The Time is Now

Vote on PBS Online Poll- Is Sarah Palin is qualified?

Alan in Elgin, IL — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 12:03:19 EDT

PBS has an online poll posted asking if Sarah Palin is qualified. Apparently the right wing knew about this in advance and are flooding the voting with YES votes.

The poll will be reported on PBS and picked up by mainstream media.
It can influence undecided voters in swing states.

Please do two things -- takes 20 seconds.

1) Click on link and vote yourself.

Here's the link:
http://www.pbs.org/now/polls/poll-435.html

2) Then send this to every single Obama-Biden voter you know, and urge them to vote and pass it on.

The last thing we need is PBS saying their viewers think Sarah Palin is qualified.

Top 10 Tax Sweeteners in the Bailout Bill

Alan in Elgin, IL — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 21:00:25 EDT

Top 10 Tax Sweeteners in the Bailout Bill
Categories: Federal Budget, Headlines By TCS
Tags: bailout, budget
Pub Date: Oct 03, 2008

Update:
The House has just passed the final version of the 2008 Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, without making any changes to the version received from the Senate. The final vote was 263-171. To see how your Representative voted, click here.

Note:

In the analysis below we identified where we could specific champions of each provision. One thing that we did not explain very well is that many of the provisions are “extenders.” Meaning that what this legislation does in many cases is simply extend existing law that was set to expire at the end of this year, and in some cases it reinstates existing legislation that expired earlier in the year. So we couldn’t necessarily go back in history to identify who originally promoted some of the provisions. Many of these provisions had already been voted on and passed earlier this year, but had not been voted on in the House. So the Senate simply stuck them on to the underlying legislation. This is also true for other things tacked onto the bill, such as the Alternative Minimum Tax patch.

The following are some of the top tax sweeteners in the Senate passed Bailout Bill. Not all the provisions are per se outrageous, but collectively are intended to help Congressional leadership get final passage of the 2008 Emergency Economic Stabilization Act.

Sec. 503. Exemption from excise tax for certain wooden arrows designed for use by children

Current law places an excise tax of 39 cents on the first sale by the manufacturer, producer, or importer of any shaft of a type used to produce certain types of arrows. This proposal would exempt from the excise tax any shaft consisting of all natural wood with no laminations or artificial means to enhance the spine of the shaft used in the manufacture of an arrow that measures 5/16 of an inch or less and is unsuited for use with a bow with a peak draw weight of 30 pounds or more. The proposal is effective for shafts first sold after the date of enactment. The estimated cost of the proposal is $2 million over ten years, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation.

The Oregon senators were the initial sponsors of the provisions. According to Bloomberg News, the provision would be worth $200,000 to Rose City Archery in Myrtle Point, Oregon.

Sec. 317. Seven-year cost recovery period for motorsports racing track facility

Track owners want to be able write-off the cost of their facilities on their taxes over seven years - a depreciation timetable many of them have used for decades. But the IRS has wanted to stretch it to at least 15 years and has raised questions whether the increasingly popular tracks really belong in the same tax category as amusement parks.

Auto track owners are simply trying to get out of paying more taxes - which they'd have to do if they deducted less every year. These owners have gotten plenty of tax breaks over the years from states and localities eager to get speedways. The provision would be extended 2 years till the end of 2009 and would cost $100 million. The provision encompasses all facilities including grandstands, parking lots and concession stands.

Sec. 308. Increase in limit on cover over of rum excise tax to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands

Extends until December 31, 2009 a rebate against excise taxes charged on rum imported from Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. A $13.50 per proof gallon excise tax is applied to distilled spirits imported to the U.S. Under this provision a $13.25 rebate is returned to PR and the VI, and is retroactive back to January 1, 2008. Permanent law sets the rebate at $10.50 per proof gallon, but the PR and VI provisions have generally been in place since the first Clinton Administration. The most recent extension of the $13.50 rebate expired January 1, 2008. Cost is $192 million.

Sec. 301. Extension and modification of research credit

The legislation reestablishes and extends the lucrative tax credit for companies doing research and experimentation in the United States. Companies that have benefited from this provision include Microsoft Corp., Boeing Co., United Technologies Corp., Electronic Data Systems Corp. and Harley-Davidson. The two-year extension is estimated to cost $19 billion.

Sec. 504. Income averaging for amounts received in connection with the Exxon Valdez litigation

The bailout bill would give a tax break to Exxon Valdez plaintiffs, allowing them to average out their punitive damages awards over three years rather than suffer a one-time tax hit from the Internal Revenue Service, as well as other provisions. Rep. Don Young (R-AK) is a big supporter of this provision. Cost is estimated at $49 million.

Sec. 601. Secure rural schools and community self-determination program.

Secure Rural Schools lead sponsors Reps. DeFazio (D-OR), Bill Sali (R-ID); Sens. Wyden (D-OR), Larry Craig (R-ID), are major boosters of this program that expired in 2006. In 1908 the federal government agreed to share logging revenue from Forest Service land with neighboring communities that could not tax the land because it was federal. As logging declined in the 1990s, the "county payments" program was initiated in 2000 to directly provide federal funding, more than half going to Oregon, to deal with the loss of revenue. The original version of this provision was introduced as a bill in early 2007 and was estimated to cost $2.2 billion when the OR and ID delegations came to agreement. To give the package more heft, Payment In Lieu of Taxes (PILT) was added to the package, bringing the total cost to $3.3 billion. PILT provides more general funding to counties for federal lands located within their borders. Sen. Reid (D-NV) talked about the PILT program being one of the important elements of the package when the Senate passed the bailout bill.

Sec. 201. Deduction for state and local sales taxes

Allows residents of states that don’t pay income tax to deduct, from their federal taxes, sales tax paid over the course of the year. States that benefit include Texas, Nevada, Florida, Washington and Wyoming. The bailout bill extends this provision for 2 years at a cost of $3.3 billion.

Sec 502. Provisions related to film and television productions

In an effort to keep film and television productions in the U.S, they would be eligible for a tax incentive program. Under this program, the cost of production of qualifying films would be permitted to be immediately expensed -- that is, fully deducted from income for tax purposes -- in the year the expenditures occur. This provision also makes permanent other favorable tax treatments for production. Historically Rep. Diane Watson (D-CA) has been a supporter (dating from its creation in the 2004 corporate tax bill). The cost is estimated at $478 million over 10 years.

Sec. 325. Extension and modification of duty suspension on wool products; wool research fund; wool duty refunds

The tariff relief (duty savings) is intended to benefit U.S. worsted wool fabric producers that use imported fibers and yarns as inputs, as well as U.S. tailored clothing manufacturers that use imported fabrics as inputs. This provision was originally introduced as a bill in December 2007 by Reps. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) and Melissa Bean (D-IL). It extends current law provisions until 12/31/14, and in some cases to12/31/15. The 2010 to 2015 cost is estimated to be $148 million.

Sec. 309. Extension of economic development credit for American Samoa

This extends by two years a previously approved tax credit, the American Samoa economic development credit. In general, this credit allows certain corporations operating in American Samoa a tax credit. The possessions tax credit allows these corporations to offset a portion of their U.S. tax liability on income earned in American Samoa from active business operations, sales of assets used in a business, or certain investments in American Samoa. The cost is $33 million, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation.

Other Examples:

Here are some other interesting provisions

Sec. 201. Inclusion of cellulosic biofuel in bonus depreciation for biomass ethanol plant property

Current law allows taxpayers to write-off 50% of the cost of any facility placed in service before January 1, 2013 that produces cellulosic ethanol. This provision expands the types of facilities that may be written-off to include production of other cellulosic biofuels in addition to cellulosic ethanol.

Sec. 211. Transportation fringe benefit to bicycle commuters

Allows employers to provide a benefit to employees for costs associated with bicycle commuting, including purchase and repair of a bicycle, bicycle improvements, and bicycle storage. This provision was proposed in 2007 in the Senate by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and in the House by Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR). This provision is estimated to cost $10 million.

Sec. 323. Enhanced charitable deductions for contributions of food inventory

Extends by two years, until December 31, 2009, a provision allowing for deductions related to the charitable donation of “apparently wholesome food”—defined as food intended for human consumption that meets all quality and labeling standards imposed by law and regulations even though the food may not be readily marketable. This provision also changes the application of the law as it relates to donations by farmers and ranchers. The cost is $149 million, according to Joint Committee on Taxation.

Sec. 324. Extension of enhanced charitable deduction for contributions of bookinventory

Extends by two years, until December 31, 2009, a tax benefit for the contribution of books to public schools. The provision is worth $49 million.

Sec. 602. Transfer to abandoned mine reclamation fund

Transfers interest earned on money in the abandoned mine reclamation fund to the United Mine Workers of America Combined Benefit Fund, which helps pay health benefits for retired miners and their dependents who worked under collective bargaining agreements that promised lifetime health-care benefits. States with the most miners receiving benefits have historically been Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Kentucky, Virginia, and Ohio. This provision extends existing law to include a $9 million transfer for 2010.

Mortgage Guarantees vs Wall Street Bailout

Alan in Elgin, IL — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 11:34:53 EDT

The root cause of this financial crisis is adjustable rate and interest only mortgages that were available to consumers for zero money down. These mortgages have a fixed rate for the first few years and then the rate is adjustable. The assumption was that house prices would continue to rise and when the adjustable rate kicked in the homeowner would simply refinance their house. With falling house prices it has become impossible to refinance because the value of the house is now less than the amount owed to the mortgage provider. Banks will only loan issue a new mortgage for the current assessed value of the home, so home owners are stuck paying as much as 15% interest rates on their existing loans because they cannot refinance.

The solution is to put the banks in a position where they are willing to refinance existing mortgages. My proposal is that the bank servicing the current loan be required to offer the any homeowner with a adjustable rate mortgage the option of converting that mortgage into a 30 year fixed rate mortgage at the current rate offered to new customers (i.e. 6.5% vs 15%). This conversion must be offered without any preconditions (such as credit score or home valuation) and at no cost to the customer. Also no additional money can be added to the new mortgage, it is a straight conversion of the existing loan. In exchange the government would guarantee the new loan for 20% of the loan amount.

If the homeowner subsequently defaults on the new mortgage, then the bank will receive the value of the property plus the loan guarantee, but only up to the point where the loan is paid off. Neither the bank nor the homeowner can profit from this government money.

With a loan guarantee, banks will be willing to refinance existing mortgages and the adjustable rate mortgages that have a high risk of default will be flushed from the financial system. Homeowners will not be forced into defaulting on their current mortgage because they have no way to refinance.

As adjustable rate mortgages are replaced by fixed rate 30-year mortgages, the derivatives based on these mortgages will acquire a lower risk (become less “toxic”) and they will also become easier to value. The return on these derivatives will also fall, but those returns were unrealistic anyway, because they were based on the premise that homeowners would be willing to pay 15% on their mortgage for a home that was falling in value.

The current bailout plan has taxpayers buying the high-risk derivatives directly from the banks to improve their bottom line, but it does nothing to improve the chances that the underlying mortgages will be paid or reduce the rates of mortgage defaults. It provides no incentive to the banks to hold the loans or to stop their predatory lending practices in the future. The bailout is much more expensive than addressing the root cause of the problem and unlikely to succeed.

My plan is not a bailout for anybody! Homeowners pay off their existing loans and stay in their houses. The return on mortgage derivatives falls, but so does the risk, so the value will be more predictable and the market will be more willing to buy and sell these financial instruments again.

Alan Jenks

Help expose dirty tricks this election season

Alan in Elgin, IL — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 12:48:37 EDT

Could a dirty trick played online affect this year's election results?

As more and more people turn to the web for voting and election information, there is a real danger that so-called "deceptive practices" that we've seen offline will move online this year.

Help Common Cause track and expose online deceptive practices!

In past election cycles, we've seen misleading flyers that tell people that Republicans should show up to vote on Tuesday and Democrats should show up on Wednesday. Or that say if you've ever gotten a traffic ticket, you're not eligible to vote. (See real-life examples here.)

We've already seen how misinformation spread over the Internet can have an impact on the political campaign: the emails falsely claiming Obama is a Muslim; fake Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson and Rudy Giuliani websites with misleading statements; a website offering to register people to vote for $9.95, a process that is free; and the head of the NAACP having to release a statement that an email listing "10 Reasons Not to Vote for Hillary Clinton" supposedly authored by him was a hoax.

Will we see similar online misinformation campaigns regarding how to vote, who can vote, where to vote, and when to vote?

Think about how fast rumors and misinformation can circulate on the Internet. We can't afford to have this year's election called into question because of online dirty tricks.

If you see a website or receive an email with questionable voting information between now and Election Day, please let us know about it.

We're on the lookout for:
* Emails that appear to be from the Secretary of State or other election official, advocacy organizations, or some other supposed authority that contains false information about the voting process.
* Spoofed election administrator, government or advocacy organization websites with misinformation on the voting process.
* False information about how, when or where to vote spread through social networking sites like Facebook.

We're not looking for:
* Emails containing false information about a candidate, his/her record, or his/her policies.

Please let us know about any online deceptive practices that you see by going to
www.commoncause.org/DeceptivePractices or forwarding suspect email messages to
DeceptivePractices2008@gmail.com. And please share this message with your friends.

Thanks for all you do,

Susannah Goodman
and the rest of the team at Common Cause

Common Cause is a national nonpartisan organization with chapters in 38 states. Our mailing address is 1133 19th Street NW, 9th Floor, Washington, DC 20036. Our phone number is (202) 833-1200.

Congratulations, Corporate Crime Fighters! Coup Averted for Three Days! ...from Michael Moore

Alan in Elgin, IL — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 12:45:16 EDT

Friends,

Everyone said the bill would pass. The masters of the universe were already making celebratory dinner reservations at Manhattan's finest restaurants. Personal shoppers in Dallas and Atlanta were dispatched to do the early Christmas gifting. Mad Men of Chicago and Miami were popping corks and toasting each other long before the morning latte run.

But what they didn't know was that hundreds of thousands of Americans woke up yesterday morning and decided it was time for revolt. The politicians never saw it coming. Millions of phone calls and emails hit Congress so hard it was as if Marshall Dillon, Elliot Ness and Dog the Bounty Hunter had descended on D.C. to stop the looting and arrest the thieves.

The Corporate Crime of the Century was halted by a vote of 228 to 205. It was rare and historic; no one could remember a time when a bill supported by the president and the leadership of both parties went down in defeat. That just never happens.

A lot of people are wondering why the right wing of the Republican Party joined with the left wing of the Democratic Party in voting down the thievery. Forty percent of Democrats and two-thirds of Republicans voted against the bill.

Here's what happened:

The presidential race may still be close in the polls, but the Congressional races are pointing toward a landslide for the Democrats. Few dispute the prediction that the Republicans are in for a whoopin' on November 4th. Up to 30 Republican House seats could be lost in what would be a stunning repudiation of their agenda.

The Republican reps are so scared of losing their seats, when this "financial crisis" reared its head two weeks ago, they realized they had just been handed their one and only chance to separate themselves from Bush before the election, while doing something that would make them look like they were on the side of "the people."

Watching C-Span yesterday morning was one of the best comedy shows I'd seen in ages. There they were, one Republican after another who had backed the war and sunk the country into record debt, who had voted to kill every regulation that would have kept Wall Street in check -- there they were, now crying foul and standing up for the little guy! One after another, they stood at the microphone on the House floor and threw Bush under the bus, under the train (even though they had voted to kill off our nation's trains, too), heck, they would've thrown him under the rising waters of the Lower Ninth Ward if they could've conjured up another hurricane. You know how your dog acts when sprayed by a skunk? He howls and runs around trying to shake it off, rubbing and rolling himself on every piece of your carpet, trying to get rid of the stench. That's what it looked like on the Republican side of the aisle yesterday, and it was a sight to behold.

The 95 brave Dems who broke with Barney Frank and Chris Dodd were the real heroes, just like those few who stood up and voted against the war in October of 2002. Watch the remarks from yesterday of Reps. Marcy Kaptur, Sheila Jackson Lee, and Dennis Kucinich. They spoke the truth.

The Dems who voted for the giveaway did so mostly because they were scared by the threats of Wall Street, that if the rich didn't get their handout, the market would go nuts and then it's bye-bye stock-based pension and retirement funds.

And guess what? That's exactly what Wall Street did! The largest, single-day drop in the Dow in the history of the New York Stock exchange. The news anchors last night screamed it out: Americans just lost 1.2 trillion dollars in the stock market!! It's a financial Pearl Harbor! The sky is falling! Bird flu! Killer Bees!

Of course, sane people know that nobody "lost" anything yesterday, that stocks go up and down and this too shall pass because the rich will now buy low, hold, then sell off, then buy low again.

But for now, Wall Street and its propaganda arm (the networks and media it owns) will continue to try and scare the bejesus out of you. It will be harder to get a loan. Some people will lose their jobs. A weak nation of wimps won't last long under this torture. Or will we? Is this our line in the sand?

Here's my guess: The Democratic leadership in the House secretly hoped all along that this lousy bill would go down. With Bush's proposals shredded, the Dems knew they could then write their own bill that favors the average American, not the upper 10% who were hoping for another kegger of gold.

So the ball is in the Democrats' hands. The gun from Wall Street remains at their head. Before they make their next move, let me tell you what the media kept silent about while this bill was being debated:

1. The bailout bill had NO enforcement provisions for the so-called oversight group that was going to monitor Wall Street's spending of the $700 billion;

2. It had NO penalties, fines or imprisonment for any executive who might steal any of the people's money;

3. It did NOTHING to force banks and lenders to rewrite people's mortgages to avoid foreclosures -- this bill would not have stopped ONE foreclosure!;

4. It had NO teeth anywhere in the entire piece of legislation, using words like "suggested" when referring to the government being paid back for the bailout;

5. Over 200 economists wrote to Congress and said this bill might actually WORSEN the "financial crisis" and cause even MORE of a meltdown.

Put a fork in this slab of pork. It's over. Now it is time for our side to state very clearly the laws WE want passed. I will send you my proposals later today. We've bought ourselves less than 72 hours.

Yours,
Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
MichaelMoore.com

Sarah Palin Interview With Katie Couric - full video

Alan in Elgin, IL — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 11:23:24 EDT

Sarah Palin Interview With Katie Couric

Click Here!

With all the McCain hoopla over the last two days, you may have missed the Sarah Palin interview with Katie Couric...I know I did. But, this is the woman that could literally be a heartbeat away from the presidency. You need to see this. Much of this interview is quite unbelievable. You can watch the first two clips and see the full Palin interview, or see additional clips of her answers to specific questions. And, just because we can all use a good laugh...If nothing else, check out the last video clip, it's really funny.

MySpace Launches MyDebates.org

Alan in Elgin, IL — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 13:35:09 EDT

MySpace and the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) have launched MyDebates.org, a new Web site focused on the upcoming Presidential debates.

Citizens can submit questions to MyDebates.org for possible inclusion in the town meeting debate.

Visitors to MyDebates.org will be able to participate in an "Issues Quiz" that will determine their views on 14 issues, including the economy, national security, the environment, same-sex marriage, education and healthcare. After taking the quiz users can compare their stance on the issues with the candidates and view a state-by-state breakdown of how other Americans feel on the issues.

Users will have the option of downloading a personalized application that can be embedded on a blog, a social networking site like MySpace, or another Web site. The application will have a summary of the user's stance on the issues, on-demand playback feature and issue-based tracking, allowing users to follow a candidate's stance on the issues during the debate series.

MyDebates.org will also feature high-quality video streaming and as the candidates are speaking, an "issue icons" will light up as candidates mention specific topics. Videos of the debates will be housed on the site in their entirety. Videos will be bookmarked to allow users to go directly to the issues.

"The CPD believes that the Internet can be used to personalize the debates in a way that allows for in-depth examination by individual citizens and joint discussion with others," said Janet Brown, Executive Director of the Commission on Presidential Debates.

"Our partnership with MySpace is an important step forward into integrating new media into the debate series."

The first presidential debate will take place on Friday, September 26 and will be followed by a vice presidential debate on Thursday, October 2. The second presidential debate will take place on Tuesday, October 7 and the final debate will be on Wednesday, October 15.

How 'Bout a Free Movie? ...from Michael Moore

Alan in Elgin, IL — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 12:44:21 EDT

Friends,

As you may have heard, I've decided to make my new film, "Slacker Uprising," available for free to everyone in the United States and Canada. It is the first time ever that a major feature-length film is debuting as a free download on the internet -- legally. I am doing this for two reasons:

1. Next year it will be 20 years since my first film, "Roger & Me," so I'd like to give those of you who've supported my work over the years a thank you gift in the form of a brand new movie; and

2. I hope the release and wide distribution of this new movie will help to bring out millions of young and new voters on November 4th.

"Slacker Uprising" takes place in the wake of "Fahrenheit 9/11," during the run-up to the 2004 election, as I traveled for 42 days across America, visiting 62 cities in a failed attempt to remove George W. Bush from office. My goal was to help turn out a record number of young voters and others who had never voted before. (That part was a success. Young adults voted in greater numbers than in any election since 18-year-olds were given the right to vote. And the youth vote was the only age group that John Kerry won.)

What I encountered during the tour and the filming was both inspiring and frightening, so I thought, hey, this might make for a funny and enlightening movie! Each night, thousands would show up to volunteer in the Slacker Army against Bush. This drove local Republicans nuts. In one state they tried to have me arrested. At two colleges, rich donors offered to donate more money to the college if they would ban me from campus. Nearly a half-dozen universities kept the Slacker Uprising tour off their campuses. But there was no stopping this movement. By the time we got to Florida, 16,000 people a night were showing up.

It was clear that young people were the ones who were going to save the day -- just as they are in this year's election.

On Tuesday, September 23rd, you will be able to stream, download, or burn a DVD of "Slacker Uprising," free of charge. The distribution is being organized by Robert Greenwald's Brave New Films (they're the great people behind "OUTFOXED: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism" and "WAL-MART: The High Cost of Low Price").

To sign up for the download of "Slacker Uprising," click here. You have my blanket permission to share the movie with your friends, to set up screenings in your communities or theaters, to show it on your campuses -- all at no charge. I encourage you to rally voters with it, to raise funds for your favorite candidates, to air it on your local cable access channels or web broadcasts. You can also click here to request a free DVD of "Slacker Uprising" for your school or university library.

As I said, this is a movie for you, my fans -- a little 97-minute digital treat that I think you'll really enjoy. I hope you'll check out SlackerUprising.com and download it a week from today, next Tuesday, September 23rd.

Thanks again for coming to my movies all these years. It's meant a lot to me. I feel very privileged and blessed, and I am honored to be in this "virtual" community with you as we try to reclaim our beloved country.

Yours,

Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
MichaelMoore.com

P.S. The world premiere of "Slacker Uprising" will take place in one of the great slacker capitals of this country, Ann Arbor, Michigan, this Thursday at 5pm at the historic Michigan Theater. Admission is free on a first-come, first-served basis. If you're in the neighborhood, hope to see you there!

P.P.S. If you live outside the U.S. and Canada, I'm sorry that I don't own the rights to make this film available to you for free. But it will be coming to a theater, video store or television network near you soon.

P.P.P.S. If you are not part of the "downloadable" generation, I am making a low-cost DVD of "Slacker Uprising" available at Amazon, Netflix and your local stores in October.

Join Mike's Mailing List | Join Mike's Facebook Group | Become Mike's MySpace Friend

Will you get an Obama Tax Cut?

Alan in Elgin, IL — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 15:07:48 EDT

Barack Obama promises to cut taxes for 95% of Americans, but 53% of Americans actually think Obama will raise their taxes.

This site uses data from the non-partisan Tax Policy Center to determine whether or not you will receive an Obama Tax Cut.

http://alchemytoday.com/obamataxcut/

Spread the word!

John McCain's Record on the Environment

Alan in Elgin, IL — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 14:22:14 EDT

No doubt you have heard John McCain tout his record on the environment.

What you won't hear him say is that he has voted against increasing fuel efficiency standards and renewable energy, and supported billions in subsidies for Big Oil and other polluters.

This is why LCV has worked with our friends at Brave New Films to create a video exposing the reality behind McCain's rhetoric.

Click here to watch a short video, then spread the word!

Here at LCV, we are committed to educating the media and the public about John McCain's true record on the environment. The truth is, John McCain's energy plan is nothing short of a continuation of the Bush-Cheney dirty energy plan.

This plan would lead us down the same path paved by Big Oil and Dirty Coal which has gotten us into this energy crisis to begin with.

Watch this revealing video about John McCain's record, then pass it on.

We all need to do our part to educate the public and the media on the real McCain record. After you watch the video, share it with everyone you know. And call Senator McCain at 202-224-3121 to tell him to stop siding with Big Oil and support clean energy in the upcoming vote. Thank you for all you do for the environment.

Sincerely,

Gene Karpinski
League of Conservation Voters

Funding for Public Transportation

Alan in Elgin, IL — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 14:17:48 EDT

It's pretty absurd that in a time when gas prices are soaring higher and higher, funding for public transportation is steadily being cut back.

Tell the Senate to pass funding measures for alternative transportation!

In June, the House passed H.R. 6052, the "Saving Energy Through Public Transportation Act," by a vote of 322 to 98. This bill would authorize emergency grants to mass transit authorities to expand services.

Now, the Senate needs to pass a comparable measure.

McCain Seen as Less Likely to Bring Change, Poll Finds

Alan in Elgin, IL — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 14:06:14 EDT

McCain Seen as Less Likely to Bring Change, Poll Finds
By ROBIN TONER and ADAM NAGOURNEY
Senator John McCain is widely viewed as a “typical Republican” who would continue or expand President Bush’s policies.

McCain ad misrepresents Obama's tax plan. Again.

Alan in Elgin, IL — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 14:03:16 EDT

There He Goes Again
September 18, 2008
McCain ad misrepresents Obama's tax plan. Again.

Summary
The McCain-Palin campaign has released a new ad that once again distorts Obama's tax plans.

The ad claims Obama will raise taxes on electricity. He hasn't proposed any such tax. Obama does support a cap-and-trade policy that would raise the costs of electricity, but so does McCain.

It falsely claims he would tax home heating oil. Actually, Obama proposed a rebate of up to $1,000 per family to defray increased heating oil costs, funded by what he calls a windfall profits tax on oil companies.

The ad claims that Obama will tax "life savings." In fact, he would increase capital gains and dividends taxes only for couples earning more than $250,000 per year, or singles making $200,000. For the rest, taxes on investments would remain unchanged.

The McCain campaign argues in its documentation for this ad that, whatever Obama says he would do, he will eventually be forced to break his promise and raise taxes more broadly to pay for his promised spending programs. That's an opinion they are certainly entitled to express, and to argue for. But their ad doesn't do that. Instead, it simply presents the McCain camp's opinion as a fact, and it fails to alert viewers that its claims are based on what the campaign thinks might happen in the future.

Note: This is a summary only. The full article with analysis, images and citations may be viewed on our Web site:

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Obama's going to need some help - Al Gore

Alan in Elgin, IL — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 13:49:11 EDT

Dear MoveOn member,

Elections matter. We have a lot of work to do to get our country back on track. I'm personally focused on what I think is the greatest threat and greatest opportunity—averting the climate crisis and "repowering America" using clean, cheap energy sources. That's why I'm supporting Barack Obama. He's the sort of transformational leader who could move us through such deep, structural change.

But trust me, Barack can only succeed if we also elect more champions in the Senate to stand up to the incredibly powerful oil lobby.

Those leaders are emerging—and three of them are in close Senate races. Kay Hagan in North Carolina, Mark Udall in Colorado, and Al Franken in Minnesota are all real, clean-energy heroes who need our help to win. And they're fighting against Republicans who have taken hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions from the oil industry.

Can you help elect three champions of clean energy to the Senate? You can donate by clicking here:

https://pol.moveon.org/give/energy.html?id=13906-3871490-Hk6Ukfx&t=3

At the convention, I said that the oil industry has a 50-year lease on the Republican Party. And they're drilling it for everything it's worth. Unfortunately, this is no joke. It's the sad truth. Look at what's going on in Congress right now. We're in an energy crisis, and the burgeoning solar and wind power business is on the edge of shutting down—because Republicans are blocking the tax incentives they count on. Yet they'll fight to the death for huge oil industry subsidies.

This election offers us our best chance ever to elect leaders who will switch our economy to home-grown, renewable, zero-carbon energy—and restore our economic health, our national security, and stabilize our climate.

Here's a little about these good folks:

Kay Hagan is a North Carolina state senator and a strong supporter of solar power. She pushed to require North Carolina utilities to adopt renewable energy.
Rep. Mark Udall of Colorado has one of the highest lifetime scores in Congress from the League of Conservation Voters. His opponent is a former congressman turned oil executive who makes oil deals in Iraq.
Al Franken is fighting for green jobs in his home state of Minnesota. He's proposing a national "Apollo project" to fuel the development of new technologies in clean and renewable energy.

You can read more by clicking below.

Will you join me in supporting three champions of clean energy? They really need our help. Just click here:

https://pol.moveon.org/give/energy.html?id=13906-3871490-Hk6Ukfx&t=4

And thanks so much for all you do,

Al Gore

Help Stop Another Alaska Road Boondongle

Alan in Elgin, IL — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 13:45:25 EDT

Last week, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee approved a bill that would remove Wilderness protection from some of the world's most important wetlands habitat in the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska.

The bill's chief aim is to build a very costly road in Alaska, linking the small communities of King Cove and Cold Bay. Like other earmarks that have provided millions of dollars to benefit relatively few Alaska citizens, the Izembek road is a pet project of Alaska's congressional delegation.

All that remains before this very dangerous bill becomes law are votes in the House and Senate. Unfortunately, rather than considering this bill on its own merits, it is possible that both chambers will try to bundle the Izembek road project with a large number of other public lands bills—including some important bills to protect Wilderness in California, Oregon, Michigan, New Mexico, and Colorado—for an up or down vote on the whole package.

We urgently need your help TODAY to make sure this does not happen! Please write your Senators and Representative to ask them to oppose the Izembek bill, and to keep it off any larger package of public lands bills.

Most gratefully,

Kathy Kilmer
The Wilderness Society

The Ugly New McCain

Alan in Elgin, IL — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 13:36:05 EDT

The Ugly New McCain
By Richard Cohen

McCain has turned ugly. His dishonesty would be unacceptable in any politician, but McCain has always set his own bar higher than most. He has contempt for most of his colleagues for that very reason: They lie. He tells the truth. He internalizes the code of the McCains -- his grandfather, his father: both admirals of the shining sea. He serves his country differently, that's all -- but just as honorably. No more, though.

McCain Able to Skirt Limits of Federal Financing

Alan in Elgin, IL — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 13:34:01 EDT

McCain Able to Skirt Limits of Federal Financing
By Matthew Mosk
With backing from the Republican National Committee, McCain has taken advantage of loopholes such as "hybrid" television advertisements and joint fundraising committees that may keep him close to financial parity with Obama.

McCain Embraces Regulation After Many Years of Opposition

Alan in Elgin, IL — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 13:28:23 EDT

McCain Embraces Regulation After Many Years of Opposition
By Michael D. Shear

A decade ago, Sen. John McCain embraced legislation to broadly deregulate the banking and insurance industries, helping to sweep aside a thicket of rules established over decades in favor of a less restricted financial marketplace that proponents said would result in greater economic growth.

Offshore Drilling - A Message from Barack Obama

Alan in Elgin, IL — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 16:58:17 EDT

senator_obama@obama.senate.gov
Wed 9/10/08 10:14 AM

Dear Alan:

Thank you for advising me of your opposition to oil and gas drilling in offshore lands of Alaska, Florida, and Virginia. I appreciate hearing from you, and share your concern for our country's sensitive marine areas.

Continued proposals to drill for oil is not the answer to solving our country’s energy problems. Our country needs a more balanced national energy policy that promotes conservation and the development of renewable energy sources. I support increasing the fuel efficiency standards for automobiles, promoting the use of biodiesel and ethanol fuels, and creating incentives for private companies to explore the possibilities of alternative forms of renewable energy. By relying more on energy conservation and shifting our country's goals toward exploring and expanding viable sources of renewable energy, we can develop a sound energy policy that also preserves our planet’s natural resources. Encroaching upon the vulnerable habitats of our coastline is not only bad environmental policy, it is short-sighted energy policy as well.

With regard to high oil prices, the Energy Information Administration reports that drilling in the Outer Continent Shelf in the Pacific, Atlantic and eastern Gulf regions in areas that are not open to drilling “would not have a significant impact on domestic crude oil and natural gas production or prices before 2030. Leasing would begin no sooner than 2012, and production would not be expected to start before 2017. Because oil prices are determined on the international market, however, any impact on average wellhead prices is expected to be insignificant.” To view the full report, you can visit:

http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/aeo/otheranalysis/ongr.html

In addition, a House and Senate Joint Economic Committee analysis found that drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuse could reduce fuel prices between 1 to 4 cents by 2018, an amount that could be reduced should the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) choose to limit oil production -- a strategy they have employed in the past. I have enclosed this study for your reference.

The solution to mitigating gas price shocks, therefore, is further distancing the nation from OPEC pricing and making a long-term transition to alternative energy sources and improved conservation or development of oil and natural gas substitutes. Without this approach, oil and gas drilling will only postpone what will be a major crisis -- far worse than current conditions.

In the short term, however, I have worked to address the unchecked speculation that is occurring in our energy markets and contributing to the fuel price volatility experienced by motorists. On June 12, 2008, I joined my colleague Senator Dick Durbin in introducing S. 3130, a bill to increase transparency in the oil futures markets by providing greater resources to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to detect and punish price manipulation and excessive speculation. This bill also moves the CFTC inspector general out of the CFTC Chairman’s office, and stops speculators from escaping U.S. regulations by manipulating the use of foreign markets.

You may also be interested to know that I introduced the Oil Subsidy Elimination for New Strategies on Energy (Oil SENSE) Act last year to repeal more than $3.7 billion of unwarranted subsidies, programs, and tax incentives for oil and gas companies that were included in the 2005 Energy Policy Act. The Oil SENSE Act also requires oil and gas companies to resume payment of royalties for the production of oil or natural gas from Federal land, which could be worth more than $7 billion over the next 5 years. By removing unnecessary incentives that only encourage the expansion of offshore drilling, we can allot more resources to incentives that promote the development of renewable energy resources.

Finally, I also support the Consumer-First Energy Act of 2008, a proposal introduced in May by Senator Reid, as it addresses the root causes of high gas prices I discuss above.

Again, Alan, thank you for contacting me. You can rest assured that I will continue to be a strong voice for our environment while working with my colleagues to develop policies that will lead to true energy independence while ensuring environmental sustainability.

Sincerely,

Barack Obama
United States Senator

It's a Mess Out There!

Alan in Elgin, IL — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 14:19:14 EDT

Don't beleive the campaign lies!

Get the truth behind this week's spin at FactCheck.org

The truth will set us free!

Compare Obama and McCain Energy Plans

Alan in Elgin, IL — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 13:47:53 EDT

Congress this week took up legislation to decide America's energy future. The question in Washington is the same as it is in the presidential campaign - "drill baby drill" or a policy that promotes real solutions, a plan for a reasoned future that invests in clean energy and good jobs.

The Apollo Alliance is pushing back against drilling proposals that won't solve our energy crisis and promoting a much better one that will, our own The New Apollo Program. The New Apollo Program is a comprehensive national economic development strategy to scale up and accelerate development of the clean energy sector and create millions of green-collar jobs.

In pursuit of those goals, this week we published a careful analysis that compares the proposals in The New Apollo Program with those put forward in Barack Obama's New Energy For America Plan, and John McCain's The Lexington Project.

Help block dirty fuels in western wildlands

Alan in Elgin, IL — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 13:42:56 EDT

Despite a powerful citizen outcry, the Bush administration is
poised to sacrifice more than two million acres of wildlands in
Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah for the production of dirty fuels.

Please take action right now to block this attempt to turn vast
expanses of our natural heritage into industrial wastelands.

Go to http://www.savebiogems.org/yellowstone/takeaction
and tell the Bush administration to stop targeting our last
wildlands for destructive tar sands and oil shale development.

Tar sands production, which involves extracting heavy oil mixed
with sand and clay, generates three times the amount of global
warming pollution as conventional fuel production. Tar sands and
oil shale development are expected to leave behind giant toxic
waste sites, and could drive mountain lions, black bears, mule
deer and bald eagles from their habitat. These projects would
also use enormous amounts of clean water -- a precious resource
that is already scarce in the arid West -- and threaten air
quality and human health.

Go to http://www.savebiogems.org/yellowstone/takeaction
right away and tell the Bush administration to keep dirty fuel
production out of America's West and promote clean energy
instead.

Thank you for helping to protect our last western wildlands.

Sincerely,

Frances Beinecke
President
Natural Resources Defense Council

Off Base on Sex Ed

Alan in Elgin, IL — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 13:37:05 EDT

Off Base on Sex Ed
September 10, 2008

A McCain campaign ad claims Obama's "one accomplishment" was a bill to teach sex ed to kindergarten kids. Don't believe it, on several fronts.

Summary
A McCain-Palin campaign ad claims Obama's "one accomplishment" in the area of education was "legislation to teach 'comprehensive sex education' to kindergarteners." But the claim is simply false, and it dates back to Alan Keyes' failed race against Obama for an open Senate seat in 2004.

Obama, contrary to the ad's insinuation, does not support explicit sex education for kindergarteners. And the bill, which would have allowed only "age appropriate" material and a no-questions-asked opt-out policy for parents, was not his accomplishment to claim in any case, since he was not even a cosponsor – and the bill never left the state Senate.

In addition, the ad quotes unflattering assessments of the Illinois senator's record on education but leaves out sometimes equally harsh criticism directed at McCain in the same forums.

Note: This is a summary only. The full article with analysis, images and citations may be viewed on our Web site:

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Energetically Wrong

Alan in Elgin, IL — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 13:32:05 EDT

Energetically Wrong
September 12, 2008

Palin says Alaska supplies 20 percent of U.S. energy. Not true. Not even close.

Summary
Palin claims Alaska "produces nearly 20 percent of the U.S. domestic supply of energy." That's not true.

Alaska did produce 14 percent of all the oil from U.S. wells last year, but that's a far cry from all the "energy" produced in the U.S.

Alaska's share of domestic energy production was 3.5 percent, according to the official figures kept by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

And if by "supply" Palin meant all the energy consumed in the U.S., and not just produced here, then Alaska's production accounted for only 2.4 percent. Note: This is a summary only. The full article with analysis, images and citations may be viewed on our Web site:

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What does a lobbyist controlled McCain-Palin ticket mean for you?

Alan in Elgin, IL — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 13:23:37 EDT

It means lobbyists come first. On jobs, health care, energy, America’s standing in the world — lobbyists pay big bucks to make sure their special interests come first. And time and time again, McCain has given lobbyists what they paid for.

On Jobs

McCain’s top dog, campaign manager Rick Davis, helped pave the way for job losses in Ohio — putting the interests of his former lobbyist client, Airborne Express, above yours. Read More

On Energy

Senior Campaign Advisor Charlie Black lobbied for Big Oil for eight years. McCain’s tax plan would save Big Oil $4 billion. Lucky coincidence? Or planned convenience? Read More

On Health Care

Employed at the top of the McCain campaign are former lobbyists John Green and Wayne Blank who have put the interests of health insurance and pharmaceutical companies above yours. Read More

On America's Standing in the World

Senior Foreign Policy Advisor, Randy Scheunemann pocketed $2.6 million lobbying McCain on Soviet interests while on McCain’s staff. That’s not country first. Read More

http://www.johnmccainrecord.com/mclobbyist/

John McCain's ads are LIES

Alan in Elgin, IL — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 16:28:43 EDT

Here's the video proof.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IH0xzsogzAk

McCain-Palin Distorts Our Finding

Alan in Elgin, IL — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 16:24:02 EDT

McCain-Palin Distorts Our Finding
September 10, 2008

Those attacks on Palin that we debunked didn't come from Obama.

Summary
A McCain-Palin ad has FactCheck.org calling Obama's attacks on Palin "absolutely false" and "misleading." That's what we said, but it wasn't about Obama.

Our article criticized anonymous e-mail falsehoods and bogus claims about Palin posted around the Internet. We have no evidence that any of the claims we found to be false came from the Obama campaign.

The McCain-Palin ad also twists a quote from a Wall Street Journal columnist. He said the Obama camp had sent a team to Alaska to "dig into her record and background." The ad quotes the WSJ as saying the team was sent to "dig dirt."

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Belittling Palin?

Alan in Elgin, IL — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 16:20:11 EDT

Belittling Palin?
September 11, 2008

A McCain-Palin TV ad accuses Obama of being "disrespectful" of Palin, but it distorts quotes to make the case.

Summary
The McCain-Palin campaign has released a new TV ad that distorts quotes from the Obama campaign. It takes words out of context to make it sound as though the Democratic ticket is belittling Palin:

The ad says "they said she was doing 'what she was told.' " But the Obama adviser who's being quoted didn't accuse Palin of meekly following orders. What he actually said is that she made a false claim about Obama's legislative record and added, "maybe that's what she was told."
It says "they lashed out at Sarah Palin; dismissed her as 'good looking,' " But "they" didn't lash out at all. Obama – who is the one pictured – didn't say anything like that. The only one the McCain campaign quotes is Obama's running mate, Biden, and he actually offered the remark as a compliment. Biden said the "obvious" difference between Palin and himself is "she's good looking."
The ad says Obama was "disrespectful" when he accused Palin of "lying" about her record. But the truth is Palin's claim to have "said no" to the "bridge to nowhere" is indeed a dubious one, as we and many have pointed out.

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McCain Grilled On "The View": Sarah Palin, His Abortion Stance, His Obama Attack Ads, And More

Alan in Elgin, IL — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 16:15:18 EDT

The ladies of "The View" confronted John McCain today for lying in recent attack ads, pressed him on abortion and questioned his choice of Sarah Palin.

In arguably his toughest interview yet, co-host Joy Behar asked McCain, "There are ads running from your campaign... Now we know that those two ads are untrue, they are lies. And yet, you at the end of it say you approve these messages. Do you really approve these?"

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/12/mccain-grilled-on-the-vie_n_125972.html

Who is Sarah Palin?

Alan in Elgin, IL — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 15:53:10 EDT

Who is Sarah Palin? Here's some basic background:

She was elected Alaska's governor a little over a year and a half ago. Her previous office was mayor of Wasilla, a small town outside Anchorage. She has no foreign policy experience.1
Palin is strongly anti-choice, opposing abortion even in the case of rape or incest.2
She supported right-wing extremist Pat Buchanan for president in 2000. 3
Palin thinks creationism should be taught in public schools.4
She's doesn't think humans are the cause of climate change.5
She's solidly in line with John McCain's "Big Oil first" energy policy. She's pushed hard for more oil drilling and says renewables won't be ready for years. She also sued the Bush administration for listing polar bears as an endangered species—she was worried it would interfere with more oil drilling in Alaska.6
How closely did John McCain vet this choice? He met Sarah Palin once at a meeting. They spoke a second time, last Sunday, when he called her about being vice-president. Then he offered her the position.7

So Governor Palin is a staunch anti-choice religious conservative. She's a global warming denier who shares John McCain's commitment to Big Oil. And she's dramatically inexperienced.

In picking Sarah Palin, John McCain has made the religious right very happy. And he's made a very dangerous decision for our country.

This is information the American people need to see. Please take a moment to forward this email to your friends and family.

Thanks for all you do.

–Ilyse, Noah, Justin, Karin and the rest of the team at moveon.org

Sources:

1. "Sarah Palin," Wikipedia, Accessed August 29, 2008
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Palin

2. "McCain Selects Anti-Choice Sarah Palin as Running Mate," NARAL Pro-Choice America, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17515&id=13661-3871490-R.q1oXx&t=1

3. "Sarah Palin, Buchananite," The Nation, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17736&id=13661-3871490-R.q1oXx&t=2

4. "'Creation science' enters the race," Anchorage Daily News, October 27, 2006
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17737&id=13661-3871490-R.q1oXx&t=3

5. "Palin buys climate denial PR spin—ignores science," Huffington Post, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17517&id=13661-3871490-R.q1oXx&t=4

6. "McCain VP Pick Completes Shift to Bush Energy Policy," Sierra Club, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17518&id=13661-3871490-R.q1oXx&t=5

"Choice of Palin Promises Failed Energy Policies of the Past," League of Conservation Voters, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17519&id=13661-3871490-R.q1oXx&t=6

"Protecting polar bears gets in way of drilling for oil, says governor," The Times of London, May 23, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17520&id=13661-3871490-R.q1oXx&t=7

7 "McCain met Palin once before yesterday," MSNBC, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=21119&id=13661-3871490-R.q1oXx&t=8

Video: Sarah Palin's Shameful Record on Wolves

Alan in Elgin, IL — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 15:44:41 EDT

Despite strong scientific, ethical and public opposition to aerial hunting, Governor Palin has…

Proposed paying a $150 bounty for the left foreleg of each dead wolf.
Approved a $400,000 state-funded propaganda campaign to promote aerial hunting.
Introduced legislation to make it even easier to use aircraft to hunt wolves and bears.

If you care about wildlife, please watch this video right now -- and then share it with every friend, neighbor, conservationist and wildlife lover you know.

Healthy Energy Development: Protect Our Lands, Waters, and Public Health

Alan in Elgin, IL — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 14:56:31 EDT

As Congress returns to its few remaining weeks in session this year, the Senate is poised to hold an Energy Summit and the House appears ready to move forward on comprehensive energy legislation, which could include the repeal of billions in subsidies for oil and gas companies, opening some areas for offshore drilling, extending tax breaks for efficiency programs and wind and solar development; subsidies for mass transit, and curbs on oil speculation.

Whatever shape this legislation takes, it's essential that Congress ensure protection for our land, waters, and public health.

http://action.wilderness.org/campaign/healthy_energy/w66xsed4q36djj7?

Healthcare NOT Warfare

Alan in Elgin, IL — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 13:04:18 EDT

“nearly one in six Americans has no health insurance, and tens of millions of others are woefully under-insured--while the war in Iraq continues to further skew the U.S. government's budget priorities.” - Norman Solomon

The time has come to redirect unnecessary and wasteful military spending to meeting human needs.

http://pdamerica.org/articles/misc/2008-02-29-14-19-42-misc.php

1,000,000 Signatures for Impeachment

Alan in Elgin, IL — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 12:42:23 EDT

Send a history-making message to Congress:

1,000,000 signatures for impeachment.

On September 10, 2008, we want to deliver ONE MILLION signatures to
Congress urging them to exercise their Constitutional authority and mandate to
hold this President - and all future Presidents - accountable.

Please sign NOW! And ask everyone you know to sign.
The power to change the world is in your hands!

Go to http://www.kucinich.us/

Michael Moore's new film is online for free

Alan in Elgin, IL — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 12:26:00 EDT

Come watch the trailer for the new Michael Moore movie entitled "Slacker Uprising". You will be able to download the entire movie for free on September 23rd if you sign up!

http://slackeruprising.com

"This is being done entirely as a gift to my fans. The only return any of us are hoping for is the largest turnout of young voters ever at the polls in November." – Michael Moore

This election should be about the issues!

Alan in Elgin, IL — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 12:12:07 EST

Our next president could be the one who finally takes on global warming, and who leads America into a new energy future. In my opinion, energy and global warming are two of the most urgent problems our new president will face when he or she takes office exactly 360 days from now.

But I am astonished that, instead of the presidential candidates facing tough questions about their plans to solve these two problems on the campaign trail, something else is happening, something very frustrating to me.

Of the nearly 2,938 questions asked of the presidential candidates by the top five TV political reporters to date, only four mentioned global warming. Four! That's only one more than the number of questions asked about UFOs. Yes, you read correctly, Unidentified Flying Objects!

Watch a video to learn more and take action:
http://environmentillinois.org/action/what-are-they-waiting-for?id4=ES

Environment Illinois is asking you to join hundreds of thousands of others in asking America's leading reporters, "What on earth they are waiting for?" Help us stop the absurdity of the media ignoring the greatest environmental and economic challenge of our generation.

Please take a minute to check out this video that highlights some of the more absurd questions these reporters felt compelled to ask while ignoring global warming and critical clean energy solutions. Then sign our petition urging these reporters to get serious about addressing climate change and about putting America on a clean energy path.

America is at a critical crossroads and who our next president is and the decisions she or he makes will make all the difference in determining the health, safety and well-being of our country. What truly are these reporters waiting for?

Watch the video and sign our petition:
http://environmentillinois.org/action/what-are-they-waiting-for?id4=ES

And thank you for helping us shape media coverage about these critical issues.

And, after taking action, if you want to learn more about our clean energy campaign, go to www.environmentillinois.org.

Sincerely,

Rebecca D. Stanfield
Environment Illinois State Director
RebeccaS@environmentillinois.org
http://www.environmentillinois.org

Carbon Tax

Alan in Elgin, IL — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 14:10:47 EST

A carbon tax is a tax on the carbon content of fuels — effectively a tax on the carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels. Thus, carbon tax is shorthand for carbon dioxide tax or CO2 tax.

The carbon content of every form of fossil fuel, from anthracite to lignite coal, from residual oil to natural gas, is precisely known. So is the amount of CO2 released into the atmosphere when the fuel is burned. A carbon tax thus presents few if any problems of documentation or measurement. Administering a carbon tax should be simple; utilizing existing tax collection mechanisms, the tax would be paid far “upstream” (e.g., at the point where fuels are extracted from the Earth and put into the stream of commerce, or imported into the U.S.). Fuel suppliers and processors would pass along the cost of the tax to the extent that market conditions allow.

The rationale for a carbon tax is simple: the levels of CO2 already in the Earth’s atmosphere and being added daily are destabilizing established climate patterns and threatening the ecosystems on which we and other living beings depend. Very large and rapid reductions in the United States’ and other nations’ carbon emissions are essential to reverse runaway climate change and avert resulting severe weather events, inundation of coastal areas, spread of diseases, failure of agriculture and water supply, infrastructure destruction, forced migrations, political upheavals and international conflict.

Currently, the prices of gasoline, electricity and fuels in general include none of the costs associated with devastating climate change. This omission suppresses incentives to develop and deploy carbon-reducing measures such as energy efficiency (e.g., high-mileage cars and high-efficiency heaters and air conditioners), renewable energy (e.g., wind turbines, solar panels), low-carbon fuels (e.g., biofuels from high-cellulose plants), and conservation-based behavior such as bicycling, recycling and overall mindfulness toward energy consumption. Conversely, taxing fuels according to their carbon content will infuse these incentives at every chain of decision and action — from individuals’ choices and uses of vehicles, appliances, and housing, to businesses’ choices of new product design, capital investment and facilities location, and governments’ choices in regulatory policy, land use and taxation.

A carbon tax won’t stop global climate change by itself — other, synergistic actions are required as well. But without a carbon tax, even the most aggressive regulatory regime (e.g., high-mileage cars) and “enlightened” subsidies (e.g., tax credits for efficiency and renewables) will fall woefully short of the necessary reductions in carbon burning and emissions.

http://www.carbontax.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_tax

Why Ethanol Production Will Drive World Food Prices Even Higher in 2008

Alan in Elgin, IL — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 17:50:09 EST

Earth Policy Institute
Plan B Update
Embargoed for January 24, 2008, 11:00 AM EST

WHY ETHANOL PRODUCTION WILL DRIVE WORLD FOOD PRICES EVEN HIGHER IN 2008

http://www.earthpolicy.org/Updates/2008/Update69.htm

Lester R. Brown

We are witnessing the beginning of one of the great tragedies of history. The United States, in a misguided effort to reduce its oil insecurity by converting grain into fuel for cars, is generating global food insecurity on a scale never seen before.

The world is facing the most severe food price inflation in history as grain and soybean prices climb to all-time highs. Wheat trading on the Chicago Board of Trade on December 17th breached the $10 per bushel level for the first time ever. In mid-January, corn was trading over $5 per bushel, close to its historic high. And on January 11th, soybeans traded at $13.42 per bushel, the highest price ever recorded. All these prices are double those of a year or two ago.

As a result, prices of food products made directly from these commodities such as bread, pasta, and tortillas, and those made indirectly, such as pork, poultry, beef, milk, and eggs, are everywhere on the rise. In Mexico, corn meal prices are up 60 percent. In Pakistan, flour prices have doubled. China is facing rampant food price inflation, some of the worst in decades.

In industrial countries, the higher processing and marketing share of food costs has softened the blow, but even so, prices of food staples are climbing. By late 2007, the U.S. price of a loaf of whole wheat bread was 12 percent higher than a year earlier, milk was up 29 percent, and eggs were up 36 percent. In Italy, pasta prices were up 20 percent.

World grain prices have increased dramatically on three occasions since World War II, each time as a result of weather-reduced harvests. But now it is a matter of demand simply outpacing supply. In seven of the last eight years world grain production has fallen short of consumption. These annual shortfalls have been covered by drawing down grain stocks, but the carryover stocks -- the amount in the bin when the new harvest begins -- have now dropped to 54 days of world consumption, the lowest on record.(See data athttp://www.earthpolicy.org/Updates/2008/Update69_data.htm.)

From 1990 to 2005, world grain consumption, driven largely by population growth and rising consumption of grain-based animal products, climbed by an average of 21 million tons per year. Then came the explosion in demand for grain used in U.S. ethanol distilleries, which jumped from 54 million tons in 2006 to 81 million tons in 2007. This 27 million ton jump more than doubled the annual growth in world demand for grain. If 80 percent of the 62 distilleries now under construction are completed by late 2008, grain used to produce fuel for cars will climb to 114 million tons, or 28 percent of the projected 2008 U.S. grain harvest.

Historically the food and energy economies have been largely separate, but now with the construction of so many fuel ethanol distilleries, they are merging. If the food value of grain is less than its fuel value, the market will move the grain into the energy economy. Thus as the price of oil rises, the price of grain follows it upward.

A University of Illinois economics team calculates that with oil at $50 a barrel, it is profitable -- with the ethanol subsidy of 51¢ a gallon (equal to $1.43 per bushel of corn) -- to convert corn into ethanol as long as the price is below $4 a bushel. But with oil at $100 a barrel, distillers can pay more than $7 a bushel for corn and still break even. If oil climbs to $140, distillers can pay $10 a bushel for corn -- double the early 2008 price of $5 per bushel.

The World Bank reports that for each 1 percent rise in food prices, caloric intake among the poor drops 0.5 percent. Millions of those living on the lower rungs of the global economic ladder, people who are barely hanging on, will lose their grip and begin to fall off.

Projections by Professors C. Ford Runge and Benjamin Senauer of the University of Minnesota four years ago showed the number of hungry and malnourished people decreasing from over 800 million to 625 million by 2025. But in early 2007 their update of these projections, taking into account the biofuel effect on world food prices, showed the number of hungry people climbing to 1.2 billion by 2025. That climb is already under way.

Since the budgets of international food aid agencies are set well in advance, a rise in food prices shrinks food assistance. The U.N. World Food Programme (WFP), which is now supplying emergency food aid to 37 countries, is cutting shipments as prices soar. The WFP reports that 18,000 children are dying each day from hunger and related illnesses.

As grain prices climb, a politics of food scarcity is emerging as exporting countries restrict exports to limit the rise in domestic food prices. At the end of January, Russia -- one of the top five wheat exporters -- will impose a 40-percent export tax on wheat, effectively banning exports. Argentina, another leading wheat exporter, closed export registrations for wheat indefinitely in early December until it could assess the condition of the new crop. And Viet Nam, the number two rice exporter after Thailand, has banned rice exports for several months and will likely not lift this ban until the new crop comes to market.

Rising food prices are translating into social unrest. It began in early 2007 with tortilla demonstrations in Mexico. Then came pasta protests in Italy. More recently, rising bread prices in Pakistan have become a source of unrest. In Jakarta, 10,000 Indonesians gathered in front of the presidential palace on January 14th this year to protest the doubling of soybean prices that has raised the price of tempeh, the national soy-based protein staple. When a supermarket in Chongqing, China, where cooking oil prices have soared, offered this oil at a reduced price, the resulting stampede when doors opened killed three people and injured 31.

As economic stresses translate into political stresses, the number of failing states, such as Afghanistan, Somalia, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Haiti, which was already increasing before the rise in food prices began, could increase even faster.

There is much to be concerned about on the food front. We enter this new crop year with the lowest grain stocks on record, the highest grain prices ever, the prospect of a smaller U.S. grain harvest as several million acres of land that shifted from soybeans to corn last year go back to soybeans, the need to feed an additional 70 million people, and U.S. distillers wanting 33 million more tons of grain to supply the new ethanol distilleries coming online this year. Corn futures prices for December 2008 delivery are higher than those for March, suggesting that market analysts see even tighter supplies after the next harvest.

Whereas previous dramatic rises in world grain prices were weather-induced, this one is policy-induced and can be dealt with by policy adjustments. The crop fuels program that currently satisfies scarcely 3 percent of U.S. gasoline needs is simply not worth the human suffering and political chaos it is causing. If the entire U.S. grain harvest were converted into ethanol, it would satisfy scarcely 18 percent of our automotive fuel needs.

The irony is that U.S. taxpayers, by subsidizing the conversion of grain into ethanol, are in effect financing a rise in their own food prices. It is time to end the subsidy for converting food into fuel and to do it quickly before the deteriorating world food situation spirals out of control.

# # #

Lester R. Brown is President of the Earth Policy Institute and author of Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization.

For a more detailed discussion of this issue, see Chapter 2 in Plan B 3.0, available for free downloading at www.earthpolicy.org.

Data and additional resources at www.earthpolicy.org.

For information contact:

Media Contact:
Reah Janise Kauffman
Tel: (202) 496-9290 x 12
E-mail: rjk (at) earthpolicy.org

Research Contact:
Janet Larsen
Tel: (202) 496-9290 x 14
E-mail: jlarsen (at) earthpolicy.org

Earth Policy Institute
1350 Connecticut Ave. NW, Suite 403
Washington, DC 20036
Web: www.earthpolicy.org

The Story of Stuff

Alan in Elgin, IL — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 15:49:24 EST

Well worth 20 minutes of your time...

http://www.storyofstuff.com/index.html

Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization

Alan in Elgin, IL — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 13:36:18 EST

Earth Policy Institute
News Release
January 16, 2008

PLAN B 3.0: MOBILIZING TO SAVE CIVILIZATION

http://www.earth-policy.org/Books/PB3/index.htm

Lester R. Brown

“In late summer 2007, reports of ice melting were coming at a frenetic pace. Experts were ‘stunned’ when an area of Arctic sea ice almost twice the size of Britain disappeared in a single week,” writes Lester R. Brown in his new book, Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization (W.W. Norton & Company).

“Nearby, the Greenland ice sheet was melting so fast that huge chunks of ice weighing several billion tons were breaking off and sliding into the sea, triggering minor earthquakes,” notes Brown, President and Founder of the Earth Policy Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based independent environmental research organization.

These recent developments are alarming scientists. If we cannot stop this melting of the Greenland ice sheet, sea level will eventually rise 23 feet, inundating many of the world’s coastal cities and the rice-growing river deltas of Asia. It will force several hundred million people from their homes, generating an unimaginable flood of rising-sea refugees.

“We need not go beyond ice melting to see that civilization is in trouble. Business-as-usual is no longer a viable option. It is time for Plan B,” Brown says in Plan B 3.0, which was produced with major funding from the Farview, Lannan, Summit, and Wallace Genetic foundations, the U.N. Population Fund, Fred and Alice Stanback, and Andrew Stevenson.

“Plan B 3.0 is a comprehensive plan for reversing the trends that are fast undermining our future. Its four overriding goals are to stabilize climate, stabilize population, eradicate poverty, and restore the earth’s damaged ecosystems,” says Brown. “Failure to reach any one of these goals will likely mean failure to reach the others as well.”

Continuing rapid population growth is weakening governments in scores of countries. The annual addition of 70 million people to world population is concentrated in countries where water tables are falling and wells are going dry, forests are shrinking, soils are eroding, and grasslands are turning into desert. As this backlog of unresolved problems grows, stresses mount and weaker governments begin to break down.

The defining characteristic of a failing state is the inability of a government to provide security for its people. Somalia, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, and Pakistan are among the better known examples. Each year the number of failing states increases. “Failing states,” notes Brown, “are an early sign of a failing civilization.”

“Even as the accumulating backlog of unresolved problems is leading to a breakdown of governments in weaker states, new stresses are emerging. Among these are rising oil prices as the world approaches peak oil, rising food prices as an ever larger share of the U.S. grain harvest is converted into fuel for cars, and the spreading fallout from climate change.”

“At the heart of the climate-stabilizing initiative cited above is a detailed plan to cut carbon dioxide emissions 80 percent by 2020 in order to hold the future temperature rise to a minimum. This initiative has three major components -- raising energy efficiency, developing renewable sources of energy, and expanding the earth’s tree cover. Reaching these goals,” says Brown, “will mean the world can phase out all coal-fired power plants.”

In setting the carbon reduction goals for Plan B, we did not ask “What do politicians think is politically feasible?” but rather “What do we think is needed to prevent irreversible climate change?” This is not Plan A: business-as-usual. This is Plan B: an all-out response at wartime speed proportionate to the magnitude of the threats facing civilization.

“We are in a race between tipping points in natural and political systems,” says Brown. “Which will come first? Can we mobilize the political will to phase out coal-fired power plants before the melting of the Greenland ice sheet becomes irreversible? Can we halt deforestation in the Amazon basin before it so weakens the forest that it becomes vulnerable to fire and is destroyed? Can we cut carbon emissions fast enough to save the Himalayan glaciers that feed the major rivers of Asia?”

Although efforts have been made in recent decades to raise the efficiency of energy use, the potential is still largely untapped. For example, one easy and profitable way to cut carbon emissions worldwide is simply to replace incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs that use only a fourth as much electricity. Turning to more efficient lighting can reduce world electricity use by 12 percent -- enough to close 705 of the world’s 2,370 coal-fired power plants.

In the United States, buildings -- commercial and residential -- account for close to 40 percent of carbon emissions. Retrofitting an existing building typically can cut energy use by 20–50 percent. The next step, shifting to carbon-free electricity to heat, cool, and light the building completes the transformation to a zero-carbon emissions building.

We can also reduce carbon emissions by moving down the food chain. The energy used to provide the typical American diet and that used for personal transportation are roughly equal. A plant-based diet requires about one fourth as much energy as a diet rich in red meat. The reduction in carbon emissions in shifting from a red meat–rich diet to a plant-based diet is about the same as that in shifting from a Chevrolet Suburban SUV to a Toyota Prius hybrid car.

In the Plan B energy economy, wind is the centerpiece. It is abundant, low cost, and widely distributed; it scales easily and can be developed quickly. The goal is to develop at wartime speed 3 million megawatts of wind-generating capacity by 2020, enough to meet 40 percent of the world’s electricity needs. This would require 1.5 million wind turbines of 2 megawatts each. These turbines could be produced on assembly lines by reopening closed automobile plants, much as bombers were assembled in auto plants during World War II.

In the development of renewable energy resources, Brown notes, we are seeing the emergence of some big-time thinking -- thinking that recognizes the urgency of moving away from fossil fuels. Nowhere is this more evident than in Texas, where the state government is coordinating an effort to build 23,000 megawatts of wind-generating capacity (the equivalent of 23 coal-fired power plants). This will supply enough electricity to satisfy the residential needs of over 11 million Texans -- half the state’s population. Oil wells go dry and coal seams run out, but the earth’s wind resources cannot be depleted.

Solar technologies also provide exciting opportunities for getting us off the carbon treadmill. Sales of solar-electric panels are doubling every two years. Rooftop solar water heaters are spreading fast in Europe and China. In China, some 40 million homes now get their hot water from rooftop solar heaters. The plan is to nearly triple this to 110 million homes by 2020, supplying hot water to 380 million Chinese.

Large-scale solar thermal power plants are under construction or planned in California, Florida, Spain, and Algeria. Algeria, a leading world oil exporter, is planning to develop 6,000 megawatts of solar-thermal electric-generating capacity, which it will feed into the European grid via an undersea cable. The electricity generated from this single project is enough to supply the residential needs of a country the size of Switzerland.

Investment in geothermal energy for both heating and power generation is also growing fast, notes Brown. Iceland now heats nearly 90 percent of its homes with geothermal energy, virtually eliminating the use of coal for home heating. The Philippines gets 25 percent of its electricity from geothermal power plants. The United States has 61 geothermal projects under way in the geothermally rich western states.

The combination of gas-electric hybrid cars and advanced-design wind turbines has set the stage for the evolution of an entirely new automotive fuel economy. If the battery storage of the typical hybrid car is doubled and a plug-in capacity is added so that batteries can be recharged at night, then we could do our short-distance driving -- commuting to work, grocery shopping, and so on -- almost entirely with cheap, wind-generated electricity.

This would permit us to run our cars largely on renewable electricity -- and at the gasoline-equivalent cost of less than $1 per gallon. Several major automakers are coming to market with plug-in hybrids or electric cars.

With business as usual (Plan A), the environmental trends that are undermining our future will continue. More and more states will fail until civilization itself begins to unravel. “Time is our scarcest resource. We are crossing natural thresholds that we cannot see and violating deadlines that we do not recognize,” says Brown. “These deadlines are set by nature. Nature is the timekeeper, but we cannot see the clock.”

The key to restructuring the world energy economy is to get the market to tell the environmental truth by incorporating into prices the indirect costs of burning fossil fuels, such as climate disruption and air pollution. To do this, we propose adopting a carbon tax that will reflect these indirect costs and offsetting it by lowering income taxes. We propose a worldwide carbon tax to be phased in at $20 per ton each year between 2008 and 2020, stabilizing at $240 per ton. This initiative, which would be offset at every step with a reduction in income taxes, would simultaneously discourage fossil fuel use and encourage investment in renewable sources of energy.

“Saving civilization is not a spectator sport,” says Brown. “We have reached a point in the deteriorating relationship between us and the earth’s natural systems where we all have to become political activists. Every day counts. We all have a stake in civilization’s survival.”

“We can all make lifestyle changes, but unless we restructure the economy and do it quickly we will almost certainly fail. We need to persuade our elected representatives and national leaders to support the environmental tax restructuring and other changes outlined in Plan B. Beyond this, each of us can pick an issue that is important to us at the local level, such as phasing out coal-fired power plants, shifting to more-efficient light bulbs, or developing a comprehensive local recycling program, and get to work on it.”

We all need to educate ourselves on environmental issues. For its part, the Earth Policy Institute is making Plan B 3.0 available for downloading free of charge from its Web site, earthpolicy.org.

“It is decision time,” says Brown. “Like earlier civilizations that got into environmental trouble, we have to make a choice. We can stay with business as usual and watch our economy decline and our civilization unravel, or we can adopt Plan B and be the generation that mobilizes to save civilization. Our generation will make the decision, but it will affect life on earth for all generations to come.”

- end -

Contact for additional information:
Lester R. Brown, Author & President (202) 496.9290 x 11
Janet Larsen, Director of Research (202) 496.9290 x 14
Media Contact: Reah Janise Kauffman (202) 496.9290 x 12

Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization is now available online for free downloading athttp://www.earthpolicy.org/Books/PB3/index.htm.

2007 Second Warmest Year on Record

Alan in Elgin, IL — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 13:32:55 EST

Eco-Economy Indicator -- GLOBAL TEMPERATURE

January 10, 2008

Eco-Economy Indicators are the twelve trends the Earth Policy Institute tracks to measure progress in building an eco-economy. Taking the earth's temperature tells us about the relative health of the planet.

2007 SECOND WARMEST YEAR ON RECORD
Northern Hemisphere Temperature Highest Ever

Frances C. Moore

With the record for 2007 now complete, it is clear that temperatures around the world are continuing their upward climb. The global average in 2007 was 14.73 degrees Celsius (58.5 degrees Fahrenheit) -- the second warmest year on record, only 0.03 degrees Celsius behind the 2005 maximum. January 2007 was the hottest January ever measured, a full 0.23 degrees Celsius warmer than the previous record. August was also a record for that month, and September was the second warmest September recorded.

Looking at the northern hemisphere alone, 2007 temperatures averaged 15.04 degrees Celsius (59.1 degrees Fahrenheit) -- easily the hottest year in the northern half of the globe since the record began in 1880, and more than a degree warmer than the 1951–80 average...

For entire text see http://www.earthpolicy.org/Indicators/Temp/2008.htm
For data see http://www.earthpolicy.org/Indicators/Temp/2008_data.htm

For an index of Earth Policy Institute resources related to Temperature and Climate see http://www.earthpolicy.org/Indicators/Temp/index.htm

And for more on the effects of rising temperature and how to stabilize climate, you may be interested in Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization by Lester R. Brown (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2008). Information about this book is on-line at http://www.earthpolicy.org/Books/PB3/index.htm.