Advocate,

We're halfway through 10-for-10, and about 30% to goal. It'd be lovely to get closer to 50%. We'd like to collaborate on that. 

Here's a story about why working together matters.

In 2021–2022, UUSJ joined a broad coalition resisting Senator Manchin’s harmful permit deal — widely dubbed the “Zombie Bill” and the “Dirty Deal,” or the "Side Deal" among other names. It threatened environmental justice communities nationwide.

We are proud of how our volunteers, partners, and allies showed up:

• Rallies in DC
• Pressure in West Virginia
• Coordinated, values rooted, advocacy
• Faith-rooted messaging
• Engagement wherever possible

Together with the Poor People’s Campaign and People Versus Fossil Fuels, and many others, we helped make Senator Manchin’s position untenable — helping to force negotiations that ultimately enabled passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

"because people fought so hard to oppose such projects, the tide eventually became too much for Manchin to bear." Bill McKibben

This was not UUSJ acting alone; it was collective power. And while the IRA had significant flaws, especially for environmental justice communities, the story on the Zombie Bill demonstrated that we could shift the stance of public figures when we act in coalition.

Today, we pause to say thank you.

Hampering the dirty deal required broad coalition work:

• Environmental and economic justice leaders
• Frontline community organizations
• National and local partners
• Faith-based networks
• And persistent volunteer engagement

UUSJ played a supporting role, helping to hold it down in DC, working the advocacy and witness with others. We mobilized volunteers, showed up at rallies, and added our progressive faith-rooted voice to a much greater collective effort.

We Unitarian Universalists played an important catalytic role, "At least 44 percent of signatories to BBFF [Build Back Fossil Free] are UU congregations or affiliates, including the Texas UU Justice Ministry, said the Rev. Erin J. Walter" (UU World).

Together, as partners we helped make the initial deal framework politically untenable, preventing its passage time after time.

The Zombie Bill died because enough people refused to let up, and we carry that ethos forward. We can do great things — but only if enough of us show up in these last 5 days.