FOCUS: Pramila Jayapal | India's Foreign Minister Refused Me. I Won't Stop Speaking Out on Human Rights.

27 December 19

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Down But Not Out

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26 December 19

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WITH REGRET: We cannot provide service to 100% of our Readership on the donations we receive from 1% of our Readers. A few of you DO help support the project. The vast majority do not. That is not fair to those who are sustaining the project, nor is it fair to the project we all want RSN to be. We love this project and this community, but we must ask you in the strongest terms to take the funding drives more seriously. In earnest. Marc Ash - Founder Reader Supported News

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FOCUS: Pramila Jayapal | India's Foreign Minister Refused Me. I Won't Stop Speaking Out on Human Rights.

Pramila Jayapal, The Washington Post
Jayapal writes: "I am proud to have lived my life in two of the world's great democracies - as a citizen of India for almost 35 years, and today, as a proud American citizen and the first Indian American woman elected to the House of Representatives."

EXCERPT:

So it came as a surprise when, last week, the Indian government communicated to the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Eliot L. Engel (D-N.Y.), that External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar would not attend a meeting on Capitol Hill if I was present. The apparent reason was a bipartisan resolution I introduced this month, with Rep. Steve Watkins (R-Kan.) as an original co-sponsor, calling on the Indian government to uphold basic human rights in Kashmir. The resolution was narrowly crafted to focus on three issues: lifting the communications blackout that has been imposed on Kashmir since August, ending detentions without charges and respecting religious freedom.

Rep. Engel rightly refused to accede to the demand; it is wholly inappropriate for any foreign government to try to dictate which members of Congress participate in meetings on Capitol Hill. It’s also a sign of weakness for any great democracy to refuse to allow those who have some criticisms to participate in a meeting — a giant missed opportunity for two countries that value dialogue and dissent.

When I visited India in 2017 with then-Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Rep. Engel on a congressional delegation, I raised the issues of religious freedom in India to Prime Minister Narendra Modi directly. Jaishankar also participated in that meeting.

Unfortunately, the situation in India has gotten far worse since that visit. There has been a spike in attacks against religious minorities throughout India. The Indian government’s imposition of a media blackout in Kashmir is now the longest-running Internet shutdown ever to occur in a democracy. While some landlines have been restored, millions still have no access to mobile services or the Internet. Foreign journalists have largely been kept out of the region and even Indian members of Parliament have been unable to visit the area. Hospitals have been unable to get supplies, emergency health services have been severely disrupted and people with serious health conditions have been unable to access critical medicines.

Disturbingly, the Indian government has also “taken into preventive custody” over 5,000 Kashmiris, including about 144 children — many under the Public Safety Act, a controversial law that allows authorities to imprison someone in Kashmir for up to two years without charge or trial. These “preventive” arrests afford detainees no due process and are clear violations of international human rights. As of Dec. 4, 609 people remained in custody in and outside of Kashmir.

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FOCUS: Sanders Is Hot in the Polls, and Still Treated Like a Second-Tier Candidate

22 December 19

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Why I Gave

I just wanted to let you know that I found rsn for the first time tonight. I only had to read one article, look at what others are available, and why you exist to know that I needed to make a contribution. I hope to be able to do more in the future. Good work!

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21 December 19

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RIGHT NOW WE DON'T HAVE A PRAYER OF FINISHING - Based on where we are at this point in the month and the pace at which the donations are coming in, we have no chance of meeting our budget for December. It is absolutely critical that we find a way to get the flow of contributions moving. In earnest. / Marc Ash, Founder Reader Supported News

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FOCUS: Sanders Is Hot in the Polls, and Still Treated Like a Second-Tier Candidate

Zeeshan Aleem, VICE
Aleem writes: "After having spent most of the past year chugging along in second or third place in national polls and struggling to stand out in key primary states, Real Clear Politics polling averages show Sanders' popularity swelling in both national and critical state polls."

There's evidence that Sanders' surge in the polls is being ignored. Is this a repeat of the type of blackout that happened in 2016?

n a long-distance footrace, hovering around second or third place can be a sweet spot. The frontrunner becomes a highly visible target and must fend off challengers through constant exertion. Meanwhile, the strong, steady competitor who hangs back can reserve energy and then, in the final stretch of the race, mount a dangerous strike with an unexpected burst of might.

Sen. Bernie Sanders’ surge in the Democratic primary might just be that kind of strike. After having spent most of the past year chugging along in second or third place in national polls and struggling to stand out in key primary states, Real Clear Politics polling averages show Sanders’ popularity swelling in both national and critical state polls. Meanwhile, South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s hot streak has begun to dissipate and Sen. Elizabeth Warren is still struggling to regain the momentum she had in October. Over the past month or so, Sanders has leaped ahead in the rankings in New Hampshire, Iowa, and most recently, South Carolina. A new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll shows Sanders just two points behind Biden among Democratic voters nationwide. The poll also found that Sanders leads the race among nonwhite voters, an indispensable demographic for winning the Democratic nomination, that Biden has long been assumed to have a lock on.

This rise, which is taking place just months after Sanders experienced what could have been a campaign-ending heart attack, is the kind of trend that thrills horserace pundits and election correspondents. It’s an obvious basis for a comeback kid story, a narrative that tends to fuel analysis after analysis about how a formidable candidate was underestimated.

And yet that isn’t happening. Scan politics coverage at the New York Times for the past week, and you’ll find no headlines on the dynamic—and barely any reporting on Sanders at all. The Washington Post similarly has no headlines on it, and overall has significantly more coverage of Warren and Buttigieg. Politico and Axios, Washington’s most hyperactive evangelists of election micro-narratives, have not shown interest in the Sanders’ spike. (Politico has one long-form article this week discussing what a Sanders presidency would look like, but the article has to convince the reader that such a prospect isn’t far-fetched.) In cable news coverage last week, Sanders was tied with former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg—a man averaging 5 percent in national polls—for fourth in coverage, according to the New York Times’ attention tracker. It’s clear that there isn't major press buzz over Sanders the way there has been when Warren or Buttigieg showed promise earlier in the race. On Wednesday, Sean Trende, the senior elections analyst for RealClearPolitics, wrote that the absence of press coverage that treats Sanders as viable is “one of the weirder features of the race.”

I’d say we can file this under “shocking but not surprising.” Sanders has long been treated by mainstream media as an unimportant or uniquely unviable 2020 candidate regardless of what the numbers say and despite a remarkable, strong primary performance in 2016. But the continued negligence of Sanders even as his poll numbers pick up is particularly galling — and suggests that he faces an unfair handicap as the primaries draw near. Even as Sanders demonstrates that he has a growing level of popularity among key Democratic constituencies, he’s likely to continue to be deemed “unelectable” by a punditocracy that’s either skeptical of or hostile to the notion of a socialist running for the White House.

Sanders has been treated as a second-class candidate since his first presidential run in 2015. Margaret Sullivan, then the New York Times’ public editor, admitted that the Times had been “regrettably dismissive, even mocking” of Sanders’ White House bid during the primary season, and pointed out how Trump, by contrast, received wall-to-wall coverage. As The Intercept has pointed out, Clinton got twice as much coverage on TV networks during the primaries as Sanders. A 2016 study from Harvard’s Shorenstein Center found that Clinton garnered triple the amount of overall news coverage that Sanders did.

This dynamic has re-emerged in 2019. Throughout this race, even after Sanders has shown himself to be a serious contender, the media has either given Sanders less coverage than he deserves given his polling numbers, or dealt him disproportionate criticism. In These Times conducted an analysis of presidential race coverage on MSNBC in August and September, and found that in its coverage of Biden, Warren, and Sanders, it was Sanders who received the least coverage and the most negative coverage. (During this time period, Biden was an unsteady frontrunner and Sanders and Warren were neck and neck in national polls until the last two weeks of September, but Sanders was continually shunned during electability-centered discussions.) Katie Halper reported in June for Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting that MSNBC frequently and inexplicably ranks Sanders lower than he actually stands in infographics or makes basic polling reporting errors which are “always to his detriment, and never with any official correction.”

This is not just a cable news problem. Vox has pointed out that Sanders has been unfairly painted by major newspapers as a politician uninterested in retail politics. In Current Affairs, Nathan Robinson dissected a PBS NewsHour campaign trail segment in December in which correspondent Yamiche Alcindor discusses major candidates and obscurities such as Steve Bullock and Joe Sestak, without mentioning Sanders once. In another June report for FAIR, Halper pointed out that the New York Times correspondent covering Sanders, Sydney Embers, has criticized him relentlessly and failed to disclose the corporate and lobbying affiliations of sources she includes as critics of Sanders.

So what explains the disproportionate criticism and erasure of Sanders? Some of it is banal and structural—Sanders has been caught in a plateau for much of the race and the media’s bias in favor of newness and a compelling narrative framework has not served Sanders well.

But it’s clear also that in the eyes of many analysts that there is something fundamentally improbable about a disheveled and cantankerous socialist winning the nomination and then winning the White House. “This is America! How could that happen?!” they grumble to themselves without noting how the country has shifted to the left. That perception of unelectability has a self-fulfilling nature to it—if journalists think a candidate is far-fetched and dismiss them, then the public is more likely to swing that way as well.

But to dismiss Sanders is to turn a blind eye to a remarkable campaign. Sanders has remained popular despite the fact that much of his competition adopted the left-wing policies he made viable through his 2016 run, like Medicare for All. And he commands a huge following even after Warren’s rise as a more establishment-friendly alternative to him. As a new CNN poll indicates, compared to all his rivals Sanders is perceived as uniquely trustworthy, empathetic, and in tune with the issues that matter most by voters nationally.

It’s time for the media to stop projecting electability claims onto candidates based on their personal feelings or establishment wisdom. The only thing that will reveal the electability of a candidate is if they can actually get elected. And that’s up to voters.

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The billionaire class is VERY, VERY upset:

I experience daily amusement at the billionaire class and its media working overtime to ignore the fact that Bernie is at or near the top of every single poll in this race.

The LAST thing they want the general public to hear is that Bernie has been #1 in polls for young adults and Latino voters, and in just the last month has been #1 in Iowa, #1 in New Hampshire, #1 in Nevada and now #1 in California.

They are very, very upset...

Because it used to be that those were the people who determined winners and losers. It was just the way it always was. A bunch of rich people would get into a room, share expensive food and drinks, and determine who would have the resources needed to win a presidential primary.

Those days are over, and they HATE it.

They hate that working people now have the power to come together and collectively ensure campaigns like Bernie’s — campaigns that actually fight for them — can out-raise them.

And the billionaire class wants to take that power back to ensure Democrats nominate someone who will represent their interests, as if they don’t have it good enough already.

Well, we can’t let them. We have to keep fighting. We have to keep exercising OUR power. Because if we do, Bernie is going to win. So I am asking:

Can you make a $10 contribution to Bernie Sanders' campaign for president today? Because if we are in this together, not only are we going to win this election and defeat Trump, we are going to transform this country.

There’s always been obscenely wealthy people in this country who have extraordinary power, but they won’t have the ability to pull the strings here once we understand that we actually hold the true power.

We build this power through volunteering, through talking to your friends and family, and through your contributions.

So if you can chip in $10 today, it would mean a lot to Bernie’s campaign and to our movement. Use this link:

https://act.berniesanders.com/go/People-Power

Thank you for reading.

In solidarity,

Michael Moore

CONTRIBUTE

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Dec 15 

There are 50 days until the Iowa caucuses and, despite a historic media blackout, Bernie Sanders has a real shot at winning in Iowa. If Bernie does win Iowa, then the media and establishment can’t continue ignoring him.

That’s why the Bernie campaign has announced their most ambitious goal yet — reaching 5,000,000 donations before the end of the year.

If you haven’t given to Bernie Sanders, NOW is the best possible time to get them ready for the absolutely critical Iowa Caucuses. Can you split a donation of any amount between Bernie and AOC today?

Donate $3

AOC is going all in. Next week, she’ll be cohosting rallies with Bernie in California and Nevada — two states where a strong early performance will be make or break.

As the Democratic nominee, Bernie will be a vital ally and leader in the fight for social, racial, economic, and environmental justice. But it’s going to take all of us doing our part to help him win.

So, before the end of the year, can you split a donation between Bernie and AOC right now? Your support is invaluable in the fight to win Iowa, and in the fight for our progressive values.

Donate $3

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Team AOC 

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RSN: Scott Galindez | Democratic Race Heating Up, Not Winding Down

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FOCUS: Scott Galindez | Democratic Race Heating Up, Not Winding Down

Scott Galindez, Reader Supported News
Galindez writes: "The pundits and the political hacks are calling for Bernie Sanders to either drop out or to 'tone down' his message. Instead, both campaigns, in a sign that neither really thinks the race is over, have turned up the heat."
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he pundits and the political hacks are calling for Bernie Sanders to either drop out or to “tone down” his message. Instead, both campaigns, in a sign that neither really thinks the race is over, have turned up the heat. Hillary Clinton is holding conference calls with victims of gun violence trying to paint Sanders as pro-gun. Sanders is pressing for a debate in Brooklyn prior to the New York primary.

Sanders has pulled ahead in Wisconsin and is already making appearances in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and New York. Clinton has been forced to spend time in New York, where Bernie is pushing hard for a debate before the April 19th primary. Sanders also seems to be getting under Clinton’s skin. She blew up at a Greenpeace activist who asked whether she would pledge to reject money from the fossil fuel industry going forward. Clinton claimed she was not taking their money and in an angry tone said she wished Bernie Sanders would stop lying.

Eva Resnick-Day, the activist who asked Clinton to take the pledge, said the following in an op/ed on the Greenpeace web site:

To be clear, we are talking about more than just individual contributions from oil and gas employees. According to data compiled by Greenpeace’s research department, Secretary Clinton’s campaign and the Super PAC supporting her have received more than $4.5 million from the fossil fuel industry during the 2016 election cycle. Eleven registered oil and gas industry lobbyists have bundled over 1 million dollars to her campaign.

Greenpeace USA, along with 20 other organizations, launched the pledge to #FixDemocracy, asking all presidential candidates to reject future fossil fuel contributions, champion campaign finance reform, and defend the right to vote for all.

When we launched the campaign, Sanders signed the pledge immediately. Hillary’s campaign responded, but did not sign. Unsurprisingly, the Republican presidential candidates who won’t even admit that climate change is real – while real communities on the frontlines are already impacted – did not respond to our request.

The Clinton campaign also attacked Bernie Sanders on guns when they held an event with parents of an Aurora, Colorado, shooting victim. The parents attempted to sue the gun manufacturer, but the case was thrown out because of immunity laws that protect gun manufacturers. Sanders supported the legislation that granted immunity but has expressed willingness to re-address the issue.

Hillary Clinton is also taking aim at Sanders’ time as an Independent, claiming that her long ties to the Democratic Party should mean something.

CORPORATE DEMOCRATS STILL HAVEN'T FIGURED IT OUT! 

Let’s be clear, if the Clinton campaign thought they had the nomination wrapped up, they would not be attacking Sanders. They will need his supporters in November to beat the Republican nominee.

Sanders has also turned up the heat, challenging Clinton to a debate in New York. The pressure seems to be working, and it appears that both sides are close to a date and location. If Sanders were no longer a threat there would be no New York debate talks.

Despite the media narrative, Bernie Sanders does have a path to victory. The media is doing everything they can to spin for Clinton. One example is John King reporting on CNN that he has run the numbers and if Bernie won the rest of the races with 55% of the vote he would not catch Clinton. Why did King pick 55%? Maybe it has something to do with Nate Silver showing how Sanders would catch Clinton with 56% of the remaining vote.

OK, 56.6% – not an easy task, but possible. King did point out that if Sanders got 55% of the remaining delegates Clinton would not have enough delegates to win on the first ballot, but she would be ahead. Even with that admission, it is so clear that the mainstream media is trying to tell voters what will happen instead of reporting what is happening. There are over 2,000 pledged delegates left to be allocated and 208 super delegates who are uncommitted. Of course, the super delegates who have committed can change their mind at any time. So while Hillary Clinton has the easiest path to the nomination, it is not a sure thing.

Many Sanders supporters have had enough of the media spin and are taking to the streets. On Sunday over 1,000 protesters showed up at CNN’s Los Angeles headquarters to protest the lack of coverage of the Sanders campaign. The strength of his campaign despite the biased media coverage Sanders has received makes you wonder where he would be if the media did their job and didn’t constantly dismiss his chances.

All signs are pointing to a big night for Sanders on Tuesday. It remains to be seen if his momentum will continue to New York and the other eastern states that round out April. Perhaps we should all wait and see how people vote before dismissing Bernie’s chances. I expect Sanders to go all the way to the convention. After all, the political revolution is about more than Bernie. It is also about reforming the Democratic Party. If Bernie dropped out before the convention, the power that his delegates would hold at the convention would all but vanish. Expect the Sanders delegates to arrive in Philadelphia with a reform agenda that includes things like an end to super delegates. Win or lose, the political revolution will continue. As Harold Meyerson said, “Bernie Sanders’s campaign didn’t create a new American left. It revealed it.”

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Scott Galindez attended Syracuse University, where he first became politically active. The writings of El Salvador's slain archbishop Oscar Romero and the on-campus South Africa divestment movement converted him from a Reagan supporter to an activist for Peace and Justice. Over the years he has been influenced by the likes of Philip Berrigan, William Thomas, Mitch Snyder, Don White, Lisa Fithian, and Paul Wellstone. Scott met Marc Ash while organizing counterinaugural events after George W. Bush's first stolen election. Scott will be spending a year covering the presidential election from Iowa.

Reader Supported News is the Publication of Origin for this work. Permission to republish is freely granted with credit and a link back to Reader Supported News.

http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/36128-focus-democratic-race-heating-up-not-winding-down

RSN: White House: Climate Change Threatens More Americans Than Terrorism, How to Build a More Kick-Ass Climate Movement

It's Live on the HomePage Now:
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I HAD ENOUGH: Enough of lying politicians and yapping pundits. Enough of no real forums for the people to voice their opinions without name calling and fear of retribution. Enough chatter and lack of action. I also had enough to donate for my second time this month ... and took advantage of the situation for my own peace of mind. / Kelly, RSN Reader, Supporter

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Naomi Klein | How to Build a More Kick-Ass Climate Movement

Naomi Klein, Grist
Klein writes: "There are people who are working on climate where that doesn't intersect nearly enough with the people working for the public sphere, fighting for the commons, fighting against austerity - even when it's the same people."
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John Cassidy | What Kind of Conservative Is Jeb Bush?
John Cassidy, The New Yorker
Cassidy writes: "The soft rollout of Jeb Bush's 2016 Presidential bid continues."
READ MORE

Murder of 3 Muslims in US Elicits Criticism Over Media Blackout
Alex MacDonald, Middle East Eye
MacDonald writes: "A shooting in the US, which has reportedly left three Muslims dead in a North Carolina university town, has set social media buzzing over accusations major media outlets have failed to give the story adequate coverage."
READ MORE

Yemeni Rebels Seize US Embassy Vehicles After Diplomats Flee
Reuters
Excerpt: "Armed Houthi rebels in the Yemeni capital Sanaa seized U.S. embassy vehicles after the ambassador and diplomats left the country on Wednesday, local members of embassy staff told Reuters."
READ MORE

Bernie Sanders Wants Wealthy to Pay Same for Social Security as the Middle Class
Rebecca Shabad, The Hill
Shabad writes: "Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Tuesday proposed raising Social Security taxes to extend the life of the entitlement program and increase benefits."
READ MORE

Billionaire Governor Bruce Rauner Declares War on Illinois State Unions Through Executive Order
David Moberg, In These Times
Moberg writes: "Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner launched the first of his promised attacks on the state's labor unions on Monday with an executive order intended to end the legal requirement for Illinois state workers who are not members of unions to pay agency or 'fair share' fees to cover the costs to the union of bargaining on their behalf."
READ MORE

White House: Climate Change Threatens More Americans Than Terrorism
Clare Foran, National Journal
Foran writes: "White House press secretary Josh Earnest said on Tuesday that President Obama believes that climate change affects far more Americans than terrorism does."
READ MORE

 

 

 

 

 

If you don't speak out......

no one will.

Exxon declared a media blackout and No Fly Zone to prevent information from reaching the public.

This is the cost ----

"But I thought it was a done deal." So wrote a member in response to our campaign to collect 1 million public comments against Keystone XL.   But it isn't over — not by a long shot. The public comment may have closed, but the State Department has just begun to consider whether to approve Keystone XL. And thanks to you, we've given them an eyeful of things to consider. More than 5,000 individual donors chipped in to fill the metro station next door to the State Department with ads like this one. Can you back up that message by signing our petition to the State Department telling them to just say "NO" to Keystone? If not for our loud protests, Keystone XL would have been a done deal years ago. Our petitions, rallies, letters to the editor and calls have made Keystone XL a household name and gotten a million public comments against Keystone. But there was no guarantee the State Department would connect the tragic tar sands spill in Mayflower, Arkansas, last month to our comments opposing Keystone. So we made the connection impossible for them to miss by plastering it 10 feet wide on the floor and walls of the metro station where they commute every day. Click here to sign on to our effort and keep the pressure on to stop Keystone XL once and for all. Soon, the decision will be in the hands of President Obama. And it's crucial to make the link between Keystone XL and the Mayflower spill. Exxon and their Big Oil buddies know that, which is why they worked so hard to suppress these images — threatening to arrest reporters, setting up no fly zones over the spill area, and hiding the information on more than 30 toxic chemicals released into the air after their spill.*    Thanks to thousands of members like you, we've made sure the State Department can't look away from these images; now we just need your name in support to drive the message home. Will you sign on to our new joint campaign to keep the pressure on President Obama to say "No to Keystone XL?" For the planet, Jesse Bacon, Field Organizer Environmental Action *How much does EPA’s objection to Keystone XL matter? A lot, Juliet Eilperin, Washington Post, April 23, 2013. *Independent Air Test at Mayflower Oil Spill Reveal 30 Toxic Chemicals at High Levels, Faulkner County Citizens Advisory Group, April 26, 2013

EXXON Police Prevent OPFLEX from entering the Marshlands in Mayflower, AR

Meme GOP

http://ecowatch.com/2013/american-taxpayers-foot-bill-tar-sands-cleanup/

 

Exxon Hates Arkansas

Exxon doesn't want you to know what their environmental destruction looks like -----

Two weeks ago, an oil pipeline carrying Tar Sands oil ruptured in a small town in Arkansas. Toxic, smelly sludge is still seeping into back yards, local swimming holes, and the drinking water of several communities. But that tragedy may not be televised, or even seen, by millions of people unless we take action.

Exxon is trying to stop you, and the rest of America, from seeing the dirty, oily truth about this spill. They've set up a no-fly zone to prevent aerial photos, threatened to arrest a reporter covering the story, and last week they censored a paid ad YOU helped create off the air.

Here at Environmental Action, we think it's time to say "No more pipelines in anyone's backyard." And we can start by saying no to the mother of all pipelines: Keystone XL. But we need your help to get leaked images of the Mayflower AR spill where they can help convince the people who need to see them. Will you chip in to help get these images out, despite Exxon's threats?

Exxon and their Big Oil buddies are absolutely terrified of these images: Baby ducks covered in oil, playgrounds submerged in brown ooze, and men in hazmat suits pressure-washing toxic goop down the storm drain (and into local waterways). These are not the images Big Oil wants you to see or think about when you hear the word 'pipeline'.

But that's the truth of oil pipelines. It's not a question of if they'll break, but when. And when they do, they devastate local wildlife, ecosystems and any human communities nearby as well. Last year there were over 560 pipeline spills nationwide, some of them worse than the one in Mayflower.¹

But Exxon has been relentless at suppressing any coverage of this local disaster. When Greenpeace took aerial photos of the spill that proved oil was leaking into local rivers and streams, Exxon set up a no-fly zone to shut down the images but still hasn't cleaned the oil out of local waterways². When a reporter demanded answers from government officials at the EPA who are supposed to be supervising the cleanup work, Exxon threatened to have her arrested and threw her out of the command center.³

We thought if there's any community in America that needs to see our snarky, satirical ad about how Exxon and other Big Oil companies take our money, destroy our future, and then try and put a happy face on it—it's the folks in Mayflower. So we bought airtime on local TV to run our over-the-top ad "Exxon Hates Your Children", which thousands of Environmental Action members helped fund and create. But Exxon won't even let a seriously funny critique of their oil spill stand: they threatened to sue the local TV stations if they ran the ad.⁴

We're fighting Exxon to get the ad on the air, but there's another group of people who need to hear the truth about how pipelines and Big Oil are bad and untrustworthy—the employees of the U.S. State Department.

Right now, State Department staff are reviewing over 1 million public comments on the Keystone XL Pipeline. At stake is whether or not to build the largest oil pipeline in America, and truck more Tar Sands oil, the same stuff that spilled all over Mayflower, through thousands more towns and across millions of acres of nature. I can't think of anyone who needs to see the images of what a pipeline leak looks like than these State Department employees.

But with Exxon locking down all the information, it's possible they'll never see a photo of the Mayflower spill, unless we put it where they can't ignore it. So we want to run ads in the D.C. Metro stops where thousands of State Department employees commute every day. That way, every time they come to work or leave for home, they'll have to look environmental devastation in the face, and think about the next oil spill they'll be helping to create -- unless they say NO to the Keystone XL pipeline.

Donate now to help us put the truth about oil pipelines - that they all break, and when they do they destroy the environment and our homes - where State Department employees can't ignore the message.

We're fighting to end all pipelines, everywhere. And we'll keep fighting to get the images and news people need to hear out of Mayflower, and other front line communities where oil spills and pollution are devastating the environment. But we only have a few weeks left to convince the State Department not to build the Mother of All Pipelines, Keystone XL. This is a special opportunity and we need your help to make it happen.

Thanks for never flinching in the face of censorship, and taking action for the environment.

Drew Hudson
Director | Environmental Action

1 - U.S. Department of Transportation Pipeline & Hazardous Materials Safety Administration
2 - Philip Radford, The Arkansas Oil Spill Photos the Keystone Cabal Doesn't Want You to See, Huffington Post, April 2, 2013
3 - Susan White, InsideClimate News Reporter Threatened With Arrest at Ark. Oil Spill Site, InsideClimate News, April 5, 2013
4 - Environmental Action, Exxon Pressures Arkansas TV Stations To Ban Critical Ad Following Mayflower Tar Sands Spill, April 11, 2013

 

 

 

Big Oil Doesn't Want You to See This:

or this

or this

 

Or anything about the Mayflower oil spill. Donate now so we can put these images (and more) where they can't be ignored.

https://secure.flickr.com//photos/tarsandsblockade/show/