Tag Archives: United States

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Nancy Pelosi House Dems in the Newsroom


 

 

It’s been more than 250 days since the GOP took control of the House, and  Americans are still asking: Where are the jobs, House Republicans?
The  middle class is hurting, and the Republicans’ only answer is a plan to  end Medicare and give tax breaks to Big Oil and companies that ship jobs  overseas.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Voter ID


Republicans are working hard to suppress your vote. Mitt Romney and Paul RyanCan you contribute $12 today to the Emergency Black Voter Fund? Join Us

 

Last week 2,260 delegates from all 50 states elected Mitt Romney to represent their party in this election. Yet at the same time the Republican party is talking about freedom and American values, it is doing everything it can to make it harder for Black folks to exercise their right to vote.1

In Ohio, Secretary of State Jon Husted has eliminated weekend access to polls, an option that was exercised by Black voters in past elections.2 In Pennsylvania, Republicans pushed through a law requiring specific forms of restrictive photo identification to vote, a constraint that systematically pushes Black and low-income voters out of the system.3 In Florida, Republican Gov. Rick Scott has overseen a sweeping voter purge that has erased hundreds – if not thousands – of lawful citizens from the voter rolls.4

That’s why we’re launching an Emergency Black Voter Fund. Can you chip in $12 a month until election day, to create a fighting fund to help make sure that these attacks on our right to vote don’t go unanswered. Can you spare $12 a month?

http://act.colorofchange.org/pledge/emergency_recur_donate

With your help we will register thousands of new Black voters and prepare them to have everything they need to vote on Election Day. We will also launch rapid response media campaigns in key states like Florida, Pennsylvania and Ohio to fight back against conservative attempts to make it harder for Black folks to vote.

The Republican machine has invested millions to keep us from voting.5 This will take significant resources, which is why we don’t have a minute to lose. We need your help to get these plans off the ground. Can you chip in $12 a month from now until election day to help turn these plans into reality?

http://act.colorofchange.org/pledge/emergency_recur_donate

Thanks and Peace,

— Rashad, Dani, Matt, Arisha, Charlene and the rest of the ColorOfChange.org team     September 1st, 2012

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. “Republicans Boast About Voter Suppression in Tampa, but the Ground Is Shifting,” The Nation (Blog), 08-29-12 http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1759?t=7&akid=2614.1174326.U3rkmV

2. “Equal voting processes for Ohio counties may still be unfair for voters,” WKSU, 08-16-12 http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1703?t=9&akid=2614.1174326.U3rkmV

3. “Shocker: PA Judge Upholds Voter Disenfranchisement Law, Setting Up Chaos Like 2004 in Ohio,” AlterNet, 08-15-12 http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1760?t=11&akid=2614.1174326.U3rkmV

4. “How Governor Rick Scott Is Preventing Eligible U.S. Citizens From Voting In Florida,” ThinkProgress, 05-23-12 http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1761?t=13&akid=2614.1174326.U3rkmV

5. “Many states’ voter-ID laws, including Pennsylvania’s, appear to have tie to same U.S. group,” Philadelphia Inquirer, 08-15-12 http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1762?t=15&akid=2614.1174326.U3rkmV

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

The stakes for clean air, clean water, and clean energy jobs …


Here’s something Mitt Romney actually joked about with pride — and plenty of scorn — while formally accepting the Republican nomination for president of the United States:

“President Obama promised to begin to slow the rise of the oceans and heal the planet.”

And the crowd went wild.

It is nothing short of terrifying to imagine a party that openly mocks climate change taking back the White House.

The contrast between our candidate and theirs couldn’t be any clearer.

President Obama has more than doubled the amount of electricity we get from wind and solar over his first term — and his plans for wind power are expected to help grow the wind industry to support 100,000 jobs by 2016. Both Romney and Ryan want to kill the wind production tax credit, which could come at the expense of 37,000 American jobs. Oh, but they would keep giving $4 billion in tax breaks to Big Oil every single year.

And just this week, while President Obama’s administration finalized historic fuel economy standards to double our vehicles’ mileage by 2025 and cut carbon pollution from vehicles in half, the GOP adopted a platform that could kill investments in clean energy, and calls on Congress to prohibit the EPA from moving forward with new greenhouse gas regulations.

Surprise, surprise — according to the Los Angeles Times, the platform “was written at the direction of the Romney campaign,” making it heavily influenced by Big Oil interests.

So there you have it — the stakes for clean air, clean water, and clean energy jobs couldn’t be higher. Make sure your friends and family know what we’re fighting for:

Thanks, and stay tuned.

Buffy

Buffy Wicks National Operation Vote Director Obama for America

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

A massive ray of hope on climate


Climate change is accelerating, but there’s a massive ray of hope: clean energy is booming, producing nearly 20% of the world’s electricity! Incredibly, the US and EU are threatening to stifle this breakthrough — but together we can stop them.

In the last decade the Chinese governmenthas invested billions in solar, sending panel prices plummeting and making clean green tech almost as cheap

There’s new hope on climate change, with 20% of the world’s electricity being produced by renewables! China’s aggressively invested billions in solar energy, making it almost as cheap as fossil fuels. But, instead of meeting that investment, the EU and US may be about to slap tariffs on Chinese solar panels, preventing a green revolution.

Sign the petition to stop a trade war, and hold talks to save solar:

Climate change is accelerating, but there’s a massive ray of hope: clean energy is booming, producing nearly 20% of as dirty fossil fuels. But the US and EU, who give billions in taxpayer subsidies to Big Oil and Coal, are about to drive solar prices back up by putting tariffs on China, and now China is threatening to retaliate. A full on trade war is brewing that could kill the crucial green energy revolution.

The EU and US are deciding right now. Most of the solar industry is against tariffs — and now massive public support could tip the balance. Sign the urgent petition to save solar – if we build a 500,000 strong petition, Avaaz will make a formal submission to the US International Trade Commission and EU trade Commissioner calling for talks not tariffs:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/a_ray_of_hope_on_climate/?biEWLbb&v=17606

China has a poor human rights and environmental record, and its strategy of flooding the global market with subsidised goods could be found to be too aggressive. But the right response to this is not tariffs, it is investment. While China, the EU, and the US all funnel billions into Big Coal and Oil to destroy our planet, China is also providing huge loans and subsidies to the solar industry. And that’s exactly what other governments have failed to do.

Following the bankruptcy of a handful of US and EU solar manufacturers, some lobbyists are pushing politicians to blame China, instead of their own insufficient and inappropriate subsidies. Some claim that domestic jobs are threatened by low cost Chinese panels, but the truth is the opposite — experts predict that tariffs could cost 60,000 jobs in the US alone. The vast majority of jobs in the solar sector outside of China are in installing and servicing panels, not manufacturing them, so cheaper panels now means more work, and more jobs. And less climate change.

The EU trade Commissioner initiated the investigation into tariffs today and the US ITC proceedings are about to kick off. Written statements to both must be submitted in days to be considered. We’re in a race against the clock to green our economies and prevent catastrophic climate change, and Chinese success in green tech could be the perfect catalyst for the rest of the world to scale up the technology and sustainably bring down prices. Let’s make sure the EU and the US don’t kill our ray of hope:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/a_ray_of_hope_on_climate/?biEWLbb&v=17606

In the world most of us everywhere want, our governments would incentivise clean energy, and not hand out our tax money to polluters making record profits from dirtying our land, air and water and destroying our planet. Today, we can save solar, and take one step closer to that future.

With hope,

Iain, Joseph, Alice, David, Julien, Emma, Ricken and the rest of the Avaaz team

PS – Avaaz has launched Community Petitions, an exciting new platform where it’s quick and easy to create a campaign on any issue you care strongly about. Start your own by clicking here: http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/start_a_petition/?do.ps.solar

More information:

BBC — “China solar panel imports investigated by European Union” http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19498382

Forbes – “Solar Trade War Widens To Europe, SolarWorld Called ‘Crazed Agent Provocateur'” http://www.forbes.com/sites/toddwoody/2012/07/24/solar-trade-war-widens-to-europe-solarworld-called-crazed-agent-provocateur/

CBS — “Chinese solar industry faces weak sales, price war” http://www.cbsatlanta.com/story/19337660/chinese-solar-industry-faces-weak-sales-price-war

NYT — “U.S. Slaps High Tariffs on Chinese Solar Panels” http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/18/business/energy-environment/us-slaps-tariffs-on-chinese-solar-panels.html?pagewanted=all

Bloomberg – “U.S. Solar Tariffs On Chinese Cells May Boost Prices” http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-17/u-s-solar-tariffs-on-chinese-cells-may-boost-prices.html

The Butler Firm — “Fighting Fair: A legal analysis of SolarWorlds trade dispute with China” http://www.thebutlerfirm.com/fighting-fair-a-legal-analysis-of-solarworlds-trade-dispute-with-china/