Special update from NRDC's President: State of the Union 14FEB13

THE NRDC is one of the sponsors of the Forward on Climate Rally in D.C. on 17 FEB 13. This from NRDC's President, Frances Beinecke....

President Strengthens His Call for National Climate Action From Frances Beinecke's Blog: On Tuesday night, I had the honor of sitting in the House Chamber and hearing President Obama give a full-throated call for climate action in his State of the Union Address. "For the sake of our children and our future, we must do more to combat climate change," he said. He urged Congress to develop bipartisan legislation to promote clean energy and curb carbon emissions. But the president was unmistakably clear: “If Congress won’t act soon to protect future generations, I will. I will direct my Cabinet to come up with executive actions we can take, now and in the future, to reduce pollution, prepare our communities for the consequences of climate change, and speed the transition to more sustainable sources of energy.” It was exhilarating to be in the “People’s House” and listen to the president commit to protecting Americans from the ravages of climate change. Many of the great debates of our time took place within these walls, including the deliberations that led to our bedrock environmental laws. Yet even those esteemed lawmakers who passed the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act could not have imagined the scale of the environmental threat now before us. Unchecked climate change endangers our environment, our communities, our health, and our economy. It demands a comprehensive approach, and President Obama laid out some of the most critical elements of such an approach on Tuesday night. As the audience applauded the president’s call to climate action, I sensed the historic significance of this moment. In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, the Midwestern drought, and the record breaking heat that consumed our nation, Americans of all walks of life agree we must tackle this challenge today. Now we have a president who is making the fight against climate change a central part of his second term and his legacy. With public momentum behind him, the president can make real and lasting progress. And that progress will lead to a stronger nation. I thought it was significant that President Obama put climate action squarely within his plan for revitalizing our nation’s economy. Enhancing America’s manufacturing sector, producing energy that does not contribute to climate change, and revitalizing our infrastructure are opportunities that will lead to innovation and prosperity. This isn’t just about solving an environmental challenge; it’s about moving our country forward. It begins with reducing dangerous carbon pollution. The best tool the president has to achieve this is the Clean Air Act. The law gives him the authority to reduce carbon emission from power plants—the largest source of U.S. greenhouse gases. NRDC has laid out a flexible, cost-effective proposal for how the Environmental Protection Agency can use the Clean Air Act to cut these emissions by 26 percent by 2020 and generate an estimated $25 billion to $60 billion in health and climate benefits by 2020. The president also said America must dramatically expand our abundant wind and solar energy resources, cut in half the amount of energy we waste in homes and business—a proposal that generated great enthusiasm throughout the House Chamber last night—and invest in low-carbon technologies. These are proven solutions that are already delivering clean energy and putting Americans to work. Wind energy now accounts for nearly half of all new installed energy capacity and more than 150,000 Americans have jobs building clean cars that go farther on a tank of gas. And according to the bipartisan Commission on National Energy Efficiency Policy, doubling our energy efficiency over the next two decades would create 1.3 million jobs, reduce carbon pollution by one-third, and deliver more than $1,000 in annual savings for every U.S. household. These are the building blocks of a sustainable energy future. The dirty fuels of the past have no place in that future. Producing tar sands oil, for instance, generates three times as much greenhouse gas emissions as conventional crude—and that’s even before we burn it in cars and trucks. To honor his climate commitments and move our country down a cleaner path, President Obama must reject the Keystone XL pipeline for dirty tar sands oil. We need an “all of the above” strategy to combat climate change, taking every step to reduce carbon pollution. The American people have made it clear they want to move forward not back. Immediately after the State of the Union, Public Policy Polling conducted a survey for NRDC about the President’s remarks about climate change. Sixty-five percent of Americans think climate change is a serious or very serious problem, and 60 percent support the president using his authority to reduce dangerous carbon pollution. More and more Americans are joining the chorus for climate action. You can add your voice by clicking here.Together, we can push for real change. A month ago I sat on the platform during the Inaugural Address and heard the president describe the urgent need to protect Americans from the ravages of climate change. Last night he confirmed his commitment. Now it’s time to put public support and concrete action behind those rousing words.

Throw Big Oil off the fiscal cliff 5DEZ12

BIG oil did their best to buy this election, they threw away millions of dollars trying to buy a government that would protect their corporate welfare. They lost. NOW is the time, with the fiscal cliff looming, to demand our government eliminate the federal tax subsidies exxon, chevron, mobil, conoco, texaco and all the other dirty energy companies. They do not deserve the federal tax subsidies and tax breaks, and we can not afford to continue them. NOW is the time to end corporate welfare for the big oil companies. Click the link to send this message to your members of Congress.

Tell your members of Congress to throw Big Oil off the fiscal cliff and protect investments in conservation, clean energy, and public health! Tell your members of Congress to end Big Oil handouts, not environmental protections! We've got an idea for Congress: How about instead of cutting investments that support our families, protect our health, and preserve our environment, we finally get rid of those handouts that give oil companies billions of our taxpayer dollars every year to keep polluting our air and waterways? It seems like the most obvious plan, but right now Big Oil's congressional allies are pushing hard to do just the opposite as Congress looks for a way to deal with the so-called "fiscal cliff." Big Oil's allies in Congress want to protect special tax breaks for dirty energy companies while cutting investments in conservation, clean energy, and public health.  That makes no sense. But unless Congress hears from us now, they might just have their way. Email your members of Congress today: Tell them to throw Big Oil off the fiscal cliff, not the environmental programs that we all depend on! Big Oil has already recorded over $90 billion in profits so far in 2012. Yet the oil industry continues to receive $4 billion in taxpayer subsidies every year.  It is unacceptable that Big Oil's congressional cronies would have us fork over our tax dollars to these corporate polluters, while being forced to cut programs that protect our health and our environment. But even though environmental programs only make up 1.25% of the national budget, some members of Congress think we can somehow balance the budget by further decimating these critical programs. They would:     – Eliminate tax credits that have helped the wind industry grow,     – Starve our National Parks of funding,     – Cut programs for clean energy research and innovation,     – Undermine efforts to clean up contaminated waterways, and     – End programs that support more than 130 National Wildlife Refuges. We can't afford to lose these programs that keep our water clean, protect the places and wildlife we love, and build the infrastructure we need to curb global warming. So we need to make sure that Congress hears loud and clear that their constituents will not allow our health and our future to be traded away — especially not while they keep doling out billions to dirty energy companies. Send a message to your members of Congress right now urging them to put an end to Big Oil handouts, not our environmental protection programs. If we ended the handouts that we currently give to oil and gas companies, it would save more than $40 billion over the next 10 years. Given the furor over cutting wasteful spending, this should be a no-brainer. But Congress won't do it without hearing from you today. So we hope you'll join us in asking your member of Congress to stop subsidizing an industry that harms our health, and invest instead in clean energy jobs that will that strengthen our environment, our economy, and our energy independence. Thanks, Gene Karpinski President League of Conservation Voters

1920 L Street, NW Suite 800
Washington, DC 20036
202-785-8683

DIVEST!!!! AND AN UPDATE ON THE DO THE MATH TOUR from 350.ORG 29NOV12

HERE is the latest on the divestment from dirty energy campaign by 360.org and some words of wisdom....

"The dominant culture — civilization — is killing the planet, and it is long past time for those of us who care about life on earth to begin taking the actions necessary to stop this culture from destroying every living thing.”
- Derrick Jensen
from Deep Green Resistance: Strategy to Save the Planet
 

Greetings from the Do The Math tour bus!
We’re bouncing up the road to Madison, WI right now after another sold-out show in Chicago last night.
As you might already know, one of the goals of this tour is to launch a new fossil fuel divestment campaign at colleges and universities across the country -- it's a critical way to fight back against corporate polluters.
Here’s how you can help:
If you’re a current student, please click here to join or start a campaign on your campus on our brand new website: gofossilfree.org
If you’re an alumnus/alumna, please click here to tell us where you went to school and join the national campaign. We’ll be in touch soon about how you can connect with and support students at your alma mater.
And if you're not a student or an alum, don't worry -- there will be lots for everyone to do in the weeks ahead. 
Why divestment? Well, we know that fossil fuel companies are principally concerned about two things: their bottom line and their public image. A nationwide movement forcing our schools to divest from fossil fuels will deal a serious blow to both.
Over 100 campuses have already joined the divestment campaign, and it’s generating real excitement everywhere we go. From big schools like the University of Wisconsin to small colleges like Middlebury, the campaign is picking up speed (at Harvard, a student resolution supporting divestment just passed with 72% of the vote!).
Now, it’s absolutely crucial that we keep the momentum going -- click here to get involved: www.gofossilfree.org
Many, many thanks,
Bill
P.S. You can also follow along with the divestment work on our brand-new Fossil Free Facebook and Twitter accounts.

---

350.org is building a global movement to solve the climate crisis. Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter, and sign up for email alerts. You can help power our work by getting involved locally, sharing your story, and donating here. 

THIS IS OUR MOMENT, DO THE MATH AND JOIN THE BATTLE AGAINST KEYSTONE XL 7NOV12

NOW is the time to pressure Pres Obama's administration to stop the keystone xl pipeline from Canada. He no longer has to worry about the election, the people have spoken with our votes in support of green, clean, renewable energy and keystone xl has no place in the administration's policies. 350.org has been leading the battle against the pipeline. Here is an update and a call to action from 350.org, if you are in the metro D.C. area on 18 NOV 12 I hope you will consider attending their action, click the links for more information on it, on keystone xl and tar sands and on 350.org
The election is over, so now it’s time to really get to work.
Right now I’m in Seattle, where tonight I’ll be getting up in front of a sold-out crowd to kick off the Do the Math tour. We're not going to sit back this time and wait for politicians, even the ones we like, to get things done -- if we want change it comes from us. And it’s coming! I’ve been doing this work for a long time, but tonight feels like something new.
We’re still up against the most powerful industry in the history of the world, but we’re playing to win. And after over a year of fighting big oil to a near standstill over Keystone XL, and seeing the fossil fuel industry pour hundreds of millions of dollars to try to buy this election, we know what we have to do to win -- we have to get more creative, braver and bolder than ever before.
So let’s get started. Here’s what’s happening right away:
Do the Math:
Starting tonight, the 350.org crew and I are on the road for the Do the Math tour. It’s going to be something special, and we hope you can join us. We’ve already sold out 6 shows, and over 15,000 people have bought tickets from coast-to-coast, so get your tickets now if you haven’t already.
Click here to join us in Washington DC: dothemath-dc.eventbrite.com/
Divestment:
At the same time, on campuses all across the country, students are calling for their colleges and universities to divest from the industry that’s endangering our future. Dozens of campuses already have campaigns underway, and a few are well on their way to convincing their schools to divest.
This kind of principled stand by students played a key role in taking down the Apartheid regime in South Africa, and with your help students will once again be a crucial part of ending a great injustice. We’ve launched a special site for students to start divestment campaigns, where you can launch petitions to University presidents, download campaign toolkits and connect with other students. Click here to get started: gofossilfree.org
Keystone XL:
It’s time to stop the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline once and for all.
Our newly re-elected President has the opportunity to deny the permit for Keystone XL, and should do so right away. We’re not waiting to put the pressure on either -- on Nov. 18th, just as we wrap our Do the Math event, we’re hitting the streets of Washington DC with thousands of our friends to show Obama that we expect him to stop the pipeline. We know it’s short notice, but the sooner we make an impression on the President, the sooner we’ll wrap this fight -- if you're in DC, we need you to be there. Click here to RSVP: act.350.org/signup/KXL_Nov18/
So here goes something -- we’re all going to have to dig deep into our reserves of energy and optimism, but we have the power to turn this thing around. Sandy showed us one vision of the future, but not the only one, and it’s on all of us to work for that other future that is still open to us, even when the odds of reaching it feel small.
Let’s get to work.
Thank you,
Bill & the 350.org team
PS. If you're in the DC area and can join us on the 18th, please sign up to be an event marshal and keep everything running smooth -- It would really be a huge help. You can sign up to be a marshal here.

---

350.org is building a global movement to solve the climate crisis. Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter, and sign up for email alerts. You can help power our work by getting involved locally, sharing your story, and donating here. 

Tell Congress: Don't sacrifice the environment to cut the deficit 10OKT12

IT is the 40th anniversary of the Clean Water Act but all the laws and regulations that protect us and our environment at risk if sequestration kicks in on 1JAN13. Please send a message to your Representative and Senators asking them to keep the EPA and other environmental regulatory agencies adequately funded. From the NRDC...


The programs that protect our air, our water, our wildlife and our national parks are facing severe cutbacks.

Unless Congress acts soon, those programs will suffer severe, indiscriminate across-the-board budget cuts, and at the same time tax credits that boost clean energy will expire. To make matters worse, some in Congress want to cut environmental protection even further, using the need to reduce the deficit as an excuse to hammer away at popular programs that protect health and the environment.

How would the across-the-board cuts affect you? There would be a shortage of meat inspectors, raising the risk of disease outbreaks; almost $200 million would be cut from fixing or building drinking water and sewage systems in your communities; more than $400 million would be slashed from finding newer, cleaner ways to produce and use energy; funding for national parks would be cut; and work to protect your air and water would struggle. And the damage under the House Republicans' spending plan would be even worse.

Congress needs to come up with a plan that will cut the deficit without harming the environment. Environmental programs have already been cut; the deficit can be reduced through a balanced, bipartisan program that looks at all aspects of the budget.

What to do Send a message right now telling your senators and representative that slashing environmental programs is unacceptable.

PRESIDENT OBAMA AT SLOAN'S LAKE PARK, DENVER, COLORADO 4OKT12

THIS is the President Obama that will defeat mitt robme romney on November 6th. Here are his remarks at a Denver, Colorado campaign stop today. For a bit more information on just how the real mitt might govern if elected check out this earlier post Mitt Romney's Role as Mormon Bishop Shows His Extremist Religious Beliefs 15SEP12 http://bucknacktssordidtawdryblog.blogspot.com/2012/09/mitt-romneys-role-as-mormon-bishop.html
This is not just about romney's religious beliefs, it is about the romney he presented to the Massachusetts voters before the election and the romney who was governor. As the President said today in Denver, that was not the real mitt romney at last night's debate. Here are his comments from today....
THE PRESIDENT:  Hello, Colorado!  (Applause.)  It is good to be back in Denver!  (Applause.)  Can everybody please give Lily a big round of applause for the great introduction.  (Applause.)  We’ve got so many dignitaries I can’t name them all.  But we’ve got your outstanding senators in the house.  (Applause.)  Your terrific members of Congress are here.  (Applause.)  Got our campaign co-chairs.  Got Will.I.Am.  (Applause.)  Most importantly, we’ve got all of you.  (Applause.)  Even though you had to get the winter coats out a little quicker than you expected.  (Laughter.)
AUDIENCE MEMBER:  We love you, Obama!
THE PRESIDENT:  (Laughter.)  I love you back.  (Applause.)
Now, the reason I was in Denver, obviously, is to see all of you, and it’s always pretty.  (Laughter.)  But we also had our first debate last night.  (Applause.)  And when I got onto the stage, I met this very spirited fellow who claimed to be Mitt Romney.  (Laughter.)  But it couldn’t have been Mitt Romney -- because the real Mitt Romney has been running around the country for the last year promising $5 trillion in tax cuts that favor the wealthy.  The fellow on stage last night said he didn’t know anything about that.  (Laughter.) 
The real Mitt Romney said we don’t need any more teachers in our classrooms.
AUDIENCE:  Booo --
THE PRESIDENT:  Don’t boo -- vote.  (Laughter and applause.)
But the fellow on stage last night, he loves teachers -- can’t get enough of them.  (Laughter.)  The Mitt Romney we all know invested in companies that were called “pioneers” of outsourcing jobs to other countries.  But the guy on stage last night, he said that he doesn’t even know that there are such laws that encourage outsourcing -- he’s never heard of them.  Never heard of them.  Never heard of tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas.  He said that if it’s true, he must need a new accountant.  (Laughter.)
Now, we know for sure it was not the real Mitt Romney, because he seems to be doing just fine with his current accountant.  (Laughter.)  So you see, the man on stage last night, he does not want to be held accountable for the real Mitt Romney’s decisions and what he’s been saying for the last year.  And that’s because he knows full well that we don’t want what he’s been selling for the last year.  (Applause.)  So Governor Romney may dance around his positions, but if you want to be President, you owe the American people the truth.  (Applause.) 
So here’s the truth:  Governor Romney cannot pay for his $5 trillion tax plan without blowing up the deficit or sticking it to the middle class.  That’s the math.  We can’t afford to go down that road again.  We can’t afford another round of budget-busting tax cuts for the wealthy.  We can’t afford to gut our investments in education or clean energy or research and technology.  We can’t afford to roll back regulations on Wall Street, or on big oil companies or insurance companies.  We cannot afford to double down on the same top-down economic policies that got us into this mess.  That is not a plan to create jobs.  That is not a plan to grow the economy.  That is not change -- that is a relapse.  (Applause.)  We don’t want to go back there.  We’ve tried it, it didn't work.  And we are not going back, we are going forward.  (Applause.)
Now, I’ve got a different view about how we create jobs and prosperity.  This country doesn’t succeed when we only see the rich getting richer.  We succeed when the middle class gets bigger.  We grow our economy not from the top down, but from the middle out.
We don’t believe that anybody is entitled to success in this country, but we do believe in something called opportunity.  We believe in a country where hard work pays off and where responsibility is rewarded, and everybody is getting a fair shot, and everybody is doing their fair share, and everybody plays by the same rules.  (Applause.)  That's the country we believe in.  That’s what I’m fighting for.  That’s why I’m running for a second term for President of the United States, and that's why I want your vote.  (Applause.)
AUDIENCE:  Four more years!  Four more years!
THE PRESIDENT:  What I talked about last night was a new economic patriotism -- a patriotism that's rooted in the belief that growing our economy begins with a strong, thriving middle class.
That means we export more jobs and we outsource -- export more products and we outsource fewer jobs.  Over the last three years, we came together to reinvent a dying auto industry that’s back on top of the world.  (Applause.)  We’ve created more than half a million new manufacturing jobs.
And so now you’ve got a choice.  We can keeping giving tax breaks to corporations that ship jobs overseas, or we can start rewarding companies that are opening new plants and training new workers, and creating new jobs right here in the United States of America.  That's what we’re looking for.  (Applause.)
We can help big factories and small businesses double their exports, and create a million new manufacturing jobs over the next four years.  You can make that happen.
I want to control more of our own energy.  After 30 years of inaction, we raised fuel standards so that by the middle of the next decade, your cars and trucks will be going twice as far on a gallon of gas.  (Applause.)
We’ve doubled the amount of renewable energy we generate from sources like wind and solar.  And thousands of Americans have jobs today building wind turbines and long-lasting batteries.  (Applause.)  The United States of America today is less dependent on foreign oil than any time in nearly two decades.  (Applause.)
So now you’ve got a choice between a plan that reverses this progress, or one that builds on it.  Last night, my opponent says he refuses to close the loophole that gives big oil companies $4 billion in taxpayer subsidies every year.  Now, we’ve got a better plan -- where we keep investing in wind and solar and clean coal, and the good jobs that come with them; where farmers and scientists harness new biofuels to power our cars and our trucks; where construction workers are retrofitting homes and factories so they waste less energy; and we can develop a 100-year supply of natural gas that creates hundreds of thousands of jobs -- and, by the way, we can cut our oil imports in half by 2020.  That will be good for our economy.  That will be good for our environment.  That will be good for Colorado.  That will be good for America.  That's what we’re fighting for.  That's why I am running for a second term as President of the United States.  (Applause.)
I want to give more Americans the chance to learn the skills they need to compete.  I talked last night about how education was the gateway of opportunity for me and Michelle, for so many of you.  It’s the gateway for a middle-class life.  And today, millions of students are paying less for college because we took on a system that was wasting billions of taxpayer dollars on bankers and lenders.  (Applause.)
And so now you’ve got a choice:  We can gut education to pay for more tax breaks for the wealthy, or we can decide that in the United States of America, no child should have her dream deferred because of an overcrowded classroom.  (Applause.)  No family should have to set aside a college acceptance letter because they don’t have the money.  No company should have to look for workers in China because they couldn’t find any with the right skills here in the United States.
So we’re going to recruit 100,000 new math and science teachers, and we’re going to improve early childhood education, and we’re going to create 2 million more slots in community colleges so that workers can get trained for the jobs that are out there right now.  (Applause.)  And we are going to continue to do everything we need to do to cut the growth of tuition costs, because every young person in America should have the opportunity to go to college without being loaded up with hundreds -- with tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of debt.  That's part of what it means for us to be able to build an economy that lasts.
And finally, I’ve got a balanced plan that independent experts say will cut the deficit by $4 trillion through a mix of spending cuts and higher taxes on wealthiest Americans.  Now, I’ve already worked with Republicans in Congress to cut a trillion dollars in spending, and I’m willing to do more.  I want to reform the tax code so that it’s simple and it’s fair, but also so incomes over $250,000 -- we go back to the same rate we had when Bill Clinton was President, we created 23 million new jobs, the biggest surplus in history, a lot of millionaires to boot.  (Applause.)
Now, last night, Governor Romney ruled out raising a dime of taxes on anybody ever, no matter how much money they make.  He ruled out closing the loophole that gives oil companies $4 billion in corporate welfare.  He refused to even acknowledge the loophole that gives tax breaks to corporations that ship jobs overseas.  And when he was asked what he’d actually do to cut the deficit and reduce spending, he said he’d eliminate funding for public television.
AUDIENCE:  Booo --
THE PRESIDENT:  That was his answer.  I mean, thank goodness somebody is finally getting tough on Big Bird.  (Laughter and applause.)  It’s about time.  We didn't know that Big Bird was driving the federal deficit.  (Laughter.)  But that's what we heard last night.  How about that?
AUDIENCE MEMBER:  And Elmo!
THE PRESIDENT:  Elmo, too?  (Laughter.)
Look, the fact is Governor Romney’s math just doesn’t add up.  And I had to spend a lot of time last night trying to pin it down.  The only one way to pay for $5 trillion in new tax cuts and $2 trillion in new defense spending that the military says it doesn’t need is by asking the middle class to pay more. And I refuse to do that.  (Applause.)
I refuse to ask middle-class families to give up their deductions for owning a home or raising their kids just to pay for another millionaire’s tax cut.  I refuse to ask students to pay more for college, or kick children out of Head Start programs, or eliminate health insurance for millions of Americans who are poor, or elderly, or disabled -- just to pay for more tax cuts that we cannot afford.
And I will never turn Medicare into a voucher.  (Applause.)  Governor Romney doubled down on that proposal last night and he is wrong.  No American should have to spend their golden years at the mercy of insurance companies.  They should retire with the care and the dignity that they have earned.  (Applause.)
So, yes, we'll reform and strengthen Medicare for the long haul, but we’ll do it by reducing the cost of health care -- not by asking seniors to pay thousands of dollars more.  And we will keep the promise of Social Security by taking the responsible steps to strengthen it -- not by turning it over to Wall Street.
Now, going forward we're going to have a chance to talk a little bit about what's going on overseas, because our prosperity at home is linked to what happens abroad.  Four years ago, I promised to end the war in Iraq, and I did.  (Applause.)  I said we’d wind down the war in Afghanistan in a responsible way, and we are.  (Applause.)  While a new tower is rising above the New York skyline, al Qaeda is on the path to defeat and Osama bin Laden is dead.  (Applause.)
But we still face serious threats around the world.  We saw that just a few weeks ago.  And that’s why, so long as I’m Commander-in-Chief, we will sustain the strongest military the world has ever known.  And when our troops take off their uniforms, we will serve them as well as they’ve served us -- (applause) -- because nobody should have to fight for a job when they come home, or a roof over their heads when they have fought for their country.  They have earned our respect and our honor.  (Applause.)  That's a commitment I make.
Now, it will be interesting to see what the guy who was playing Mitt Romney yesterday -- (laughter) -- will say about foreign policy when we meet next, because he said it was "tragic" to end the war in Iraq.  He won’t tell us how he’ll end the war in Afghanistan.  And I’ll use the money we’re no longer spending on war to pay down our debt and to put more people back to work rebuilding our roads and our bridges, and our schools and our runways and broadband lines -- because after a decade of war, it's time to do some nation-building here at home and put some folks to work here at home.  (Applause.)
So this is the choice we now face.  This is what the election comes down to.  Over and over, we've been told by our opponents that since government can’t do everything, it should do almost nothing.  If you can’t afford health insurance, hope you don’t get sick.  If a company is releasing toxic pollution into the air that your children breathe, well, that’s the price of progress -- can't afford to regulate.  If you can’t afford to start a business or go to college, just borrow money from your parents.  (Laughter.) 
As I described last night, that’s not who we are.  That’s not what this country is about.  Here in America, we believe we’re all in this together.  (Applause.)  We understand America is not about what can be done for us -- it’s about what can be done by us, together, as one nation, and as one people.  (Applause.)
You understand that.  You understand that, Denver.  You are the reason that there's a teacher in Pueblo who, with her husband, can buy her first phone with -- first home with the help of new tax credits that we helped pass.  We couldn't have done it without you.  You made that happen.  (Applause.)
You’re the reason that a woman outside Durango can get the treatment she needs to beat cancer, now that there are affordable plans to cover preexisting conditions.  You did that.  You made that happen.  (Applause.)
You’re the reason that thousands of students at CU Boulder, and Colorado State, and University of Denver have more help paying for college this year.  That happened because of you.  (Applause.)
You’re the reason a young immigrant who grew up here and went to school here, and pledged allegiance to our flag will no longer be deported from the only country she’s ever called home.  (Applause.)
You're the reason why an outstanding soldier won’t be kicked out of the military because of who he loves.  (Applause.)  You're the reason why thousands of families have been able to say to the loved ones who served us so bravely:  “Welcome home."  Welcome home.  Welcome home.  (Applause.)
If you turn away now -- if you buy into the cynicism that somehow the change we fought for isn’t possible, then of course, change won’t happen.  If you give up on the idea that your voice can make a difference, then other folks fill the void -- lobbyists and special interests, and the people who are writing the $10 million checks.  And all the spin will end up dominating the airwaves, and that’s how things go, and ordinary folks get left out.  All the folks who are trying to make it harder for you to vote; the folks in Washington who think somehow that they should control the health care choices that women should be making for themselves.
AUDIENCE:  Booo --
THE PRESIDENT:  Only you can make change happen.  Only you have the power to move us forward.  (Applause.)
From the day we began this campaign, I always said real change takes time.  It takes more than one term.  It takes more even than one President or one party.  You certainly can’t do it if you’ve got a President who writes off half the nation before he even takes office.  (Applause.)
In 2008, 47 percent of the country didn’t vote for me.  But on the night of the election, I said to all those Americans, I may not have won your vote, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your President, too.  (Applause.)
And so I want to say to Denver, I want to say to the entire great state of Colorado:  I don’t know how many of you will be with me this time around -- (applause) -- but I’ll be with you no matter what.  Because I’m not fighting to create Democratic jobs or Republican jobs -- I’m fighting to create American jobs.  (Applause.)  I’m not fighting to improve schools in the red states or blue states -- I’m fighting to improve schools in the United States.  (Applause.)
The values we care about don’t just belong to workers or businesses, or the rich or the poor, or the 1 percent or the 99 percent -- they are American values; they belong to all of us.  And if we reclaim them now, if we rally around a new sense of economic patriotism, a sense of how we build an economy from the middle out and give ladders of opportunity for everybody who is willing to work hard -- we will strengthen the middle class, we’ll keep moving forward.
I still believe that our politics is not as divided as it seems sometimes.  I still believe in you.  I’m asking you to keep on believing in me.  (Applause.)  I’m asking for your vote.  And if you’re willing to stand with me and work with me, we’re going to win Denver again.  (Applause.)  We’ll win Colorado again.  We’ll finish what we started.  We will remind the world just why it is the United States of America is the greatest nation on Earth.
Thank you, everybody.  God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.  (Applause.)
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/10/04/remarks-president-campaign-event-denver-co

Mitt Romney: Lying to victory (DEBATE ANALYSIS) 4OKT12

LIES, lies and more lies is how mitt robme romney won the first debate with Pres Obama. From The Daily Kos, and check this out by Bob Cesca on HuffPost Mitt Romney Won the Debate. But Why? 4OKT12

by Barbara MorrillFollow 

attribution: REUTERS

"How much did I lie?"

The results of Wednesday night's first presidential debate are in and it's official: Mitt Romney won round one. He was aggressive, he was decisive, he delivered. Of course he also lied through his teeth for most of the debate. Romney lied:

• When he claimed that "pre-existing conditions are covered under my plan." They're not.
• When he said that President Obama had "cut Medicare by $716 billion to pay for Obamacare." Obama didn't.
• When he denied proposing a $5 trillion tax cut. He did.
• When he said President Obama had "added almost as much to the federal debt as all the prior presidents combined." Not even close.
• When he resurrected "death panels." That was called "one of the biggest whoppers of the night."
• When he stated that half the green energy companies given stimulus funds had failed. Only if three out of nearly three dozen is half.

Stay tuned. These just scratch the surface.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/10/04/1139793/-Mitt-Romney-Lying-to-victory?detail=email

Ad says stimulus tax credits funded a solar company building a Mexico plant from POLITIFACT 2MAI12

THE repiglicans and tea-baggers have done nothing to stimulate the economy to get us out of this recession and so have nothing to offer the electorate but lies and deception, like these lies from americans for prosperity (the people who are sending jobs overseas) about stimulus money being sent to Mexico, Finland and the prc. See my post on the Finland story Ad says stimulus tax credits funded jobs in Finland from POLITIFACT 3MAI12 http://bucknacktssordidtawdryblog.blogspot.com/2012/05/ad-says-stimulus-tax-credits-funded_04.html
The truth about these projects from PolitiFact.....

The Truth-O-Meter Says:

Says the stimulus bill sent tax credits overseas, such as "$1.2 billion to a solar company that's building a plant in Mexico."

Americans for Prosperity on Thursday, April 26th, 2012 in a TV ad

Ad says stimulus tax credits funded a solar company building a Mexico plant

Share this story:

Americans for Prosperity released this ad April 26, 2012, to air in Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio and Virginia.

A TV ad from Americans for Prosperity claims that stimulus tax credits went overseas, including "$1.2 billion to a solar company that's building a plant in Mexico." That's not what happened.

A TV ad running in eight states blames President Barack Obama for sending stimulus money overseas while Americans are out of work.

"Tell President Obama, American tax dollars should help American taxpayers," the narrator says. Instead, $2.3 billion in tax credits funded jobs in Mexico, Finland and China, the ad claims.

We checked all three examples — and found the ad incorrectly describes them all.

(We've also checked many other exaggerations about the stimulus.)

Americans for Prosperity, a group dedicated to "educating citizens about economic policy" that works closely with tea party activists and has been funded by the conservative Koch family, released the ad April 26, 2012.

Here’s the string of claims, starting with an image of the president signing a bill:

Washington promised to create American jobs. We passed their stimulus. But that's not what happened. Fact: Billions of taxpayer dollars spent on green energy went to jobs in foreign countries. The Obama administration admitted the truth, that $2.3 billion of tax credits went overseas, while millions of Americans can't find a job. $1.2 billion to a solar company that's building a plant in Mexico. Half a billion to an electric car company that created hundreds of jobs in Finland. And tens of millions of dollars to build traffic lights in China.

Sounds like a scandal and an outrage. Is that what happened?
For this fact-check, we’re focusing on whether "tax credits" that "went overseas" included "$1.2 billion to a solar company that's building a plant in Mexico." (In other fact-checks, we found the Finland claim False, and the China claim Mostly False.)

The ad listed two sources for its Mexico claim, the Energy Department and PV Magazine. We tracked those down, then chatted with the companies involved.

Two programs, two projects

We’ll start with what’s true: An American solar company, SunPower, was approved for federal stimulus money. It also opened a solar panel plant in Mexico.

(Or, rather, it moved its Mexican manufacturing from Chihuahua to a building it’s leasing in Mexicali, said company spokeswoman Natalie Wymer.)

That’s where the claim’s relationship to the truth ends.

• The company didn’t get tax credits, but a $1.2 billion loan guarantee. What’s the difference? The Energy Department expects the loan to be paid back — with interest.

• That loan guarantee wasn’t for the Mexico plant — a separate project with its own funding — but to build the California Valley Solar Ranch in San Luis Obispo, Calif. Construction on the California project has already started, with the Energy Department projecting 350 construction jobs and 15 permanent ones. Pacific Gas & Electric Co., the state’s largest utility, will ultimately buy the power.

• Most of the solar panels for the California project will come from SunPower’s California manufacturing facility in Milpitas, though given the size of the project, they’ll also come from the company’s plants in Mexico and Asia, Wymer said.

• SunPower no longer owns the California Valley Solar Ranch project. The solar project — and the loan guarantee — belong to New Jersey company NRG Energy. That’s the company that will get the federal loan money, and be responsible for repaying taxpayers.

Our ruling

A TV ad from Americans for Prosperity says billions of tax dollars spent on green energy went to jobs in foreign countries. It claims that stimulus bill tax credits went overseas, such as "$1.2 billion to a solar company that's building a plant in Mexico." The ad even cites sources for its claim.

But those same sources, plus a few phone calls, quickly bring down the ad’s house of cards. Sure, taxpayer money was originally approved for a California solar company that also happened to open a plant in Mexico. But that loan — not tax credits, as the ad claims — will go to a New Jersey company for a solar project in California, employing construction workers in the state, using mostly California-built solar panels, to create solar power that’ll be purchased by a California utility.

That’s a completely different story. The ad strings together alarming-sounding tidbits about actual stimulus projects to create the impression of something else entirely — in a way that’s ultimately ridiculous. And that earns our lowest rating, Pants on Fire.
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2012/may/02/americans-prosperity/ad-says-stimulus-tax-credits-funded-solar-company-/

About this statement:

Published: Wednesday, May 2nd, 2012 at 11:31 a.m.
Subjects: Corporations, Energy, Environment, Government Efficiency, Message Machine 2012, Stimulus
Sources:
Americans for Prosperity, "AFP Wasteful Spending Ad," April 26, 2012

Americans for Prosperity, "AFP Ad Scrutinizes Wasteful Use of Taxpayer Dollars," April 26, 2012

PolitiFact, "Ad says stimulus tax credits funded jobs in Finland," May 3, 2012

PolitiFact, "Ad says stimulus tax credits funded traffic lights in China," May 2, 2012

New Yorker, "Covert operations: The billionaire brothers who are waging war against Obama," Aug. 30. 2010

NPR, "Who's raising money for tea party movement?" Feb. 19, 2010

Los Angeles Times, "Koch brothers now at heart of GOP power," Feb. 6, 2011

Americans for Prosperity, "About Americans for Prosperity," accessed Nov. 11, 2011

Washington Times, "'Green' jobs no longer golden in stimulus," Sept. 9, 2010

PV Magazine, "SunPower to open Mexican plant," Aug. 8, 2011

Energy Department Loan Programs Office, "DOE Offers Conditional Commitment for $1.187 Billion Loan Guarantee, Support California Solar Generation," April 12, 2011

Energy Department Loan Programs Office, "DOE Finalizes $1.2 Billion Loan Guarantee to Support California Solar Generation Project," Sept. 30, 2011

Energy Department Loan Programs Office, "NRG Solar (California Valley Solar Ranch)," accessed May 1, 2012

California Valley Solar Ranch, accessed April 30, 2012

SunPower, "SunPower Announces New Solar Panel Manufacturing Facility," Aug. 5, 2011

Interview with Natalie Wymer, senior director, SunPower corporate communications, May 1, 2012

SunPower, "SunPower's and Flextronics' New Solar Manufacturing Plant Creates Jobs, Economic Benefits and Clean Affordable Energy," April 12, 2011

SunPower, "SunPower and Total Partner to Create a New Global Leader in the Solar Industry," April 28, 2011

SunPower, "NRG Energy, SunPower Invite Community Leaders to Ceremonial Groundbreaking for 250-Megawatt California Valley Solar Ranch," Nov. 10, 2011

SunPower, "SunPower Announces Agreement to Acquire Tenesol SA," Dec 23, 2011

NRG Energy, 10-K filing, Feb. 28, 2012
Written by: Becky Bowers
Researched by: Becky Bowers
Edited by: Bill Adair