Campaigning in Durham, North Carolina this morning, Obama p0wned Hillary re: her parroting of McCain’s supercilious “gas tax holiday” idea:

Senator McCain was the first one to propose a gas tax holiday. And then Senator Clinton immediately said, “Me, too.” And most of you probably have been reading the reports, if we suspended the gas tax for three months, as they propose, the most you could hope for would be a 30-cent-a-day savings for a grand total of $28 for the entire summer. That would be the savings best case scenario that you would get. But the fact is we tried this back in Illinois, back in 2000, and it’s been proposed in the past. And other states have done it. And typically, what happens is you eliminate the gas tax, and the oil companies simply make up the difference. They fill the gap. They stop up whatever perceived savings the consumers might have.

You’re paying the same amount of gas except now we no longer have the money going into the highway trust fund that builds our roads and our bridges, keeps us safe and puts thousands of people here in North Carolina to work. It’s a shell game.

Seriously, Hills, wtf are you thinking?!

Related: The green Democrat’s choice; Obama or Clinton: who’s greener? on Grist

(Crossposted from.)

——————–

Tagged: 2008 elections hillary clinton barack obama john mccain gas gas tax gas tax holiday scams politics

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Save the Manatee Club - action [at] savethemanatee.org
Date: Fri, Apr 25, 2008 at 2:11 PM
Subject: Save Three Sisters Springs for Manatees!

Save Three Sisters Springs for Manatees!

Show your support for city’s grant application

Three Sisters Springs is a complex of three spring areas that help feed Kings Bay, the headwaters of Crystal River in Citrus County, Florida. These beautiful springs are one of the most important natural warm-water refuges for endangered manatees in the state of Florida and a haven for birds, fish, plants, and other wildlife.

The city of Crystal River is applying for a Florida Communities Trust grant of up to $6.6 million to buy the Three Sisters property and the Florida Department of Community Affairs needs to receive letters by May 7th to show public support for the purchase.

The current owners plan to develop the 57 acres of land adjacent to Three Sisters Springs to create multi-family residences and remove spring water to be bottled. However, these same owners have also stated that they would be willing to sell the property for the right price.

Get more information about Three Sisters Springs.

Watch a video highlighting the beauty of Three Sisters Springs.

(more…)

getcher grist ecard here!

Call be an eco-grouch, but I’m finding it hard to get into the Earth Day spirit this year. I woke up feeling a bit ambivalent; caught a bit of Living with Ed during breakfast, and then discovered that HGTV’s airing a slate of “green” programming all day. Crank level rose. “Ooooo, if I’m near the teevee at 6, I can watch some yuppie couple shop for an ‘environmentally friendly’ vacation home (Um, is there such a thing? Doesn’t the sheer wastefulness of owning a second home trump the recycled cork floors?) in Hawaii.” Like, O-M-F-G. (That one’s for you, Mike Galanos. Your fainting couch should be arriving via Fed-fucking-Ex any day now.)

Time for work. While shuffling some files around and otherwise procrastinating, caught this blog post over at The Boiling Point.

If I see one more article about a gazillion pieces of fancy overpriced “organic” or “recycled” designer crap we can cram into our lives to pretend we’re doing something significant to save the planet, I’m going to shoot some (organic!?) steam out my ears.

With every Earth Day there comes a flood of special newspaper and magazine “Green Issues,” all generally pushing the same deluded feel-good idea that if only we replaced non-green products with slightly more green products, we’d really Make a Big Difference and Save the Planet. We don’t really need to change our consumer culture or hold corporate polluters accountable or enact sweeping and drastic environmental legislation–we just need to change our lightbulbs and wear organic cotton T-shirts. […]

Anyway, here’s the thing: buying more fancy stuff you don’t need (no matter how organic or recycled it is) is fundamentally an anti-green act. If you replace your perfectly good couch with some fancy organic or more sustainably produced designer creation, that does not mean you are saving the planet. It means you are buying a nice couch that is slightly less destructive than another couch. You’re still consuming, and you’re still creating waste. You are not a hero, and you are not an activist, you’re just a less destructive shopper.

And shopping is not a substitute for action. Buying a red sweatshirt or red iPod that donates 1% of its profits to a poorly-run AIDS charity that spends all its money advertising red sweatshirts or red iPods is not real action for change. A lot of this feel-good, do-nothing shopping as “activism” (ActivismTM) crap is just an excuse to give yourself an excuse to BUY MORE CRAP YOU DON’T need.

Ambivalence clear now.

(more…)

UPDATE, 4/15/08, via the National Wildlife Federation (NWF):

The House of Representatives voted Wednesday to approve the National Landscape Conservation System Act by a vote of 278-140! This Conservation System protects wildlife in 26 million acres of majestic landscapes and watersheds across the America. We could not have succeeded without your support!

Interested in learning more about the areas included in the National Landscape Conservation System?

Please visit www.conservationsystem.org

Stay tuned, as we now expect the bill to go to the Senate for their consideration.

My rep voted NO. Gawd, sometimes living in the stick sux.

——————

With a Congressional vote coming up this Wednesday, Drew at The Wilderness Society asked me to ask you to contact your rep and urge them to grant permanent protection to the National Landscape Conservation System.

Just what is the the National Landscape Conservation System, you ask?

In June 2000, the National Landscape Conservation System - the most innovative American land system created in the last 40 years - was established to protect the crown jewels of the public lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management.

The 26 million-acre Conservation System includes more than 800 individual units: 15 National Monuments, 13 National Conservation Areas, Steens Mountain Cooperative Management Protection Area in Oregon, Headwaters Forest Reserve in northern California, 38 Wild and Scenic Rivers, 183 Wilderness Areas, more than 5,100 miles of National Scenic and Historic Trails, and 604 Wilderness Study Areas.

The mission of the National Landscape Conservation System is to “conserve, protect, and restore these nationally significant landscapes that have outstanding cultural, ecological, and scientific values for the benefit of current and future generations.”

The Conservation System offers the spectacular qualities of the National Parks and National Wildlife Refuges. But the System represents an innovative shift from conventional management: protecting large landscapes-entire ecosystems and archaeological communities-not small, isolated tracts surrounded by development. Arizona’s Agua Fria National Monument contains hundreds of archaeological structures and sites; to understand the story these sites tell, the monument includes surrounding lands where their inhabitants traded, hunted, and farmed. Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument encompasses 800,000 acres, including parts of the watershed of the Grand Canyon.

The National Landscape Conservation System Act (HR 2016), which moves to the House floor on April 9th, will if passed formally establish the proposed Conservation System. You can take action and urge your rep to vote yes on HR 2016 here.

To learn more, visit www.conservationsystem.org - or check out this nifty video intro from The Wilderness Society:

And be sure to spread the word!

——————

Tagged: animals animal rights animal welfare environment environmental environmentalism environmentalist action alerts the wilderness society wildlife conservation nature National Landscape Conservation System National Landscape Conservation System Act National Landscape Conservation Act west American west American southwest National Parks National Wildlife Refuges National Parks System news in the news video youtube

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Drew Bush
Date: Thu, Mar 20, 2008 at 11:11 AM
Subject: 26 Conservation Groups Send Letter Denouncing Bush Administration’s Rush To Develop Oil Shale And Tar Sands At Expense of Local Communities, Wild Lands

Sent By The Wilderness Society

For Immediate Release: March 20, 2008

Contacts:

Steve Smith, 303/650-5818 x106, steve_smith [at] tws.org
Chase Huntley, 202/429-7431, chase_huntley [at] tws.org
David Alberswerth, 202/429-2695, david_alberswerth [at] tws.org
Drew Bush, 202/429-7441, drew_bush [at] tws.org

BUSH ADMINISTRATION’S RUSH TO DEVELOP OIL SHALE AND TAR SANDS ENDANGERS LOCAL COMMUNITIES AND WILD LANDS IN COLORADO, UTAH, AND WYOMING

–26 Conservation, Citizen, Local Government and Recreation Groups Denounce Lease Plan That Could Affect 2 Million Acres of Public Lands

(Washington, D.C.)—Thousands of local residents and more than 2 million acres of wild public lands such as western Colorado’s Piceance Basin and Utah’s San Rafael Swell will experience fouled water, disrupted wildlife, polluted air and damaged habitat if the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) hurtles forward with a plan to open these lands to oil shale and tar sands development, according to a letter submitted to the BLM today by a diverse coalition of conservationists, citizens, local governments and recreation enthusiasts.

“Based on the BLM’s analysis, local lives and livelihoods would be irreparably affected by commercial development activities involving oil shale or tar sands resources,” the letter states. “A wide range of environmental values, including clean air, clean water, climate, recreation, water supply, and wildlife habitat” would also see adverse impacts, according to the letter.

Oil shale is a rock that yields an oil-like substance when heated to extreme temperatures, and tar sands contain extremely heavy oil mixed with sand and clay. While tar sands are present only in Utah, oil shale is present in all three states.

New technologies for the safe commercial exploration of oil shale are at least a decade away, according to industry experts. Despite the need for additional years of research, the Bush Administration’s BLM is rushing before it leaves office to complete public comment on a draft environmental impact statement that could pave the way for commercial–scale leasing. The BLM is taking this step even while it manages a robust research and development program meant to overcome significant technological obstacles posed by the commercial development of oil shale and tar sands.

“The BLM is putting their socks on over their shoes,” said Steve Smith, The Wilderness Society’s assistant regional director for Colorado and Utah. “This move toward commercial leasing would likely lead to the imprudent transfer of tens of thousands of acres of federal lands to international oil companies and oil shale speculators. Oil shale development in its current form has devastating impacts on the land and the people who live nearby.”

(more…)

And since Dr. Stephen Colbert, DFA is just as refreshing as the wet stuff (and also due in no small part to the crazy amount of yard work I have to do today), I’ll let him give you the lowdown on WWD. Here are all five segments of Thursday’s Colbert Report Special ReporT, “Watershift Down: Getting the Sea Monkey off America’s Aqua-Back.”

If you’d like to learn more about World Water Day (this year’s theme: Sanitation), check out www.worldwaterday.org and www.worldwaterday.net. Also, you can read more about the awesome Dean Kamen here. (If you only watch one clip, make it Stephen’s interview with Dean, which is the fourth one down below.)

(more…)

As much as I loathe animal abusers such as Wendy’s, I might just vote for Blackwater this year. Probably because I recently read Imperial Life in the Emerald City.

Blackwater actually didn’t play a prominent role, but Haliburton did make several cameos, including one in which they culled all the feral cats in the Green Zone - including those adopted and vetted by CPA staffers - in order to prevent a rabies outbreak. Which the resident biologist called scientifically unsound, as there was no risk of rabies.

Just another chain in the link. Errr, link in the chain. You know what I mean.

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Sara Joseph
Date: Thu, Mar 13, 2008 at 8:49 AM
Subject: RELEASE: Online Polls Open for the Corporate Hall of Shame

Online Polls Open for the Corporate Hall of Shame

Annual Voting Crowns the Worst Corporations of the Year

Candidates include ADM, Blackwater, Countrywide, Mattel, Nestlé, Toyota, Wal-Mart and Wendy’s

BOSTON— This year’s election is all about the issues — global warming, war-profiteering, predatory lending — or at least that is the case in the annual Corporate Hall of Shame. On Thursday, March 20, the online polls open at www.stopcorprateabuse.org for people to vote for the most abusive corporations of the year.

This year’s nominees made headlines for breaking the law, influencing elected officials, undermining democratic decision-making and outright endangering the environment and public health. They include ADM, Blackwater Worldwide, Countrywide, Wal-Mart, Mattel, Nestlé, Toyota, and Wendy’s.

The Hall is a creation of Corporate Accountability International, a membership organization that has worked to protect people from irresponsible and dangerous corporations for the last 30 years.

“Make no mistake, we believe all of the nominees deserve this infamous dishonor, but we look forward to seeing which corporations the voting public selects as the worst of the worst,” said Kelle Louaillier, executive director of Corporate Accountability International. “The ballot box is a way toc all politicians to task. The Hall is now a way of calling corporations to account for major abuses of the public interest.”

Last year, more than 20,000votes were cast to induct ExxonMobil, Haliburton and Wal-Mart. Other past inductees include Philip Morris/Altria, Columbia/HCA and waste disposal giant Waste Management.

The Hall has kept continuous pressure on inducted corporations to curb their abuses. In 2006,Waste Management worked its way out of the Hall by drastically reducing its national lobbying and political expenditures.

Hall organizers expect record turn-out this election season before polls close on July 4th. The new inductees will be announced later that month.

(more…)

…but Big Oil wins again.

FYI: Grist has a number of interesting pieces on the policking of the Energy Bill, including:

* ‘Right now, the president’s got the upper hand’; Sen. John Kerry defends Dem decision not to force a filibuster on the energy bill

* Glass Half Full?; Senate OKs fuel-economy increase, but drops more ambitious parts of energy bill

* Celebrate good times, come on! No, seriously.; Greens need to learn how to celebrate their friends and their movement

* Energy bill back on track?; Pelosi says bill up for vote next week will contain CAFE, RFS, and RES

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Union of Concerned Scientists Action Network - action [at] ucsusa.org
Date: Dec 14, 2007 4:22 PM
Subject: Historic moment on fuel economy!

Last night, the Senate overwhelmingly passed an Energy Bill that will significantly strengthen fuel economy standards for vehicles for the first time in more than a generation. Read more about the bill at ucsaction.org/ct/1pMUMAY1yYLm/.

This historic victory was not a complete one, however. The Senate removed the renewable electricity standard and clean energy tax incentives from the bill–both of which would have increased our nation’s use of clean, renewable energy. The House of Representatives is expected to pass this version of the bill next week, and move it to the president’s desk where he has already said he will sign it into law.

This bill represents years of work and is a significant step forward. The bill will boost Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards to a fleetwide average of at least 35 miles per gallon by 2020–saving 1.1 million barrels of oil per day in 2020 (about half of what the United States currently imports from the Persian Gulf). This will significantly reduce America’s oil consumption, save consumers billions at the gas pump each year, and is a meaningful step forward as we seek to reduce our nation’s global warming pollution.

(more…)

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Nukefree.org - info [at] nukefree.org
Date: Dec 14, 2007 5:13 PM
Subject: Vote Imminent, please call/fax Congress this weekend and Monday!

Fellow Green Energy Advocates:

We have won a great victory, but now face a critical last-ditch fight.

Thanks in part to your efforts, the Congressional leadership has removed proposed loan guarantees from the Energy Bill. Spearheaded by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, we took a great step forward for a green-powered future.

But now $25 billion in loan guarantees for new reactors, plus $2 billion for uranium enrichment, have been introduced into the Omnibus Appropriations Bill. It will take all our renewed energies to get them removed, as we did from the Energy Bill.

Nukefree.org is committed to this effort, and we are calling on you to continue your support for a safe-energy future. Please take a moment to call your Senators and Representatives, and to also call the offices of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Minority Leader John Boehner, Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Robert Byrd, House Appropriations Committee Chair David Obey, as well as Majority Leader Reid and Speaker Pelosi and tell them to remove the $25 billion in nuclear loan guarantees from the Omnibus Appropriations Bill.

To contact Senators, phone the Senate switchboard and they will connect you: (202) 224-3121.

To contact Representatives, contact the House switchboard at (202) 225-3121.

(more…)

SPEECH BY AL GORE ON THE ACCEPTANCE OF THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE
DECEMBER 10, 2007
OSLO, NORWAY

Your Majesties, Your Royal Highnesses, Honorable members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Excellencies, Ladies and gentlemen.

I have a purpose here today. It is a purpose I have tried to serve for many years. I have prayed that God would show me a way to accomplish it.

Sometimes, without warning, the future knocks on our door with a precious and painful vision of what might be. One hundred and nineteen years ago, a wealthy inventor read his own obituary, mistakenly published years before his death. Wrongly believing the inventor had just died, a newspaper printed a harsh judgment of his life’s work, unfairly labeling him “The Merchant of Death” because of his invention – dynamite. Shaken by this condemnation, the inventor made a fateful choice to serve the cause of peace.

Seven years later, Alfred Nobel created this prize and the others that bear his name.

Seven years ago tomorrow, I read my own political obituary in a judgment that seemed to me harsh and mistaken – if not premature. But that unwelcome verdict also brought a precious if painful gift: an opportunity to search for fresh new ways to serve my purpose.

(more…)

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: In Defense of Animals - takeaction [at] idausa.org
Date: Nov 15, 2007 12:29 AM
Subject: IDA eNews: 11-14-07

Having trouble viewing IDA eNews? View it online.

November 14th, 2007

IDA Action Alerts

Stop Volkswagen’s Deadly Bird Experiments
Car company funds studies to decapitate European robins, garden warblers, and zebra finches

Oil Spill Kills Birds in San Francisco Bay
Cargo ship hits bridge, dumps 58,000 gallons of fuel into water

Ask Senate to Stop Sale of Animal Companions to Laboratories
Take Action to urge your elected officials to approve Sen. Akaka’s Farm Bill amendment

Campaign News & Updates

Victory: Japan Dolphins Will Not Go to Dominican Republic
The Save Japan Dolphins Coalition spares the Taiji Twelve from life in a marine park

One Week Left Until Fur Free Friday
Make plans to help animals skinned for fashion on November 23rd

School Kicks Cruel Donkey Basketball Game to the Curb
Thanks to those who contacted high school and Society of St. Vincent de Paul

(more…)

Here’s something you probably didn’t know…

Throughout the developed world the business surrounding death has often been an uneasy topic of discussion. Originating in the mid-19th Century, the modern funeral has evolved into an economic and cultural monster, with a vast network of supporting industries and myriad options for your earthly remains.

This original GOOD Magazine animation takes you inside the business of death.

More on the business of death and eco-friendly burials here (or jump right on down to the list of DIY/consumer orgs, here).

—————–

Tagged: death dying environment green good magazine you tube animation green burials cremation pollution climate change global warming

Yo! It’s Blog (for Enviro) Action Day!

According to the blogswarm’s www site, there are three things you can do to join the fifteen thousand (!) other green activists blogging for the planet today:

On October 15th, bloggers around the web will unite to put a single important issue on everyone’s mind - the environment. Every blogger will post about the environment in their own way and relating to their own topic. Our aim is to get everyone talking towards a better future.

Blog Action Day is about MASS participation. That means we need you! Here are 3 ways to participate:

* Post on your blog relating to the environment on Blog Action Day
* Donate your day’s earnings to an environmental charity
* Promote Blog Action Day around the web

I had a whole junk-you-should-be-doing-to-save-the-environment-but-you-aren’t-because-
it’s-totally-inconvenient-and-the-speciesist-jerks-at-the-sierra-club-aren’t-
pressing-the-issue-because-gawd-forbid-they-offend-a-few-liberals-OMG!!! mega-post planned out, but now here it is, 8:30, and I still have a pile of laundry to sort and a sink full of dishes to scrub and my how the day’s gotten away from me! (That, and I was busy moving my main blog from www.kellygarbato.com to www.smiteme.net - just though I’d drop that in there, ahem.) So. In two words: go veg. In spite of PETA, not because of them.

And if you want to donate to an enviro charity…I *heart* Farm Sanctuary. But you probably already knew that.

Now go! Blog! Browse! Link!

————————

Tagged: blog blogging blog action day green environment vegan veganism vegetarian vegetarianism farm sanctuary moving al gore the interwebs

Action Alerts

DawnWatch: Animal Testing — Three famous deaths and a ray of hope 9/12/07
Alex the parrot, Felix the monkey, and Anita Roddick the Body Shop founder who pioneered the mass marketing of animal friendly cosmetics, have died.

Defenders of Wildlife: Protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge — Forever
Write your elected officials today and urge them to support the Udall-Eisenhower Arctic Wilderness Act (H.R. 39), a bill that would permanently protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC): Protect Yellowstone and the Greater Rockies
Help block drilling in Colorado wildlife refuge

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA): Dozens of Allegedly Neglected Dogs in Meigs County, Tennessee, Need Your Voice!
PETA has received allegations of serious neglect of numerous dogs at 1627A Sam Davis Rd. in Decatur, Tennessee.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA): Tell University of Illinois to Stop Cruel Dog Lab!
Please urge the university to shut down the dog lab and mandate the adoption of FIDO immediately.

(more…)

Action Alerts

Center for Biological Diversity: Save Panama Biosphere Reserve From Dams
Please join the growing international movement to protect this ecological jewel and voice your opposition to the proposed Hydroelectric Projects.

DawnWatch: UK media on meat and global warming 9/9/07
“Activists take Gore to task on his diet”

Defenders of Wildlife: Protect Utah Prairie Dogs and Other Wildlife
Fill out the form below to urge your Representative and Senators to support the Endangered Species Recovery Act of 2007 (H.R. 1422 and S. 700), important legislation that would help private landowners protect Utah prairie dogs and other imperiled wildlife that live on their property.

Earthjustice: Say No to the Blowing Up of Appalachia
Tell the administration to stop trying to diminish the buffer zone rule and start enforcing it!

Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC): Tell the U.S. Navy to Stop Killing Whales!
Ear-splitting military sonar is needlessly killing whales and other marine mammals throughout the world’s oceans. Yet the Navy has refused to put effective safeguards in place during testing and training.

(more…)