Ideas for the Political Action working group are being pioneered by our Westchester group, the Environmental Change-Makers.  For several years they have been building bridges to our various government representatives.

• raise awareness of the triple crises of peak oil, climate change, and economic contraction, together with the Transition concept as a route to preparing our communities. 
  ( i.e. helping create a "shift in consciousness" )

• prevent further peak resources from being invested into techno-fantasy scenarios. 
  ( i.e. creating "holding action")

• suggest possible alternatives to legislative proposals which would help our society Transition, or preserve the resources we need for the Transition era. 
  (i.e. "creating new structures")
  

First and foremost, we are a network of proactive, grassroots community groups.   We aren't waiting for government to fix things.  What we are convinced of is this:

• If we wait for the governments, it'll be too little, too late
• If we act as individuals, it'll be too little
• But if we act as communities, it might just be enough, just in time.

We select our actions very carefully for maximum impact; we don't go after every "enviro" issue that gets flown. 

In many cases we work with politicians with whom we have already built relationships ("bridges" in the Transition lingo). 

The current members of the team prefer to use the vehicles of a well-considered letter or positive action, rather than noisy marches or presenting at hearings where only a sound-bite of our message gets out.

Our approach has been to promote long-term planning for the Transition era and the "Life After Oil" time period.