Category Archives: ~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Keep fracked gas out of Washington State today!


Washington Chapter
Dear Friends,

Stop the World’s Largest Methanol Refinery! Keep Fracked Gas Out of Washington!
No Methanol Bellevue March- small for emails
Take Action

Fossil fuel companies are still trying to build the world’s largest fracked gas to methanol refinery, right here in Washington state. The refinery, proposed for the banks of the Columbia River in Kalama, would produce more than 6 million tons of greenhouse gases, equivalent to 1.3 million cars. Its enormous demand for fracked gas would create the rationale to build even more dangerous gas pipeline capacity up and down the I-5 corridor, allowing more fracked gas projects in our communities.

Permitting agencies are accepting public comments until March 1st. Submit yours now! 

This single refinery would use more gas than all power plants in Washington combined, rationalizing gas pipeline expansions down the I-5 Corridor, which would endanger our communities with air pollution, potential explosions and eminent domain. It would take fracked gas from Canada, refine it to methanol and ship it to China to either manufacture plastics or be used as fuel. The refinery itself bears high risk of explosion and chemical spillage in the Columbia River, endangering our already dwindling salmon populations.  

Don’t let the evergreen state contribute to fracking across the continent! Submit your comment today!

Last year, this project came dangerously close to becoming fully permitted, until the Sierra Club and our partners won a major legal victory, forcing project backers to complete a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) that includes the impacts of fracking, gas transportation, and consumption. Permitting agencies are currently accepting public comment to determine the breadth and depth of this SEIS.

This methanol refinery- by requiring new gas pipeline infrastructure- will open the floodgates for fracked gas usage and refining in Washington. Submit your comment and stop this refinery today!

Over the past decade Washington state has been flooded with proposals for new fossil fuel infrastructure, and with your help, none of them have been built. Let’s make sure this one fails too!

Thank you for all you do to protect Washington’s environment!
Sincerely,
Cecile Gernez
Conservation Organizer
Sierra Club Washington State Chapter
PS: Be sure to take action today and share this petition on  Facebook! 

To learn more about the work of the Sierra Club Washington Chapter, visit our website and our Facebook page.
~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

ALS ~ Radicava ~Blue Shield
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Jaclyn’s dad Joe was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) last March. His insurance company, Blue Cross Blue Shield, provided him with breakthrough ALS wonder-drug Radicava – which radically slowed the progression of his disease. It even helped restore some of his lost physical function.

But now, Blue Cross has abruptly withdrawn his Radicava coverage – jeopardizing Joe’s hard-won progress in his fight against ALS. Your signature can help Blue Cross Blue Shield reconsider this cruel decision.

According to Jaclyn, her dad Joe’s condition deteriorated rapidly after his ALS diagnosis – impairing his speech and attacking his mobility.

After Joe began Radicava his speech and physical strength improved quickly. He regained the ability to stand and grasp objects. Now all of that progress is at risk.

When asked why they decided to stop covering his treatments, the insurance company informed the family that Joe’s pulmonary function (ability to breath without assistance) didn’t meet the 80% requirement – based upon the results of a breathing test that many pulmonologists view as less accurate than other breathing assessment tests.

Radicava has worked for Joe, and his family wants Joe to have the chance to survive while researchers search for cure for ALS.

If you believe Joe deserves that chance, please sign and share this petition calling on Blue Cross/Blue Shield to restore his access to Radicava right away.

Thank you for your support,

Sylvia Rolle
Change.org Campaigns Team
~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

UPDATE: This LAPD officer shot at a group of children. Why does he still have a job?


LAPD Officer Kevin Ferguson is unfit to serve our communities. He should be fired NOW and receive no severance package.  

LAPD Officer grabs minor while holding a gun

Tell LAPD Police Chief Charlie Beck that he has a responsibility to do the right thing.  

TAKE ACTION

Friends–

last year you and nearly 100,000 Color of Change members called for justice when LAPD Officer Kevin Ferguson shot into a crowd of children– now we have a chance to ensure he’s fired, but we have to act fast.

A couple of weeks ago, the District Attorney failed to criminally charge Kevin Ferguson for the violent act. But last week, the Los Angeles Police Commission released the findings of their internal investigation. And what they found could finally mean justice: LAPD Officer Kevin Ferguson acted in violation of department policy when he escalated a February 2017 encounter with a group of teenagers in Anaheim and ultimately chose to discharge his weapon.1 At children. And now, it’s up to Police Chief Beck to determine the next steps.

We need to demand that Chief Beck fire Ferguson and that he does not receive a severance benefit. He shouldn’t be rewarded for endangering the lives of children.

Police should not be exempt from their wrongdoing–yet time and time again the decisions of officials suggest that police are above the law. And even on the rare occasion when they are dismissed from their posts, they are handed hefty severance checks that reward their violent and sometimes fatal misconduct. Why should a man like Ferguson live comfortably on the dime of hard-working taxpayers like us?

The video of this grown man physically assaulting a 13-year-old boy after calling a little girl a “cunt” is beyond upsetting.2 Ferguson fired a gun, while forcefully grabbing a child. He must be held accountable.

Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas has declined to press charges. But, in a memo, prosecutors called Ferguson’s actions “unwise, immature and flat-out horrible.”3 The Police Chief himself has been critical of Ferguson’s conduct.2 The commission’s findings provide him with enough justification to take action- and we must make sure that the right action is taken: Ferguson needs to be fired.

If Ferguson isn’t fired the police chief would be sending a message that violence against our children is ok, as long as it’s done at the hands of a police officer. This double standard must end! We need to act fast. Chief Beck could decide on this matter any moment now.

Let’s urge Chief Beck to send the right message: just because you have a badge and a gun, doesn’t mean that you can recklessly do whatever you want without any consequences.

LAPD is funded by the people of Los Angeles. This also means that if damages are won in police misconduct and negligence cases LA taxpayers are paying for that. Since 2002, the people of Los Angeles have paid over $300 million to settle such cases.4 When video of this assault went viral, protesters flooded the streets for days.5 We have spoken. We want justice for these children. And that doesn’t include a fat severance check for a rogue, vigilante police officer. The people will already pay for his mistakes in court, we shouldn’t pay to set him up for a comfortable retirement too.6

The Police Commission, prosecutors, and the Police Chief all know that Ferguson terrorized children and it’s in Beck’s hands now. And honestly, he hasn’t had the best record when it comes to racial and criminal justice. That’s why it’s even more important for us to remind him of his own position on this matter. In the report he submitted to the Police Commission, Beck wrote that there was no reason for Ferguson to draw his gun when he did.3 And there’s no reason why he shouldn’t be fired either.

We are getting closer to seeing justice here. Demand that Ferguson is fired NOW. Sign the petition.

Until justice is real,

— Clarise, Rashad, Arisha, Scott, Enchanta, Anay, Malaya, Katrese, Kristen, Marena, Marybeth, Tamar, Lorran, and the rest of the Color Of Change team

 

References:

1. “Police Commission says off-duty officer violated LAPD rules when he fired gun during clash with Anaheim teens.” The Los Angeles Times, 6 February 2018. http://act.colorofchange.org/go/19917?t=11&akid=9257%2E1174326%2EU5hr01lapd-anaheim-20180206-story.html

2. “Off-duty LAPD officer taped firing gun in dispute with teens.” YouTube.com, 24 January 2018. https://act.colorofchange.org/go/19918?t=14&akid=9257%2E1174326%2EU5hr01

3. “No charges for off-duty LAPD officer who fired gun during dispute with teens in Anaheim.” The Los Angeles Times, 24 January 2018. http://act.colorofchange.org/go/19917?t=16&akid=9257%2E1174326%2EU5hr01lapd-anaheim-20180124-story.html

4. “We Pay A Shocking Amount For Police Misconduct, And Cops Want Us Just To Accept It. We Shouldn’t.” HuffPost, 29 May 2015. https://act.colorofchange.org/go/19920?t=19&akid=9257%2E1174326%2EU5hr01

4. “LAPD settlements soar as officials close the books on high-profile lawsuits against police officers.” The Los Angeles Times, 29 May 2017. http://act.colorofchange.org/go/19917?t=21&akid=9257%2E1174326%2EU5hr01lapd–litgation-costs-20170509-story.html

5. “300 protest in Anaheim after videos show off-duty LAPD officer firing gun in dispute with teens.” The Los Angeles Times, 23 February 2017. http://act.colorofchange.org/go/19917?t=25&akid=9257%2E1174326%2EU5hr01lapd-anaheim-20170221-story.html

6. “Boy, 13, sues off-duty LAPD officer who fired gun in videotaped clash with teens in Anaheim.” The Los Angeles Times, 9 March 2017. http://act.colorofchange.org/go/19917?t=28&akid=9257%2E1174326%2EU5hr01kevin–ferguson-lawsuit-20170309-story.html

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Jeff Sessions: 5 reasons why he should resign -a repost


 Attorney General Jeff Sessions needs to resign. Why? He has tarnished the office he sits in for numerous reasons, from his collusion with Russia to his reigniting of the war on drugs. Here are five reasons why he needs to step down, NOW:

  1. During his confirmation testimony in front of the US Senate, Sessions lied under oath about his meetings with the Russian ambassador.
  2. Sessions violated two separate recusal oaths related to his conflicts of interest when he recommended Donald Trump fire former FBI director James Comey, and ignored Comey’s plea not to leave him alone with the president.
  3. Sessions continues to undermine the historical and incredibly important independence of the Department of Justice, seeming to act at times more like the president’s personal attorney than the attorney general of the United States.
  4. Sessions’ DOJ is pursuing an anti-civil rights agenda that criminalizes communities of color instead of protecting Americans’ rights and ensuring justice for all.
  5. And most recently, he’s shirked congressional oversight by refusing to testify before the committees with oversight jurisdiction over the DOJ and when he did testify before the Senate Intel committee, he stonewalled the committee and refused to answer questions about his conversations with Trump.

Jeff Sessions is unfit to serve as attorney general — please demand he resign now>>

Right now it’s critical to keep fighting for the integrity of our institutions, and our democracy is at stake.

Thank you,

Katie O’Connell, Digital Communications Coordinator

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Brandi Collins-Dexter, Color Of Change ~ The Details Are Out: Trump’s #InfrastructureScam Will Devastate Communities


These Drastic Cuts Will Devastate Communities

Call On Congress To Act NOW

Dear Friends.

Call Congress and Tell Them to STOP Trump’s #InfrastructureScam

Donald Trump has finally released his infrastructure plan and it’s as terrible as we knew it would be.

Trump said that his infrastructure plan would bring jobs, roads, and bridges to communities in need. It does the exact opposite. The former Apprentice host wants major cuts to the infrastructure programs that are already working – including a 22.2% cut in funding to the Army Corps of Engineers, the elimination of funding for the popular Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) program that provides $500 million in grants to state and local governments1, and a 19% reduction in the Department of Transportation budget. All of these cuts are in addition to forcing cities and states to raise taxes and fees to cover the $1.3 trillion needed to fund this Wall Street handout. And the $200 billion Trump promised the federal government would chip in? That’s coming from a $237 billion cut to Medicaid.

Over the long run Trump’s bait and switch would result in a net reduction of federal support for infrastructure projects – leaving vulnerable communities unable to fund critical infrastructure like new schools, clean energy or clean drinking water. To top it off, Trump is gutting the clean air and water protections that keep us safe from dangerous chemicals, pollutants, and unsafe infrastructure projects.

Call Congress Today and Tell Them to Say “NO” to the #InfrastructureScam

This is who Trump is. From his days dealing in real estate in NYC to his run as the most divisive Presidential candidate in US history, he has always made big promises he could never keep. This infrastructure plan and the budget that was released on Monday are nothing but a shell game being played on vulnerable communities. In addition to infrastructure program cuts, the new budget also defunds PBS2, makes drastic cuts to Medicaid, SNAP, Head Start, and Section 8 housing programs.3 These cuts would decimate many Black communities and leave them ripe for the picking by private corporations who will speed up gentrification and push Black people out of neighborhoods.

To stop Trump’s scam infrastructure plan we need to push Members of Congress to support the bold principles needed to create a just 21st century infrastructure bill.

Call Congress Today and Tell Them to Say “NO” to the #InfrastructureScam

Until justice is real,

–Brandi, Rashad, Arisha, Jade, Evan, Johnny, Future, Corina, Chad, Mary, Saréya, Eesha, and the rest of the Color Of Change team

References:

  1. “Fiscal 2019 Budget Request Would Cut TIGER Grants”, Transport Topics, 12 February 2018, http://act.colorofchange.org/go/19584?t=9&akid=9173%2E1174326%2ENd1dDV
  2. “Trump proposes eliminating federal funding for PBS, NPR”, The Hill, 12 February 2018, http://act.colorofchange.org/go/19585?t=11&akid=9173%2E1174326%2ENd1dDV
  3. “Trump’s 2019 budget: what he cuts, how much he cuts, and why it matters”, VOX, 12 February 2018, https://act.colorofchange.org/go/19586?t=13&akid=9173%2E1174326%2ENd1dDV