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Sustainable energy

07/13/2013 Nativegrl77 2 Comments

If a doctor said your loved one required major surgery to survive, but it would be very difficult to complete, would you take “No, it’s too hard” for an answer?

We didn’t think so. So when climate deniers claim, “Shifting over to clean energy would be too hard and shut down the economy,” we here at The Climate Reality Project politely beg to differ.

Maybe you do too.

We put a man on the moon. We eradicated smallpox. We built a computer that can fit in your pocket. These accomplishments — and so many more — were possible because groups of like-minded, passionate individuals (much like you) saw the future they wanted and worked hard to make it happen.

Big Oil and Big Coal spread big lies claiming that changing to clean energy would cause economic turmoil and finding sustainable solutions to the climate crisis “is too hard.”

But that’s just not the case. We’re already seeing that shifting to clean energy is a whole lot easier than they think. In 2012, renewables accounted for slightly over half of new electric generating capacity worldwide. In the U.S, we’re installing a new solar power system every four minutes. Meanwhile, global investment in clean energy topped out at $244 billion worldwide. In 2009, global investment was just $178 billion — so in just three years that’s a 37 percent climb, and nearly ten times the investment made in 2004.

As we reach the end of August, we need your help to keep the pressure on climate deniers by using Reality Drop. We’re less than 1,000 away from our end-of-month goal of sharing the truth 50,000 times on key articles across the net.

We know the transition to clean energy won’t happen overnight. But it will happen and you can bet it will be sooner rather than later.

With your help, we can get there. Thank you for all your hard work,
The Climate Reality Team

P.S. Help us share the truth about climate change 50,000 times on RealityDrop.org and change the climate conversation today. Don’t forget to use the #HeatOnDenial hash tag on Twitter!

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

BREAKING: we’re climbing a skyscraper to save the Arctic

07/12/2013 Nativegrl77

If you’re reading this email it means I’m clinging to the side of London’s Shard – attempting something that’s never been done before: scaling Europe’s tallest skyscraper.

If we make it to the top, we plan to install a giant piece of art in direct view of Shell‘s three London headquarters down around me. We can see them, so I know they can see us.

WATCH LIVE and share this page to show the whole world that we don’t want Arctic drilling.

I’ve been climbing for years, but this is the biggest challenge I’ve ever taken on.

Am I scared? Hell yeah. But I know that fear is only what you make of it. For me this is a personal act of bravery, and I hope that beyond all else it can encourage anyone hesitating over taking action – no matter what scale – to take that step today.

There are only six of us up here, but there are millions of us in every corner of the world who want the Arctic protected.

The most effective action we can do now is to make everyone else care for the Arctic as we do, and to do that we need to make it news. This is not a niche subject. This affects every single person on our shared planet.

Everyone should know that we’ve lost 80% of the Arctic sea ice in the last 30 years, and that should make people want to protect it. Not to drill for more oil, one of the fossil fuels causing the melting in the first place.

Follow our progress on LIVE TV and please share this page with everyone you know on Facebook, Twitter and over email. Let’s make this as big as we can.

Shell doesn’t want us talking about their dangerous Arctic oil drilling plans. Together we can shout about them from the rooftops 😉

Wish us luck,

Victo (and Sandra, Sabine, Liesbeth, Wiola and Ali)

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Immigration Reform

07/12/2013 Nativegrl77

Hi, all —

Here’s one of the best things about immigration reform: It’s going to make our economy a lot stronger.

Sometimes important facts like this get lost in the hubbub of the debate. So, to make sure folks understand just why immigration reform will make our economy stronger, we put together this really wonderful video showing exactly how it works — how fixing our broken system will create jobs, boost wages, and foster innovation. I know, a video explaining public policy doesn’t exactly scream cool (well…it kind of does to me) but this one is different. It’s something you’ve never seen from us before, and it’s definitely worth your time.

So check it out, then share it to help spread the message.

Not enough people are talking about the economic benefits of immigration reform, but it’s exactly the conversation that will help us win the national debate on this issue.

We need people to know that the legislation the Senate just passed represents the best chance that we’ve had in years to strengthen our economy by securing our borders and creating a way for 11 million people to come out of the shadows and earn citizenship.

But it’s going to take all of us working together to make sure that everyone gets the facts.

So will you take a minute to watch this video, then pass it along?

http://www.whitehouse.gov/share/immigration-and-economy

Thanks!

Cecilia

Cecilia Muñoz Director, Domestic Policy Council The White House

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Stop the obstructionism

07/12/2013 Nativegrl77

What we need in a Secretary of Labor is a commitment to public service, to health and safety legal protections for women and all workers, and to enforcing our discrimination laws. With Tom Perez, this is what we would get.
Throughout his career, including most recently as head of the Civil Rights Division in the Department of Justice, Tom Perez has shown that he is committed to enforcing the laws upon which women, and all workers, rely. He’s combined his commitment with extraordinary skill and competence, both in the federal government and when he served as Secretary of Maryland’s Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation.
We can’t let a minority of Senators hold up his nomination. We need your help. Tell your Senators to allow a yes-or-no vote on Tom Perez for Secretary of Labor.
Here’s why this vote matters: The Department of Labor plays a critical role in ensuring opportunities for women in the workplace. It enforces laws enabling workers to take job-protected family and medical leave, wage and hour protections that shield workers from exploitation and abuse, and rules requiring federal contractors to advance equal opportunity in their workforces, including equal pay. The Department also houses the Women’s Bureau, whose mission is to improve pay and working conditions for women. The next Secretary of Labor will have the opportunity to continue the important progress toward fairer workplaces for women and for all workers.
Tom Perez has a proven track record of protecting and advancing legal rights and protections crucial to women. Tell your Senators to allow a yes-or-no vote on the nomination of Tom Perez for Secretary of Labor.
Thank you for everything you do to advance the rights of women and their families.
Sincerely,

Marcia Greenberger Co-President National Women’s Law Center

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What kind of love do you stand for?

07/12/2013 Nativegrl77

In Tuesday’s Eye on the Amazon we told you about a dark love affair that’s long been going on between Chevron and Judge Kaplan; a scandalous kind of love that perverts justice and promotes persecution, enables human rights violations and compromises the health of entire communities in the Amazon. It’s a dirty ordeal perpetuated by Chevron’s ruthless efforts to protect itself from the $18 billion legal judgment it’s on the hook for. The company has engaged an army of relentless legal sharks – comprised of 60 law firms – and Judge Kaplan seems love-struck by his Big Oil partner as he thwarts justice in the case of Chevron’s desecration of the Amazon. But he’s just another tool in Chevron’s box.

Now we’re all for love here at Amazon Watch. In fact, it’s our love for the Amazon that motivates us daily to do everything we can to protect it and to support the rights of indigenous peoples there – the traditional stewards of the magnificent forest upon which we all depend. It’s why you support us. It’s this love that drives us, and it’s why we ask for your support.

We continue to fight for the clean kind of love and passion that flows through communities in the Amazon, like that which radiates from Servio Curipoma, an Ecuadorian farmer who came to seek justice at the Chevron shareholder meeting last May, calling for Chevron CEO John Watson to be fired. We stand for the love of people like Emergildo Criollo, a Cofán leader whose love for the children he lost to poisoning due of Chevron/Texaco’s willful negligence impels him to keep fighting against the company that destroyed his family. We stand for the love of the rainforest shown by the indigenous people who have lived in harmony with the Amazon for millennia. This is the kind of love story that gets us up in the morning, and that we ask you to be a part of.

In the face of scandal like the Chevron-Kaplan love affair, we need your help to keep writing this positive love story. Stand with us for the kind of love that celebrates life and a future we can all look forward to, that overpowers the dirty love between a massive corporation and a judge bent on shirking responsibility and continuing to put profits over people. We cannot allow them to hijack the ending of this story.

Please help us to continue our fight for these people and for the Amazon with your support. Will you make a contribution today so that we may keep fighting for justice in the Amazon?

You make this possible – together, we are powerful!

For the Amazon,

Branden Barber
Director of En