Category Archives: ~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Toys R Us: Does Your Cotton Come From Child Laborers?


care2 petitionsite actionAlert

Hi Carmen,Toys ‘R’ Us is a kid’s playground. But sadly, it could be enabling the government of Uzbekistan to strip the childhoods of its kids by making them pick the cottonthat makes it into toys and clothes.Tell Toys ‘R’ Us to only use responsibly sourced cotton »

Uzbekistan is the third largest cotton exporter in the world. But instead of using machinery to harvest the cotton, the government forces tens of thousands of children to leave school for the cotton fields every year. For their back-breaking labor they get a pittance of pay while the government pockets most of the profits.

More than 70 of the world’s largest retail and apparel brands have taken a stand against child and slave labor by enacting policies to prohibit the use of Uzbekistan cotton in their products. But Toys ‘R’ Us not only has no such policy, it hasn’t even addressed the issue.

One child shouldn’t have to suffer factory work so another can get a teddy bear or a new outfit. Urge Toys ‘R’ Us to ban suppliers from sourcing Uzbek cotton to help end child labor »

Thanks for taking action!Emily V.
Care2 and ThePetitionSite Team
~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

The President Said It. Now, Tell Congress to Do It … Joan Entmacher, National Women’s Law Center


Tell Congress: Make Millionaires and Corporations Pay Their Fair Share

In his State of the Union address, President Obama emphasized a vital point: that unfair, and even counter-productive, tax breaks for corporations and the very wealthy shortchange needed investments for women and their families.

Instead of showering tax breaks on the wealthy, the oil and gas industry and on corporations that ship American jobs overseas, Congress needs to:

Protect vital programs: Women and their families depend on federal programs to protect their health, get quality child care, attend college, and meet their basic needs during difficult times and as they age. We need to protect vital programs like Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, the Affordable Care Act, child care, Head Start, and Food Stamps (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program).

Create jobs: Unemployment remains painfully high, and while job growth has started to pick up, millions of women and men are still struggling to find jobs. We must extend federal emergency unemployment benefits to help people who are hurting now and invest in programs that put women and men back to work.

Middle-class and low-income families have already sacrificed enough. Budget deals have already scheduled $2 trillion in cuts to federal programs over the next decade that are important to everyday Americans. But they don’t touch a penny of the tax breaks enjoyed by millionaire CEOs and booming industries like Big Oil. Congress should close tax loopholes and require millionaires, billionaires and large corporations to contribute to getting our economy back on track.

Tell your Members of Congress to make millionaires and corporations pay their fair share, to protect vital programs and to create jobs for the millions of struggling Americans who need them.

        
Thank you for your help today, and for everything you do to help women and their families.

Sincerely,

 Joan Entmacher
Vice President, Family Economic Security
National Women’s Law Center   

  

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Urge congress to support wind power …Union of Concerned Scientists

3 Comments

Union of Concerned Scientists

 
 
Show Your Support for Wind Energy!
Let Congress know that a strong production tax creditfor wind power is good for America and good for our economy.

Urge Congress to Support Wind Power!

Dear Carmen,

Using more clean, renewable electricity from sources such as the sun and wind will increase our energy independence, save consumers money, and reduce our global warming emissions. One of the primary drivers of the growth in wind energy in the United States is the federal production tax credit (PTC), which gives developers tax incentives for generating energy from renewable sources.

Despite the PTC being a driving force of wind development, the federal government has allowed it to expire on three separate occasions since 1999. These lapses in the PTC led to a boom-bust cycle that drastically slowed the wind power industry for many months at a time, costing jobs and economic development opportunities.

The current PTC for wind power is set to expire at the end of 2012. The expiration of the PTC threatens one of the country’s fastest growing clean energy industries and could put tens of thousands of Americans out of work.

Please ask Congress to extend the PTC today.
   WWW.UCSUSA.ORG
Extending the production tax credit will help maintain the wind industry’s access to financing, allow developers to begin planning installations for 2013, and ensure that the best and most cost-effective projects are built. Wind power is a clean, homegrown energy source that improves public health and poses little threat to the environment while creating jobs and boosting local economies.

Urge Congress to extend the PTC. The continued growth of the industry can support 54,000 American wind jobs through 2016.

Take Action Today!     WWW.UCSUSA.ORG

Thank you for your continued work to promote the transition to a clean energy economy.

Sincerely,
Megan Rising
Megan Rising
National Field Organizer
UCS Climate & Energy Program
~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Big news in our fight against hunger … MercyCorps

2 Comments

 
 
  
 
 
 
There’s a hero in all of us. Give now.
We can be heroes
 
 
 

At Mercy Corps, we believe there’s a hero in all of us.

That’s why we’ve joined forces with the Justice League and DC Entertainment to bring lifesaving aid and long-term solutions to hungry families in Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya.

Your gift today to the Horn of Africa Hunger Crisis Fund will be matched dollar for dollar as part of DC Entertainment’s commitment to match 100 percent of the first $1 million in donations to the “We Can Be Heroes” campaign.

We’re partnering with the team behind Batman, Superman and the rest of the Justice League to raise awareness and money for a crisis that’s fallen out of the spotlight.

Our first priority is to support our mobile medical clinics in Ethiopia, which offer lifesaving aid to mothers and children under 5. These clinics visit the most remote, drought-stricken communities and provide malnourished infants with immunizations, antibiotics, vitamins, medicine and therapeutic food to help them gain weight.

Your generous gift today — doubled by DC Entertainment — will support the lifesaving work of these mobile medical clinics in Ethiopia.

Life remains grim throughout the Horn of Africa. Every night, 13 million people in the region go hungry. Last year’s worst drought in generations dried up drinking water sources, decimated crops and livestock and left families destitute and unable to make enough to even feed themselves.

Scattered rains brought some relief but also flooding and disease. Conflict and lasting effects of drought has left millions of families struggling to escape hunger’s grip.

One small act can make you a hero. Please join our fight against hunger in the Horn of Africa today.