** Natural Resources Defense Council **
( http://www.nrdc.org/ )
America is in need of real leadership to reinvigorate our economy, move toward cleaner sources of energy and confront global warming. The good news is that President-elect Obama has indicated that he is poised and ready to create a comprehensive package that will simultaneously address our climate, energy and economic problems.
Last month, in front of more than 600 climate change leaders, President-elect Obama acknowledged the magnitude of the issue by saying, "Few challenges facing America -- and the world -- are more urgent than combating climate change." He also promised to reverse the past eight years of inaction by setting mandatory limits on global warming pollution when he takes office.
At this critical turning point, Americans must demonstrate support for President-elect Obama's promises and call on him to turn these promises into a plan within the first 100 days of his presidency.
Send a message urging President-elect Obama to announce a plan during his first hundred days in office that will achieve real goals of moving America toward a clean energy future.
( http://www.nrdconline.org/campaign/nrdcaction_120808 )
Showing posts with label nrdc. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nrdc. Show all posts
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Dec 10, 2008 -- Fight the Right-Wing Wackos Links of the Day.
** Natural Resources Defense Council **
( http://www.nrdc.org/ )
No one voted on Election Day to hand over Utah's Redrock wilderness to oil companies.
But the Bush Administration cynically chose that very day to advance an outrageous plan that will sell off leases for some 300,000 acres of spectacular Utah canyonlands to oil and gas speculators.
While America was voting for Barack Obama and his vision of a clean energy future, Bush and Cheney's underlings were conspiring to plunder one of the crown jewels of our natural heritage for their fossil fuel cronies.
The auction of Redrock country will take place on December 19. At stake are world-renowned vistas near Canyonlands and Arches National Parks, as well as near Dinosaur National Monument. The highest bidders will earn the right to turn vast tracts of pristine wilderness into industrial wastelands.
The Bush Administration is racing to complete the auction of our lands before Inauguration Day, which will make sales difficult to reverse.
We must fend off this land grab now -- before the oil and gas companies can lay claim to the spoils.
Tell the Bush Administration to cancel the Redrock auction. Remind them that we the people are the rightful owners of this majestic wilderness and that we won't stand for its destruction.
( http://www.nrdconline.org/campaign/stop_wilderness_giveaway/ )
--
** Human Rights First **
( http://www.humanrightsfirst.org )
On the occasion of the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we ask that you contact President-elect Obama's Transition Team.
Let them know that restoring America's place in the world as a nation that stands up for human rights must be a top priority, and that the new administration should act swiftly to fix U.S. interrogation and detention policies.
No torture. No exceptions.
( http://action.humanrightsfirst.org/campaign/etn_obama/ )
( http://www.nrdc.org/ )
No one voted on Election Day to hand over Utah's Redrock wilderness to oil companies.
But the Bush Administration cynically chose that very day to advance an outrageous plan that will sell off leases for some 300,000 acres of spectacular Utah canyonlands to oil and gas speculators.
While America was voting for Barack Obama and his vision of a clean energy future, Bush and Cheney's underlings were conspiring to plunder one of the crown jewels of our natural heritage for their fossil fuel cronies.
The auction of Redrock country will take place on December 19. At stake are world-renowned vistas near Canyonlands and Arches National Parks, as well as near Dinosaur National Monument. The highest bidders will earn the right to turn vast tracts of pristine wilderness into industrial wastelands.
The Bush Administration is racing to complete the auction of our lands before Inauguration Day, which will make sales difficult to reverse.
We must fend off this land grab now -- before the oil and gas companies can lay claim to the spoils.
Tell the Bush Administration to cancel the Redrock auction. Remind them that we the people are the rightful owners of this majestic wilderness and that we won't stand for its destruction.
( http://www.nrdconline.org/campaign/stop_wilderness_giveaway/ )
--
** Human Rights First **
( http://www.humanrightsfirst.org )
On the occasion of the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we ask that you contact President-elect Obama's Transition Team.
Let them know that restoring America's place in the world as a nation that stands up for human rights must be a top priority, and that the new administration should act swiftly to fix U.S. interrogation and detention policies.
No torture. No exceptions.
( http://action.humanrightsfirst.org/campaign/etn_obama/ )
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Dec 03, 2008 -- Fight the Right-Wing Wackos Links of the Day.
** Audubon Action Fund **
( http://audubonaction.org )
Protecting our environment from global warming will be our top priority when the new President and Congress assume office in January. That's why we are joining with nearly a dozen environmental groups to send a message to the new Administration that we can't wait any longer to solve our energy crisis. This is your chance to signal your support for President-elect Obama's strong commitment to confront the challenge of global warming.
Sign the petition to President-elect Obama and support his efforts to Repower, Refuel, and Rebuild America!
( http://audubonaction.org/campaign/repower/ )
--
** Natural Resources Defense Council **
( http://www.nrdc.org/ )
As one of its last acts in office, the Bush administration wants to allow oil and gas drilling in half a million acres of Utah's magnificent Dixie National Forest.
Comments are due December 16th, so tell the administration to protect, not destroy, these spectacular wildlands and wildlife.
( http://www.nrdconline.org/campaign/nrdcaction_113008 )
--
** Servicemembers Legal Defense Network **
( http://www.sldn.org/ )
President-elect Obama announced yesterday that he is re-appointing disgraced President Bush's Defense Secretary, Robert Gates.
Since taking the position in 2006, disgraced Robert Gates has seen firsthand the impact of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." No one knows better than disgraced Secretary Gates that the U.S. armed forces cannot continue turning away qualified young Americans based on sexual orientation.
Please sign our letter to disgraced Secretary Gates, encouraging him to support President-elect Obama's position to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell".
( http://www.sldn.org/gates )
( http://audubonaction.org )
Protecting our environment from global warming will be our top priority when the new President and Congress assume office in January. That's why we are joining with nearly a dozen environmental groups to send a message to the new Administration that we can't wait any longer to solve our energy crisis. This is your chance to signal your support for President-elect Obama's strong commitment to confront the challenge of global warming.
Sign the petition to President-elect Obama and support his efforts to Repower, Refuel, and Rebuild America!
( http://audubonaction.org/campaign/repower/ )
--
** Natural Resources Defense Council **
( http://www.nrdc.org/ )
As one of its last acts in office, the Bush administration wants to allow oil and gas drilling in half a million acres of Utah's magnificent Dixie National Forest.
Comments are due December 16th, so tell the administration to protect, not destroy, these spectacular wildlands and wildlife.
( http://www.nrdconline.org/campaign/nrdcaction_113008 )
--
** Servicemembers Legal Defense Network **
( http://www.sldn.org/ )
President-elect Obama announced yesterday that he is re-appointing disgraced President Bush's Defense Secretary, Robert Gates.
Since taking the position in 2006, disgraced Robert Gates has seen firsthand the impact of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." No one knows better than disgraced Secretary Gates that the U.S. armed forces cannot continue turning away qualified young Americans based on sexual orientation.
Please sign our letter to disgraced Secretary Gates, encouraging him to support President-elect Obama's position to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell".
( http://www.sldn.org/gates )
Monday, November 17, 2008
Nov 17, 2008 -- Fight the Right-Wing Wackos Links of the Day.
** NRDC Action **
The Bush Administration is determined to ram through a new wolf-killing plan before leaving office. This dangerous scheme could allow the Northern Rockies states to kill nearly 1,000 gray wolves in the first year alone.
Please submit an Official Citizen Comment telling the Interior Department to maintain strong federal protection for wolves.
--
** Earth Justice **
Following its recent failed attempt to remove the wolves from the endangered species list, the administration's Fish and Wildlife Service has issued a proposal allowing Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana to kill nearly 1,000 wolves -- at a time when the wolf population is already declining.
Please tell the Fish and Wildlife Service to keep the northern Rockies gray wolves on the endangered species list.
--
** Food and Water Watch **
For the last three years, the USDA has been trying to open the border to Canadian cattle over the age of thirty months. This is significant because older cattle (those over thirty months of age) are considered to be at higher risk for having Mad Cow Disease and therefore pose a greater risk if they enter the food supply. Canada has had 13 cases of Mad Cow Disease, the most recent of which was discovered in June.
Tell USDA to put public health before meat industry profits and not to open the border to older Canadian cattle.
--
** Center for Biological Diversity **
The Bitter Creek National Wildlife Refuge, located on 14,097 acres in southwestern Kern County, California, is a crucial wildlife linkage in the southern San Joaquin Valley. Purchased to protect declining California condor foraging and roosting habitat in 1985, the refuge is the place where the last wild female condor was trapped in 1986. It's now an integral part of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's condor recovery activities, and supports condor reintroduction, foraging, and roosting opportunities. In addition to the condor, the refuge protects grasslands, oak woodlands, chaparral, pinyon/juniper/oak woodlands, and riparian and wetland habitats. These diverse communities in turn support numerous rare species, including the endangered San Joaquin kit fox, blunt-nosed leopard lizard, and giant kangaroo rat. Western spadefoot toad, western horned lizards, and the tricolored blackbird also call the refuge home.
While cattle have had unrestricted grazing on the refuge in the past, the Fish and Wildlife Service has recognized that an alteration in the grazing regime would benefit the 9,400 acres of grassland habitat and provide healthier habitat for the recovering condor population. The agency recently proposed a restoration program to enhance the ecological values of the site and includes a modified grazing schedule based on ecological principles to limit grazing during critical times for native plant establishment, especially native grasses.
This important step forward in refuge management is key to maintaining ecologically diverse and functioning habitats for condors. But the current grazing lessee opposes the change in grazing management, and significant efforts have been made to oppose these changes by cattle operators and local elected officials. Your help is needed.
Please send a letter of support for the grassland restoration project and limiting grazing. The Bitter Creek Wildlife Refuge was expressly created for condors, not for cows.
The Bush Administration is determined to ram through a new wolf-killing plan before leaving office. This dangerous scheme could allow the Northern Rockies states to kill nearly 1,000 gray wolves in the first year alone.
Please submit an Official Citizen Comment telling the Interior Department to maintain strong federal protection for wolves.
--
** Earth Justice **
Following its recent failed attempt to remove the wolves from the endangered species list, the administration's Fish and Wildlife Service has issued a proposal allowing Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana to kill nearly 1,000 wolves -- at a time when the wolf population is already declining.
Please tell the Fish and Wildlife Service to keep the northern Rockies gray wolves on the endangered species list.
--
** Food and Water Watch **
For the last three years, the USDA has been trying to open the border to Canadian cattle over the age of thirty months. This is significant because older cattle (those over thirty months of age) are considered to be at higher risk for having Mad Cow Disease and therefore pose a greater risk if they enter the food supply. Canada has had 13 cases of Mad Cow Disease, the most recent of which was discovered in June.
Tell USDA to put public health before meat industry profits and not to open the border to older Canadian cattle.
--
** Center for Biological Diversity **
The Bitter Creek National Wildlife Refuge, located on 14,097 acres in southwestern Kern County, California, is a crucial wildlife linkage in the southern San Joaquin Valley. Purchased to protect declining California condor foraging and roosting habitat in 1985, the refuge is the place where the last wild female condor was trapped in 1986. It's now an integral part of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's condor recovery activities, and supports condor reintroduction, foraging, and roosting opportunities. In addition to the condor, the refuge protects grasslands, oak woodlands, chaparral, pinyon/juniper/oak woodlands, and riparian and wetland habitats. These diverse communities in turn support numerous rare species, including the endangered San Joaquin kit fox, blunt-nosed leopard lizard, and giant kangaroo rat. Western spadefoot toad, western horned lizards, and the tricolored blackbird also call the refuge home.
While cattle have had unrestricted grazing on the refuge in the past, the Fish and Wildlife Service has recognized that an alteration in the grazing regime would benefit the 9,400 acres of grassland habitat and provide healthier habitat for the recovering condor population. The agency recently proposed a restoration program to enhance the ecological values of the site and includes a modified grazing schedule based on ecological principles to limit grazing during critical times for native plant establishment, especially native grasses.
This important step forward in refuge management is key to maintaining ecologically diverse and functioning habitats for condors. But the current grazing lessee opposes the change in grazing management, and significant efforts have been made to oppose these changes by cattle operators and local elected officials. Your help is needed.
Please send a letter of support for the grassland restoration project and limiting grazing. The Bitter Creek Wildlife Refuge was expressly created for condors, not for cows.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Sept 09, 2008 -- Fight the Right-Wing Wackos Links of the Day.
** Natural Resources Defense Council **
Congress is scheduled to vote on comprehensive energy legislation in the coming days. As high energy costs are challenging households across America, legislators have offered a variety of policies to address the problem. But some proposals are clearly better than others.
With less than three percent of the world's oil reserves, we cannot drill our way to energy security. Opening our nation's coastlines to more destructive drilling would only add to the oil industry's billions in profits, do little or nothing to lower gas prices for families and businesses, and keep our nation dangerously dependent on fossil fuels.
The energy policy choices we make today will affect the quality of our air and water as well as the security of our nation for generations to come. Instead of prolonging outdated policies that support fossil fuel development, Congress should invest in clean renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies that offer us a real path to energy independence.
Tell Congress to say Yes to clean energy and No to drilling
--
** Progressive Democrats of America **
Feeling pressure from voters and House colleagues, Speaker Pelosi has agreed to debate expanding oil drilling as part of an energy package that emphasizes clean energy and other price relief. Some kind of vote needs to happen this fall to preserve the existing moratorium on offshore drilling, anyway. The vote could happen as early as September 12.
Speaker Pelosi is committed to clean energy solutions, and she expects debate will show that clean energy is the answer that will truly help Americans.
Send a message to your representatives that clean energy is our best answer to high gas prices.
--
** Audubon Society **
The Bush Administration has just initiated a new oil and gas development plan to "accelerate an offshore exploration and development program." Tens of millions of federal lands and waters are already open to oil and gas leasing, with millions of acres under lease and awaiting exploration. There is no need to sacrifice new, sensitive, and important marine and coastal ecosystems. Find out more.
Please send a letter to add your comments to the public record to oppose efforts to open sensitive ecosystems to oil and gas development.
Save Our Seas: Protect Sensitive Ecosystems from Drilling
--
** Pacific Environment **
With only five months left in office, the Bush Administration is pushing to ram a new 5-year offshore drilling plan through Minerals Management Service (MMS) that would put large coastal areas in the hands of oil companies and aggressively expand current drilling. Expert after expert has said we can’t drill our way to energy independence.
With our extensive work in Russia, Alaska, and California, Pacific Environment has witnessed the devastating effects of oil and gas projects. We’ve seen oil spills destroy communities, disrupt traditional indigenous cultures, soil beaches, and kill countless numbers of birds, marine mammals, fish, and other wildlife. Instead we want clean solutions that decrease our dependence on oil, create new jobs and lower prices.
Join us in demanding clean energy solutions and speaking out against offshore drilling, more giveaways to Big Oil, and unnecessary increases in greenhouse gas emissions.
Tell the MMS today to stop new oil drilling and demand real energy solutions!
Congress is scheduled to vote on comprehensive energy legislation in the coming days. As high energy costs are challenging households across America, legislators have offered a variety of policies to address the problem. But some proposals are clearly better than others.
With less than three percent of the world's oil reserves, we cannot drill our way to energy security. Opening our nation's coastlines to more destructive drilling would only add to the oil industry's billions in profits, do little or nothing to lower gas prices for families and businesses, and keep our nation dangerously dependent on fossil fuels.
The energy policy choices we make today will affect the quality of our air and water as well as the security of our nation for generations to come. Instead of prolonging outdated policies that support fossil fuel development, Congress should invest in clean renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies that offer us a real path to energy independence.
Tell Congress to say Yes to clean energy and No to drilling
--
** Progressive Democrats of America **
Feeling pressure from voters and House colleagues, Speaker Pelosi has agreed to debate expanding oil drilling as part of an energy package that emphasizes clean energy and other price relief. Some kind of vote needs to happen this fall to preserve the existing moratorium on offshore drilling, anyway. The vote could happen as early as September 12.
Speaker Pelosi is committed to clean energy solutions, and she expects debate will show that clean energy is the answer that will truly help Americans.
Send a message to your representatives that clean energy is our best answer to high gas prices.
--
** Audubon Society **
The Bush Administration has just initiated a new oil and gas development plan to "accelerate an offshore exploration and development program." Tens of millions of federal lands and waters are already open to oil and gas leasing, with millions of acres under lease and awaiting exploration. There is no need to sacrifice new, sensitive, and important marine and coastal ecosystems. Find out more.
Please send a letter to add your comments to the public record to oppose efforts to open sensitive ecosystems to oil and gas development.
Save Our Seas: Protect Sensitive Ecosystems from Drilling
--
** Pacific Environment **
With only five months left in office, the Bush Administration is pushing to ram a new 5-year offshore drilling plan through Minerals Management Service (MMS) that would put large coastal areas in the hands of oil companies and aggressively expand current drilling. Expert after expert has said we can’t drill our way to energy independence.
With our extensive work in Russia, Alaska, and California, Pacific Environment has witnessed the devastating effects of oil and gas projects. We’ve seen oil spills destroy communities, disrupt traditional indigenous cultures, soil beaches, and kill countless numbers of birds, marine mammals, fish, and other wildlife. Instead we want clean solutions that decrease our dependence on oil, create new jobs and lower prices.
Join us in demanding clean energy solutions and speaking out against offshore drilling, more giveaways to Big Oil, and unnecessary increases in greenhouse gas emissions.
Tell the MMS today to stop new oil drilling and demand real energy solutions!
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Aug 19, 2008 -- Your Fight the Right-Wing Activists Links of the Day.
** Natural Resources Defense Council **
Bees are a critical agricultural resource that help produce $15 billion worth of crops in the United States each year. The recent unexplained mass disappearance of honey bees, called colony collapse disorder, poses a significant threat to honey bees, beekeepers, farmers and our food supply. Most bee experts believe bees could be falling sick due to a combination of factors, including pesticide exposure, invasive parasitic mites, an inadequate food supply and a new virus that targets bees' immune systems.
Last year Congress recognized colony collapse disorder as a threat and granted the Department of Agriculture emergency funds to study the problem. In addition, the department receives $20 million each year for honey bee research, pest and pathogen surveillance, and other bee-related programs. But to date, the agency has been unable to fully account for how these funds are being used or show any significant results from its work.
Urge the Department of Agriculture to fulfill its commitment to fight colony collapse disorder.
--
** Human Rights First **
Police detained one of China's most celebrated lawyers, Gao Zhisheng, at his home on September 22, 2007 and took him to an unknown location. He was later released and placed under house arrest. His current whereabouts are unclear, though he is believed to be under surveillance.
The detention came after Gao wrote an open letter to the U.S. Congress criticizing China for using the Olympics to crack down on human rights. During his detention from September to early November, Gao was reportedly tortured.
When the Olympics come to a close, the international attention will fade without China fulfilling its promises to improve its record on human rights. Gao is just one of many human rights defenders subjected to legal harassment, violence, arbitrary detention, and torture.
As the Olympic Games wind down, the international pressure on China to comply with its human rights commitments is also likely to diminish. However, human rights defenders like Gao will continue to be harassed under China's repressive regime.
Please call on the Chinese government to promptly stop the harassment of all human rights activists immediately.
--
** Union of Concerned Scientists **
In response to high gas prices, the Monkey King Bush administration and its allies are calling for new oil drilling that would take decades and eventually save only pennies-per-gallon.
Meanwhile, Bush’s Department of Transportation is undermining historic new fuel economy standards. They unrealistically assume gas will cost around $2.50 through 2020 and that hybrid vehicles won’t even exist until 2014. Because the agency balances the cost of new fuel economy technology against the gas savings the new technology provides, these outrageous assumptions are being used by the administration to reduce the automakers’ requirement to bring more fuel-efficient options to consumers.
According to the administration’s own analysis, if they simply used a more realistic gas price, the standards would save consumers enough fuel to equal about a dollar per gallon discount at the pump. This would dwarf the minuscule price drop from oil produced through new drilling without the environmental consequences of feeding our addiction to oil.
Congress must now get personally involved in saving the historic fuel economy standards they created in 2007.
Please tell your members of Congress to save fuel economy from administration tampering in order to truly address the United States' pain at the pump.
Bees are a critical agricultural resource that help produce $15 billion worth of crops in the United States each year. The recent unexplained mass disappearance of honey bees, called colony collapse disorder, poses a significant threat to honey bees, beekeepers, farmers and our food supply. Most bee experts believe bees could be falling sick due to a combination of factors, including pesticide exposure, invasive parasitic mites, an inadequate food supply and a new virus that targets bees' immune systems.
Last year Congress recognized colony collapse disorder as a threat and granted the Department of Agriculture emergency funds to study the problem. In addition, the department receives $20 million each year for honey bee research, pest and pathogen surveillance, and other bee-related programs. But to date, the agency has been unable to fully account for how these funds are being used or show any significant results from its work.
Urge the Department of Agriculture to fulfill its commitment to fight colony collapse disorder.
--
** Human Rights First **
Police detained one of China's most celebrated lawyers, Gao Zhisheng, at his home on September 22, 2007 and took him to an unknown location. He was later released and placed under house arrest. His current whereabouts are unclear, though he is believed to be under surveillance.
The detention came after Gao wrote an open letter to the U.S. Congress criticizing China for using the Olympics to crack down on human rights. During his detention from September to early November, Gao was reportedly tortured.
When the Olympics come to a close, the international attention will fade without China fulfilling its promises to improve its record on human rights. Gao is just one of many human rights defenders subjected to legal harassment, violence, arbitrary detention, and torture.
As the Olympic Games wind down, the international pressure on China to comply with its human rights commitments is also likely to diminish. However, human rights defenders like Gao will continue to be harassed under China's repressive regime.
Please call on the Chinese government to promptly stop the harassment of all human rights activists immediately.
--
** Union of Concerned Scientists **
In response to high gas prices, the Monkey King Bush administration and its allies are calling for new oil drilling that would take decades and eventually save only pennies-per-gallon.
Meanwhile, Bush’s Department of Transportation is undermining historic new fuel economy standards. They unrealistically assume gas will cost around $2.50 through 2020 and that hybrid vehicles won’t even exist until 2014. Because the agency balances the cost of new fuel economy technology against the gas savings the new technology provides, these outrageous assumptions are being used by the administration to reduce the automakers’ requirement to bring more fuel-efficient options to consumers.
According to the administration’s own analysis, if they simply used a more realistic gas price, the standards would save consumers enough fuel to equal about a dollar per gallon discount at the pump. This would dwarf the minuscule price drop from oil produced through new drilling without the environmental consequences of feeding our addiction to oil.
Congress must now get personally involved in saving the historic fuel economy standards they created in 2007.
Please tell your members of Congress to save fuel economy from administration tampering in order to truly address the United States' pain at the pump.
Friday, August 1, 2008
Aug 01, 2008: Your Fight the Right-Wackos Links
** American Rights at Work **
Wal-Mart has been threatening employees to not vote for pro-worker candidates like Barack Obama in November because they support the Employee Free Choice Act. If passed, the bill would make it easier to form unions in stores like Wal-Mart.
Telling employees how to vote in a U.S. election is not only morally reprehensible, it's potentially illegal.
So we’re starting a petition to the Federal Election Commission (FEC), asking for an investigation into Wal-Mart’s electioneering. Can you sign on?
Ask the Federal Election Committee to investigate Wal-Mart’s potentially illegal intimidation.
--
** Working Families **
Wal-Mart is so intimidated by the very possibility of a unionized workforce that its supervisors have been holding mandatory meetings essentially telling employees to vote against Democrats and Sen. Barack Obama this November.
Wal-Mart is taking this outrageous step because the Democrats and Barack Obama have committed to pass the Employee Free Choice Act to restore workers’ freedom to form unions and bargain for fair wages, health care, decent working conditions and a real voice on the job. All of America’s workers have the right to freely decide whom to vote for independent of employer pressure and intimidation.
Tell Wal-Mart to stop intimidating workers TODAY
--
** Natural Resources Defense Council **
Contaminated beachwater can cause infections, rashes, diarrhea, vomiting and other harmful and uncomfortable symptoms in swimmers. To ensure that our beaches are safe for all, beach monitoring programs must be strengthened and the sources of beach pollution, most often stormwater and sewage, must be identified and addressed.
Congress has the opportunity to help clean up contaminated beaches and to make sure sources of beach pollution are identified and addressed. Urge your senators to pass the Beach Protection Act.
Send a message urging your senators to push for passage of the Beach Protection Act (S. 2844).
--
** Public Citizen **
We trust nursing homes to make sure our loved ones are in a safe environment where they eat their meals on time, receive their prescribed medications, and have attentive care.
Sadly, many elderly residents are neglected.
Mary Hight was dehydrated and ill for days, but her nursing home wouldn’t call an ambulance. Her daughter had no choice but to push her in a wheelchair to a nearby hospital, where she died the next day. Adding insult to injury, Mary’s family couldn’t sue the nursing home and hold it accountable in court -- because it had put something called a “binding mandatory arbitration” clause in the fine print of its admission papers.
Instead of focusing on providing the best care to their residents, nursing homes are busy immunizing themselves from accountability for their wrongdoing -- by stripping the elderly of the right to take them to court! This must end.
Help stop this predatory practice!
Congress is considering banning the use of pre-dispute binding mandatory arbitration in nursing home contracts NOW.
Wal-Mart has been threatening employees to not vote for pro-worker candidates like Barack Obama in November because they support the Employee Free Choice Act. If passed, the bill would make it easier to form unions in stores like Wal-Mart.
Telling employees how to vote in a U.S. election is not only morally reprehensible, it's potentially illegal.
So we’re starting a petition to the Federal Election Commission (FEC), asking for an investigation into Wal-Mart’s electioneering. Can you sign on?
Ask the Federal Election Committee to investigate Wal-Mart’s potentially illegal intimidation.
--
** Working Families **
Wal-Mart is so intimidated by the very possibility of a unionized workforce that its supervisors have been holding mandatory meetings essentially telling employees to vote against Democrats and Sen. Barack Obama this November.
Wal-Mart is taking this outrageous step because the Democrats and Barack Obama have committed to pass the Employee Free Choice Act to restore workers’ freedom to form unions and bargain for fair wages, health care, decent working conditions and a real voice on the job. All of America’s workers have the right to freely decide whom to vote for independent of employer pressure and intimidation.
Tell Wal-Mart to stop intimidating workers TODAY
--
** Natural Resources Defense Council **
Contaminated beachwater can cause infections, rashes, diarrhea, vomiting and other harmful and uncomfortable symptoms in swimmers. To ensure that our beaches are safe for all, beach monitoring programs must be strengthened and the sources of beach pollution, most often stormwater and sewage, must be identified and addressed.
Congress has the opportunity to help clean up contaminated beaches and to make sure sources of beach pollution are identified and addressed. Urge your senators to pass the Beach Protection Act.
Send a message urging your senators to push for passage of the Beach Protection Act (S. 2844).
--
** Public Citizen **
We trust nursing homes to make sure our loved ones are in a safe environment where they eat their meals on time, receive their prescribed medications, and have attentive care.
Sadly, many elderly residents are neglected.
Mary Hight was dehydrated and ill for days, but her nursing home wouldn’t call an ambulance. Her daughter had no choice but to push her in a wheelchair to a nearby hospital, where she died the next day. Adding insult to injury, Mary’s family couldn’t sue the nursing home and hold it accountable in court -- because it had put something called a “binding mandatory arbitration” clause in the fine print of its admission papers.
Instead of focusing on providing the best care to their residents, nursing homes are busy immunizing themselves from accountability for their wrongdoing -- by stripping the elderly of the right to take them to court! This must end.
Help stop this predatory practice!
Congress is considering banning the use of pre-dispute binding mandatory arbitration in nursing home contracts NOW.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
July 15, 2008 -- Your Fight the Right-Wing Wacko Links of the Day.
** Natural Resources Defense Council **
Oil companies and their allies in Congress claim that drilling in America's oceans and coastal areas would help solve the energy crisis and have proposed ending the 27-year moratorium on new offshore drilling. But offshore drilling would neither solve our energy needs nor significantly lower gas prices. Instead, drilling would harm America's economy, health, oceans and coasts.
Proponents of offshore drilling claim it would reduce gas prices, even though the Department of Energy has determined that it would not significantly do so. Oil companies currently have 5,500 offshore leases they are not drilling, and with 80 percent of the untapped oil in offshore areas already open to development, they do not need access to more areas to increase supply. And while the U.S. oil industry says it wants even more access to sensitive ocean areas to reduce reliance on foreign suppliers, American-based companies are shipping record amounts of gasoline and diesel fuel to other countries. This proposal is simply a way to give oil companies unfettered drilling access to our oceans and coastal areas.
In addition, opening up additional offshore areas to drilling poses real threats to our ocean and coastal ecosystems and economies. Offshore drilling creates toxic waste products that contaminate fish and marine life. Offshore wells emit air pollutants that are known carcinogens, cause respiratory problems and worsen global warming. And current cleanup methods can only remove a small fraction of oil spilled in marine waters, where it is toxic for most species.
America needs real, long-term solutions for the energy crisis, but oil companies and their allies are not delivering them. We need to use less oil by improving energy efficiency and utilizing renewable energy. In doing so, we can achieve energy independence, fight global warming, and jump-start our nation's economy
Tell Congress not to allow drilling off our coasts
--
** Senator Barbara Boxer **
Recently, running contrary to every shred of common sense, President Bush lifted the presidential moratorium on drilling for oil off our precious coastline. And now he wants Congress to lift the moratorium as well.
In the final months of his failed presidency, George Bush wants to give the oil companies a huge gift that threatens our coasts, our economy, and our jobs -- while not doing one single thing to lower gas prices.
Tell my colleagues in Congress to stand firm: Sign my petition to the House and Senate leadership, urging them not to lift the Congressional moratorium on offshore drilling!
--
** Human Rights Campaign **
Former Senator Jesse Helms (widely known racist, sexist, homophobic right-wing pig), the notorious author of dozens of measures attacking GLBT and HIV-positive people during his years in the Senate, died on July 4 (Good riddance!). Unfortunately, the legacy of discrimination against HIV-positive people he helped to create lives on in a law that bars nearly every foreign person with HIV from entering the United States. That's right – with very few exceptions, an HIV-positive individual cannot come to the United States for any reason, be it to visit, work, study or become a legal resident.
It's an embarrassment and an outrage. And at long last, we have a chance to bring it to an end.
Ask your Senator to stand up against bias and ensure that the ban on HIV-positive visitors and immigrants is repealed.
--
** Democrats.com **
Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT) has become much too friendly with Pastor John Hagee, the same man who preached that Hitler was only doing God's bidding.
Tell Sen. Lieberman to immediately withdraw his commitment to deliver the keynote address at Hagee's Israel Summit on July 22.
Oil companies and their allies in Congress claim that drilling in America's oceans and coastal areas would help solve the energy crisis and have proposed ending the 27-year moratorium on new offshore drilling. But offshore drilling would neither solve our energy needs nor significantly lower gas prices. Instead, drilling would harm America's economy, health, oceans and coasts.
Proponents of offshore drilling claim it would reduce gas prices, even though the Department of Energy has determined that it would not significantly do so. Oil companies currently have 5,500 offshore leases they are not drilling, and with 80 percent of the untapped oil in offshore areas already open to development, they do not need access to more areas to increase supply. And while the U.S. oil industry says it wants even more access to sensitive ocean areas to reduce reliance on foreign suppliers, American-based companies are shipping record amounts of gasoline and diesel fuel to other countries. This proposal is simply a way to give oil companies unfettered drilling access to our oceans and coastal areas.
In addition, opening up additional offshore areas to drilling poses real threats to our ocean and coastal ecosystems and economies. Offshore drilling creates toxic waste products that contaminate fish and marine life. Offshore wells emit air pollutants that are known carcinogens, cause respiratory problems and worsen global warming. And current cleanup methods can only remove a small fraction of oil spilled in marine waters, where it is toxic for most species.
America needs real, long-term solutions for the energy crisis, but oil companies and their allies are not delivering them. We need to use less oil by improving energy efficiency and utilizing renewable energy. In doing so, we can achieve energy independence, fight global warming, and jump-start our nation's economy
Tell Congress not to allow drilling off our coasts
--
** Senator Barbara Boxer **
Recently, running contrary to every shred of common sense, President Bush lifted the presidential moratorium on drilling for oil off our precious coastline. And now he wants Congress to lift the moratorium as well.
In the final months of his failed presidency, George Bush wants to give the oil companies a huge gift that threatens our coasts, our economy, and our jobs -- while not doing one single thing to lower gas prices.
Tell my colleagues in Congress to stand firm: Sign my petition to the House and Senate leadership, urging them not to lift the Congressional moratorium on offshore drilling!
--
** Human Rights Campaign **
Former Senator Jesse Helms (widely known racist, sexist, homophobic right-wing pig), the notorious author of dozens of measures attacking GLBT and HIV-positive people during his years in the Senate, died on July 4 (Good riddance!). Unfortunately, the legacy of discrimination against HIV-positive people he helped to create lives on in a law that bars nearly every foreign person with HIV from entering the United States. That's right – with very few exceptions, an HIV-positive individual cannot come to the United States for any reason, be it to visit, work, study or become a legal resident.
It's an embarrassment and an outrage. And at long last, we have a chance to bring it to an end.
Ask your Senator to stand up against bias and ensure that the ban on HIV-positive visitors and immigrants is repealed.
--
** Democrats.com **
Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT) has become much too friendly with Pastor John Hagee, the same man who preached that Hitler was only doing God's bidding.
Tell Sen. Lieberman to immediately withdraw his commitment to deliver the keynote address at Hagee's Israel Summit on July 22.
Monday, June 30, 2008
June 26, 2008 -- Your Fight the Right-Wing Wacko Links of the Day.
** The Wilderness Society **
The oil industry and its friends in the Monkey King Bush Administration are engaged in a misleading campaign to link today's high gas prices with a last-ditch effort to secure the right to drill in America's last pristine places. They are pushing Congress to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling. We need your help today to stop them.
Drilling the Arctic Refuge will not lower gas prices, but it will cause permanent harm to a fragile Arctic ecosystem and the more than 250 species that depend on it. Tell your Representative and Senators not to sacrifice the Arctic Refuge to Big Oil.
--
** Natural Resources Defense Council **
In the seven years since the Monkey King Bush and shoot-you-in-the-back Dick Cheney began a "Drill and Spill" rampage worthy of nineteenth century oil barons, the price of oil has skyrocketed 100 dollars and the price of gasoline has more than doubled.
But don't wait for them to admit failure. The White House is too busy exploiting our pain at the gas pump in order to hand Big Oil the ultimate prize: access to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and America's spectacular coastlines.
Their plan is simple and cynical. The President and his Congressional allies will sell America the big lie: If we'd only let the oil giants drill where they want, our problems at the pump will be over.
Tell your Senators and Representative you are not buying it. And tell them now, before they go home for the July 4th break and feel even more heat to sacrifice our natural heritage.
--
** VoteVets **
On Sunday, June 29, General Wesley Clark put into perspective what it takes to lead our nation’s military and veterans – the right judgment. In doing so, he pointed out, quite correctly, that Senator old and senile McCain’s honorable and heroic experience does not necessarily qualify him to be commander in chief, if he does not show the right judgment on the major issues of our time.
Sign our petition to General Clark, thanking him for speaking honestly and bluntly at this most important time.
The oil industry and its friends in the Monkey King Bush Administration are engaged in a misleading campaign to link today's high gas prices with a last-ditch effort to secure the right to drill in America's last pristine places. They are pushing Congress to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling. We need your help today to stop them.
Drilling the Arctic Refuge will not lower gas prices, but it will cause permanent harm to a fragile Arctic ecosystem and the more than 250 species that depend on it. Tell your Representative and Senators not to sacrifice the Arctic Refuge to Big Oil.
--
** Natural Resources Defense Council **
In the seven years since the Monkey King Bush and shoot-you-in-the-back Dick Cheney began a "Drill and Spill" rampage worthy of nineteenth century oil barons, the price of oil has skyrocketed 100 dollars and the price of gasoline has more than doubled.
But don't wait for them to admit failure. The White House is too busy exploiting our pain at the gas pump in order to hand Big Oil the ultimate prize: access to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and America's spectacular coastlines.
Their plan is simple and cynical. The President and his Congressional allies will sell America the big lie: If we'd only let the oil giants drill where they want, our problems at the pump will be over.
Tell your Senators and Representative you are not buying it. And tell them now, before they go home for the July 4th break and feel even more heat to sacrifice our natural heritage.
--
** VoteVets **
On Sunday, June 29, General Wesley Clark put into perspective what it takes to lead our nation’s military and veterans – the right judgment. In doing so, he pointed out, quite correctly, that Senator old and senile McCain’s honorable and heroic experience does not necessarily qualify him to be commander in chief, if he does not show the right judgment on the major issues of our time.
Sign our petition to General Clark, thanking him for speaking honestly and bluntly at this most important time.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Your Fight the Right Activist links for June 16, 2008
** Greenpeace **
Last year, millions of toys were recalled from China because of lead contamination. But lead isn’t the only toxin in our children’s toys. Millions of vinyl toys—from rubber ducks to teething rings—are contaminated with toxic chemicals called phthalates. Phthalates aren’t there by accident—toy makers use them to make the vinyl soft and flexible—despite growing evidence that it also makes them toxic. And when kids put these toys in their mouths, the toxic chemicals can leach out and enter their tiny bodies.
Fortunately, Congress has the opportunity to make toys safer for children. A new piece of legislation is making its way through Congress that would ban the use of Phthalates. They have no place in children’s toys, especially since safe alternatives exist.
Take action by writing to your member of Congress and urging them to support the strongest version of this legislation. Together, we can make the planet a safer place for our children.
--
** Human Rights First **
William Haynes, the former General Counsel of the Department of Defense, once advised the Bush Administration that waterboarding and death threats were "legally available" options.
Haynes will go before the Senate Armed Services Committee tomorrow. The members of that committee have a unique opportunity to question him on the administration's interrogation policies.
Ask the Senators to demand answers!
--
** BioGems **
The Bush administration has released a plan that would put vast swaths of the Tongass rainforest -- America's largest national forest -- on the chopping block. The new scheme opens 2.3 million acres of pristine forestland to clearcutting and roadbuilding -- threatening many of the undisturbed old-growth stands that form the wild heart of the Tongass. This ancient rainforest is a haven for grizzly bears, thriving salmon runs, bald eagles by the thousand and the elusive Alexander Archipelago wolf. Since taking office, the administration has repeatedly attempted to hand over the Tongass and our other remaining unspoiled forests to industry logging, mining and road-building -- but again and again, we've staved off these attacks on our natural heritage.
Tell the Bush administration to protect the extraordinary wild habitat of the Tongass National Forest.
--
** Natural Resources Defense Council **
Most scientists are now warning that global warming could eliminate the polar bear's summer sea-ice habitat by 2040. Without dramatic cutbacks in global warming pollution, Alaska's polar bears could face extinction by 2050. Yet the Bush Administration's new plan to protect polar bears under the Endangered Species Act will do nothing to reduce global warming pollution or stop oil development in the heart of polar bear habitat.
Tell the Bush Administration to close the polluter loopholes and give polar bears full-fledged protection as an endangered species.
Last year, millions of toys were recalled from China because of lead contamination. But lead isn’t the only toxin in our children’s toys. Millions of vinyl toys—from rubber ducks to teething rings—are contaminated with toxic chemicals called phthalates. Phthalates aren’t there by accident—toy makers use them to make the vinyl soft and flexible—despite growing evidence that it also makes them toxic. And when kids put these toys in their mouths, the toxic chemicals can leach out and enter their tiny bodies.
Fortunately, Congress has the opportunity to make toys safer for children. A new piece of legislation is making its way through Congress that would ban the use of Phthalates. They have no place in children’s toys, especially since safe alternatives exist.
Take action by writing to your member of Congress and urging them to support the strongest version of this legislation. Together, we can make the planet a safer place for our children.
--
** Human Rights First **
William Haynes, the former General Counsel of the Department of Defense, once advised the Bush Administration that waterboarding and death threats were "legally available" options.
Haynes will go before the Senate Armed Services Committee tomorrow. The members of that committee have a unique opportunity to question him on the administration's interrogation policies.
Ask the Senators to demand answers!
--
** BioGems **
The Bush administration has released a plan that would put vast swaths of the Tongass rainforest -- America's largest national forest -- on the chopping block. The new scheme opens 2.3 million acres of pristine forestland to clearcutting and roadbuilding -- threatening many of the undisturbed old-growth stands that form the wild heart of the Tongass. This ancient rainforest is a haven for grizzly bears, thriving salmon runs, bald eagles by the thousand and the elusive Alexander Archipelago wolf. Since taking office, the administration has repeatedly attempted to hand over the Tongass and our other remaining unspoiled forests to industry logging, mining and road-building -- but again and again, we've staved off these attacks on our natural heritage.
Tell the Bush administration to protect the extraordinary wild habitat of the Tongass National Forest.
--
** Natural Resources Defense Council **
Most scientists are now warning that global warming could eliminate the polar bear's summer sea-ice habitat by 2040. Without dramatic cutbacks in global warming pollution, Alaska's polar bears could face extinction by 2050. Yet the Bush Administration's new plan to protect polar bears under the Endangered Species Act will do nothing to reduce global warming pollution or stop oil development in the heart of polar bear habitat.
Tell the Bush Administration to close the polluter loopholes and give polar bears full-fledged protection as an endangered species.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Your Fight the Right Activist links for June 11, 2008
** Natural Resources Defense Council **
Although lead causes brain, kidney, developmental and cardiovascular damage in children, the EPA has proposed new airborne lead standards that are weaker than scientists recommend. Send a comment by the July 21st deadline telling the EPA to strengthen the standards to levels that will protect children from this dangerous toxin.
Tell the EPA to protect children from dangerous airborne lead
--
** Human Rights First **
Can you imagine the U.S. government leaving soldiers behind in Iraq, giving them little or no chance to return to safety?
That's not unlike U.S. treatment of thousands of Iraqi citizens who risked life and limb to act as translators for the U.S. military.
Thanks in part to the voices of concerned individuals like you, the Refugee Crisis in Iraq Act became law earlier this year, making 5,000 special visas available each year for the next five years to Iraqi translators and other Iraqis who helped the U.S. And in May, Congress passed a second law clarifying that these visas should be made available immediately.
But while these translators struggle to stay alive, bureaucratic red tape - shamefully – is delaying the resettlement process.
Send a letter to be delivered to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff! Urge them to make the visas available without delay.
--
** True Majority **
The Monkey King George Bush's self-styled junta will come to an end less than eight months from now. Unfortunately he still has the power to appoint federal judges -- who would serve for a lifetime, carrying out his right-wing agenda far beyond the end of his term.
One man can block these nominations: Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy.
Judicial appointments are subject to confirmation by the United States Senate -- so the Senate has the power to put an end to Bush's practice of stacking our nation's courts with ultraconservative ideologues. Our friends at Credo Action are running a campaign to simply say no to any more of his judicial nominations and they need our help. Can you take a minute to help them by sending a message to Senator Leahy?
Click here to tell Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy: No more Bush judges.
--
** The PEW Environment Group **
Our oceans are in trouble. Fish stocks are being overfished to the point of collapse, runoff pollution is creating vast dead zones, and global warming is causing the death of corals. Now the Bush Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has proposed a rule that would gut the environmental review process for fishery management actions and limit the public’s right to participate in those decisions.
Tell the NMFS to go back to the drawing board! Our oceans deserve better.
--
** Free Press **
Faux News owner and right-wing whore Rupert Murdoch launched a laughable attack against you, the media reform movement, and journalism itself.
His on-air bully, right-wing wacko whore Bill O'Reilly called us "crazy" and "fascist" --- you, me, and the millions of others who want media reform. These people are "doing a lot of damage to America," O'Reilly yelled. Our crime? Calling for journalism that's more honest, just and accountable to the public.
When Bill O'Reilly goes after you, you must be doing something right. So we've decided to return the favor, and tell him two things: (1) Thanks so much for the compliment and (2) please stop pretending to be a journalist.
Tell fascist pig whore Bill O'Reilly: Stop Pretending to Be a Journalist
Although lead causes brain, kidney, developmental and cardiovascular damage in children, the EPA has proposed new airborne lead standards that are weaker than scientists recommend. Send a comment by the July 21st deadline telling the EPA to strengthen the standards to levels that will protect children from this dangerous toxin.
Tell the EPA to protect children from dangerous airborne lead
--
** Human Rights First **
Can you imagine the U.S. government leaving soldiers behind in Iraq, giving them little or no chance to return to safety?
That's not unlike U.S. treatment of thousands of Iraqi citizens who risked life and limb to act as translators for the U.S. military.
Thanks in part to the voices of concerned individuals like you, the Refugee Crisis in Iraq Act became law earlier this year, making 5,000 special visas available each year for the next five years to Iraqi translators and other Iraqis who helped the U.S. And in May, Congress passed a second law clarifying that these visas should be made available immediately.
But while these translators struggle to stay alive, bureaucratic red tape - shamefully – is delaying the resettlement process.
Send a letter to be delivered to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff! Urge them to make the visas available without delay.
--
** True Majority **
The Monkey King George Bush's self-styled junta will come to an end less than eight months from now. Unfortunately he still has the power to appoint federal judges -- who would serve for a lifetime, carrying out his right-wing agenda far beyond the end of his term.
One man can block these nominations: Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy.
Judicial appointments are subject to confirmation by the United States Senate -- so the Senate has the power to put an end to Bush's practice of stacking our nation's courts with ultraconservative ideologues. Our friends at Credo Action are running a campaign to simply say no to any more of his judicial nominations and they need our help. Can you take a minute to help them by sending a message to Senator Leahy?
Click here to tell Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy: No more Bush judges.
--
** The PEW Environment Group **
Our oceans are in trouble. Fish stocks are being overfished to the point of collapse, runoff pollution is creating vast dead zones, and global warming is causing the death of corals. Now the Bush Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has proposed a rule that would gut the environmental review process for fishery management actions and limit the public’s right to participate in those decisions.
Tell the NMFS to go back to the drawing board! Our oceans deserve better.
--
** Free Press **
Faux News owner and right-wing whore Rupert Murdoch launched a laughable attack against you, the media reform movement, and journalism itself.
His on-air bully, right-wing wacko whore Bill O'Reilly called us "crazy" and "fascist" --- you, me, and the millions of others who want media reform. These people are "doing a lot of damage to America," O'Reilly yelled. Our crime? Calling for journalism that's more honest, just and accountable to the public.
When Bill O'Reilly goes after you, you must be doing something right. So we've decided to return the favor, and tell him two things: (1) Thanks so much for the compliment and (2) please stop pretending to be a journalist.
Tell fascist pig whore Bill O'Reilly: Stop Pretending to Be a Journalist
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Your Fight the Right Activist links for May 6, 2008
** Democracy for America **
America will not stand for a Secretary of State who approved torture and then misled Congress. We call on the Presidential candidates to ask Secretary of State Rice to resign
Our movement calling on all three presidential candidates to reject torture and demand Sec. Rice resign is growing. Click here to add your voice.
--
** NRDC **
For years, BioGems Defenders have fought to halt the U.S. government's systematic capture and killing of Yellowstone's bison -- better known as American buffalo -- as they roam beyond the boundaries of the park in search of food during the harsh winter months. But this year the rate of slaughter has reached unprecedented proportions with more than 1,400 buffalo dead -- fully 30 percent of the buffalo population. In response, the NRDC Action Fund, our partner organization, is mobilizing a massive outcry to stop the killing.
Tell the National Park Service to stop the slaughter of Yellowstone's wild buffalo.
--
** Common Cause **
We all learned in elementary school how a bill becomes a law. First it's passed by Congress, then the President signs it.
But Rep. Don Young (repulsive republican-Alaska) seems to think we all skipped a step. He claims he did nothing wrong when he secretly changed the 2005 highway act, after it had been passed, to redirect $10 million to a new transportation project favored by one of his wealthy campaign donors!
You read that right. Rep. Young acted in the dead of night – without Congress' knowledge or approval, without the American people's awareness – to change the language in a bill after it had been passed by Congress, but before it got to the President's desk.
Ask your Representative to call for an investigation of Rep. Young today!
--
** League of Conservation Voters **
After seven years of watching Big Oil pay off politicians to block all global warming legislation, we may finally break through.
The Climate Security Act, which will soon be voted on in the Senate, shows promising first steps by calling for significant reductions in the emission of global warming pollutants.
But it's not enough in the face of a global warming catastrophe, and this is a critical opportunity to demand the precise solutions we need. For one, the bill needs to cut global warming pollution levels 80% by 2050.
Send your senators a note TODAY urging them to strengthen the Climate Security Act and pass a strong bill.
--
America will not stand for a Secretary of State who approved torture and then misled Congress. We call on the Presidential candidates to ask Secretary of State Rice to resign
Our movement calling on all three presidential candidates to reject torture and demand Sec. Rice resign is growing. Click here to add your voice.
--
** NRDC **
For years, BioGems Defenders have fought to halt the U.S. government's systematic capture and killing of Yellowstone's bison -- better known as American buffalo -- as they roam beyond the boundaries of the park in search of food during the harsh winter months. But this year the rate of slaughter has reached unprecedented proportions with more than 1,400 buffalo dead -- fully 30 percent of the buffalo population. In response, the NRDC Action Fund, our partner organization, is mobilizing a massive outcry to stop the killing.
Tell the National Park Service to stop the slaughter of Yellowstone's wild buffalo.
--
** Common Cause **
We all learned in elementary school how a bill becomes a law. First it's passed by Congress, then the President signs it.
But Rep. Don Young (repulsive republican-Alaska) seems to think we all skipped a step. He claims he did nothing wrong when he secretly changed the 2005 highway act, after it had been passed, to redirect $10 million to a new transportation project favored by one of his wealthy campaign donors!
You read that right. Rep. Young acted in the dead of night – without Congress' knowledge or approval, without the American people's awareness – to change the language in a bill after it had been passed by Congress, but before it got to the President's desk.
Ask your Representative to call for an investigation of Rep. Young today!
--
** League of Conservation Voters **
After seven years of watching Big Oil pay off politicians to block all global warming legislation, we may finally break through.
The Climate Security Act, which will soon be voted on in the Senate, shows promising first steps by calling for significant reductions in the emission of global warming pollutants.
But it's not enough in the face of a global warming catastrophe, and this is a critical opportunity to demand the precise solutions we need. For one, the bill needs to cut global warming pollution levels 80% by 2050.
Send your senators a note TODAY urging them to strengthen the Climate Security Act and pass a strong bill.
--
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Your 5 Minute Activist Links for May 4, 2008
** Union of Concerned Scientists **
According to a new Union of Concerned Scientists report, the true cost of meat and milk produced in massive CAFOs (confined animal feeding operations) includes billions in unaccounted-for taxpayer dollars that pay for the economic, health, and environmental problems CAFOs create.
CAFOs are supported by misguided government policies. Meanwhile, modern, alternatives are already in practice today that can produce the quantity of food we need, often without government subsidies. These alternatives can safeguard our health while protecting the foundations of our food supply—like healthy soil and fresh water. Please sign our petition to the secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), asking him to end policies that give an unfair advantage to the polluting CAFO industry and to support modern alternatives instead.
--
** Environmental Defense **
Senator George Voinovich (R-OH) proposed legislation that would postpone meaningful action on global warming pollution for at least twenty years.
In the meantime, the proposal would take away state authority to control global warming pollution, undermining efforts in dozens of states, including California, Florida, and the Northeast members of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which have set ambitious emissions reduction targets.
We need to do everything we can to defeat Senator Voinovich's sham proposal. Email your Senators today.
--
** Natural Resources Defense Council **
Recently, the Bush Administration stripped endangered species protection from gray wolves in Greater Yellowstone and the Northern Rockies. These wolves face a range of threats, including the use of two toxic chemicals in government-run predator control programs. Please ask your Representative to support HR 4775, a bill banning two deadly poisons that kill gray wolves and many other wildlife species.
Tell Congress to Ban Wildlife Poisons!
According to a new Union of Concerned Scientists report, the true cost of meat and milk produced in massive CAFOs (confined animal feeding operations) includes billions in unaccounted-for taxpayer dollars that pay for the economic, health, and environmental problems CAFOs create.
CAFOs are supported by misguided government policies. Meanwhile, modern, alternatives are already in practice today that can produce the quantity of food we need, often without government subsidies. These alternatives can safeguard our health while protecting the foundations of our food supply—like healthy soil and fresh water. Please sign our petition to the secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), asking him to end policies that give an unfair advantage to the polluting CAFO industry and to support modern alternatives instead.
--
** Environmental Defense **
Senator George Voinovich (R-OH) proposed legislation that would postpone meaningful action on global warming pollution for at least twenty years.
In the meantime, the proposal would take away state authority to control global warming pollution, undermining efforts in dozens of states, including California, Florida, and the Northeast members of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which have set ambitious emissions reduction targets.
We need to do everything we can to defeat Senator Voinovich's sham proposal. Email your Senators today.
--
** Natural Resources Defense Council **
Recently, the Bush Administration stripped endangered species protection from gray wolves in Greater Yellowstone and the Northern Rockies. These wolves face a range of threats, including the use of two toxic chemicals in government-run predator control programs. Please ask your Representative to support HR 4775, a bill banning two deadly poisons that kill gray wolves and many other wildlife species.
Tell Congress to Ban Wildlife Poisons!
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Your 5 Minute Activist Links for April 29, 2008
** Human Rights First **
Ten years ago, famous Guatemalan human rights defender Bishop Juan Gerardi was murdered. Bishop Gerardi was killed just days after publicly releasing a report that documented more than 200,000 killings during Guatemala's 36 year civil war. The report laid blame on the Guatemalan government for over 90 per cent of the conflict's human rights violations.
While individuals have been convicted for the murder of Bishop Gerardi, there has been no justice for the victims of Guatemala's 422 documented massacres. None of the former military or police officials allegedly responsible for committing the worst atrocities during the conflict have been held accountable.
Through his courageous efforts to reveal the truth, Bishop Gerardi left Guatemala an important legacy. However, without action by the authorities, that legacy will never be fully realized.
Urge the Guatemalan Attorney-General to immediately act on the criminal petitions filed by victims almost a decade ago. Those petitions allege that former police and military leaders committed crimes against humanity and genocide during the civil war.
** NRDC **
The 2007 energy bill includes a provision that prevents federal agencies from contracting to purchase liquid coal and other "dirty fuels," such as tar sands and oil shale, that produce more global warming pollution than conventional gasoline. But now dirty fuel supporters in Congress have introduced legislation that would repeal this important provision that will help fight global warming, and energy companies are poised to market dirty fuels to the government at the first opportunity. The Air Force, for instance, is already pushing for a new liquid coal plant on its Malmstrom base in Montana.
Liquid coal produces twice the global warming pollution of conventional gasoline. Relying on liquid coal fuel also would increase the harmful effects of coal mining, which means more mining in the Rockies and more mountaintop removal mining in Appalachia. Investing in liquid coal is also financially unsound: while even under the most optimistic scenarios liquid coal could replace no more than 10 percent of our oil use, these plants would cost over four billion dollars each to build.
Tell your representative not to reverse important protections against dirty fuels.
** Avaaz **
Petition to G8, UN and EU leaders:
We call on you to take immediate action to address the world food crisis by mobilizing emergency funding to prevent starvation, removing perverse incentives to turn food into biofuels and managing financial speculation, and to tackle the underlying causes by ending harmful trade policies and investing massively in sustainable agricultural productivity in developing nations.
** Center for Biological Diversity **
Take action now to protect critical habitat for some of the world's most imperiled coral reefs. A federal proposal to protect coral habitat is making its way through the government channels, and your voice counts.
** The Wilderness Society **
The West Tavaputs Plateau in Utah, which includes Desolation Canyon, Jack Canyon, and Nine Mile Canyon, has it all: spectacular canyons and mesa tops, a diverse range of vegetation, rivers, a ruggedness that truly allows enjoyment of wildness and solitude, and one of the greatest concentrations of rock art in the world.
This is all under threat as the BLM is proposing to approve a massive natural gas drilling plan that can harm these amazing places and values unless we act now.
The BLM is currently wrapping up its public commenting stage on the West Tavaputs Plateau Natural Gas Full Field Development Plan Draft EIS, which allows drilling more than 800 new natural gas wells among rugged canyons and internationally recognized rock art. This is your chance to tell the BLM that you don't want to see this wild and important Utah environment spoiled. Comments must be submitted by May 1, 2008.
Ten years ago, famous Guatemalan human rights defender Bishop Juan Gerardi was murdered. Bishop Gerardi was killed just days after publicly releasing a report that documented more than 200,000 killings during Guatemala's 36 year civil war. The report laid blame on the Guatemalan government for over 90 per cent of the conflict's human rights violations.
While individuals have been convicted for the murder of Bishop Gerardi, there has been no justice for the victims of Guatemala's 422 documented massacres. None of the former military or police officials allegedly responsible for committing the worst atrocities during the conflict have been held accountable.
Through his courageous efforts to reveal the truth, Bishop Gerardi left Guatemala an important legacy. However, without action by the authorities, that legacy will never be fully realized.
Urge the Guatemalan Attorney-General to immediately act on the criminal petitions filed by victims almost a decade ago. Those petitions allege that former police and military leaders committed crimes against humanity and genocide during the civil war.
** NRDC **
The 2007 energy bill includes a provision that prevents federal agencies from contracting to purchase liquid coal and other "dirty fuels," such as tar sands and oil shale, that produce more global warming pollution than conventional gasoline. But now dirty fuel supporters in Congress have introduced legislation that would repeal this important provision that will help fight global warming, and energy companies are poised to market dirty fuels to the government at the first opportunity. The Air Force, for instance, is already pushing for a new liquid coal plant on its Malmstrom base in Montana.
Liquid coal produces twice the global warming pollution of conventional gasoline. Relying on liquid coal fuel also would increase the harmful effects of coal mining, which means more mining in the Rockies and more mountaintop removal mining in Appalachia. Investing in liquid coal is also financially unsound: while even under the most optimistic scenarios liquid coal could replace no more than 10 percent of our oil use, these plants would cost over four billion dollars each to build.
Tell your representative not to reverse important protections against dirty fuels.
** Avaaz **
Petition to G8, UN and EU leaders:
We call on you to take immediate action to address the world food crisis by mobilizing emergency funding to prevent starvation, removing perverse incentives to turn food into biofuels and managing financial speculation, and to tackle the underlying causes by ending harmful trade policies and investing massively in sustainable agricultural productivity in developing nations.
** Center for Biological Diversity **
Take action now to protect critical habitat for some of the world's most imperiled coral reefs. A federal proposal to protect coral habitat is making its way through the government channels, and your voice counts.
** The Wilderness Society **
The West Tavaputs Plateau in Utah, which includes Desolation Canyon, Jack Canyon, and Nine Mile Canyon, has it all: spectacular canyons and mesa tops, a diverse range of vegetation, rivers, a ruggedness that truly allows enjoyment of wildness and solitude, and one of the greatest concentrations of rock art in the world.
This is all under threat as the BLM is proposing to approve a massive natural gas drilling plan that can harm these amazing places and values unless we act now.
The BLM is currently wrapping up its public commenting stage on the West Tavaputs Plateau Natural Gas Full Field Development Plan Draft EIS, which allows drilling more than 800 new natural gas wells among rugged canyons and internationally recognized rock art. This is your chance to tell the BLM that you don't want to see this wild and important Utah environment spoiled. Comments must be submitted by May 1, 2008.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Your 5 Minute Activist Links for March 18, 2008
** PETA **
Every year in Canada, hundreds of thousands of baby harp seals are mercilessly slaughtered for their skins, and we want you to help get this cruel practice banned by signing PETA's seal petition.
Add your name to the petition urging Prime Minister Stephen Harper to end Canada's cruel seal hunt.
** NRDC **
We must halt the brutal killing of Yellowstone’s buffalo by the National Park Service and Montana’s Department of Livestock. It is unconscionable that more than 1,000 buffalo from America’s last wild, free-roaming herd have been sent to the slaughterhouse this winter. Tell the National Park Service to be the guardian of our country’s wild bison.
** Food and Water Watch **
The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed a rule that would let factory farms get out of reporting their releases of ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, and other toxic air pollutants caused by the breakdown of animal manure in massive lagoons. We have a right to know what toxic chemicals we're being exposed to.
** AVAAZ **
After decades of repression under Chinese rule, the Tibetan people's frustrations have burst onto the streets in protests and riots. With the spotlight of the upcoming Olympic Games now on China, Tibetans are crying out to the world for change.
Sign the Petition and tell the Chinese government to respect Tibetans demand for change.
Every year in Canada, hundreds of thousands of baby harp seals are mercilessly slaughtered for their skins, and we want you to help get this cruel practice banned by signing PETA's seal petition.
Add your name to the petition urging Prime Minister Stephen Harper to end Canada's cruel seal hunt.
** NRDC **
We must halt the brutal killing of Yellowstone’s buffalo by the National Park Service and Montana’s Department of Livestock. It is unconscionable that more than 1,000 buffalo from America’s last wild, free-roaming herd have been sent to the slaughterhouse this winter. Tell the National Park Service to be the guardian of our country’s wild bison.
** Food and Water Watch **
The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed a rule that would let factory farms get out of reporting their releases of ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, and other toxic air pollutants caused by the breakdown of animal manure in massive lagoons. We have a right to know what toxic chemicals we're being exposed to.
** AVAAZ **
After decades of repression under Chinese rule, the Tibetan people's frustrations have burst onto the streets in protests and riots. With the spotlight of the upcoming Olympic Games now on China, Tibetans are crying out to the world for change.
Sign the Petition and tell the Chinese government to respect Tibetans demand for change.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Your Activist links for Feb. 26, 2008
** Global Aids Alliance **
Email your Representatives to demand the reauthorization of the President's Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (PEFFAR)
** Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric Aids Foundation **
Another email to send to your Representatives to support Global HIV/AIDS Legislation.
** Natural Resources Defense Council **
The House is expected to vote tomorrow on Clean energy so sell your Representatives to vote Yes for Clean, renewable energy Now!
** People for the American Way **
If you have not done so, please sign this petition to STOP TELECOM Immunity!
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Your 5 Minute Activist Links for Jan 30, 2008
** Public Citizen **
As our Senators are now drafting an economic recover plan of their own, and as they are filling them up with as many "Tax credits" to help everyone else except us working people, why not tell your Senators to Extend Renewable Energy Tax Credits.
** Earth Justice **
It's King Bush Vs Wolfs in the Northern Rockies. The King has plans to remove wolves from the endangered species list and will allow the states of Wyoming, Idaho and Montana to KILL 80 percent of ALL wolves remaining in the Northern Rockies! Click here to send a message to your Representatives and stop this senseless killing!
** Ocean Conservancy **
Join Ocean Conservancy's fight in protecting sea life. Click here and see what you can do today.
** Progressive Patriots Fund **
Continuing the fight against the flawed FISA Bill. Sign the petition and let your Voice be heard!
** Natural Resources Defense Council **
Urge your Senators to ratify the "Law of the Sea Treaty". Read about this important Treaty and sign the petition.
As our Senators are now drafting an economic recover plan of their own, and as they are filling them up with as many "Tax credits" to help everyone else except us working people, why not tell your Senators to Extend Renewable Energy Tax Credits.
** Earth Justice **
It's King Bush Vs Wolfs in the Northern Rockies. The King has plans to remove wolves from the endangered species list and will allow the states of Wyoming, Idaho and Montana to KILL 80 percent of ALL wolves remaining in the Northern Rockies! Click here to send a message to your Representatives and stop this senseless killing!
** Ocean Conservancy **
Join Ocean Conservancy's fight in protecting sea life. Click here and see what you can do today.
** Progressive Patriots Fund **
Continuing the fight against the flawed FISA Bill. Sign the petition and let your Voice be heard!
** Natural Resources Defense Council **
Urge your Senators to ratify the "Law of the Sea Treaty". Read about this important Treaty and sign the petition.
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