Last week, Senator Bernie Sanders, the 69-year-old firebrand from Vermont, stood in front of a podium on the floor of the US Senate and gave a 8 1/2 hour speech. It wasn't that he had that much to say, but he wanted to make a point: that the tax plan proposed wasn't something he believed in.

Over the course of the 8 1/2 hours, he became a twitter sensation, and tapped into what so many Americans were feeling–that the window of hope for real change was closing, and that we have to speak out about it. He spoke out, and nearing the end of his filibuster, his legs quavering and his voice hoarse, he said:

“I am trying to document here what is happening to the working class of America because I do not want individual workers to say: 'It is my fault. There is something wrong with me because I can’t go out and get a job.' You are not alone. The entire middle class is collapsing. Our economy is shedding millions and millions of jobs. I know there are people out there trying hard to find work, but that work is just not there. That is why we have to rebuild the economy and create jobs.”

This week, he and his hardworking staff released an amendment to the tax bill that would roll back tax cuts on the wealthiest 2% of Americans — those making millions of dollars — and put that money into energy efficiency and clean energy programs to jumpstart our economy and create green jobs all over the country. We support Bernie's amendment, and with our friends at Friends of the Earth, we sent a letter to the entire US Senate, to let them know where we stand.