Tag Archives: civil rights

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Whales killed by US Navy sonar–please help!


I’m Lyndia Storey, a MoveOn member in Felton, California, and I started a petition to President Barack Obama, which says:

Click here to join her new campaign.

President Obama: Navy sonar exercises are killing whales again! More whales died this spring during joint exercises involving the U.S. Navy off the coast of Crete. As commander in chief, you have the power to stop this deadly assault on whales WITH THE STROKE OF YOUR PEN. We demand that you immediately sign an executive order directing the Secretary of the Navy to halt sonar trainings in whale habitats around the world!

The Navy said it couldn’t happen again, but now U.S. Navy sonar exercises in Crete have driven whales onto the beaches to die, once again.

In April, whales mass-stranded and died during a U.S. Navy exercise offshore of Crete—the fourth time that sonar trainings have caused catastrophic strandings in these same waters.

Now the autopsy results are in, showing hemorrhaging of internal organs, bleeding from the ears, and other signs of decompression sickness, and the cause of this crime is clear: Navy sonar. OUR Navy.

Enough is enough. The killing must stop. Right now!

Together we can demand that President Obama end the Navy’s war on whales and dolphins!

As commander in chief, the president has direct command over the Army and the Navy. He is constitutionally charged with taking care that the laws are faithfully executed. The killing of innocent whales and dolphins—whether in domestic or foreign waters—is a flagrant violation of the Marine Mammal Protection Act and other federal laws. The Navy is not above the law. These crimes violate every code of human decency and must be stopped.

With the single stroke of his pen, President Obama can order the Secretary of the Navy to cease sonar trainings in whale and dolphin habitats.

Please join me in demanding that the president sign an executive order halting sonar trainings in marine mammal habitats.

The president has direct authority over the National Marine Fisheries Service, the federal agency charged with enforcing our marine mammal protection laws. With one phone call, the president can order the head of Fisheries to require the Navy to conduct Environmental Impact Statements on all its training ranges, both domestic and international.

It’s too late to save the whales who died during the U.S. Navy war games in Crete. But if you and I cry out for justice, we can compel the president to act. Together, we have the power to end the U.S. Navy’s war on whales and dolphins.

If you will join me now and sign this petition to President Obama, I promise to personally deliver a printout of the petition and signatures to the gates of the White House.

Click here to add your name to the petition, and then pass it along to your friends who care about whales and our oceans.

With heartfelt thanks,

–Lyndia

 

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Sign the petition to Ecuador’s president: Save the Amazon from another Big Oil disaster!


“As concerned global citizens, we stand in solidarity with these indigenous nations and urge you to immediately stop plans for new oil drilling in Ecuador’s rainforests!”Add your name:
SierraRise petition box test button PNG

 

Take Action

Jaime Vargas, an Ecuadorian tribal leader, stood proudly in the howling wind and rain to send us this urgent plea: “Big Oil will stop at nothing to destroy our sacred rainforest home. But with your help we can save it!” [1]

Jaime and his Achuar people are guardians of a spectacular land teeming with one-of-a-kind plants and animals. But Ecuador’s president, Rafael Correa, is racing to sell off the Achuar’s rainforest home and the neighboring Yasuni National Park to greedy international oil companies.[2]

The president is determined to put profit ahead of his own people — even though they’re still suffering from Chevron’s decades-old oil disaster. [3]

More than 1 million people have stood up to save Ecuador’s threatened rainforests [4] — now it’s time for the SierraRise community to join the fight. Let’s stand with Jaime and all Ecuadorians and flood the president’s inbox with 50,000 messages!

Tell Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa: The world is watching — protect the irreplaceable Amazon and halt all plans for oil drilling!

Big Oil can’t be trusted to operate safely in the rainforest. For three decades, Texaco, now part of Chevron, dumped 18 billion gallons of toxic oil waste into the beautiful Ecuadorian Amazon. [5]Thousands of people are still suffering a plague of deadly cancers and devastating birth defects. [6]

This land is not only crucial for wildlife, but also to the seven vibrant indigenous communities that call it home. Jaime says it best: “For us, the indigenous people, the rainforest is life. There we are in touch with everything.” [7]The Amazon can’t afford another deadly oil disaster like Chevron’s.

Last November, hundreds of everyday Ecuadorians protested the proposed oil drilling. President Correa and his government, feeling the pressure, shut down Pachamama, a local nonprofit fighting the oil drilling, stifling his people’s free speech. [8] It’s clear — President Correa is feeling the heat.

Carmen, will you stand with Jaime and his tribe to save the Ecuadorian Amazon from another Big Oil catastrophe?

In it together,

Ashley Allison
SierraRise Senior Campaigner

P.S. Five signatures are even more powerful than one — after you take action, be sure to forward this alert to your friends, family, and colleagues!

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Campaign Update: PepsiCo and Conflict Palm Oil


Live_For_Now__Destroying_Tomorrow_sm.jpg

On May 20, thousands of us united in a Global Day of Action to tell PepsiCo to eliminate Conflict Palm Oil. PepsiCo responded by announcing a Forestry Stewardship Policy and Palm Oil Commitment, but neither of these new promises are strong enough to guarantee that Pepsi’s use of palm oil is not driving rainforest destruction, species extinction and human and labor rights abuses.

PepsiCo is the largest globally distributed snack food company in the world – the company uses enough palm oil every single year to fill Pepsi cans that would stretch around the Earth 4 times – but it has fallen out of step with its peers and still has no truly responsible palm oil purchasing policy.

This has to change — and with your help it will. Are you with us

Instead of cutting Conflict Palm Oil from its products, PepsiCo continues to push its darkly ironic #LiveForNow campaign. PepsiCo is telling people not to worry about climate change, the fate of the last wild orangutans and children that are forced to work in slave-like conditions on oil palm plantations and just #LiveForNow!

It’s our job to tell PepsiCo that #LiveForNow isn’t good enough. This summer we’re turning up the heat.

PepsiCo is pushing its #LiveForNow propaganda out through it’s “Real Big Summer” marketing campaign which includes Pepsi sponsored concerts and events across the US. We need YOU to crash Pepsi-sponsored events and deliver the message that #LiveForNow shouldn’t mean rainforest destruction, climate change and human rights abuses. As activists on the ground crash PepsiCo events around the country, online activists will amplify their voices across the world using social media to disrupt PepsiCo’s marketing efforts and drive home the point that thousands of us stand together in our call for an end to Conflict Palm Oil.

Will you join us?

Here’s how: Sign up to let us know you’re in. We’ll give you a call and support you every step of the way. We’ll let you know where and when you can take action, provide you with placards to chose from, and invite you to one of our trainings so you can become an expert in using social media to campaign for change.

Because of you PepsiCo has made some progress. With your help we’ll convince the global snack food giant to go further to guarantee that its products – like Quaker Oats and Frito Lay Chips – will be free of Conflict Palm Oil for good.

Let’s turn up the heat!

Gemma Tillack,
Senior Agribusiness Campaigner
Rainforest Action Network

PS: Don’t want to wait? Download our toolkit here and start causing some ruckus immediately!

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Progressives

Where do the American people stand on the environment?

  • 62% oppose the subsidies that the federal government gives to oil, gas and coal companies.

    Reason-Rupe/ Princeton Survey Research Associates International

  • 65% favor setting stricter emission limits on power plants in order to address climate change.

    Pew Research Center

56% of House Republicans deny the basic science behind climate change.

72 percent of statements about climate change on Fox News were misleading, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists.

The American people aren’t falling for it. The news media may think we’re stupid, but the polls show otherwise.

The Populist Majority is a new project from the Campaign for America’s Future, funded by people like you to encourage politicians and policy makers to take progressive positions on the major economic and social issues of the times.

Can you chip in with a donation today?
Donate

We’re going to spread this message to the media, to Congress and to the country. America is not a ‘center right’ country. It’s a country ready for change.

We are almost at our funding goal. Click here to make a donation of any amount today.
~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Help Wendy Davis

You’ve seen the recent poll, you’ve watched our ad, and you know the momentum is with this campaign. Now we need your help in recruiting folks to join our field staff and assist in our statewide effort to elect Wendy Davis Governor of Texas.

This is a terrific opportunity — no matter where you live now — to get some hands-on experience with an exciting political campaign. You’ll be an integral part of our grassroots organization by managing volunteers and supporters from all across Texas who are ready to work hard to bring a different kind of leadership to Austin.

All you need is a strong work ethic – preferably one that lasts for 12 hours a day 7 days a week, the ability to knock on doors and talk with potential voters, and a desire to elect a governor who’ll make sure every Texan’s voice is heard. You don’t need previous campaign experience. We’ll teach you how to talk to voters about Wendy and organize your volunteers towards a win in November.

If you want to be a part of history, apply now: Just click here for all the details.

Please feel free to forward this email to someone you think might be interested. Texas is a big state so we’re counting on Team Wendy to the cast a wide net.

I couldn’t be prouder of my staff and would love to add your name to the list.

Chris

Chris Turner
Campaign Manager
Wendy R. Davis for Governor, Inc.