President Obama spoke to a crowd that included 50 African leaders, at the U.S.-Africa Business Forum in Washington, D.C. The Business Forum was part of the historic three-day U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit — the largest event any U.S. President has held with African heads of state and government.

The President highlighted Africa’s impressive economic growth, and made clear that America will be a partner in its success — “a good partner, an equal partner, and a partner for the long term.”

It Only Takes Three Minutes to See Why We Must Act on Climate Change

When it comes to climate change, the facts are in. Watch as President Obama’s Science Advisor Dr. John Holdren explains — in less than three minutes — how climate change is making America’s wildfires more dangerous and why we must act now.

On Monday, former White House Press Secretary James Brady passed away in Alexandria, Virginia at the age of 73. The President, the Vice President, the current Press Secretary, and 11 former Press Secretaries honored a man that the President referred to as a “legend at the White House.”

Karen Deal, WA Democrats

08/09/2014 Nativegrl77

There’s a lot of great news coming out of the Primary Election, like:

Irene Bowling, the real Democrat who’s challenging pretend Democrat Tim Sheldon for State Senate, is leading in the 35th District. Two-thirds of voters sent the message that they are tired of Sheldon’s failed leadership.
Cyrus Habib has earned 63% of the vote for the State Senate seat formerly held by Rodney Tom.

Thanks to Tom and Sheldon, the Majority Coalition Caucus has caused gridlock in Olympia we usually see only in Washington DC. They’ve left our schools underfunded, our state without a transportation budget, and our social services in jeopardy.

Now we’re in a strong position to take back both seats occupied by Tom and Sheldon and to shift the balance of power in the State Senate.

Can you donate $5 and help us build on this momentum and win back the State Senate?

Matt Isenhower, State Senate candidate in the 45th, was the victim of a vicious smear campaign by a shady conservative PAC, where they mischaracterized his record and – get this – compared him to Dick Cheney and Rush Limbaugh.

It’s telling that the right wing machine thinks they can draw votes from Isenhower by calling him a Republican! Even Republicans know 45th District voters agree with Democratic values.

Despite this smear campaign, Isenhower had a strong showing in the Primary.

We only need to pick up two seats to win back the State Senate.

There’s a lot of work ahead, but we know how to take on tough challenges and elect Democrats.

History has shown we’ve built some of the strongest field operations and get out the vote efforts in the country — and we’ll do it again.

But we can’t win without the help of our strongest supporters. Donate $5 and be a part of this effort.

Sincerely,

Karen Deal
Executive Director
WA Democrats

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Union of Concerned Scientists

08/09/2014 Nativegrl77

CNN climate coverage better, but room for improvement.

CNN Can, and Should, Do Better

Tell CNN it’s time to stop pretending there’s a debate about established climate science.

Take Action Today!

ACTION ALERT
Urge CNN to Debate Climate Policy, Not Climate Science

Earlier this year, the Union of Concerned Scientists released an analysis of cable news coverage of climate change—the results were disappointing. For instance, CNN aired misleading statements about climate science in 30 percent of its climate coverage.

Thanks to your help, we called on CNN to do better and we are seeing improvement. On May 6, CNN correspondent Miles O’Brien put it bluntly while discussing climate change on The Situation Room: “I think we have gotten to the point it’s almost like the cigarette debate, where it is given—it’s an assumption that it is happening.” It was great to see a correspondent standing up for climate science.

But that very same day, CNN’s Crossfire hosted a misleading debate about climate science with Bill Nye and economist Nicolas Loris, who works for the Heritage Foundation, a think tank that has taken money from oil companies. Loris tried to discount the link between climate change and extreme weather by ignoring the evidence linking climate change to coastal flooding, extreme heat, and changes in precipitation.

CNN can, and should, do better. Tell CNN it’s time to stop pretending there’s a debate about established climate science. They can and should do more to hold people accountable for making misleading statements about climate science.