BIG PICTURE: We are dependent on a livable planet. The forces that threaten the very survivability of our only refuge in space are the same that are responsible for social, economic, and a hundred other forms of injustice. Connect the dots and go for the heart of the problem this April. Let others know what you are doing, and why it’s connected. Visit http://disruptdirtypower.org/about/
DisruptDirtyPower.org is a collaboration between Occupy Wall Street, allied organizations and many others who are deeply concerned with the political and financial corruption that is funding and enabling the destruction of our environment.
99 > Dirty Power connects the dots between big banks on Wall Street, big polluters and the politicians who profit from both.
What and When: Occupy Earth Day Global Month of Action
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arch 23rd- Disrupt the business of pollution March 24th- Rally for the 100% – Countdown to Occupy Earth Day
Where: Globally Coordinated actions by Occupy groups and ally organization- Connecting the dots between the 1% and the destruction of the planet
Call to Action: We are at a dangerous tipping point in history. The destruction of our planet and climate change are almost at a point of no return. Our mountains in Appalachia are blasted; our drinking water in the northeast threatened by fracking; our American heartland is charted for an oil pipeline; and our forests in the northwest targeted for further deforestation. Our climate and earth risk never returning to a balanced state.
At this crucial moment, a small group of polluting businesses financed by the 1% have hijacked our political system for their benefit. They’ve rigged the system by paying off politicians, who in turn give these companies taxpayer handouts to continue to destroy our planet and atmosphere.
While the a majority of American people call out for alternative energy sources, our government only responds the interests of these big polluters. The very corporations that lobby our government in order to pollute, publicly admit that climate change is a huge issue, but ignore it in favor of continued record profits for Wall Street.
Many around the country have taken steps to make our lives and communities more sustainable and resilient, but Congress has done nothing. We must to reclaim our democracy to protect our planet. We need to take action for 100% of the occupants of the planet.
We are calling on all Occupy groups and our ally organizations around the country and the world to join us for 2 days that will launch a month long campaign where actionable steps to stop business as usual and expose the corrupt alliance of the 1% and our democratically elected leaders.
Friday March 23rd- Disrupt the business of pollution: A day of global direct action to disrupt and expose the dirty business as usual and its political supporters. We will occupy corrupt polluters, politicians and front groups like Duke Energy, ExxonMobil, BP, Shell, the American Petroleum Institute, through a diversity of creative actions on a local level.
Saturday March 24th: Rally for the 100% – Countdown to Occupy Earthday 2012 : A day of global mass rallies where families, community groups and individuals from all backgrounds march in cities around the world to demand a livable planet for all.
Ongoing Campaign (March 24 to April 22nd):Countdown to Occupy Earthday 2012: Launch campaign to have individuals around globe to take measurable actions locally, nationally and globally to raise awareness and withdraw support from the polluters and their supporters. This will be in the vain of “Move your Money Day” and similar campaigns while leaving space for a diversity tactics.
Background
The fossil fuel industry is the most profitable enterprise in human history, and to defend those profits for a few more years the oil, coal, and gas companies are prepared to ignore clear scientific warning, and even the catastrophes already marking the early stages of climate change. Not only that, they’re prepared to use some of their money to warp the political process so that action never comes. We can’t outspend them, but we can use people power to fight back and disrupt the system.There are a multitude of ways fossil fuel companies have infiltrated the political process to receive sweetheart deals and rote handouts. These include, but are not limited to:
- Tax breaks – Highly profitable utilities like Duke energy pay effective 0% tax rates due to state and federal incentives.
- Direct production subsidies – Certain utilities receive direct funding from DOE and other agencies to research and operationalize new fossil fuel extraction methods, including highly dangerous practices.
- Regulatory subsidies – The natural gas industry, for example, dumps toxic hydrofracking fluids into municipal wastewater treatment plants, and into the soil, for free, leaving taxpayers footing the cleanup bills, because those fluids are not regulated.
- Public land access – Big oil companies like Shell are given free or cheap access to oil in fragile ecosystems like the Artic, putting them at risk of spills.
Each year, the oil and gas industries get more than $4bn in subsidies and tax breaks.
Current members of Congress took over $25 million in campaign contributions from the oil, coal and gas industries in 2009-2010. This follows a decade-long trend of increasing contributions and influence. Since 1999, these Dirty Energy industries have shelled out over $137 million in contributions to members of Congress.
Sources: http://dirtyenergymoney.com
Linnea M. Palmer Paton
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