I wanted to make sure you saw this important update from last week on the fight to save the Arctic.

President Obama arrived in Alaska today to talk climate change, just weeks after granting Shell final approval to drill for oil in the Chukchi Sea. That means — now more than ever — we have a chance to make sure he hears our message: the President can’t be a leader on climate change and give Shell the green light to drill in the Arctic Ocean. Will you write a letter to help make sure President Obama does the logical thing and ends oil drilling in the Alaskan Arctic?

President Obama hopes to use this Alaska trip to build a climate legacy, but opening the Arctic to a destructive company like Shell is hardly the leadership we need on climate change. We’ve created a new tool to help you send a more personal message to President Obama.

Tell President Obama why saving the Arctic and fighting climate change matter to you. Write your letter right now.

The President can still stop Shell from drilling for oil in Alaskan waters. Give him the wake up call he needs to protect Arctic communities and prevent runaway climate change.

For the Arctic,

April Glaser
Arctic Campaigner, Greenpeace USA

P.S. If you’ve already written a letter, that’s great! Be sure to share it on social media and consider joining Greenwire, our growing team of grassroots activists around the country fighting to save the Arctic.

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Next Monday, President Obama will visit Alaska to highlight the impacts of climate change on the region.

The President recently said, “Alaskans are on the frontlines of one of the greatest challenges we face this century: climate change.” Then just days later, he granted Shell final approval to drill for oil in the Chukchi Sea off the coast of Alaska.

Are you confused by that logic? So are we! Write a personal letter to President Obama and tell him you think he should protect the Arctic and our climate.

Activists have taken to the water in kayaks, hung from bridges, and rallied around the world to save the Arctic; more than 7 million people have signed the petition calling for the president to stop Shell. If you haven’t been able to join us in person yet, this is the perfect time to lend your voice. We’ve created a new tool to make it easy for you to speak personally about why you care about the Arctic.

Send a letter to President Obama telling him why you care about saving the Arctic.

It’s clear that with this trip, President Obama wants to secure his climate legacy. Unfortunately, he is also opening the Alaskan Arctic to what be a destructive oil rush — hardly climate leadership.

The fact that the President thinks he’s making real progress on climate change while allowing Shell to drill shows that he isn’t in tune with the demands from people around the country (and the world) to keep Arctic oil in the ground.

Tell President Obama why true climate leadership means stopping Shell from drilling in Alaska. Write your letter today.

We will deliver these letters to President Obama so that he can hear personally from individuals around the nation and the world who oppose Arctic drilling. The President can still revoke Shell’s permission to drill for oil in Alaskan waters. Doing so is essential to avoiding runaway climate change and potential devastation for Alaskan communities and wildlife.

It’s crucial that we show President Obama this fight’s not over.

For the Arctic,

April Glaser
Arctic Campaigner, Greenpeace USA

P.S. President Obama has said that the impacts of climate change in Alaska should be “our wake up call.” We think President Obama needs a wake up call on Arctic drilling. Will you help us send him one? Send your message to President Obama today.

5 things you need to understand the Iran deal:

The U.S. and our international partners have secured the strongest nuclear arrangement ever negotiated. Thanks to the nuclear deal — formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) — the world can verifiably prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

It’s an historic deal. It’s vital to our national security and that of our allies, like Israel. It’s also very detailed and can seem a bit complicated. So if you’re looking to dive deep into the details, here are five things you should explore to better understand why this deal will ensure Iran’s nuclear program will remain exclusively peaceful moving forward.

Watch This: President Obama’s speech at American University

Fifty-two years ago, President John F. Kennedy delivered a speech at American University on the importance of peace in the nuclear age. This week, President Obama returned there to do the same. He outlined exactly what’s in the Iran deal and what’s at stake should Congress reject it.

Take a look — it’s worth the watch:

Print This: A packet of everything on the Iran deal

Looking for a deep dive into the specifics of the JCPOA? Want to know what security officials, nuclear scientists, and other experts have to say about it?

Peruse this packet of information on the details of the Iran deal online, or print it and take it with you.

Share This: A few FAQs on the Iran deal

As the President has said, there’s a lot of misinformation and falsehoods out there about what exactly is in the deal and how it will work.

Check out WhiteHouse.gov/Iran-Deal to get the answers you’re looking for — and a lot more on how this deal blocks all of Iran’s pathways to a bomb.

Read This: The enhanced text of the Iran deal

You can read all 159 pages of the Iran deal with comments from the people who negotiated it and who will implement it.

Find it on Medium — then share it with everyone who wants to dig into the specifics of the way the deal provides unprecedented transparency to monitor Iran’s nuclear fuel cycle, the robust verification regime, and more.

Follow This: @TheIranDeal

Want updates on the Iran deal in realtime?

Follow @TheIranDeal for live fact-checks, news updates, and exclusive insights on the significance of this historic deal — along with the next steps we need to take to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and avoid another conflict in the Middle East.

As Congress moves through its 60-day review period of the deal, stay tuned for more updates on this important diplomatic achievement.

Thanks,

The White House Team

Why We Do What We Do

This excellent short film about the Achuar of Peru makes it clear

Who are Amazon Watch’s indigenous partners? Why are they so important for the long-term survival of the Amazon? How is oil extraction a threat to their way of life? What does climate change mean to them?

There is a lot of information available on the Amazon Watch website and social media responding to those questions, but this six-minute documentary “Beneath The Canopy: The Achuar Fight Back Against Big Oil And Climate Change” does an elegant job of summing it up.

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE

By CAP Action War Room

95 Years Ago Women Were Granted The Right To Vote, Today Women Of Color Are An Extremely Important Voting Bloc

Today marks 95 years since the certification of the 19th amendment, which granted women access to vote. In recognition of the historic achievement, President Obama declared today Women’s Equality Day. Women’s Equality Day recognizes all the ways that persisting gender inequality affects women today, from the gender wage gap to equal access to the ballot box.

A new analysis by the Center for American Progress looked at the influential role women—especially women of color—play in our elections. The 19th Amendment paved the way for women to vote, but until the Voting Rights Act was enacted in 1965, many women of color were still prohibited from voting. But in the relatively short amount of time since then, even amidst attacks on voting rights at the national and state level, women of color have become an incredibly influential voting bloc.

Here are a few facts to illustrate the growing influence of women of color:

• In the 1964 presidential election, 1 in 20 voters was a woman of color. By the 2012 election, more than one in six voters was a woman of color. This increase in the proportion of women of color voters is due to two factors in particular. First, the Voting Rights Act had an extremely significant impact on the ability of people of color to exercise the right to vote. Second, American women of color make up a much higher portion of the overall population today than they did in 1964. And this demographic shift is projected to continue: people of color are expected to make up about half of the eligible voter population in 2052.
• African American women in particular are especially engaged voters who are more likely to be registered than any other demographic group. In 1966, 60 percent of African American women were registered to vote compared with 71 percent of all other eligible voters. In 2012, the share of African American women registered to vote had jumped to 76 percent while the registered share of all other voters remained static. African American women’s share of all registered voters has grown to a point where they are now more likely to be registered than any other demographic group.
• More African American women reported voting in 2012 than any other racial, ethnic, or demographic group. In 1964, before the passage of the Voting Rights Act, 58 percent of African American women reported voting. In 2012 that number grew to 70 percent and women of color played a crucial role in the outcome of the presidential election.

BOTTOM LINE: Despite having faced significant hurdles throughout American history, women of color have become one of the most influential voting blocs and their power will only continue to grow. Equal access to the ballot is vital to the health of our democratic society. We need federal voting rights protections to help repair the damage done by the Supreme Court in Shelby County v. Holder, the case that gutted the Voting Rights Act, to ensure everyone is guaranteed equal access to the ballot box.