Twenty-three Senators of different political stripes just met with President Obama at the White House as he pled for a price on carbon emissions in an energy bill this year. These included the power players that hold all the cards in the debate: the heads of key committes and many moderate Republicans and Democrats whose votes are needed to have a shot in hell at passing any energy bill at all, whether weak or strong.

Many left the meeting still pessimistic that the votes for a strong climate bill are there, and are looking to a "think small" energy bill that ignores the real issues at hand. Maybe they are just being realists. But who is really being realistic?

We need a price on carbon if we are to seriously tackle climate change. As the White House says: "The president told the senators that he still believes the best way for us to transition to a clean energy economy is with a bill that makes clean energy the profitable kind of energy for American businesses by putting a price on pollution -- because when companies pollute, they should be responsible for the costs to the environment and their contribution to climate change."

This is truly game time for climate change and clean energy. Soon our attention spans will drift away from the oil spill, and November's elections could shift the balance of power even further away from this reality. A strong bill must pass, now or maybe never.

Sign this petition to tell 23 key senators to demand a climate bill that prices carbon pollution.