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7.13.2011

US Chamber's history--and the stuff we found is not pretty

Dear friends, 

What is the US Chamber of Commerce hiding?

Our team recently decided to dig into the US Chamber's history--and the stuff we found is not pretty. You've got to see it to believe it:


Visit www.USChamberOfSecrets.org

With the final installment of the Harry Potter movie series premiering this weekend, we thought we'd seize the moment and poke a bit of pop-culture fun at the US Chamber. After all, the campaign to stop the US Chamber has all the elements of an epic story: dark forces are conspiring to control the world, a battle of good versus evil is brewing, and a set of unlikely heroes is emerging to save the day. 

The heroes of this story are all of you: citizens and business owners across the nation who are outraged by the way corporate interests are hijacking our political system. And the tide is starting to turn in our favor. 

In the past few months, the campaign to stop the US Chamber has picked up some serious steam: thousands of new businesses are on board, local Chambers of Commerce large and small are starting to sign on, and people are hitting the streets to strip the US Chamber of it's legitimacy. 

Perhaps most importantly, people are truly waking up to the fact that the US Chamber is a corporate front group--and not just any front group, but the largest lobbyist in the country by far.  What's worse, the US Chamber seems hellbent on undermining our democracy and wrecking our climate.

The majority of the US Chamber's funding comes from just 16 anonymous corporations. They refuse to reveal which corporations, but when you look at the US Chamber's actions it's easy to figure out which big polluters are pulling the strings. The corruption in the US Chamber is impossible to deny: of the $32 million it spent on the 2010 elections, 94% of it went to support climate deniers. 

And it's not just climate action that the US Chamber opposes--over the last century they have a vile history of opposing progress in our country on issues ranging from clean air to health care and women's and civil rights. Now, their secrets can be exposed: www.USChamberOfSecrets.org

But we haven't won yet, and the mission we face right now is to spread the truth about the US Chamber, and expose their secrets to the world. So take a couple of minutes to open the US Chamber of Secrets, and please do spread the word to your friends on Facebook and Twitter with just a couple of clicks. Forward this message, share the link (www.USChamberOfSecrets.org) and help us build this movement to reclaim our democracy and remove one of the biggest barriers to climate progress in our country.

Together, we'll overpower the dark force of the US Chamber, and we'll be sure to have some fun while we do it. 

Onwards,

Phil Aroneanu

 

350.org is building a global grassroots movement to solve the climate crisis. Our online campaigns, grassroots organizing, and mass public actions are led from the bottom up by thousands of volunteer organizers in over 188 countries. You can join 350.org on Facebook by becoming a fan of our page at facebook.com/350org and follow us on twitter by visiting twitter.com/350. To join our list (maybe a friend forwarded you this e-mail) visit www.350.org/signup. To support our work, donate securely online at350.org/donate.


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Scotty No comments:

Solar economics- A whole new ball game


One of the things that drives alternative energy advocates up the wall about trying to explain the benefits of these energy sources is that some people simply don’t understand the economics of alternative energy. Nowhere is this more obvious than with solar power. The average solar panel is actually an economic asset as much as a planet-saving technology, but naturally the media and its five second attention span never mention this very basic fact.

Getting the solar message across
As the dino-fuels become more expensive and interfere with the bottom lines of more businesses and family budgets, the economic message will eventually sink in. The alternative energy industries, however, could be doing a lot more to get their message across in hard dollar terms. It’s important to recognize that the levels of unfamiliarity about alternative energy sources aren’t so much selective ignorance as a case of simply not getting the facts communicated effectively.

It’s critically important to make sure that the message that alternative energies are costs savers and game-changers for the bottom line gets through to the public, economists and governments. Arguing about environmental principles is too easy. Arguing with figures is a lot more difficult. Solar power can do a respectable job of proving its values at spreadsheet level, so it’d be nice to see some publicists getting to work on the subject, preferably ASAP.

The solar economic overview
In economic terms, solar power as an energy source is almost unprecedented. Being a passive energy source puts it in the same class as old water wheels and windmills, a type of energy technology which doesn’t have an equivalent in modern economics. There simply isn’t an economic model to assess the effect of universal solar power usage. That’s one of the main reasons economics as a science is dragging the chain on assessing the global values of solar power.

Solar power comes with some massive economic benefits
A comparatively short, competition-based supply chain: The logistics of solar are pretty much entirely contained in the assembly process. At end user point, the most that’s likely to ever be required is some maintenance. This short supply chain means that real costs to the economy are very low overall, particularly if assessed over time and in relation to competition for consumer dollars.

Flexibility and adaptability: Spreading cities have exposed the Achilles heel of the grids. Real cost factors are building up to the point at which only developers can afford to expand traditional grids. Solar simply doesn’t have that problem. 

Solar power generation has real community dollar values: Individually, a solar power generation system produces X amount of power at a measurable cost. Collectively, particularly if fed into a grid system, solar power values increase exponentially, across the entire grid. Solar power needs to be seen as a community asset as much as a household asset.

Commercially, solar power is a true cost saver: The overheads of running an office or a factory can be colossal in terms of power costs. Anything which impacts those costs positively, particularly on a large scale, directly affects the entire economy. The solar panels springing up in New York’s notoriously thrifty schools aren’t there solely for fashion reasons, either, and this is another commercial/social community solar asset that needs recognition.

When you’re installing solar panels for your home, consider for a moment your own economic issues- If it makes economic sense to install solar in your home, how about the world? Interesting thought, isn’t it?
  
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7.11.2011

John Boehner right-wing war on middle class families

John Boehner is forcing the country into bankruptcy as part of his right-wing war on middle class families

Scotty -

John Boehner is forcing the country into bankruptcy as part of his right-wing war on middle class families.

Here are the facts -- Republicans don't have the votes to increase the debt limit without Democrats, but Boehner has rejected every Democratic proposal to repeal the Bush tax cuts for the rich, end subsidies for big oil, or close tax loopholes for companies that ship jobs overseas. Instead, Boehner wants to gut Social Security and Medicare.

Cutting Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid is insane. It will be a punch in the gut to middle class families and will send the country deeper into recession.

Thankfully, Nancy Pelosi and progressives in Congress are standing up against John Boehner and his right-wing Tea Party colleagues. We need to let them know that we have their backs.

Call your Congressperson right now at (202) 224-3121 and tell them to take Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid off the table.

This is crunch time. Congress has less than two weeks to find a compromise and raise the debt limit. We need to make clear everyone understands that we can't cut the deficit on the backs of middle class families.

Thank you for all that you do.

- Michael

Michael Langenmayr, Deputy Political Director
Democracy for America



Democracy for America relies on you and the people-power of more than one million members to fund the grassroots organizing and training that delivers progressive change on the issues that matter. Please Contribute Today and support our mission.
Paid for by Democracy for America, http://www.democracyforamerica.com/?akid=1069.1758181.xQlzs-&t=3 and not authorized by any candidate. Contributions to Democracy for America are not deductible for federal income tax purposes.

This message was sent to Scottscontracting@gmail.com




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Scotty No comments:

Re: The Kochs Just Made It Personal. OR The Kochs and your children OR Our Children's Lungs.



On Mon, Jul 11, 2011 at 1:55 PM, John Sellers, The Other 98% <info@other98.com> wrote:

The Kochs are taking aim at our children's lungs.



Will you help us fight back?

Yes, I will!

Dear Social Justice Warrior,

The Kochs are at it again - and this time, they're taking aim at our children's lungs.

The Koch Brothers and their Tea Party-funding oil front group, Americans For Prosperity, are suing New York's Governor, Andrew Cuomo, for taking part in RGGI (Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative), a cap-and-trade program that has forced corporate polluters to pay, and that has so far raised over $700 million for renewable energy and green jobs.

The Koch Brothers want it to be illegal for huge corporations to pay for their pollution - but they think it's just fine to make the American people pay the price.

Join us in telling Andrew Cuomo to fight back against the Koch Brothers - before it's too late.

The dirty energy Koch-Blockers in congress have thwarted attempts to address our climate emergency at every turn. RGGI is a shining example of states stepping up to the plate to protect our children's future. If it crumbles in New York, it's going to crumble across all the RGGI states along the east coast - and it'll be even tougher to challenge the Kochs in the future. We have got to stop this.

Andrew Cuomo needs to hear from us: we need him to stand up strong against the Kochs and this dirty lawsuit.

Thank you for fighting the good fight with us.

Sincerely,

John Sellers, The Other 98%

The Other 98% is making democracy work for the rest of us. Our website is http://other98.com/.




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