story headquarters, collecting a stash of rocking chairs en route.

“I’m Here for My Grandchildren”

Fifty-six members of the Third Act contingent had decided to risk arrest, and they were duly and swiftly arrested after blockading the building’s entrance. (The NYPD seized ten of our signature rocking chairs as well.) Another approximately 150 Third Actors remained out front, marching, singing, and chanting their call for end to Citi’s support for the extraction and burning of fossil fuels. The energy and camaraderie was remarkable throughout.

Next Actions – Join Us!

Next on our Summer of Heat agenda: a whole Elder Week starting July 8th. Some of us will be back in New York on July 8 along with Bill McKibben, or at a July 10 protest in Philadelphia; others will take part in supportive actions in our home geographies.  Stay tuned!

It was an inspiring day, featuring remarks by local Third Act organizers; morning and afternoon small group breakout sessions; short talks by speakers Rebecca Solnit (writer, activist, Third Act Advisor) and Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD 8th District); and snacks, lunch, singing, and time to chat among the 70-some attendees. All this for a voluntary contribution!

“Hope is an active commitment to the future”

Rebecca Solnit kicked things off with a lovely and stirring call for hope, which, she added, is not to be confused with optimism. “For me,” she explained, “optimism is right there with pessimism and despair: they are all forms of certainty about what will happen.” Hope, on the other hand, is “an active commitment to the future, in the recognition that the future is undecided, and that another name for that radical uncertainty is possibility, for both wonderful and terrible outcomes.”

Third Actors have grounds to be hopeful, she said, because we have the “superpower” of “historical memory.” We have lived through the 1960s victories of the Civil Rights movement and the revolutions it inspired, from the 1970s on, among women, Native Americans, queer people, and people with disabilities. “We have good things in the present because people in the past worked to make them true and real,” Solnit said, “and we inhabit a future they could not in many ways imagine – a future more wonderful, terrible, and strange than anyone predicted.

We must now work in the present for a future we may not see, cannot imagine, knowing that it matters; that as we bless the heroes of 1974 so perhaps the people of 2074 will bless the heroes of 2024. I invite you to be one of them.”

The morning breakout sessions included “Summer of Heat Action Plan” led by Lisa Finn and Jim Lardner, where past and future DC actions were discussed. Other offerings were “Who You Callin’ Radical?” led by Lawrence MacDonald, “Storytelling for Effective Climate Conversations” by Rob Wald, and “Where is the Hope?” by Uta Allers. I attended Lisa and Jim’s session and appreciated the frank discussion about our Columbia Heights bank action earlier this year.

In the afternoon, the choices were “Election Plans: What’s the Best Use of My Time?” led by Jim Lardner; “Communicating Across the Political Divide” by Luke Nathan Philips of Braver Angels; and “Overcoming the Fear of the Ask” by Fred Solowey. I attended Fred’s session. He was fantastic! He talked about how to interact with people when you want them to give you something, drawing on his long experience in the labor movement. Then he had us role play, two at a time in front of our small group, with one person asking and the other reacting to the ask. Following the interaction, the group shared observations on what had transpired. It was an interesting and instructive exercise.

“If there is no struggle, there is no progress.”

In his afternoon talk, Jamie Raskin inspired us with quotations from Frederick Douglass (“If there is no struggle, there is no progress.”) and Thomas Paine (“The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.”)  He talked about the value of collaborative work between old and young, describing the young-volunteer program he helped create (Democracy Summer), and encouraged us to continue taking action to help achieve a landslide in this year’s elections.

What struck me most was his optimism that democratic voices will prevail in the upcoming elections. It is so easy to feel discouraged when following the news. Rep. Raskin’s knowledge of the Constitution was impressive, and he clearly works for, and believes in, democracy. I knew that but seeing him and hearing him in person was great!

In between sessions, I talked to the people sitting around me, none of whom I knew. This was a rewarding experience, a chance to learn new things and share perspectives with people my own age.

Also, gotta love the singing! Thanks to Jesse Palidofsky for providing us these breaks and leading us in new and old songs.

I am looking forward to future involvement with Third Act DC.

–Report by Rebecca Mazur

–Photos by Rick Reinhard

Bill McKibben’s Shout-Out to DC Third Act Protestors

Bill McKibben’s The Crucial Years newsletter featured Third Act DC protestors discussing their first ever environmental actions!

Watch Four First Time Environmental Protesters talk about their experience and see DC’s Third Act Rockingchair Rebellion Shut Down CITIbank!

First “Climate Superfund” in U.S.? Bill Passes Vermont Legislature, Heads to Governor Phil Scott

“The Vermont Senate gave final approval today to landmark legislation that holds the largest fossil fuel companies financially accountable for a portion of the costs of climate change. “Vermont taxpayers can’t afford the staggering costs of climate change,” said Lauren Hierl, executive director of Vermont Conservation Voters and a Montpelier city councilor. “S.259 requires Big Oil to pay its fair share.” Read more.

The Healthy Homes Act Passed!

Read up on the status of the legislation and it’s funding, and the work of DC area democratic and environmental advocacy groups including Third Act DC. There’s still more to do to make sure that HHA is funded!

Is Green Growth Possible? The Ezra Klein Show

“A decade ago, I was feeling pretty pessimistic about climate change. The politics of mitigating global warming just seemed impossible: asking people to make sacrifices, or countries to slow their development, and delay dreams of better, more prosperous lives.

But the world today looks different. The costs of solar and wind power have plummeted. Same for electric batteries. And a new politics is starting to take hold: that maybe we can invest and invent and build our way out of this crisis. But some very hard problems remain. Chief among them? Cows.” Listen.

Where Seas Are Rising At Alarming Speed

“One of the most rapid sea level surges on Earth is besieging the American South, forcing a reckoning for coastal communities across eight U.S. states, a Washington Post analysis has found. At more than a dozen tide gauges spanning from Texas to North Carolina, sea levels are at least 6 inches higher than they were in 2010 — a change similar to what occurred over the previous five decades.” Read more.

Carbon emissions are Dropping—Fast—in Europe

“Officials reckon 2024 will be another record year for renewables. The commission’s modelling suggests that current policies should get the bloc to an 88% reduction of overall emissions by 2040, compared with 1990 levels….  Three factors explain the new target and the reduction in emissions. The first is Europe’s biggest climate achievement: its carbon price.” Read more.