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8.19.2011

MSD Hearings & St Louis, Missouri Water

  • If you are opposed to sewage running in streams in your community's parks, sewage backing up in your basements, and our streams being incorporated into our region's sewer system as if that is their sole purpose, please weigh in at the St. Louis Metropolitan Sewer District (MSD) rate hearings

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Earth Share of Missouri

Better Business Bureau Seal
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Ignacia Moreno, assistant attorney general for the Department of Justice's Environment and Natural Resources Division, Richard Callahan, US Attorney, and Karl Brooks, EPA Region VII Director announce the MSD Consent Decree.

 

St. Louis,

 

If you are opposed to sewage running in streams in your community's parks, sewage backing up in your basements, and our streams being incorporated into our region's sewer system as if that is their sole purpose, please weigh in at the St. Louis Metropolitan Sewer District (MSD) rate hearings. These hearings are about clean water- Do we want it? Are we willing to pay for it? Is it cheaper than dirty water? Are we ready to enter the 21st century and leave the 19th century behind?

 

Here's What the MSD Clean Water Rate Hikes Are About:

  •  It's $4.7 billion and 23 years of blue collar and engineering job stimulus for our region.
  • It's kids splashing in streams, chasing fish, frogs and crawdads when the work is done.
  • It's basements that are dry...and not filled with disease-causing sewage after every rain.
  • It's smallmouth bass in Deer Creek again - remember those days?
  • It's swimming in Maline Creek and knowing it's not filled with germ-laden sewage when the work is finished.
  • It's your family's property values preserved because the flooding and sewage back ups are gone.
  • It's this generation taking responsibility for our right to clean water and building a clean water infrastructure for our children and their children.

 

St. Louis deserves clean water.

MSD public hearings- 3 left! 

 

South County

8/20- Saturday, 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., Cliff Cave Branch Library, 5430 Telegraph Road

North County 

8/22-Monday, 6 to 9 p.m., Florissant Valley Branch Library, 195 S. New Florissant Road

North City

8/24-Wednesday, Herbert Hoover Boys & Girls Club, 2901 N. Grand

 

And the final one in September: Monday, Sept. 26, Metropolitan Sewer District, 2350 Market St.

 

The Rate Commission can approve MSD's proposal, modify it, or reject it entirely. Now is your time to be heard! The Commission will make its recommendation in October to the MSD board.

 

The proposal will be up on our website next week. It would raise monthly wastewater bills about $3-4 each year in the years between 2012 and 2016 and use bond financing for the investments in new sewer infrastructure.  The projects would take 23 years to complete and cost approximately $4.7 billion. 

 

On a related note 
You'll recall that it was our work that prompted the EPA to finally take action on the more than 200 illegal sewer overflows that dot the entire St. Louis region.

After four years in settlement talks, we have signed a Consent Decree with MSD and the Dept. of Justice that requires MSD to make the infrastructure investments to elminate its illegal sewage overflows and reduce overflows to waters in the combined sewer area.The Consent Decree includes a commitment for funding a green infrastructure pilot project and $100 million for green infrastructure to help reduce sewage flowing into the Mississippi River.

Thank you for helping us advance clean water and jobs in the region.


Upcoming Events

 

August 23-  Maryland Heights Residents for Responsible Growth anticipates a hearing August 23rd at 7 p.m. at the Maryland Heights Government Center (11911 Dorsett Road, Maryland Heights, MO) on the zoning application for Maryland Pointe, a "retail destination" development proposal adjacent to Creve Coeur Lake Park. See our blog for details. 

 

Audubon Center at Riverlands & the Missouri Botanical Garden Premier "Green Fire: Aldo Leopold and a Land Ethic for our Time"

Friday, August 26 from 6:30pm

Missouri Botanical Garden, Monsanto Hall

4344 Shaw Blvd, St. Louis, MO 63110

Movie begins at 6:30pm with a cocktail reception following at 8:00pm. Cost: $20 per person.

 

 

Missouri Coalition for the Environment | 6267 Delmar Blvd., Ste. 2E | St. Louis | MO | 63130



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Contract for the American Dream


We, the American people, promise to defend and advance a simple ideal: liberty and justice . . . for all. Americans who are willing to work hard and play by the rules should be able to find a decent job, get a good home in a strong community, retire with dignity, and give their kids a better life. Every one of us – rich, poor, or in-between, regardless of skin color or birthplace, no matter their sexual orientation or gender – has the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That is our covenant, our compact, our contract with one another. It is a promise we can fulfill – but only by working together.

Today, the American Dream is under threat. Our veterans are coming home to few jobs and little hope on the home front. Our young people are graduating off a cliff, burdened by heavy debt, into the worst job market in half a century. The big banks that American taxpayers bailed out won't cut homeowners a break. Our firefighters, nurses, cops, and teachers – America's everyday heroes – are being thrown out onto the street. We believe:

AMERICA IS NOT BROKE

America is rich – still the wealthiest nation ever. But too many at the top are grabbing the gains. No person or corporation should be allowed to take from America while giving little or nothing back. The super-rich who got tax breaks and bailouts should now pay full taxes – and help create jobs here, not overseas. Those who do well in America should do well by America.

AMERICANS NEED JOBS, NOT CUTS

Many of our best workers are sitting idle while the work of rebuilding America goes undone. Together, we must rebuild our country, reinvest in our people and jump-start the industries of the future. Millions of jobless Americans would love the opportunity to become working, tax-paying members of their communities again. We have a jobs crisis, not a deficit crisis.

To produce this Contract for the American Dream, 131,203 Americans came together online and in their communities. We wrote and rated 25,904 ideas. Together, we identified the 10 most critical steps to get our economy back on track and restore the American Dream:

10 CRITICAL STEPS TO GET OUR ECONOMY BACK ON TRACK

I. INVEST IN AMERICA'S INFRASTRUCTURE

Rebuild our crumbling bridges, dams, levees, ports, water and sewer lines, railways, roads, and public transit. We must invest in high-speed Internet and a modern, energy-saving electric grid. These investments will create good jobs and rebuild America. To help finance these projects, we need national and state infrastructure banks.

II. CREATE 21ST CENTURY ENERGY JOBS

We should invest in American businesses that can power our country with innovative technologies like wind turbines, solar panels, geothermal systems, hybrid and electric cars, and next-generation batteries. And we should put Americans to work making our homes and buildings energy efficient. We can create good, green jobs in America, address the climate crisis, and build the clean energy economy.

III. INVEST IN PUBLIC EDUCATION

We should provide universal access to early childhood education, make school funding equitable, invest in high-quality teachers, and build safe, well-equipped school buildings for our students. A high-quality education system, from universal preschool to vocational training and affordable higher education, is critical for our future and can create badly needed jobs now.

IV. OFFER MEDICARE FOR ALL

We should expand Medicare so it's available to all Americans, and reform it to provide even more cost-effective, quality care. The Affordable Care Act is a good start and we must implement it — but it's not enough. We can save trillions of dollars by joining every other industrialized country — paying much less for health care while getting the same or better results.

V. MAKE WORK PAY

Americans have a right to fair minimum and living wages, to organize and collectively bargain, to enjoy equal opportunity, and to earn equal pay for equal work. Corporate assaults on these rights bring down wages and benefits for all of us. They must be outlawed.

VI. SECURE SOCIAL SECURITY

Keep Social Security sound, and strengthen the retirement, disability, and survivors' protections Americans earn through their hard work. Pay for it by removing the cap on the Social Security tax, so that upper-income people pay into Social Security on all they make, just like the rest of us.

VII. RETURN TO FAIRER TAX RATES

End, once and for all, the Bush-era tax giveaways for the rich, which the rest of us — or our kids — must pay eventually. Also, we must outlaw corporate tax havens and tax breaks for shipping jobs overseas. Lastly, with millionaires and billionaires taking a growing share of our country's wealth, we should add new tax brackets for those making more than $1 million each year.

VIII. END THE WARS AND INVEST AT HOME

Our troops have done everything that's been asked of them, and it's time to bring them home to good jobs here. We're sending $3 billion each week overseas that we should be investing to rebuild America.

IX. TAX WALL STREET SPECULATION

A tiny fee of a twentieth of 1% on each Wall Street trade could raise tens of billions of dollars annually with little impact on actual investment. This would reduce speculation, "flash trading," and outrageous bankers' bonuses — and we'd have a lot more money to spend on Main Street job creation.

X. STRENGTHEN DEMOCRACY

We need clean, fair elections — where no one's right to vote can be taken away, and where money doesn't buy you your own member of Congress. We must ban anonymous political influence, slam shut the lobbyists' revolving door in D.C., and publicly finance elections. Immigrants who want to join in our democracy deserve a clear path to citizenship. We must stop giving corporations the rights of people when it comes to our elections. And we must ensure our judiciary's respect for the Constitution. Together, we will reclaim our democracy to get our country back on track.

Powered by Democracy For America
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Join the movement and Stand Up for Democracy in the USA



Scotty -

Last night, Van Jones kicked off our Don't Kill the Dream campaign with over 15,000 DFA members listening in across the country.

Democracy for America is joining the American Dream movement and taking the fight to Republicans across the country -- at town halls, at their district offices, everywhere -- and it starts right now with you signing onto the Contract for the American Dream.

Join the movement -- Sign the Contract for the American Dream right now.

What is the Contract for the American Dream? It's the promise that we make to one another that all Americans -- rich, poor, or in-between, regardless of skin color or birthplace, no matter their sexual orientation or gender -- have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

The contract was created by over 120,000 grassroots progressives working together at house parties nationwide last month and it includes ten featured goals to rebuild America: 

  • Invest in America's Infrastructure
  • Create 21st Century Energy Jobs
  • Invest in Public Education
  • Offer Medicare for All
  • Make Work Pay
  • Secure Social Security
  • Return to Fairer Tax Rates
  • End the Wars and Invest at Home
  • Tax Wall Street Speculation
  • Strengthen Democracy

Read more about the Contract and sign on now.

Together, we can stop Republicans from killing the American Dream and build a future based on liberty and justice for all.

Thank you for everything you do.

-Levana

Levana Layendecker, Communications 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=1218.1758181.3kvJE-&t=3 and not authorized by any candidate. Contributions to Democracy for America are not deductible for federal income tax purposes.



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5 ways to up your activism to end Big Oil giveaways

  • Much has changed in the Gulf, but one thing remains the same -- each year, oil and gas companies still receive more than $10 billion in federal tax breaks and incentives.

On Fri, Aug 19, 2011 at 2:38 PM, Becca Connors, Friends of the Earth <foe@foe.org> wrote:

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Earth Budget

Dear Scotts,

End Big Oil giveaways now.
Click here to download the action toolkit: 5 ways you can help put an end to oil and gas subsidies.

One year after the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, dead dolphins and sick fish are still washing up in high numbers. Much has changed in the Gulf, but one thing remains the same -- each year, oil and gas companies still receive more than $10 billion in federal tax breaks and incentives.

With the budget crunch on the minds of just about every member of Congress, the time is ripe to finally make progress toward ending these obscene handouts. We've put together a simple action toolkit to help you make an impact.

Click here to download the action toolkit: 5 ways you can help put an end to oil and gas subsidies.

Congress is in recess now -- which means your representatives and senators should be home meeting with you -- their constituents.

Attending town hall meetings and other public events with members of Congress is one of the best ways to make your voice heard, and the action kit includes tips for getting out in the field and organizing with your friends.

Check out our toolkit for sample talking points and tips on how to:

  • Speak up at town hall meetings. These public events allow you to ask tough questions in front of a wider audience and the media.
  • Organize an in-district meeting. A private meeting gives you the chance to present your views in a direct, face-to-face conversation with your congressperson.
  • Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper. This can be a powerful tool to have your voice heard by your community and by elected officials who often read local papers to gauge public opinion on key issues.

Click here to download the action toolkit: 5 ways you can help put an end to oil and gas subsidies.

Compared to signing a petition, it takes some extra time and effort to organize a group of friends to attend a town hall meeting. And a little extra courage to raise your voice and ask a question.

But there are few better ways to get our concerns heard by the people who represent us -- and, ultimately, to move protecting the environment up the priority list in Congress.

Together, we can hold our elected officials accountable -- and have some fun in the process.

Let's get out there and make a difference!

Becca and the rest of the Earth Budget team

Friends of the Earth
1100 15th Street, NW
11th Floor
Washington, DC 20005
(202) 783-7400

Friends of the Earth
311 California Street
Suite 510
San Francisco, CA 94104
(415) 544-0790


Friends of the Earth is fighting to defend the environment and create a more healthy and just world.  

Our current campaigns focus on promoting clean energy and solutions to climate change,
keeping toxic and risky technologies out of the food we eat and products we use,
and protecting marine ecosystems and the people who live and work near them.


To support this work, you can become a Friend of the Earth.

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