Talk and action in Obama’s last #SOTU
UPDATE: In a climate BFD: Obama put another nail in fossil fuel’s coffin by blocking all new coal leases on federal lands. Read all about this new decision and sign our thank you card to tell the Obama team that we’re counting on them to do MORE to keep fossil fuels in the ground.
Last night, President Barack Obama delivered his last State of the Union Address, and in a big change from all seven previous addresses, he made action on climate change a central pillar of his agenda (one of four big themes in his speech) and called out climate denial and delay in no uncertain terms.
It’s a big deal to have the President touch on some of our biggest challenges. But change isn’t made in a speech (as the President well knows), it’s made by hard work, advocacy and a public demand for action. That’s why, as good as last night’s speech was to hear, today it’s up to us to turn up the pressure even more.
Fortunately, key members of the White House staff are taking questions and suggestions online about how to deliver on the promises the President made during last night’s SOTU.2 We need your help to make sure they get the message that talk is all well and good, but what we need is environmental action.
So we’re asking you to share the message on social media about 3 of our biggest campaigns where we need the action of Obama’s team to protect the planet.
- Click here to tell the Department of Justice to follow up and follow through by investigating Exxon
- Click here to tell the EPA to respond to Obama’s call for science-based problem solving by plugging all the fracking leaks, starting with California’s Aliso Canyon.
- And/or click here to tell the Department of Interior to heed Obama’s call to leave fossil fuels in the ground by banning seismic testing and cancelling their plans to lease areas off our Southeastern coast for offshore drilling.
Exxon
“Look, if anybody still wants to dispute the science around climate change, have at it,” Obama said during his final State of the Union last night. “You’ll be pretty lonely, because you’ll be debating our military, most of America’s business leaders, the majority of the American people, almost the entire scientific community, and 200 nations around the world who agree it’s a problem and intend to solve it.”
He left one thing out – Exxon and other Big Oil companies have been lying about the climate crisis for decades. Fortunately, key members of the White House staff are taking questions and suggestions online about how to deliver on the promises the President made during last night’s SOTU.2 We need your help to make sure they get the message that talk is all well and good, but what we need is environmental action.
Methane
Last night the President said “Sixty years ago, when the Russians beat us into space, we didn’t deny Sputnik was up there. We didn’t argue about the science, or shrink our research and development budget. We built a space program almost overnight, and twelve years later, we were walking on the moon.”1
But Obama himself has been ignoring the massive, climate-polluting leak of fracked gas in California’s Aliso Canyon. Six months after the disaster started, he’s never mentioned it! And his EPA is still moving at a snail’s pace to clamp down on methane leaks all over the country. Fortunately, key members of the White House staff are taking questions and suggestions online about how to deliver on the promises the President made during last night’s SOTU. We need your help to make sure they get the message that talk is all well and good, but what we need is environmental action.
Seismic
Last night the President said “Now we’ve got to accelerate the transition away from dirty energy. Rather than subsidize the past, we should invest in the future—especially in communities that rely on fossil fuels. That’s why I’m going to push to change the way we manage our oil and coal resources, so that they better reflect the costs they impose on taxpayers and our planet. That way, we put money back into those communities and put tens of thousands of Americans to work building a 21st century transportation system.”1
But he left one thing out – The Department of Interior is about to open new leases to drill off the coast of the Southeast, and seismic blasting could start within weeks off the coast of states like South Carolina. Fortunately, key members of the White House staff are taking questions and suggestions online about how to deliver on the promises the President made during last night’s SOTU. We need your help to make sure they get the message that talk is all well and good, but what we need is environmental action.
Can you click here to tell Barack Obama’s team to respond to his state of the union by banning seismic testing to save our whales, our oceans and our climate?
