TITLE: An Interview with Matt Keating, National Delegate for Oregon’s 44th Congressional District, Council Coordinator of Eugene’s MoveOn Political Action Committee, Chair for the Democratic Party of Lane County
SUMMARY: Matt Keating is an extremely active and politically aware Eugenenian. He was invited to and attended the 2009 Inauguration of President Barack Obama in Washington, D.C. One of his current projects is working on a promoting a Clean Energy Corps campaign with the Eugene MoveOn group, which is the main focus of this interview.
TOPIC: Must create green jobs now
CATEGORY: Citizen (Interview)
WHAT IS IT? An In-Person Interview with Matt Keating
PUBLICATION INFORMATION: chocolatedragon.wordpress.com, March 13, 2009
AUTHOR: Ericka Staples, Matt Keating
LOCATION: Cosmic Pizza, 199 W 8th Ave, Eugene, OR 97401
ACCESSED: March 11, 2009
SUPPORT:
* U.S. President Barack Obama
* Former U.S. President Bill Clinton
* Pete Sorensen, Member of the Lane County Board of Commissioners
* U.S. Congress
AUDIENCE & AGENDA: As Chair of the Democratic Party of Lane County, the Council Coordinator for MoveOn, and a National Delegate for Oregon’s 44th Congressional District, the majority of people Matt Keating works with are educated, concerned citizens. MoveOn is a national political action committee that was created in 1998 in opposition to President Clinton’s impeachment. “[We are] a group that organizes on a grassroots level for national causes,” says Keating. When asked how he would briefly describe the organization to someone who has never heard of it, Keating replied, “MoveOn raises awareness for progressive, democratic platforms.” The current agenda for MoveOn is based on two goals: 1) Creating five million new jobs via the establishment of a new Clean Energy Corps, 2) Converting the U.S.A. to 100% clean electric energy within ten years. “We need to reenact Barack Obama’s progressive Agenda,” says Keating, a stance offcially supported by the national MoveOn organization. “We are in a crisis, both economic and climatic. We need to urge Congress to protect the environment and put people back to work for our future.” The MoveOn national organization current has about 3.2 million registered members. The membership pool is diverse, “from carpenters to stay-at-home moms to business leaders,” according to the official website. Current campaigns MoveOn is working on include pushing to end the war in Iraq and promoting universal health care in America. The organization is dependent on financial contributions from its members: “Through 2004, MoveOn.org Political Action raised approximately $11 million for 81 candidates from over 300,000 donors. In 2005, MoveOn.org Political Action grew to 3.2 million members and 125,000 members contributed $9 million to progressive candidates and campaigns (average donation: $45),” according to MoveOn.org.
USEFULNESS: As a new member of the Eugene MoveOn group, I really appreciated Matt’s answers and his explanation of the MoveOn agenda. In addition to receiving support from the organization, Keating also depends on his own individual research he has done and continues to do on the topic of green job development. Here are a few terrifying pieces of information he told me during our interview: A) More than 600,000 jobs were lost around the country within the past four months, B) The national unemployment rate is at ten percent, C) In Douglas County alone, the unemployment rate is at 12 percent. The creation of a new Clean Energy Corps (green job promotion), would undoubtedly address these problems by keeping jobs local, generating money, and by decreasing harmful environmental practices by eliminating our dependence on fossil fuels and foreign oil. Keating also offered dozens of action tips for citizens who are also concerned about the current economic times and want to take the responsibility to influence a change. Among these tips were holding public officials accountable, investing the time to do individual research on topics of concern, collaborating and organizing as a community, and staying actively engaged. All of things are, as Keating says, important because we need to “stay focused on the task at-hand: creating an Oregon-based commission that leads the pact to clean energy.”
WORKS CITED:
* Pete Sorensen.
http://www.co.lane.or.us/BCC_Sorenson/
Accessed March 13, 2009
