Tag Archives: Corporation

You’re busy, so I’ll be quick.

Our grassroots movement to repeal Citizens United is gaining steam. Progressives from across the country are coming together in a fight to bring transparency back to our elections and give our democracy back to the people.

Could you take one quick minute to click here and sign our petition?

Karl Rove and the corporate-backed special interests are enjoying their new privileges — Rove just announced that his “Crossroads” group raised more than $50 million last year.

And they’re counting on our momentum to slow down. But we have to show them that we’re not going to stop until we’ve repealed Citizens United once and for all.

Please click here to sign our petition and join a movement to take back our democracy!

Thank you very much.

Sherrod

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Corporations are people, my friend …Rainforest Action Network

01/19/2012 Nativegrl77

“Corporations are people, my friend.”

Take a guess. Is this:

A. a line from eerie new sci-fi flick starring Christopher Walken
B. a statement by Republican presidential frontrunner Mitt Romney
C. a typical morning self-affirmation by oil & gas industry CEOs

The answer is B. Mitt Romney made this statement with a straight face in front of both public and press at the Iowa State Fair last year. And if you’ve heard about the infamous Citizens United ruling, then you know that the U.S. Supreme Court agrees.

Do you think that “corporate personhood” is best kept in the world of science fiction? Ready to fight back? Good. So are we! Join us this week on the anniversary of Citizen’s United in letting corporations and their political allies know that democracy is for the people. Real people. We The People.

Understanding Citizen’s United

Trying to understand the many frustrating complexities of “corporate personhood” and its role in the Citizens United Supreme Court ruling could drive some people to want to just crack a beer and watch Simpsons reruns all night long. Do not fear. We’ve got a cartoon here (from the brilliant people who brought you The Story of Stuff) that makes understanding Citizens United a snap.

Take Action on the Anniversary of Citizen’s United

This Friday and Saturday, you will have a historic opportunity to challenge corporate power on the anniversary of Citizen’s United. Join us in the streets at events in San Francisco and Minneapolis or find an action in your town!

January 20 Join RAN at Occupy Wall Street West in San Francisco
January 21 Join RAN in the Twin Cities
Find an Action in Your Town

President Obama Rejects Keystone XL Pipeline

Great news! President Obama has just rejected the Keystone XL pipeline. Thanks to all of you who were part of the grassroots opposition to this massive pipeline. Against huge threats from Big Oil, President Obama stepped up to defend the health of the American people and our climate. Join us in thanking the president and encouraging him to continue the fight for our green energy future.

Levi’s Takes a Stand for Rainforests

RAN is pleased to announce that denim giant Levi Strauss & Co. has implemented a new paper policy in its operations around the globe. This makes Levi’s the latest company in an ever-growing list of major corporate customers to exclude supplier Asia Pulp & Paper for its human rights abuses and blatant rainforest destruction. Kudos to Levi’s for taking a strong stand to protect forests in Indonesia and around the world.

Bankrupting America on Tumblr

From fees to foreclosures to coal financing, Bank of America has got zero love these days. In fact, we thought BoA deserved its own shiny new website to track the vast amounts of ire it’s garnering from people across the country, so RAN and The New Bottom Line are bringing you Bankrupting America on Tumblr. This blog features BoA’s foibles, follies, and clever pushback from people who’ve had enough (like the activists who modified every BoA ATM screen in San Francisco in a single night). If you’ve got a juicy video, photo, news story or personal account about Bank of America, we want to hear about it. Submit your story today!

Great Moments in Stupid Chevron PR

Now that Chevron has been found guilty—again —for intentionally dumping a massive amount of toxic oil waste in the Ecuadorean Amazon, the company has become particularly desperate to explain why it refuses to take responsibility. We’ve remixed some of the most ridiculous excuses Chevron spokespeople have made over the years into a magnum opus of Great Moments in Stupid Chevron PR. Check out the video, then submit your own brilliant ideas for Chevron’s next stupid excuse!

Field Report: The High Stakes of Palm Oil

To understand how palm oil—an ingredient in more than 50% of household products in the U.S.—really affects the people, ecosystems, and animals on the ground in Indonesia, read this latest field report from RAN forest campaigners Lafcadio Cortesi and Ashley Schaeffer. These two traveled deep into the jungles of Borneo to document the tragic impacts of palm oil plantation expansion on some of the most beautiful primary rainforests in the world.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Corporate crackdown .. Rebecca Tarbotton, Rainforest Action Network

06/29/2011 Nativegrl77

As corporations amass more and more power over our government and all of our lives, how do we stop them from trampling our rights and polluting the air and water we need to survive?

We must be unrelenting, we must be strategic and we must be more brave than we’ve ever imagined we could be. Now is the time for action.

Last month, four RAN activists chained themselves to Disney‘s headquarters to shine a light on its forest destruction. Just a week later, six more were arrested bringing attention to the struggle of 30,000 Ecuadoreans living with Chevron‘s oil disaster in the Amazon.

Why would these courageous men and women risk so much? Because sometimes it takes rappelling off a bridge and unfurling a 50-foot banner to get a corporation to put people’s health and the environment first.

RAN’s next big action is going to be absolutely awe-inspiring…Do you want to be in on it?

We need you there with us. We need your direct support now to start planning.

You can feed an activist a meal that will fuel them through the grueling physical challenge of a banner action. It only takes $10.

Precision communication is key to pulling off direct actions. Put a mobile phone into the hands of our next action coordinator for $25.

Direct action climbers dangle hundreds of feet over land or water, which means safety comes first. Protect the most vital tool a climber has, their head. Give $50 to buy a safety helmet for a RAN activist during our next big banner hang.

Now if you’ve got the means and the passion to push Corporate America hard, I’m asking you to go big. Like 80-feet wide kind of big.

Be the funder behind RAN’s next massive banner. $500 will get the job done.

When corporate polluters refuse to stop decimating precious rainforests or blowing up historic mountain ranges, we’ve got to take action.

YOU can make it happen. Donate today.

For a just and thriving planet,

Rebecca Tarbotton
Executive Director

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Support the Disclose Act

11/19/2010 Nativegrl77

Can you call Sens. Cantwell and Murray? Tell them: “Secret corporate political spending hurts our democracy. Support passing the DISCLOSE Act before the end of the year.”

Senator Maria Cantwell
Phone: 202-224-3441

Senator Patty Murray
Phone: 202-224-2621

Report your call

Dear MoveOn member, We just witnessed an election bought and paid for by corporate front groups and secret donors, and we have exactly 63 days to do something about it.A bill in the Senate would force the high rollers behind the millions in attack ads to come out of the shadows. If we know who they are we can hold them accountable for trying to buy elections for the Republicans who support their pro-Wall Street, pro-oil company agenda.

This is our last best chance to put some rules back into our election process before newly elected Republicans take office and kill any hope of campaign reform in January. We must start to put democracy back in the hands of the American people.

Can you call Senators Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray and say:

“Secret corporate political spending hurts our democracy. Support passing the DISCLOSE Act before the end of the year.”

Senator Maria Cantwell
Phone: 202-224-3441

Senator Patty Murray
Phone: 202-224-2621

Then, please report your call by clicking here:

http://pol.moveon.org/call?tg=FSWA_2.FSWA_1&cp_id=1486&id=25239-17809870-h5gB.Dx&t=2

Earlier this year the DISCLOSE Act came up one vote short. Several Republicans have said they support the principle of transparency but didn’t want it to take effect until after the election.

That means right now we have an opportunity to get that final vote—but we need to convince the Democrats to bring up the bill before the end of the year and put pressure on the potential Republican supporters to stand by their claims.

A coalition of organizations is backing a new push for the DISCLOSE Act launching today to support a final vote for this common-sense measure. By adding our voices today, we can help make sure the Senate seizes on the opportunity to hold corporations and CEOs accountable for their attempts to buy our elections.

Can you call today?

Senator Maria Cantwell
Phone: 202-224-3441

Senator Patty Murray
Phone: 202-224-2621

And then report your call here: http://pol.moveon.org/call?tg=FSWA_2.FSWA_1&cp_id=1486&id=25239-17809870-h5gB.Dx&t=3

Thanks for all you do.

–-Ilyse, Robin, Joan, Milan, and the rest of the team

Want to support our work? We’re entirely funded by our 5 million members—no corporate contributions, no big checks from CEOs. And our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. Chip in here.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

End secret election spending now

11/10/2010 Nativegrl77

“It’s time to end secret corporate political spending. Secret contributions hurt our democracy. Pass the DISCLOSE Act before the end of the year.”

Sign the petition

Spending on this year’s election didn’t just break records, it obliterated them. $4 billion in total.¹

In the wake of Citizens United, corporations like ExxonMobil and AIG can give hundreds of millions of dollars to a shadowy front group to swing an election. And they can do so in 100% secrecy.

Imagine how this election could have changed if voters knew which corporations were supporting Republican candidates with anonymous attack ads against Democrats.

Earlier this year Congress nearly passed a bill—the DISCLOSE Act—that would force front groups to let voters know which corporations and CEOs are funding their political attacks.

The bill came up short because some Republican senators said they didn’t want to pass the common sense measure until after the election.² Now that the election is over we have an opportunity to pass this bill, but it won’t happen unless we push hard on Congress to act before the end of the year.

Click here to tell Congress to pass the DISCLOSE Act and end secret political spending:

http://pol.moveon.org/discloseact?id=25122-9640874-Z.3dHpx&t=3

This bill won’t get corporate money out of politics, but if we know that a company is trying to buy an election, we can shame them and we can hold them accountable. We did it successfully with Target earlier this year when state laws forced the retailer to disclose that it had made a large donation to a far-right candidate for governor in Minnesota. MoveOn members and others launched a nationwide boycott that brand analysts said reduced Target’s favorable reputation by a third among customers in just ten days.³

We also know that disclosure can have a major effect in elections. In California this year, giant oil companies backed a ballot measure to repeal the state’s groundbreaking climate change law. But they couldn’t secretly funnel their money through front groups and voters overwhelmingly rejected the initiative in part because every ad has to mention the oil companies funding it by name.

The DISCLOSE Act isn’t perfect but it will at least let us follow the money. We still need to keep working to pass stronger legislation and overturn Citizens United, but ending the ability of corporations to buy elections in secret is an important and fundamental step for our democracy.

Please, click here to tell Congress to pass DISCLOSE before the end of the year:

http://pol.moveon.org/discloseact?id=25122-9640874-Z.3dHpx&t=4

Thanks for all you do.

–Ilyse, Robin, Laura, Tim, and the rest of the team