Apparently Greenpeace was behind the polar bear who was spotted at the Columbia Heights Metro yesterday.
From Greenpeace press release:
As Arctic Sea Ice Reaches 2008 Low, Street Art Highlights Shared Fate of Polar Bears, Humanity
Washington, DC Continue reading
There was good news and very bad news from Capitol Hill yesterday. On the one hand House lawmakers finally voted to renew tax credits that are vital to the growth of our renewable energy industry. On the other hand they handed big oil a big victory by voting to overturn a 30 year ban on offshore drilling. As you all know such drilling would have no effect on gas prices, threaten our nation’s shorelines, prolong our addiction to oil, and worsen the climate crisis.
But, thankfully, the fight against offshore drilling isn’t over. The Senate has yet to vote on the issue, which leaves us with time to shed some light on this murky federal energy debate with some illuminating LTEs. Over the next few days while the topic is still hot, let’s shoot of some letters to the editor reminding our senators that oil and renewable just don’t mix, and that we shouldn’t hold the clean energy economy hostage to the dirty agenda of big oil.
Read more about this legislation on grist: “Where there’s a drill, there’s a way.”
Talking Points:
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Joe Biden says, “No coal plants here in America.” Watch:
Join the bird-dogging packs!
Candidates will be touring Virginia constantly from now till the election. CCAN is looking for people like this woman who will ask candidates questions about global warming. Think you’re up to the task? Sign up at vaoncall.org.
National Call-In Day is Wednesday, September 17. The U.S. Senate is planning to consider energy legislation this week; among the bills it will take up is the Gang of 20 bill best known for its “compromise” on offshore oil drilling. Tucked away in the 233 pages of the bill are about 18 pages that would create the biggest giveaway to the nuclear power industry ever.
*Unlimited taxpayer loan guarantees for construction of new atomic reactors
*Construction of a new, dangerous, and unnecessary reprocessing plant
*Billions of dollars in “risk insurance” for new reactors Continue reading
This is your last chance to get a free ticket to see the Nats this season AND a great opportunity to express your concerns about Exxon Mobil’s insidious advertising.
Please contact Lisa (lisaATchesapeakeclimate.org) about which game you’d like to see:
Non-violent direct action activists were acquitted of charges that they caused almost
With hurricane Gustav acting as another wake up call for Americans reminding us of the impact of extreme weather along our shores we bring you another extreme weather story that hits a bit closer to home here in the Chesapeake Bay region.
Extreme weather is happening all around us, from tornadoes ripping through Virginia to increased flash floods and severe storms.
Leave a comment below to share your extreme weather story.
And, if you haven’t already, see the video below about one Maryland woman’s heart-wrenching extreme weather story.
When I sat down in a coffee shop in downtown Baltimore last Friday morning with a group of climate activists from Congressman Elijah Cummings’ district I did my best to project optimism and to rally the troops as it were prior to our big meeting. But the truth is that, internally, I wasn’t actually brimming with optimism. That’s not to say I wasn’t confident we’d get a good hearing or fail to have any impact on the Congressman; I was just a tad doubtful about the current potential for real aggressive leadership from Washington on climate policy, and perhaps rightly so.
For those of us who are deeply engaged in the climate and energy fight, the political events of this summer have been a constant reminder of the tendency of politics and partisanship to stifle leadership and smart policy-making at a time when we need them the most. True, there have been rare moments, like Al Gore’s landmark speech, when a spark of real leadership briefly illuminated an otherwise murky national energy debate. But for the most part our leaders have only succeeded in keeping the country in the dark; Convinced that the American public is impervious to the light of reason on issues like offshore drilling, we’ve seen one leader after another, from John McCain, to Nancy Pelosi, opt for the path of least political resistance, and thereby eclipse any short-term hope of a national climate and energy awakening.
So, when we all finally gathered around the table in Congressman Cummings’ office that morning I was expecting some variation on this prevailing political theme. First he would agree with us about the severity of the crisis and echo our sentiments about the need for strong, decisive federal action, but then the inevitable moment of political prevarication would arrive, and shaking his head in frustration, he’d inform us that, alas, the clout of King Coal and other special interests was just too darn strong to allow for the passage of really uncompromising climate legislation and that for the foreseeable future we’d have to live with whatever we could get. I’d this seen this pattern played out in other constituent meetings, and I had no reason to suspect that things would be different this time. But, then, I’d never met Congressman Elijah Cummings before.
From the very start he set an entirely refreshing tone. Continue reading