Greenpeace India is under threat — and could be shut down permanently. Keep the environmental movement in India strong. Ask the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to support free speech in India.

I’m writing you today because Greenpeace India is fighting for survival.

India is poised to lead the world on tackling climate change and reducing poverty by showing we can move from dirty to clean, renewable energy.

But over the last few months, government authorities here have been doing everything they can to stop our work — from putting travel bans on our staff to blocking our bank accounts. So far, the courts have been on our side and these orders have been overturned.

The relief is only temporary.

That’s why I’m asking Greenpeace supporters like you from around the world to take action and call on UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to support free speech in India.

Why is this happening? Over the last 15 years, Greenpeace India has had some important victories. Sometimes, we disagreed with the government too. This has now earned us the wrath of India’s Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

The Indian home ministry seems determined to silence Greenpeace India’s work. Soon, the campaigns we’re running here to protect the forests, for clean air and against dirty energy could be scrapped.

Attacks on freedom of speech and democracy here in India — and it’s not just Greenpeace — threaten our ability to be a major force in tackling climate change and poverty. We need a strong environmental movement in India to solve the most pressing issues of our generation. We need a strong Greenpeace India.

I know this issue isn’t unique to India. Freedom of speech and the right to question powerful people is under threat all over the world. The United Nations helps protect these rights, so ordinary people can speak out and help find solutions to the problems facing our planet.

Please take action today and ask the UN Secretary General to speak up for free speech in India.

Since 2001 Greenpeace India has worked with communities all over India to safeguard our natural environment and better the lives of all our citizens:

• We worked with the forest community of Mahan to save the lands on which their livelihoods depend. Small communities that might otherwise not be heard worked together to take on the might of giant coal companies — and won.

• Together with the people of Dharnai, we’ve shown the possibilities of solar energy in India. A whole village now has electricity for the first time — clean, renewable electricity.

• And after a Greenpeace India investigations showed unsafe pesticides in tea, four major Indian tea producers agreed to phase out their use. Good for tea drinkers and the natural world.

Now instead of being rolled out all over India — and the world — projects such as Dharnai are facing the prospect of being shut down because government authorities are threatening our very right to exist.

Take action now to keep projects like Dharnai alive in India.

If we can’t continue to speak out against climate-wrecking companies, and help lead the fight for clean energy in India, so much will be lost.

I’m proud of our tradition of free speech in India. I’m proud of Greenpeace India. That’s why I’m asking you to join me in standing up for Greenpeace India and speaking up for freedom.

For Free Speech,

Samit Aich,
Director, Greenpeace India

P.S. Stand with Greenpeace India and for free speech by taking action today.

“Let’s leave the oil beneath the ground… the oil industry is destructive for indigenous society, non-indigenous society, the planet, and nature. It disrupts our indigenous worldview and destroys our ecosystems.”
– PatriciaGualingaKichwa leader ofSarayaku,EcuadorDear carmen,This week, world leaders are in Bonn, Germany for the latest round of climate negotiations. They are working on a draft version of a major United Nations agreement to control greenhouse gas emissions that are changing the Earth’s climate. But the fossil fuel industry and other global corporations that have a vested interest in stopping progress on climate policymaking continue to delay, weaken, and block climate policy at every level.

The only way we’ll get an international agreement to reduce emissions is to end the corporate interference that has derailed and watered down climate talks time and again.

Please join us, Corporate Accountability International and many other allied organizations to call on world leaders to kick big polluters out of policymaking. SIGN TODAY to join this call.

We are more than halfway to our goal of 250,000 signatures! They will be delivered in just a few days while the meetings are still under way. Sign today because if the United Nations is serious about finding real solutions to our increasingly urgent climate crisis, fossil fuels have to go.

For our global climate,

Paul Paz y Miño
Director of Outreach and Online Strategy

running against Staci Appel, Democratic Party

As Chief of Staff for Senator Grassley, David worked day in and day out on behalf of Iowans. He listened to their concerns, developed solutions, and navigated the federal bureaucracy to get results.

Like his friend and mentor, Chuck Grassley, David believes in a government that works for people.  Public service is about helping your fellow man.

David Young has already set his sights on ending Social Security’s promise, saying that the Ryan budget didn’t go far enough and that benefit cuts, increasing taxes on benefits and increasing the retirement age are all on the table. Our seniors can’t afford David Young, we must respond now!

David Young is so extreme that 85% of his own party’s primary voters rejected him just a few weeks ago. With the Tea Party once again flexing its muscle in Iowa’s primary contests, our response is critical.

• Zero Based Budgeting – this solution simply means that each year, the funding level for all government programs and agencies will begin at $0.  This is a better budgeting practice than giving every program the same amount as last year, plus a raise.
• Sunset Legislation – attaching a sunset clause to every law enacted by Congress means policies will no longer outlive their usefulness.  When the sunset date arrives, Congress will examine the program anew and determine if it should continue for another finite period of time.
• Full Federal Audit – the budget of every government department and agency should undergo a thorough outside audit to ensure taxpayer funds are being used in the most effective manner possible.
• Flatter, Fairer, Simpler Tax Code – the current U.S. tax code is 74,000 pages long.  Giving a percentage of your income to fund the government should not require us to hire professional assistance.  Additionally, the longer the code the more loopholes exist and the more opportunity there is to skirt the system and engage in fraudulent activity.
• Balanced Budget Amendment – it is often said states are the test tubes of democracy.  The concept here is simple:  never spend more money than you have revenue.  In Iowa, this concept is just common sense.
• Full Repeal of Obamacare – The disastrous rollout of government run Obamacare is the prophetic announcement of the real mess to come.  Trying to fix our health care system via a top-down approach, will never improve a broken system.  All Americans deserve the benefits of lower health care prices, better access to providers, and less government spending.

Resource: his website , internet

As a national leader on energy policy, Cory has championed a bipartisan effort on liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports that recently passed the House Energy and Commerce Committee. He also introduced two major pieces of legislation that passed the House with bipartisan support and would increase domestic production while creating thousands of jobs here at home. In addition to his work with traditional resources, Cory has promoted legislation to streamline the permitting process for renewable technologies on federal lands and supports a paid-for extension of the wind production tax credit (PTC). He also co-wrote the legislation that established Colorado’s Clean Energy Development Authority while serving in the Colorado General Assembly.

Cory is a leading voice on energy efficiency and co-founded a bipartisan caucus dedicated to promoting efficiency initiatives that are good for the environment and the taxpayer. More than fifty cosponsors from both sides of the aisle have signed on to Cory’s energy efficiency legislation and the Energy and Commerce Committee recently passed the bill unanimously.

Cory has a record that reflects his desire to rein in out-of-control spending and build consensus on issues where he can find common ground with his colleagues. Whether it is promoting agriculture or reforming telecommunications policy, Cory’s record is one of forging solutions to our nation’s greatest problems.

Throughout his time in Congress, Cory has voiced his strong opposition to Obamacare and the premium increases, thousands of pages in new regulations, and burdensome mandates it creates. Cory chose to reject federal health benefits when first elected to Congress, and his family was among the 335,000 Coloradans who received health care cancellation notices as a result of Obamacare. He supports legislation that repeals this misguided law and replaces it with a solution that allows the purchase of insurance across state lines, bolsters state high-risk pools to provide for those with pre-existing conditions, and enacts badly needed tort reform to reduce medical costs, among other ideas.

Cory is dedicated to fiscal responsibility and government reform. He introduced legislation that requires Congress to review programs targeted by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) as wasteful and duplicative. In an effort to make Congress work, he voted in favor of a bill that requires lawmakers to pass a budget or face having their pay withheld. He has also been a consistent voice for improving transparency through simplifying complicated government regulations and improving permit processes.

Cory believes that the next generation must be prepared to lead. He has supported efforts to entrust parents and educators with improving curriculum in their communities. Cory has also introduced legislation that helps students save more for college in a time of rising tuition costs. With two young children of his own, Cory knows that a quality education is invaluable to helping our youth meet the challenges of the future.

Resource: his website

We all know that the best way to find out about any candidate is to do your research. I went to gardner’s website and while he said some good things about birth control he is also in favour of repealing #ACA which would put reproductive rights at risk.  I also noticed that his website has a lot of information about what Mark Udall is for, but not a lot of his own solutions in my opinion and if elected he might say one thing and do another but I am cynical given how many Republicans in Congress continue to do so.  Cory might call himself an energy champion but he also believes the KeyStone pipeline is a must do … and I got the impression he is all for more deregulation … why are so many willing to forget the BP disaster the Massey Mining debacle and all the others before after and in between? ~~ Nativegrl77