Police Find Car Bomb in Times Square – New York Times (while the motive for the NYC bomb hasn’t been identified yet, similar oil-funded terrorist actions are regularly occurring)
These three headlines might not seem related, but they all stem from our insane addiction to oil and fossil fuels. It doesn’t matter if we are talking about domestic or foreign sources, fossil fuels are eating away at our quality of life.
From causing the global climate crisis to financing terrorist plots, greedy fossil fuel corporations, and their utility enablers, must be put out of business as soon as possible to protect citizens of the United States and the rest of the world. While the executives of these companies are ranking in record bonuses and paychecks, their employees and the communities surrounding their operations are exposed to toxic fumes and the grief that comes with repeated and preventable accidents. People around the world are witnessing the first waves of impacts of the climate crisis in the form of stronger droughts, floods, wildfires, and the loss of natural resources. In the meantime, everytime oil goes up $1, Iran gets another $1.5 billion to use against us.
The time to move beyond oil and coal is now and within our reach. What we need is a national strategy to do so, rather than the stubborn commitment to protect a dying industry we’ve been hearing from the President and many members of congress. We also need to secure a just transition for workers in the fossil fuel industry. They should be the first in line to receive the millions of new jobs that are already being created in the deployment of clean, renewable energy.
In 1969, two environmental disasters awakened the people of the United States to the necessity of environmental protection. I hope that in mourning the tragic events afflicting our nation – the Gulf Coast oil spill, last month’s coal mine explosion, the Tennessee floods, and the seemingly endless wars in Afghanistan and Iraq – will provide a similar jolt, and unite Americans behind a common goal: to end our fossil fuel addiction as soon as possible.
The job of the U.S. Congress is a never-ending one. After putting to bed the heated debate to transform the nation’s health care system, Congress switches gears and looks ahead to its list of immediate to dos:
1. Tackle the country’s financial problems
2. Create jobs
3. Enforce climate laws that will curb carbon emissions and create clean energy systems
4. Reform immigration policy
5. Give equal rights to the LGBT community by such things as repealing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell and passing the Employment Non-Discrimination Act
…and that’s just to name a few.
Well Congress is not the only group with a never-ending agenda. All of us on the outskirts are keeping up the momentum as well and refocusing attention to ensure the voices of the people in America are heard and the policies they demand are passed. However, some conservative, religious and right-wing groups, like those that fought tooth and nail trying to kill the health care bill, have the same old agenda that is never-ending: Block everything on the President’s to do list and spread fear through this nation like wild fire, no matter what the issue.
Such is the case now with the rights of the LGBT community. The Employee Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) is a bill that is expected to be voted on in the House very soon, and is aimed at protecting the LGBT community from employment discrimination. This legislation is so important because in 29 states it is still legal for employers to discriminate based on sexual orientation. Ending discrimination, however, is apparently something Americans should be afraid of according to some groups.
Immediately, the same type of fear-mongering ads we saw against health care reform just a few months ago have reappeared to attack ENDA. Two very different issues, yes, and some different groups, but all the qualities are very similar: fear, fear and more fear, nothing substantial to say, and no proof of knowledge on the legislation at hand. Check out this Family Research Council ad to fight ENDA:
Is it me or did that video tell you a whole lot of nothing? There was no elaboration on comments like those from Marcia, the licensed counselor, who insinuated that religious people would lose their job from this legislation. There was plenty of terrifying music and telling, ominous statements, but with nothing to back them up. Maybe in the detailed documentary there is more elaboration, like Marcia explaining that people losing their jobs would only be those not willing to comply with federal law because they are insistent on illegally discriminating against employees and justifying their actions on the basis of personal religious beliefs. So if I own a company and I decide that all people with green eyes are evil, then I fire and abstain from hiring all green-eyed people, and defend my ridiculous actions by saying that those green-eyed monsters do not fall in line with my personal religious beliefs, I cannot act surprised if I lose my job by not complying with federal non-discrimination laws. But who needs explanations or details, that’s not the point. The point is that we should be afraid, very afraid.
Have no doubt, these ad campaigns will continue and grow larger among groups like these in the coming months. But we all have to remember to check the facts and not fall for the same old fear-based obstruction. The progressive agenda is one that aims to secure rights for all to have fair access to jobs, health care, education, clean air, a chance to serve your country and marry your partner of the same sex or not. I don’t think that’s anything to be scared of.
So you’re under 26, your uninsured, maybe about to get kicked off your school’s insurance at graduation or you just got laid off from your new job and its employer provided insurance – no worries, with health care reform you can go back on your parents’ insurance plan (or stay on it) up to age 26. How will all of this work? And when does it kick in? Check out these FAQs and other resources on how health care reform impacts young people:
FAQs on Staying on Your Parents’ Plan up to age 26
One of the greatest provisions for young people in the health care bill is the ability to stay on your parents’ insurance plan until age 26. However, some people have questions about how that will work or whether it will cost their parents’ more money. But it’s actually pretty simple. Check out some frequently asked questions:
Q. Who is eligible for the age 26 provision?
The age 26 provision is eligible for young adults whose parents have insurance plans that provide dependent coverage for children (which most plans do). The health care reform bill requires any group health plan or plan in the individual market that provides dependent coverage for children to continue to make that coverage available up to age 26.
Q. When will this provision take effect?
Young adults under the age of 26 will be able to take advantage of this provision as of September 2010, six months after the enactment of the legislation (March 23, 2010).
Q. How much will this cost my parents?
Parents will simply be paying as they did when young people were on their plans previously, at a family plan rate. However, there may be slight rate increases for family plans due to the extra years in coverage.
Q. Does it matter what state I live in?
Many states have their own laws for dependent coverage so you should look to see what rules your state has. (State Health Access Reform Evaluation (SHARE) – To get information on dependent coverage laws in your state.). The new federal law establishes a minimum level of dependent coverage up to your 26th birthday. If your state law requires more coverage than the federal law, it is likely that the state law will still apply.
According to this survey by the Higher Education Research Institute, college freshmen surpass the general population in support of gay marriage by quite a large gap: 65% of college freshman compared to 39% of the general population support same-sex marriage. And this leap in support also branches across the conservative student population. Check out this piece on Change.org:
Even far right frosh support same-sex marriage at a greater rate than those far right conservatives out there in the working world — 24% to 14% to be exact, or as exact as a research poll can be.
So, these kids have just been shipped off to a new place, full of new people, new ideas and new experiences, and they’re learning how to incorporate all of that into their world view while still maintaining some sense of themselves. And that, somehow, makes them more open to varying forms of human relationships. Huh. When I put it that way, they kind of sound like a decent barometer of the next generation’s views toward same-sex marriage.
Coal is the single most dangerous form of energy and, despite many claims by industry spokespeople, is not clean and cannot be cleaned. While industry front groups are spending millions of dollars convincing Americans that CO2 emissions from coal can be tucked away safely, all evidence shows the contrary, that doing so is technically dubious, extremely expensive, and environmentally disastrous.
Young people will welcome these criminals that deal in coal, the most deadly weapon of mass destruction! We will let them and anyone watching know that young people don’t want coal to have a role in the New Energy Age, that we demand fair worker transition programs for coal miners, clean energy for the nation, and stable climate for future generations!
If you live in the D.C. area, sign up here to help organize the welcoming reception. If you’d like to walk around and sign people up with some old school tabling or canvassing, you can find a handy sign-up form here.
Recently, the Obama Administration announced that they will approve new oil and gas drilling off Virginia’s coast, parts of the mid and south Atlantic, and near Alaska’s shores. This news has come to a surprise to many of Obama’s supporters, especially young people who are dedicated to preserving the environment. Here are a few questions that young people have asked about Obama’s decision to drill for oil. Hopefully the administration will be answering these questions at some point in the near future
Shouldn’t Obama be using drilling as a bargaining chip for real climate legislation, rather than an Easter present to the oil industry? Cadbury eggs are much better for the environment.
Why is Obama doing this now? Is it because he feels like people will hate him less since he gave us health care?
Is there anyone who feels like this is more than a temporary solution to a much bigger problem?
Why do they think this is worth the destruction? Is this an attempt to cross party lines?
How is he going to address his liberal environmental base on this issue?
Young people from coastal communities knocked on thousands of doors for the President in large part because of what has now become a broken promise. Is the President counting on similar enthusiasm from young people during the mid-term elections? If so, how will young people be motivated to do so when the President is loudest in announcing his support for dirty energy?
But the overwhelming majority of people asked this:
“…what wouldn’t do a thing to lower gas prices is … to open up Florida’s coastline to Offshore drilling. it would have long-term consequences to our coastlines but no short term benefits since it would take at least 10 years to get any oil… it will take a generation to reach full production and even then the effect on gas prices will be minimal at best” Candidate Obama – June 20, 2008 – Jacksonville, FL.
Young people from Florida changed the course of history when they delivered their state to President Obama in the 2008 elections. They worked hard, knocked on doors, called reluctant family members, all in an effort to elect the candidate that spoke those words. Well, after a year and a half spent doing some really great (but woefully insufficient) things to move us towards a clean energy economy, seems like the President is turning his back on the wise words he spoke on his campaign.
“Today we are announcing the the expansion of offshore oil and gas exploration, but in ways that balance the need to harness domestic energy resources and the need to protect America’s Natural resources… the only way this transition [to domestic fuels] will succeed is if it strengthens our economy in the short run and in the long run”
Many progressive bloggers already challenged the President’s assumption that opening up the Outer Continental Shelf to oil drilling would be politically (or economically) smart, but few provided alternative strategies to drastically, quickly, and efficiently achieving the stated goals of the President’s new initiative.
Making efficient cars more accessible to the general public is something the administration is already doing great work on. In addition to today’s announcement about doubling the efficiency of the Federal Government’s auto fleet (spoken as a sidenote to the oil drilling expansion), the Obama administration also enacted stricter greenhouse gas limits to newly built car emissions. (more…)
* The below statement was originally posted here by Katie Andriulli, CP Communications Manager
WASHINGTON, DC — Campus Progress Senior Advocacy Associate Pedro de la Torre III released the following statement today in response to the final passage of HR 4872, the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act.
“Today Congress took action to eliminate an inefficient and corrupt student loan system and finally put the interests of students over banks. Young people overwhelmingly support health care and student aid reform, and are heartened to see that the change they voted for has become a reality.”
Campus Progress has fought hard over the past year to support these vital reforms on behalf of young people. Last summer we launched a campaign, Students Over Banks (studentsoverbanks.org), to educate young people about proposed reforms of the student aid system and to provide them with opportunities and resources to take action. The campaign also featured print and online advertising, and a video ad which aired on CNN, MSNBC, and during Comedy Central’s “The Colbert Report.” Additionally, we published numerous hard-hitting articles and fact sheets debunking loan industry claims.
We also worked with the United States Student Association, US PIRG, and the Campaign for College Affordability to organize 50 national groups to sign a letter of support for reform, host events, organize days of action, and send tens of thousands of emails, faxes, petition signatures, and tweets to Congress.
To support health care reform, we published numerous articles examining the impact reform would have on young people, and worked as part of the Y.I. Want Change coalition to raise awareness of these issues in the public sphere. Through coordinated action campaigns, events, and lobby days, our coalition mobilized 40,000 young people to take action demanding Congress pass reform. We also had a strong and consistent presence on Capitol Hill, and at rallies, town halls and campus events across the country.
See more on the win in student loan reform here. See more on the win in health care reform here.
Senator Robb discusses Marine Corps culture and Don't Ask Don't Tell
Yesterday our parent organization, the Center for American Progress, released a report detailing a strategy for removing the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT) policy in the United States military. To coincide with its release, CAP held a panel discussion to help those of us who may not be literate in wonky policy language.
We are fighting two wars and we can’t afford to keep losing integral service members just because they’re gay or lesbian. Incidentally this is the same argument that the conservatives are using for why we should not act now; “we’re fighting two wars” so we’re too wrapped up in fighting to consider letting crucial players back into the game.
Former Senator and Governor Charles Robb of Virginia, Admiral John Hutson, a former JAG, and Louis Caldera, a senior fellow at CAP and former Secretary of the Army, were seated on the panel to express their views on the topic and answer questions from the press. Each gave very convincing statements and anecdotes on the level of acceptance present in the armed forces, which seems to be much higher than the white-haired generation in Congress wants to believe, except for maybe the Marines. Senator Robb is a Marine and noted that their macho culture, while convenient for fighting, can hinder their attitude toward gay and lesbian soldiers. He stated that we need to get started with the repeal of DADT immediately so that those who are already top ranking officers will take their prejudiced beliefs with them when they die and future Corps members can look back and wonder why they ever felt any hesitancy.
“The cost of not acting now is greater to our souls and to this country [than the cost of waiting],” were Robb’s most potent words.
The Wonk Room outlined the points of the report briefly here. If the Armed Services Committee is looking to decide on both their moratorium and how long they plan to drag this repeal out, they could consider this report. As stated during the event yesterday, the United States is the only western nation to still abide by a law banning openly homosexual service members. We are behind the times, and behind the rest of our own country.
The nation’s focus today is on the historic moment that took place as the President signed the health care reform bill into law. The moment in which, as Obama said, “health care reform is no longer an unmet promise. It is the law of the land.”
This is significant for all the uninsured, for all those struggling with health care costs and for this economy. But I want to make today about the activists; those that have been fighting for progressive change from day one. I want to make this day, particularly, about the young activists.
Tens of thousands of young people were first inspired to get involved in the work leading up to the 2008 election because they identified with the message of hope and the desire for change. These young organizers worked tirelessly, put in 20 hour days for months, moved across the country – were plopped down into unknown (and undecided) territory- and fought tooth and nail, through ugly rhetoric about their leader, to get Obama elected.
On November 4, it was a proud and tearful day for most. But for many of these young organizers, as they watched their personal hard work culminate into the moment when the newly elected President took the stage, it was a life changing moment. In 2009, Washington DC, Congress, the Administration, and so many non-profit advocacy and service groups saw an influx of young faces, freshly inspired by their experience working for change and dedicated to continuing that work post-campaign. Organizing For America, the campaign’s continuing organizing arm now based out of the DNC, picked up many of the organizers and delved right into the health care fight.
Throughout this entire debate, young organizers, volunteers and students made calls, sent letters to Congress, joined countless rallies and held their signs defiantly across from the teabaggers. Despite the media leaving young people out or casting them to the side as “young invincibles” who don’t care about health care, young activists took to the streets or tweeted the latest action they just took online to support health care. Some lobbied their representatives and many expressed their frustration with the losses in the debate, such as the public option or women’s rights. But through it all, young activists kept fighting and just like the old campaign days, they stuck in there. As Obama said today,
“..it was your work, your commitment, your unyielding hope that made this victory possible. When the special interests deployed an army of lobbyists, an onslaught of negative ads, to preserve the status quo, you didn’t give up. You hit the phones and you took to the streets. You mobilized and you organized. You turned up the pressure and you kept up the fight.”
And today, many of them were able to watch their President sign into law a bill that realizes their original desire for change. (A bill that as our Vice President Joe Biden stated perfectly “is a big fucking deal.”)
Funding our Future is a campaign to pass a progressive federal budget for 2010 and ensure that our nation.s key economic choices invest in our education, spark reform of our health care system, and address climate change through cap and trade and clean energy investments. Click here for more info.
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The time to move beyond oil and coal is now and within our reach. What we need is a national strategy to do so, rather than the stubborn commitment to protect a dying industry we’ve been hearing from the President and many members of congress. We also need to secure a just transition for workers in the fossil fuel industry. They should be the first in line to receive the millions of new jobs that are already being created in the deployment of clean, renewable energy.
On April 14th, 2009 at 9:30 AM, coal barons are finally testifying in front of Congress about the “
Shouldn’t Obama be using drilling as a bargaining chip for real climate legislation, rather than an Easter present to the oil industry? Cadbury eggs are much better for the environment.
Is there anyone who feels like this is more than a temporary solution to a much bigger problem?
Why do they think this is worth the destruction? Is this an attempt to cross party lines?
How is he going to address his liberal environmental base on this issue?
