Tag Archives: New York Times

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

EU Special Offer — Amazing Climate Law!


 

Europe has just launched a ground breaking new climate law that radically reduces carbon pollution by forcing all airlines to pay for emissions. But China’s top-fliers are refusing — and threatening to spark a trade war!

 This ambitious law is like taking 30 million cars off the road each year! It is a huge step forward for our climate. But China’s top three airlines, who together make $3.5 billion in annual profits, are shamefully arguing that it will seriously damage business. In fact, even in the worst case scenario it would mean between a $3 – $10 passenger fee.  30% of their business is global and they want more. If enough of us urge them to put our planet before their extortionate profits, we could convince them to comply.

Let’s show these jet-setters how important public reputation is in global business and appeal to China’s new-found image as a country serious about combating climate change. Sign the petition now and share this with everyone — when we reach 500,000 signatures, we’ll deliver it to the companies with a big splash:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/china_dont_break_climate_law/?vl

Aviation is the fastest-growing source of carbon pollution in the world — it already accounts for more carbon emission than the entire economy of the UK which in and of itself is the world’s 10th biggest carbon polluter. Europe’s new law requires airlines to reduce emissions under the carbon trading system — it’s the only law that effectively combines economic incentive with legal obligation to put the brakes on this industry’s rampant pollution.

But China’s largest airlines are trying to dodge their responsibility, instead spreading false rumours that the rules mean exorbitant costs for both them and their passengers. The truth is airlines that reduce their emissions will make money from fuel saving initiatives. And even those that don’t clean up their ways and instead pass the costs along to passengers are unlikely to feel it — a flight from Beijing to London would cost an additional $1.53 — hardly noticeable compared to ticket prices and other hidden fees we all pay.

Last year US airlines tried to challenge the law with a shady lawsuit and were struck down in EU courts. There’s no reason why record-breaking profitable airlines can’t comply with an affordable climate-saving law. Let’s protect it and fight this latest Chinese threat with people power. These image-conscious airlines won’t be able to ignore our 500,000 strong outcry. Sign this urgent petition now and send it to everyone:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/china_dont_break_climate_law/?vl

The stakes have never been so high in our struggle to stop catastrophic climate change — we must propel every carbon-reducing measure and multiply it. China, as the world’s biggest investor in clean energy, has the power to pull the world onto the right path. Let’s demand that it’s government and businesses support this crucial EU leadership and comply with the law.

With hope and determination,

Jamie, Iain, Alice, Allison, Ricken, Wen-Hua, Wissam and the rest of the Avaaz team

Sources:

China CATA to sue EU on airline carbon rule (Reuters)
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/24/china-eu-emissions-idUSL3E7NO01J20111224

EU’s aviation charge is a drop for China’s airlines (BBC)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-16423633

 Chinese airlines dig their heels in over EU carbon charge as international dissent grows (The Daily Mail)
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-2082586/Emissions-Trading-Scheme-China-airlines-dig-heels-EU-carbon-charge.html#ixzz1ihNBGysI

Asian airlines mull new charges to deal with EU carbon plan (Reuters)
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/06/airlines-asia-idUSL3E8C40E320120106

Carbon Emission Fees for Flights Upheld (The New York Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/22/business/global/court-upholds-europes-plan-to-charge-airlines-for-carbon-emissions.html?scp=2&sq=eu%20emissions%20airline%20lawsuit&st=cse

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Beating Chevron to the punch: “We Agree” in DC


Uploaded by on Oct 28, 2010

Rainforest Action Network, Amazon Watch and the Yes Men organized a counter-campaign to call out the greenwash in Chevron‘s new “We Agree” campaign. In this video, Washington, DC-based artist César Maxit explains how Chevron reached out to him to help with its campaign, and why he refused to help the company clean up its image while it refuses to clean up its toxic oil mess in Ecuador.

To get in on the Chevron-spoofing action, visit www.ChevronThinksWereStupid.org.

Before Chevron’s press release announcing the campaign could hit reporters’ inboxes, we sent out a press release of our own… on the company’s behalf. The company’s own press release was guaranteed to be full of greenwash. We wanted ours to be a bit more truthful. It featured quotes from real employees, but in this case they were describing a campaign we might actually be inclined to agree with:

“Chevron is making a clean break from the past by taking direct responsibility for our own actions,” said Rhonda Zygocki, Chevron vice president of Policy, Government and Public Affairs.

“Oil Companies Should Clean Up Their Messes,” reads one ad; the small print refers candidly to the damage done by oil companies around the world. “For decades, oil companies like ours have worked in disadvantaged areas, influencing policy in order to do there what we can’t do at home. It’s time this changed.”

Another ad, “Oil Companies Should Fix The Problems They Create,” is just as topical. “Extracting oil from the Earth is a risky process, and mistakes do happen. It’s easy to pass the blame or ignore the mistakes we’ve made. Instead, we need to face them head on, accept our financial and environmental responsibilities, and fund new technologies to avoid these mistakes in the future.”

Of course, before we sent out our press release, we put together a spoof website and a fake press page.

Some reporters got fooled by our spoof. Others managed to figure out it was a parody before they published their piece, but even still, we’d managed to derail much of the press about Chevron’s pricey new PR effort. Several pieces highlighted our spoof campaign instead of the real Chevron campaign. Here are a few examples:

A quote from a strategic communications professional in Advertising Age neatly sums up why it would have been stupid not to punk Chevron’s new ad campaign: “It’s like a thumb trap, the more the company tries to defend itself, the more it becomes part of the story and that makes it more interesting. The company being attacked can’t effectively fight back itself and that’s why these tactics are so effective.”

Our efforts to steal Chevron’s press about its new ad campaign worked better than we’d hoped. As the San Francisco Business Times put it: “You might think pesky protesters would bother a business that will have close to $200 [billion] in revenue this year like a tick fly bothers an elephant. But they seem to have found a tender spot on the big beast.”

We hit that tender spot, and we hit it hard — not just with our fake press release and website, but also with a second fake press release that we put out pretending to be Chevron responding to our first fake press release. We also created a fake AdAge article covering our own fake Chevron ad campaign. In other words, the real Chevron ad campaign never had a chance.

Meanwhile, activists were getting in on the action. So far, posters spoofing the new Chevron ads have gone up coast-to-coast, from San Francisco to LA to Washington, DC. Check out our Flickr set: Punking Chevron’s We Agree Ad Campaign.

Now it’s your turn to remix Chevron’s “We Agree” ad campaign!

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Campaign 2012 …


Friend —

People have been sending around two videos here at headquarters this morning, and I thought you’d want to see them, too.

This first one was posted to YouTube almost exactly four years ago. It’s Barack Obama’s “closing argument” to Iowans the night before the caucuses in 2008.

It’s pretty incredible to see candidate Obama talk about what President Obama ultimately did. He makes four specific promises — on reforming health care, making college more affordable, ending the war in Iraq, and putting us on the path to energy independence — all of which today, four years later, are promises kept.

Check it out here: http://my.barackobama.com/Caucus-Video

Barack Obama's closing argument: Iowa 2008

The second video is from yesterday — posted by the New York Times reporters on the ground in Iowa.

It’s a sneak peek into the “the best-organized presidential campaign in Iowa.” Spoiler alert: It’s not Mitt Romney. Or Ron Paul. Or Rick Santorum.

You can watch that here: http://my.barackobama.com/Caucus-Ground-Game-Video

The best-organized presidential campaign in Iowa

Both these videos are pretty near and dear to my heart. I was the campaign’s Iowa caucus director in 2008, and I know how hard people are working there right now, opponent or no opponent.

That’s why I want to thank you for opening this email — especially because I know you’ve been pretty bombarded with messages from us lately.

All the work we do here at headquarters or (more importantly) in the field in places like Des Moines and Ankeny and Council Bluffs in Iowa ultimately relies on someone like you deciding to open an email, click on a link on Facebook, or visit BarackObama.com.

Those tiny decisions are what lead to conversations about the campaign, donations that fuel the work we’re all doing, and volunteers turning out at campaign events across the country.

So, thanks for that, and for everything you’ve done.

A new chapter in the story of 2012 starts with what happens in Iowa tonight. Most of us will watch what happens on TV — but as you do, remember that the end of this story is up to you and what you decide to do in the days and weeks ahead.

Thanks,

Mitch

Mitch Stewart
Battleground States Director
Obama for America

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Sex crimes untouched by Arizona sheriff …from Jackie Mahendra, Change.org


Change.org
                          Arizona sheriff should resign for ignoring more than 400 sex crimes.                       
Sign the Petition

While an  Arizona Sheriff named Joe Arpaio declared war on undocumented workers in  his county (Maricopa, which includes Phoenix), he failed to investigate more than 400 sex crimes, including some that involved young children.

This isn’t  the first time Sheriff Arpaio has brought shame to his office —  something John Dougherty knows all too well. John was a journalist at  the Phoenix New Times for 13 years, where he investigated  Arpaio’s department extensively. John reported on abuses of power, civil  rights violations, and millions of dollars in wasted money under  Arpaio. Yet when John heard about the Sheriff’s failure to investigate even sex crimes involving children, he knew he had to do more.

John wants Sheriff Joe Arpaio to resign, but he knows that Arpaio won’t go quietly. John needs other Arizona officials to say Joe should go to turn up the pressure on Arpaio to resign.

John  started a petition on Change.org that asks the 5 members of the  Maricopa County Board of Supervisors to call for Sheriff Joe Arpaio to  resign. Can you add your name to John’s petition to turn up the heat on  Sheriff Arpaio?

Sheriff Joe  Arpaio’s directive to prioritize traffic stops and military-style raids  to find undocumented workers has had chilling results. While people who  committed no crimes are arrested, real felons put Phoenix-area  residents in danger.

According to the New York Times, one woman repeatedly asked Sheriff Arpaio’s department to “investigate the molestation of her three daughters.” Arpaio’s office wouldn’t budge, and an alleged child molester walks free in Maricopa County as a result.

The US  Department of Justice agrees that Arpaio’s office is out of control. In  an explosive report issued this week, the government said Sheriff Joe  Arpaio has repeatedly broken the law and violated thousands of people’s  civil rights. And just this weekend, Arpaio’s office allegedly left a  Gulf War veteran brain dead after repeatedly shooting him with a Taser  while in custody.

John  Dougherty, the reporter who started a petition on Change.org, thinks  that momentum is building to force out Sheriff Arpaio. It’s key that  pressure comes from the local level, and the best bet to make that  happen is with the Maricopa Board of Supervisors. While they can’t fire  Arpaio, it would be much-needed fuel on the fire burning under the  sheriff if they come out and say Arpaio should resign. And your signature could make the difference.

Join  3,300 other people who have signed John’s petition and demand that  local officials call on Sheriff Joe Arpaio to resign for ignoring sex  crimes.

Thanks for being a change-maker,

– Jackie and the Change.org team
~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Pell Grants help millions of Black students access higher education … by Matt Nelson, ColorOfChange.org


Tell Congress to stand up for educational opportunity:

 Black families across the U.S. are finding it harder to pay the rapidly-increasing costs of higher education, and now some members of Congress are trying to dramatically cut the Pell Grant program — a lifeline that makes college possible for more than 9 million low-income students each year.1

The Republican-led proposal would put educational access and advancement out of reach for millions of prospective Black students. $900 million in cuts would mean dumping 1 million students from the program within the next five years — half of whom could be kicked out before the end of this school year. The plan would also shrink the size of the award for many current recipients.2

The entire 2012 budget is under negotiation and Congress must vote by next Friday to avoid a potential government shut down. This debate is about funding priorities, and important programs like Pell will be cut unless enough members of Congress stand up to support education. Our elected officials should be working to expand opportunities for economic growth, not decimating higher education programs that help put low-income students and students of color in good jobs. Please call on members of the House of Representatives, where Republicans pose the biggest threat to Pell Grants, to vote down any attempts to cut or restrict the program:

http://act.colorofchange.org/sign/PellFunding

Tuition and fees at colleges and universities continue to skyrocket, increasing more than 400% since 1982 — more than 4 times the rate of inflation.3 Access to a good education dramatically increases a person’s chances for solid employment and pay. Young adults with a college degree are nearly 3 times more likely to be employed, and earn almost twice as much as those with just a high school diploma.

Defunding Pell Grants will hit Black and low-income students the hardest. Nearly half of Black undergraduates rely on Pell Grants to attend school, and families with incomes below $40,000 constitute 90% of awardees.4 Republicans have used racially-charged language as part of their attack on Pell. One Congressman called Pell “the welfare of the 21st century.”5

Of course, Pell isn’t welfare. In fact, the average grant size is much less likely to cover a sizable amount of college tuition costs than when the program began 40 years ago. Back then, Pell covered 100% of the average cost of tuition while today’s maximum Pell award generally covers one-third.6

Pell Grants are a cornerstone of our nation’s student aid program and greatly influence the makeup of our nation’s colleges and universities, providing much-needed racial and economic diversity within the overall student population. Tell Congress to fund higher education, and when you do, ask your friends and family to do the same.

http://act.colorofchange.org/sign/PellFunding

Thanks and Peace,

— Rashad, James, Gabriel, Dani, Matt, Natasha and the rest of the ColorOfChange.org team
    December 10th, 2011

Help support our work. ColorOfChange.org is powered by YOU—your energy and dollars. We take no money from lobbyists or large corporations that don’t share our values, and our tiny staff ensures your contributions go a long way. You can contribute here:

http://www.colorofchange.org/donate

References

1. “House Budget Committee Is Searching for Excuses to Cut Pell Grants,” Center for American Progress, 11-15-2011
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1070?akid=2320.1174326.5nh0Fe&t=7

2. “Fight for Social Programs Looms Anew in the House,” New York Times, 10-03-2011
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1071?akid=2320.1174326.5nh0Fe&t=9

3. “Is college still worth the price?” CNN Money, 04-13-2009
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1073?akid=2320.1174326.5nh0Fe&t=11

4. “Pell Grants: The Cornerstone of African-American Higher Education,” Journal of Blacks in Higher Education
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1072?akid=2320.1174326.5nh0Fe&t=13

5. “Rep. Denny Rehberg: Pell Grants Are Becoming ‘The Welfare Of The 21st Century’,” Huffington Post, 04-01-2011
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1074?akid=2320.1174326.5nh0Fe&t=15

6. “Infographic: A History of the Shrinking Pell Grant,” Campus Progress, 05-23-2011
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1075?akid=2320.1174326.5nh0Fe&t=17