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NRDC Action Fund goes on offense against opponents of climate action 3

still shot from TV adThe Natural Resources Defense Council Action Fund is bashing representatives who voted against the House climate bill as “villains” and lauding reps who voted for it as “heroes” in a new campaign.

With TV and newspaper ads and a website, the campaign is aimed at states whose senators are on the fence about passing a climate bill this year—Indiana, Missouri, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.

“We really felt like now is the time for us to draw a line in the sand,” NRDC Action Fund director Heather Taylor told Grist. “What we want to do is make sure the Senate understands that we are going to be clearly identifying who’s part of the problem and who’s part of the solution. Hopefully it’s going to immediately influence the Senate vote.”

The ads will air on local TV for the next two weeks, and print versions are running in local papers on Wednesday and Sunday. They tout the House climate bill’s potential to create green jobs, and urge constituents to call their senators and ask them to support a similar bill this year.

Taylor pointed to specific senators the campaign hopes to sway:  Evan Bayh (D-Ind.), Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), Arlen Specter (D-Pa.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), and Jim Webb (D-Va.). “We definitely think those are swings, and we think there were very good examples of heroes and villains in [their] states for us to draw upon,” she said.

The half-a-million-dollar ad buy is the first of its kind by NRDC Action Fund, which has not in the past weighed in on specific candidates nor waged such a public campaign.  The action fund’s parent organization, NRDC, focuses on inside-the-Beltway policy making, working closely with legislators to shape environmental law. NRDC was one of the key groups involved in the U.S. Climate Action Partnership, the enviro-business coalition that played a significant role in shaping the House climate bill.

“We thought it was so important right now to be active not only inside the Beltway but also outside the Beltway,” said Taylor. “We hope we can be more frank in our messaging.”

Of the representatives targeted in the ads, Taylor said, “I think these members knew. They completely and clearly understood that this was the highest priority of the environmental community ... This is when it counted. This is when there really were going to be repercussions. It’s very important that constituents know that their members are not listening to them.”

Here is the TV ad praising Rep. Tom Perriello (D-Va.) for voting in favor of the House bill:

And here’s the ad criticizing Virginia Reps. Frank Wolf (R) and Glenn Nye (D) for voting against it:

Kate Sheppard is Grist’s political reporter.

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  1. gullyfourmyle's avatar

    gullyfourmyle Posted 1:50 pm
    20 Aug 2009

    I think this following comment should be passed along to the Senate:Bees and other insects were doing just fine thank you until solvents were added to fossil fuels in the early 1970's to get the lead out of fuels. Lead was identified as having a long history of creating systemic and lethal health problems. It had to go.  Solvents were added to our fuels without much in the way of research to determine what if any health risks there were.  Since then every form of cancer and other forms of degenerative disease has on a per capita basis; that is incidents per thousands or millions of a given population, skyrocketed. Science has confirmed the link between the chemicals and what can only be called environmental injuries, not diseases. What is not generally known is that this same phenomenon is also being inflicted on every living species on the earth. Few people are keeping score for them unless by accident or because the species, like honey bees are commercially significant. Despite popular assumption, most species on the planet are not monitored for their health. Species are studied at the whim of the individual scientists and the cash he or she can raise to support a fundable hypothesis. Charles Darwin is still the very last word on earth worms. No one has really bothered about them since his time. Chemical proliferation in air, water and soil means that every living thing on the planet is ingesting and accumulating chemicals that humans have formulated, produced and released into the environment that have never existed during the entire history of the planet. Therefore, no living thing on earth has evolved to co-exist with never mind attempt to live with these fearfully lethal chemicals in them. To make matters worse, thousands of completely new, (untested for safety) chemicals are being manufactured and emitted into the environment every day and once loose in the environment, they recombine into other chemicals that are thus completely unknown to science. Therefore their effects are equally unknown.  What is known is that we are turning our atmosphere, water and soils into chemical stews that are quickly becoming anti-life supporting. No one is talking about the impacts these rogue chemicals are having on anything. That’s because no one knows anything at all about them except that every one of them will kill you once they reach a certain concentration. Right now these chemicals are the vampires in the climate issue. The theory governments around the world use to justify their country’s chemical emissions is this: chemicals released into the atmosphere are neutralized within the span of three days. They degrade on contact with water or microbes in water, soil or on plants.  However, the theory never took into account the accumulation factor and that aspect of the situation has never been communicated to the public. A single application of a chemical can take 3 days to dissipate. But we emit on a continual basis. We emit so much that eco-systems of every description worldwide are being or have been overwhelmed and areas that have become dead zones in air, water and soil are expanding rapidly. These dead zones vary in size from controlled cesspools to areas comprising thousands of square miles. Not all chemicals degrade in three days. Some persist for years, decades or thousands of years. They are the chemical equivalent of nuclear fallout. They act on living bodies in much the same way: they attempt to transform living tissue and solids into liquid – a puddle in other words. These puddles are known as tumors when we have them in us.  While we as people have medical infrastructure to find new ways to defeat the effects of the chemical onslaught, the rest of the living biosphere does not have the same luxury.   As a consequence, the immune systems of living organisms, right down to the DNA level are being compromised and genetic integrity is eroding.  Without genetic integrity, we have no assurance that future generations can follow without major and disastrous alterations in their physical makeup that preclude their ability to live a normal life or a life at all. What oil, coal and chemical companies steadfastly ignore is that humanity cannot exist on this planet after we have killed everything else. Even the ocean is in big trouble now and that is the engine that provides most of the oxygen on Planet Earth. In the early eighties, the damage solvents in gasoline were doing at street level started to become known. Solvent levels were cut (but not eliminated as needed to happen). The solvent production migrated into aviation fuel. Instead of the solvents being mainly sprayed as part of land based vehicular exhaust emissions, land transportation took a back seat to aircraft. By 1989 Texaco became the last major oil refinery to switch its aviation fuel production to include lethal solvents including benzenes.  Since then, the aviation sector has been spraying the entire planet with industrial grade pesticides which coat every surface of everything. What did you think the active ingredient in pesticides was? Well now you know – crude oil byproducts. So if we already know this stuff is killing us – and we do, then you can begin to comprehend the devastating effects these toxins are having on organisms much smaller than we are. Since the molecular structures of the chemicals are so tiny, they penetrate skin and easily pass straight into the blood stream. Not just yours, everything. So washing your fruit has only a nominal effect. The solvents are deep in your food and everything else’s food. There is no escape unless we make a paradigm shift in the way we as a species live.  Aviation of course is not the only culprit. Industry around the world is every bit as irresponsible – especially the oil, chemical, coal and pharmaceutical sectors. They are intentionally and systematically destroying every life system on the globe. This phenomenon is known as CHEMICAL WINTER. It is the fist in the glove of Climate Change and Global Warming that no one wants to talk about. Until this aspect of our climate problems is formally acknowledged around the world, there is no possibility that we will see any sort of mitigation with respect to long term environmental degradation.  
    1. Lezlie's avatar

      Lezlie Posted 2:52 am
      28 Aug 2009

      I totally agree I am a biodynamic beekeeper, & have been seeing & working against this global poison band wagon that no one is addressing in this bill. This is the real problem.This bill is not about protecting the environment or our health. All it is & given by the ones who have created the problem on this planet in the first place. It is no more then another con job to tax everyone but the polluters on your breath.The Global warming is not caused by CO2 it is caused by the sun & a natural phenomena CO2's are the aftermath. In fact the planet is carbon deficient due to the over poisoning of the planet thus the CO2's do not go back into the system as nature designed. The carbon into the soil from the plants , & the oxygen back into the air & combining with the hydrogen to form rain & air we breathe.This bill was designed by the very polluters who now want to tax all of us for breathing, for living, it does not address one issue which is at the cause of the real pollution on this planet.Most people have been totally duped, manipulated & lied too about it. Most people have swallowed it hook line & sinker.What this bill will do is this the total collapse of the entire system, by the very people who have created the financial collapse, have poisoned the land the water & the bulk of life on this planet & then turning & charging us to pay for this. So we will see mass starvation, mass unemployment & depopulation which is really there intent behind it. For if any of you know who they are you will see they are Eugenists who want to cull the population by 5.5 billion people. This is one more bullet in their arsenal they they want you to fire.I can not believe that so few can see this. Most people do not question they do no research they do not know history & they can not open there eyes to nature to see what is really happening. They believe the powers to be who force this unscientific unfounded & total garbage down your throat.I urge every sane person out there who can at all still possibly think that is if you have been wise enough to avoid the stupefying flouride water to say no to this bill. NO to Cap & Trade.If you really want to do something first know the real root of the problem & put real policies in place like action to ban chemicals ban the chem trails, ban the thieves. Is not 24 trillion stolen so far in the last 10 months by the same people behind this bill raise any alarm bills. They now want you to pay for the further dismantling of everything with you again footing the bill. With them taking every cent from it. For it is they who own it.Please do not be another sucker. NO TO CAP & TRADE NO to THE CLIMATE CHANGE BILL.I am a real environmentalist, how knows a rat when I see them, I do not need the media or some slick politician to tell me what I see, nor how to think logically through to the truth.All you young ones out there who really want to do something , first do not fall into the well laid trap to take your heart felt intentions to do good on this planet, by these people. Get educated not from the ones who are telling you what to think. They are total liars. The real scientists have been silenced or murdered by them. Be aware of false prophets. Surely your gut will show you the truth.Al Gore is a front man from them taking a little truth & spinning it in to one of the greatest con jobs this planet has seen. Quess who owns Cap & Trade?Perhaps if we arrested these thieves & liars & poisoners of our food water & environment. We would really get to the heart of the problem & uproot it out source. As a farmer I never got rid of any weed by creating an elaborate system by charging the hoer to avoid the weed whilst paying the sower of the weeds to keep sowing them. Till I have no room to grow food to feed myself nor anyone else.  But the bigger the lie the easier they fall.
  2. rpauli's avatar

    rpauli Posted 3:50 pm
    20 Aug 2009

    Terrific new trend in message style... we do have to identify the villains...Are we sure that spending a half million dollars to buy advertising is the best way to get the message out?  

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