Tag Archives: United States

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Humans Vs the rainforest and Orangutan


 greenpeace
This young orangutan was evacuated from his forest home right before it was destroyed. Others aren’t so lucky.
Donate today to help save the orangutan!
If you’ve been waiting for the right time to make your first gift to Greenpeace, this is it. Please chip in $5 or whatever you can to help save orangutans and support all the work we do to protect the environment.
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The rainforest is a dangerous place for orangutan mothers and their young. Tigers and leopards are their natural predators. They’ve been dealing with these for centuries.
It’s the people with bulldozers, or even lighters, that these orangutan mothers have to fear the most.
This September, one young orangutan (pictured) and his mother were found and rescued just before their entire patch of forest was razed — with them inside it. All to expand a palm oil plantation.
Endangered orangutans have already been driven off 80% of their original habitat. The rest is set to disappear soon if nothing changes. Their last chance at survival is vanishing fast.
Help us ensure that orangutan mothers have a safe place to raise their young and support all the work we do to protect the environment by making your most generous year-end donation today. We are almost halfway to our goal of raising $150,000 by December 31st.
Tearing down rainforest for palm oil plantations doesn’t just mean trouble for endangered species like the orangutan. It’s bad news for all of us. The same trees and peatlands orangutans roam hold vast supplies of carbon that keep our climate stable.
Burning or bulldozing the forest releases massive amounts of carbon into the atmosphere — driving climate change and leading to more extreme weather events right here in the US. Rainforest destruction affects us and our communities, thousands of miles away.
That’s why our campaign to stop forest destruction in Indonesia is so urgent. For the forests and for the climate. Please make your most generous year-end donation today. Your gift will support our campaign and all the work we do to protect the environment.
People, governments and corporations are beginning to recognize how important it is to turn the palm oil industry into a truly sustainable and responsible industry that benefits Indonesia’s people as well as forests. Just this week, the United Nations Environment Programme announced that it supports major action to transform the palm oil industry in order to ensure the survival of apes like the orangutan.
But to stop rainforest destruction before it’s too late, we can’t wait for others to catch up. That’s why we’ve launched a campaign to demand that consumer companies only use palm oil not linked deforestation. But it won’t be successful unless we have the support of people like you. Please make a donation to support this work, and all of Greenpeace’s campaigns, today.
Already in 2013, Greenpeace has exposed international corporations that buy palm oil grown on former orangutan habitat. And supporters like you have sent tens of thousands of messages demanding that major companies commit to no deforestation policies.
It’s not enough to fight deforestation from afar. We are also on the ground, working with other local and international groups — even the Indonesian government — to identify and monitor rainforest areas with the greatest need for protection: both for endangered species and for our climate.
Because we are watching, when crucial rainforest areas are under attack, we can find out who is responsible and hold them accountable to the public. Even when the government can’t.
This vital work, and all of Greenpeace’s campaigns, rest on your support. Please make a generous year-end gift today to help us reach our goal of raising $150,000 by December 31.
For our planet to thrive, we must end forest destruction in Indonesia and across the globe. It would be impossible alone, but I know that we can do it — together.
For the forests,
Joao Talocchi Greenpeace Palm Oil Campaigner
PS. We are almost halfway to reaching our $150,000 goal before December 31. Make your urgent year-end gift on our secure website.
~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

HILARIOUS “12 Days of Congress”


12daysofCongress

Do you have 44 seconds to spare?

You HAVE to watch this hilarious, holiday-themed takedown of what Republicans have been up to this year.

We’ve been watching it all day in the office and trust us — you’re
going to want to pass this one along to your friends who don’t mind a
good swipe at the Tea Party.

Check
out our “12 Days of Congress” site where you can download the song
(featuring Bowzer from Sha Na Na) for free and put in on your holiday
mix. You can even get it as a ringtone!

From Big Oil subsidies to bonuses for bigwigs, the GOP has stuffed some
extra special goodies in the stockings of corporations and the
ultra-wealthy this year, while giving the rest of us a lump of coal. And
don’t get us started on Republicans’ idea of outreach to women.

Enjoy!

DCCC Video

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

USA Today ~~ 48 million readers , join us


300x225 USA Today First 3 Months $34

The weekend is here which means you might have some quiet time to kick back and enjoy a cup of coffee and a great newspaper!  USA WEEKEND is the magazine with interesting articles, interviews, contests and other great features.

US reaches over 48 million readers every weekend in print and online.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Shutting down the government​, going after science


Help empower your fellow scientists—and stop politicians from suppressing science

Union of Concerned Scientists

When politicians mock scientists and their work, we can’t stand idly by.

Help make the case for science.

Make a special tax-deductible gift today.

DONATE NOW

When reckless politicians shut down the government this fall, they didn’t just go after the health care law—they gloated about sending home thousands of safety inspectors, experts, and scientists from the Environmental Protection Agency.

Staffers on the Senate Environment Committee publicized a list of reasons the shutdown was good, in which they mocked the EPA and celebrated the fact that 15,000 EPA workers were off the job.1

The most effective way to undermine science is to get rid of the scientists. But the ideologues and short-sighted politicians on Capitol Hill didn’t anticipate the scientists fighting back. During the shutdown, UCS heard from hundreds of federal scientists and experts about how it was affecting them—and the important and sometimes time-sensitive work they should have been undertaking. Then we pushed this information out to policy makers and the media to show, in vivid terms, the value of science to our nation.2

But science faces a new round of attacks in the coming budget battles. If you want to keep driving rapid-response information and campaigns that defend science from politicians who find the facts inconvenient, now is the time to pitch in.

Make a tax-deductible year-end gift today to reach our ambitious $400,000 goal for December.

Scientists are one of the most respected groups in the United States.3 Decision makers pay attention when they speak. That’s why it’s so important to our democracy that scientists be allowed to speak.

And you help make that possible. UCS supporters were instrumental in passing groundbreaking whistleblower protections for federal scientists. With your help, we shared the stories of more than 400 federal experts who talked about censorship at their agencies—and politicians listened.

Your gift today will help equip scientists to dive into the most pressing policy debates we face—from the Farm Bill to wind power to the impacts of climate change—and refute the misleading and deceptive rhetoric of cynical industries and front groups.

Our Science Network gives 20,000 scientists and technical experts the chance to connect with policy makers and directly impact laws and policies that affect our families and our planet. We teach scientists how to clearly communicate their research to the public. And how to respond to attacks.

But we need your help to make sure more scientists are seen, heard, and heeded.

Please make a tax-deductible gift now and help defend scientists from attacks.

When you donate today, know that you’re making a wise investment.

UCS has received Charity Navigator‘s esteemed 4-star rating for the last seven straight years—an honor shared by only 2 percent of charities, and we were named one of the most effective organizations working on climate change by Guidestar‘s Philanthropedia.

UCS supporters are people from all walks of life—parents and businesspeople, biologists and physicists, teachers and students—more than 350,000 citizens and scientists who are committed to defending science, year in and year out. Thank you for being part of this powerful community.

Kathleen Rest Sincerely, Kathleen Rest Kathleen Rest, PhD, MPA Executive Director

1. http://www.epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Minority.Blogs&ContentRecord_id=bcf73a09-9371-2ef5-f1cf-9ca752c89cad 2. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=government-shutdown-was-temporary-the-damage-to-science-permanent 3. http://www.pewforum.org/2013/07/11/public-esteem-for-military-still-high/
~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Surging


Obamacare Enrollment Gaining Steam

Today, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released the enrollment figures for Obamacare through the end of November. Unsurprisingly, about four times more people enrolled during the month of November as did during October, when HealthCare.gov was largely non-functional. Reports indicate that enrollment has continued to surge over the past two weeks ahead of the December 23 deadline to purchase coverage taking effect January 1, 2014.

Here are the topline numbers to know:

  • 110,410 Americans signed up for private coverage through HealthCare.gov just last month.
  • 1,900,000 people have made it through the process but have yet to select a plan.
  • 364,682 Americans selected plans through the state-run or federal insurance marketplaces (137,204 through HealthCare.gov and 227,478 in state-run exchanges).

The surge resembles Massachusetts’ successful launch of Commonwealth Care, where most people signed up later in the open enrollment period:

OctNovEnrollment

Enrollment for Massachusetts’ Commonwealth Care in 2007:

MA2007

In other good Obamacare news, a report out today found that the number of women who are receiving birth control at no additional cost — a key Obamacare benefit — has jumped 25 percent since the requirement went into effect last year.

“This data confirms that the Affordable Care Act is already working for millions of women and their families — and we expect that number to keep growing,” said the president of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, Cecile Richards.

For their part, Republicans continued to attack the law during another predictably one-sided hearing.

Things did not go so well for Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL), who botched an attempt to compare HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to North Korea’s totalitarian dictator and then totally freaked out. A Democratic Member admonished Shimkus, who was shouting at Sebelius, to allow her to actually answer his questions. “I do not have to allow her to answer the question!” Shimkus screamed in reply.

ShimkusFreakout

(Shimkus was attacking the aforementioned no-cost preventive care benefits under Obamacare, which include birth control and cancer screenings.)

BOTTOM LINE: Obamacare is working and more than a million Americans have gained access to health coverage because of the law, many for the very first time.