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Stop Trump’s offshore drilling plan!

3 Comments / Action, Home / By Drew

Trump wants to repeal the Obama-era ban on offshore drilling, opening more than 90 percent of our coastline to oil and gas leasing. At the same time, Trump’s allies in Congress are trying to dismantle the worker safety and environmental protections put into place after the Deepwater Horizon rig killed 11 people and caused a $60 billion oil spill that destroyed coastal environments and made thousands of people sick. Nor are spills, explosions and loss of life on oil rigs the only things we’re worried about (though only a fool would not be worried about them). We need to keep at least 80% of known oil and gas reserves in the ground, or risk tipping the climate beyond the point of no return. Adding millions of new acres of oil and gas drilling is not just climate denial, it’s a death sentence for millions of people in coastal communities around the world. Fortunately, there’s still time to stop Trump’s disastrous plan. You have until March 9 to submit and official comment. Sign with us, and we’ll hand deliver the message …

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National Dream Act Day of Action Feb 7

Leave a Comment / Action, allies, Home / By Drew

You probably remember, less than a month ago, when all but 16 hard-line Dream Heroes in the Senate (not-coincidentally some of our most reliable votes on climate change) voted to re-open the government. They did so based on a promise from Mitch McConell and Donald Trump allow a vote to protect Dreamers before February 8. This week, the bill for that bad bet comes due. Tomorrow is the 8th and no vote on the Dream act has been scheduled. The Government runs out of money, again, this Friday and we’ve made no progress. Today hundreds of young Dreamers from across the country have traveled to D.C. to demand that Congress pass a clean Dream Act. Click here to check out the live feed of their actions on capitol hill, and then call 478-488-8059 so United We Dream can patch you through to Congress. Tell them to pass a CLEAN Dream Act and protect immigrant youth without harming their families. As we explained last time, this Dream Act vote is a critical litmus test for climate change. It’s also clear that we can’t trust most of the “deals” …

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US Bank broke its promise – Defund Pipelines

Leave a Comment / Action, allies / By Drew

If you’re one of the nearly 200,000 people who signed a petition calling on the biggest Wall Street Banks to stop financing the Dakota Access Pipeline, and all fossil fuel infrastructure, you need to see this. US Bank, which had promised to stop funding DAPL and similar pipeline projects, just made millions of dollars guaranteeing a massive credit deal with Energy Transfer Partners (ETP), the company behind DAPL, the Bayou Bridge Pipeline, and dozens of other dirty pipelines across America. Will you sign this petition to US Bank CEO Andrew Cecere to keep his promise to end financial support to oil and gas pipelines with our allies at Climate Truth? If you sign today, they and activists in US Bank’s home town of Minneapolis, MN, will deliver it this week. Last April, a ton of us praised US Bank when they agreed to demands from Indigenous and climate activists (like us) to stop financing major oil and gas pipelines like DAPL. We warned at the time that US Bank was hedging its bets and hadn’t promised to Divest, yet. But in the …

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Trump’s first SOTU

1 Comment / allies, Home, Opinion / By Drew

Donald Trump gives his first official State of the Union address on Tuesday, January 30, at 9pm Eastern | 6pm Pacific. Even if you hate the guy (and you should), somebody needs to listed to make sure he doesn’t announce any stupid new ideas (like drilling for oil on the moon, or requiring every citizen to genuflect and donate $5 every time the pass an Exxon station). Our team will be listening in (and providing live color-commentary via twitter). And you can tune in with us! RSVP here and/or come back just before the speech starts Tuesday night and we’ll host a live stream of the speech, with running commentary from our team and a range of climate journalists, activists Climate Justice Warriors and more. Live Blog State of the Union hate Watching party Trouble viewing the RSVP/Iframe? Click Here What to watch for: the Pre Game. Here’s some links and hot-takes before the big speech to give you an idea what to listen for. The Washington Posts pre-speech “what to listen for” isn’t bad The NPR politics podcast is a …

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Get up, get down, get local to keep fossil fuels in the ground

2 Comments / allies, Home / By Drew

One of the best places to make progress for our climate and our communities is at the local level. Already Mayors and city councils from Seattle, WA, to Columbia, SC, where I live are stepping up and taking action by calling for a switch to 100% clean energy, divesting from Exxon and other Big Oil baddies, or refusing to do business with the big banks that fund pipelines. Next Wednesday, January 31st, the day after Trump’s first State of the Union, our friends at 350.org are throwing a party with partner organizations, movement leaders and community organizers in Washington D.C. They’ve got a plan for howe we can ALL win at the local level, and I think you should give it a listen. If you’re interested, click here to tune in & watch Fossil Free Fast: The Climate Resistance via livestream on January 31st in your town or city — join a watch party near you or sign up to host one. The list of speakers includes Senator Bernie Sanders, Bill McKibben, Rev. Lennox Yearwood from Hip Hop Caucus, Jacqueline …

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Democrats cave on Dreamers, here’s why it’s bad for the climate.

Leave a Comment / Action, allies, Home / By Drew

Yesterday Chuck Schumer led Senate Democrats to abandon their bargaining position and re-open the government. For their vote, those Democrats got absolutely zero protections for Dreamers and only a verbal contract (worth the paper it’s printed on) that he’d allow a vote to protect Dreamers before February 8. Let’s be clear: Schumer made a BAD deal. Voters, especially young people and independents, already blamed Trump and the Republicans for the shutdown. And as we explained in our last post, huge majorities of people favor action on DACA (just like they do on climate). Also, as we explained last time, this was a critical litmus test vote for climate change. If we can’t trust Democrats and a handful of Republicans who say they back a wildly popular policy — in this case protecting nearly 800,000 young people from deportation, but the parallel to climate action are clear — to stand up and vote that way when given a chance, then we just can’t trust them. And unfortunately that mushy middle where most politicians live has collapsed again. All but 16 hard-line …

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Shut. It. Down. Dream Act Now.

2 Comments / Action, allies, Home / By Drew

There’s a principle in direct action called “shutting things down to open them up.” The basic idea is that since we know “power concedes nothing without a demand,” sometimes you have to shut something down in order to open up a conversation about the moral harm it creates. This week, there’s a critical opportunity to demand Congress take action – or else shut down the whole government. And we need your help: Click here to host or join a #NoDreamNoDeal rally near you this week. OR Click here or call 202-224-3121 and tell your Senators and Representative not to vote for ANY spending bill UNLESS it includes a clean Dream Act (the free click to call tool is sponsored by our allies at United We Dream). Congress has until Friday to pass a spending bill that will keep the government open — including the rogue deportation department called ICE — and we’re working in solidarity with a team that is demanding they say #NoDreamNoDeal and include a clean Dream Act. Anything less is a vote to fund the deportation of hundreds …

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Quick Video recap RE January plans

Good riddance to 2017 – I like our chances next month

1 Comment / Action, Home / By Drew

It’s the last few days of 2017. And good riddance, I say, because we’ve got big plans for January 2018. It’s been a busy and mostly brutal year as the Trump team attacks one of our communities after the other. We end the year much as we began it – worried about deportations, awash in climate chaos, resolute in our desire to show up when and where we can to speak out and shut down fossil fuel projects and the political patsies that approve them. But in the face of all that, there is also hope: Major new divestments from big banks (and even the WORLD bank), opportunities to challenge the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)’s new leadership, and convergences and gatherings that will consolidate the strength of our movement to shut things down and renew your spirit to open new ideas up. Rebellions are built on hope, and two stories are giving me hope this week: A recent article in Reuters details how Canadian Tar Sands, the dirtiest oil on earth, are having a tough time getting to export …

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Darkest hour

Leave a Comment / Action, Home / By Drew

Happy winter solstice – if happy is what you want to call it. It’s been another rough week. Earlier this week the Republicans rammed through a disastrous tax bill that will (among many other bad things) give special tax breaks to pipeline builders, Arctic drillers, and other assorted fossil fueled ne’er do-wells. As I write this, they’re voting through a short term spending bill without doing anything about the DREAMers – who are at risk of being deported every week Congress refuses to act. All week long brave young people have risked arrest and deportation just to demand Congress vote on the issue. They shut down the Cafeteria today, in solidarity with seven other activists who went on hunger strike in jail. And still, Congress lacks the courage to protect people, not polluters. One other wrinkle to this week’s tax bill that you might not haver heard about: The #GOPTaxScam effectively eliminates the tax deductibility of charitable donations, removing the incentive for most people to donate to groups like us. I know that a lot of you will still donate because you …

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