Happy Earth Day everybody—and a not-so-happy one-year anniversary of the BP oil spill. To commemorate these events our partner, CAP, has rolled out a series of stories providing updates on the state of our Earth. Also in this issue, reports on growing student debt and the GOP’s renewed fight against marriage equality. Read on to learn more and then pass the info on to your friends through our ready-to-post tweets and Facebook posts.
One Year Later BP Still Not “Making It Right”
Fossil Fuels: A Legacy of Disaster
Student Loan Debt Likely to Hit $1 Trillion This Year
The Offensive Defense
Let’s Rename Earth Day
From AmericanProgress.org:
One Year Later BP Still Not “Making It Right”—It’s officially been a year since the BP Deepwater Horizon oil disaster caused immeasurable damage to the Gulf Coast and the people who live and work there. Unfortunately, those ecosystems and communities are still suffering. Solutions from both Congress and the parties responsible for the spill are slow moving or nonexistent—a situation that must change.
On 1st anniversary of #BP #oilspill #Gulf Coast ecosystems & communities still suffering cap.af/g17lac #p2
Solutions from Congress and parties responsible 4 #Gulf #oilspill are slow or nonexistent cap.af/g17lac #p2
What is BP doing to fix the Gulf Coast? A year after the oil spill disaster, little has been done to help the ecosystems and communities that are still suffering. cap.af/g17lac #p2
Where is #BP? NOW is time 4 action 2 restore #Gulf & create ecological stability cap.af/g17lac #p2
Fossil Fuels: A Legacy of Disaster—The anniversary of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil disaster and the Massey coal mine explosion in West Virginia remind us how dangerous our dependence on fossil fuels can be. A large cost of our reliance on these energy sources is the death or injury of workers in these industries. Transitioning to cleaner energy technologies such as solar and wind is safer for workers as well as better for public health, economic competitiveness, and the environment.
We need to start investing more in safer #energy sources – #fossilfuel has a legacy of disaster. cap.af/f8Afpo #p2
Clean #energy techs like solar & wind safer 4 workers & better 4 pub health, econ & #environment. cap.af/f8Afpo #p2
Our dependence on fossil fuels has led to large numbers of deaths & injuries for workers in those industries. By comparison, clean energy technologies like solar & wind are safer for workers and better for public health, the economy and the environment. What’s not to like? cap.af/f8Afpo #p2
Is there a better way? Thousands of workers have been killed/injured 4 #coal, #oil & natural gas. cap.af/f8Afpo #p2
Student Loan Debt Likely to Hit $1 Trillion This Year—For the second year in a row, college debt is set to outpace credit card debt in the United States and will likely top $1 trillion this year. The federal government should provide students with the resources they need to use loans to help them achieve their educational goals without racking up so much debt that it keeps them from reaping the benefits of their degrees.
Student debt to hit $1 TRILLION this year – higher than creditcard debt for 2nd year in a row. cap.af/fzCINf #p2
W/ college debt rising, govt. should make college-payment resources more accessible. cap.af/fzCINf #p2
Is crushing young people with debt as they enter the workforce good for our economy or society? As student debt is likely to hit $1 trillion this year, the government has a responsibility to help students pay back their growing loans. cap.af/fzCINf #p2
Should college grads be crushed with debt w/ no help to pay it off? Govt must step in to help. cap.af/fzCINf #p2
From ThinkProgress.org:
The Offensive Defense—This week, House Speaker John Boehner renewed his attack on same-sex couples. New details were released on the House’s intervention in defending the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA, responding to President Barack Obama’s announcement in January that the Department of Justice would no longer defend the law’s constitutionality in court.
#DOMA restricts same-sex couples from accessing the 1,138 federal benefits of marriage in the US. cap.af/i0m6gM #p2
House #GOP prepared 2 use lots of taxpayer $$ 2 fight against marriage equality for #DOMA. cap.af/i0m6gM #p2
Do you support marriage equality? The majority of Americans do. Yet the GOP has renewed the fight for DOMA against same-sex couples. cap.af/i0m6gM #p2
Do you support marriage equality? Majority of Americans do. So why is #GOP fighting against it? cap.af/i0m6gM #p2
From ClimateProgress.org:
Let’s Rename Earth Day—It has been more than 40 years since the first Earth Day and a lot has been accomplished in the subsequent decades. Still, it can be easy to overlook the true meaning of Earth Day—especially when the biggest event of the day seems to be Starbucks giving out a free cup of coffee. So, as ClimateProgress.org argues, perhaps a rebranding might help us refocus on what’s important. Anyway, as our Nobel Prize-winning Energy Secretary Steven Chu said, “I would say that from here on in, every day has to be Earth Day.”
The problem w/ #EarthDay is it asks us to save too much ground. We need 2 focus. cap.af/haVPYf #p2
Would Congress climate zombies care about environment if we renamed #EarthDay? Couldn’t hurt. cap.af/haVPYf #p2
Should we rename Earth Day? The idea seems more relevant than ever in light of our inaction on climate change and the overrunning of Congress by climate zombies. If not a new name, we definitely need a new focus on what is most important for our future environment. cap.af/haVPYf #p2
Should we rename #EarthDay? We need new way 2 make ppl care about nasty things we’re doing 2 Earth. cap.af/haVPYf #p2
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The Center for American Progress Action Fund is a 501(c)(4) organization headquartered in Washington, D.C. We are the sister organization of the Center for American Progress, a 501(c)(3) progressive think tank dedicated to improving the lives of Americans through ideas and action. American Progress is headed by John Podesta, former chief of staff to President Bill Clinton. CAP Action’s mission is to take progressive policy ideas and transform it into action through communications, social advocacy, and legislative action.