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| Environment Action Alerts for October, 2005 |
That's why Wal-Mart finds itself back in court - this time it's been accused of denying thousands of workers' lunch breaks that are required by law. The case covers 116,000 former and current Wal-Mart employees in California, who are owed more than $66 million in back-pay plus interest for unpaid work during lunch. "Time theft" labor abuses are a chronic problem for Wal-Mart. In fact, the company has paid millions to settle numerous cases of this sort already, in which its employees were denied breaks required by law, forced to work off the clock, or denied overtime pay for hours worked. As the world’s largest retailer and America’s largest private employer, Wal-Mart clearly has some explaining to do. But rather than address the serious issues raised in the worker discrimination lawsuit, Wal-Mart has aggressively fought the charges and attempted to keep this suit out of court for the past four years. When will Wal-Mart learn that treating workers fairly doesn’t come at the expense of corporate profits? After all, workers who are treated with respect are more loyal to their employers and work harder too. That's why we must use our power as consumers to be a catalyst for change. Tell Wal-Mart's management to take immediate steps to end these alleged workplace abuses! Thank you for taking action today! |
Congressional leaders are bent on turning September's hurricanes into a massive windfall of profits and land grabs for the oil industry -- and they are in a frenzy to pass these taxpayer rip-offs into law! The House of Representatives is moving two new energy bills that would exploit our national tragedy in order to fulfill the fondest dreams of the oil giants: to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge . . . to plunder America's coastal waters . . . and to evade pollution controls on their smog-spewing refineries. Tell your Representative to vote NO on these shameless giveaways to the oil lobby: http://www.nrdcactionfund.org/energybill/action.asp?step=2&item=53066 And please make a donation right now so that the NRDC Action Fund can run hard- hitting ads, arm the media with the facts, and mobilize maximum public pressure on key members of the House of Representatives. We urgently need your support to stop these disastrous bills: https://www.nrdcactionfund.org/energybill/donate.asp With massive oil spills still choking Gulf Coast wetlands to death, it is practically obscene that Congress would be rushing to hand over the rest of our coastal inheritance to the oil giants. Yet the House Resources Committee, chaired by Rep. Richard Pombo (R-CA), is moving a bill that would open our most spectacular and protected marine environments -- off Florida, New England and California -- to a blight of oil platforms and the threat of oil spills. The Pombo Energy Bill would also sacrifice the irreplaceable Arctic Refuge to oil drilling. Meanwhile, the House Energy Committee is rushing "The Gasoline Act of 2005" (H.R. 3893) to a floor vote. It would excuse oil companies from a key provision of the Clean Air Act, allowing them to dramatically increase air pollution. This bill will be voted on this Friday! These bills have nothing to do with helping hurricane victims, nor will they lower gas prices. They are a grab bag of pro-polluter policies so extreme, they didn't make it into last summer's Bush-Cheney energy bill. The oil companies raked in more than $1 trillion last year by fleecing us at the gas pump. Now their cronies in Congress would hand them our greatest natural treasures as well. Let's stop this travesty now. Tell your Representative to vote NO on these offensive bills: http://www.nrdcactionfund.org/energybill/action.asp?step=2&item=53066 And please make a generous online donation to help the NRDC Action Fund move swiftly to build a nationwide outcry against this onslaught: https://www.nrdcactionfund.org/energybill/donate.asp Sincerely, John H. Adams NRDC Action Fund |
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ACLU Action Network October 5, 2005 Take Action: Don't Let Congress Allow Innocent People to Be Executed: http://action.aclu.org/site/R?i=duk4dCS3CV6dBkrPkV1PFQ.. In the name of "streamlining" our courts, the Senate is considering stripping prisoners of their right to challenge wrongful convictions. The Streamlined Procedures Act - S. 1088 - will leave state prisoners with few legal remedies in federal courts when they're wrongfully convicted. Please click the link below to act now and tell your Senate member on the Judiciary Committee to stop this misguided bill that could ultimately send innocent people to their death: http://action.aclu.org/site/R?i=Zrq1uewVkyiIOPava5jJ5g.. This act would take away state prisoners' constitutionally-granted access to federal courts - often the court of last resort for the innocent and wrongfully convicted - whether the prisoner is on death row or incarcerated after a state criminal conviction. If S. 1088 were passed by Congress many of the people who were wrongly convicted and have been released from prison in recent years would still be incarcerated. People who lack the resources to adequately defend themselves will be most affected by this legislation. S. 1088 sends a message that the government is more interested in streamlining executions then ensuring justice for the innocent. Click http://action.aclu.org/site/R?i=rhGVCLBWXWR9o-UmCdkEig.. to tell your Senator to oppose S. 1088 and preserve the rights of the wrongly convicted to have their cases heard in federal courts, or you can click the link below to read more: http://action.aclu.org/site/R?i=YPIQlv6mMKrp9rcAon5zNg.. --------------------------- Recent Success Story For most of us, our concerns during our high school days were the bands we liked, the people we had crushes on, passing the next algebra test, and whether the football team could beat the crosstown rival that year. For Elizabeth Houston, it was the death penalty and voting rights. Learn more about Elizabeth at the link below: http://action.aclu.org/site/R?i=nSi-r7FYfBQtzkKtubMI0g.. --------------------------- Forward this email to your Friends! Tell Your Friends about the ACLU Action Center today! http://action.aclu.org/site/R?i=OKxJ5g7wD18A4fayHENzCA.. Tell a friend about the ACLU Action Center: http://action.aclu.org/site/R?i=es345-IFruHt4YBBlV4Kag.. |
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Click Here to Protect America's Last Roadless Forests: http://www.net.org/petition.php?partner=CBD On May 5, the Bush administration repealed the widely supported Roadless Area Conservation Rule, opening nearly sixty-million acres of America's last wild National Forests to logging, road construction, mining, oil exploration, and other forms of development. Under the new policy, if governors wish to have roadless areas within their state protected, they must complete a burdensome petition process and file their recommendations with political appointees at the Department of Agriculture. The federal government is free to accept, modify or reject these petitions, while elected officials and citizens outside those states will have no say at all about the fate of these shared national treasures. Conservationists throughout the country are joining together to file an official petition with the Bush administration to demand the reinstatement of the 2001 rule. We believe that: America's last roadless National Forests belong to each and every American and all our remaining roadless areas should be protected, completely and permanently through reinstatement of the Roadless Area Conservation Rule of 2001. Join the Petition If you agree with the statement above, please join your fellow Americans and sign the petition TODAY at: http://www.net.org/petition.php?partner=CBD It's quick, easy, and can help ensure our pristine National Forests remain wild for future generations. If the link does not work, copy and paste your web browser. A petition with all of the signatures will be presented to President Bush and the Department of Agriculture. Additionally, a copy of the petition will be delivered to your Governor. Thank you for your continued support! Sincerely, Todd Schulke The Center For Biological Diversity -------------------------------------------------- |
But big food manufacturers such as Kraft are lobbying Congress to change the law so that artificial ingredients can be included in foods labeled "100% organic." Tell Congress not to weaken this law! Why can't they just leave well enough alone? In a word - profit. Food companies know that educated consumers care about the foods they eat and are willing to pay more for healthy products that carry the "organic" label. Most shockingly, the industry is claiming that consumers do not care about the use of artificial ingredients in food products labeled "organic" and are trying to slip this change into the law without any public input whatsoever. But of course consumers like us do care! A recent nationwide survey by the nonpartisan watchdog group Consumers Union found that an overwhelming 85% of Americans said they do not expect food labeled as "organic" to contain artificial ingredients. Now, we must make sure that the our voice is heard - and not simply that of big business. But we must act quickly - the issue is being considered in Congress this month! Tell Congress that consumers want "organic" to mean exactly that - no artificial ingredients! Thank you for taking action today!  - Dawn SandersCare2 and ThePetitionSite team |
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BioGems Defenders like you have fought for years to protect the polar bear's habitat by blocking oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the Western Arctic Reserve. Now, these majestic bears need your help on another front. At this moment, the polar bear's Arctic habitat is literally melting away beneath it due to global warming. If we don't intervene now, these majestic bears may not survive beyond the next few decades. Please go to http://www.savebiogems.org/polar/takeaction.asp and send a message urging Interior Secretary Gale Norton to protect polar bears as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. Global warming has already taken a serious toll on the large expanses of summer sea ice that polar bears depend on for survival. Since 1979, more than 20 percent of the polar ice cap has disappeared. Yet the Bush administration refuses to lift a finger to help the polar bear. Leading scientists now warn that if current rates of global warming continue, the polar bear could face extinction by the end of this century. To head off this unthinkable tragedy, NRDC is launching a campaign of intense public and courtroom pressure to compel the administration to act. We have just put the Interior Secretary on notice that we will be taking her agency to federal court on behalf of the polar bear. Please join our effort to protect polar bears by speaking out right now. Go to http://www.savebiogems.org/polar/takeaction.asp and call on the Interior Secretary to take the first step toward ensuring a future for the polar bear by listing it as a threatened species. Thank you for taking action. Sincerely, John H. Adams President Natural Resources Defense Council |
Sadly, these magnificent animals are being threatened on a variety of fronts. They're being poached for their pelts or believed medicinal value, and exposed to diseases from domesticated species. Habitat loss through development and unsustainable resource exploitation is adding further pressure and causing a rapid decline in their numbers. That's why several concerned members of Congress have introduced the Great Cats and Rare Canids Act (HR 1707). The Act would provide crucial funding to save thirteen highly endangered feline and canine species across the globe, estimated at a mere $5 million per year. If we act quickly and decisively, we can dramatically improve the long-term prospects for survival of these big cats and rare canines in the wild. I think we all can agree that we owe it to future generations to protect these beautiful and biologically important animals. Please urge your representative to co-sponsor the Great Cats and Rare Canids Act! Thank you for taking action today, - Dawn SandersCare2 and ThePetitionSite team Thank you for signing up to receive Action Alerts from Care2 via ThePetitionSite! Your email address has not been bought from other sources. If you learned something interesting in this newsletter, please forward it to your friends, family and colleagues. |
