You’ve reached the activism portion of today’s show. Now that you’re informed and angry, here’s what you can do about it. Today’s activism: We Charge Genocide.

Police violence is an epidemic in this country. The extrajudicial murder of yet another person of color at police hands makes headlines so often, I’m now routinely producing an episode on the most recent set of protests and demands for justice when a new wave breaks out.

With so much happening around police brutality, the next several activism segments are going to focus on specific communities targeted by law enforcement and tactics being highlighted for change. Writers and advocates from The Nation and TruthOut are among those calling for an end to policing altogether. In the words of Mychal Denzel Smith: “We need to abolish the pillars of white supremacy and I think the police is one of those.”

Until that day, there are practices to end and departments and individual officers to hold accountable. The group leading that work in Chicago is We Charge Genocide.

"To Organize. To Transform. To End Police Violence.” — a simple slogan that has taken them all the way to the United Nations Committee Against Torture in Geneva. They are a grassroots, inter-generational volunteer group who has created some amazing resources through community organizing, protest and their website WeChargeGenocide.org.

Chicago residents can contact their alderman about the pending reparations ordinance, stay up to date on hearings, and report their encounters with the CPD. Their hashtag #ChiCopWatch and handle @ChiCopWatch aggregate eye witness accounts, personal experiences, and reports from hearings and protests.

You can also sign their petition demanding CPD detective Dante Servin be permanently removed from the force following his March 21, 2012 shooting of Rekia Boyd. The courts refuse to hold him accountable for her murder, but the Police Board can step in to terminate his employment. Really, it’s the least they can do.

The We Charge Genocide website also has some amazing graphics, so an easy way to show your support and solidarity is to post those on your social media networks. Give them a follow on Twitter and a like on Facebook to make their campaigns more visible and help them build a broad coalition for change.

TAKE ACTION:

Support and follow: We Charge Genocide on Facebook and on Twitter via @ChiCopWatch and #ChiCopWatch

Report police misconduct: "Report Encounter"

Additional Activism/Resources:

SIGN: "Fire Chicago Police Detective Dante Servin", #Justice4Rekia via @ColorOfChange’s I Am Color of Change

Sources/further reading:

"In Order to End Police Brutality, We Need to End the Police” by Mychal Denzel Smith at The Nation

"Abolish the Police. Instead, Let’s Have Full Social, Economic, and Political Equality.” by Mychal Denzel Smith at The Nation

"The disappeared: Chicago police detain Americans at abuse-laden 'black site’” by Spencer Ackerman at The Guardian

"Police ‘Reforms' You Should Always Oppose” by Mariame Kaba of Project NIA via Truthout

"Yet Another Victim: Rekia Boyd Killed by Off-Duty Officer” by Mychal Denzel Smith at Ebody

"Black Women Aren’t Just Secondary Casualties of Aggressive Policing” by Dani McClain at The Nation

Hear the segment in context:

Episode #919 "We thought we were free (Police State)"

Written by BOTL social media/activism director Katie Klabusich

You’ve reached the activism portion of today’s show. Now that you’re informed and angry, here’s what you can do about it. Today’s activism: Drone Pilots, Please Refuse to Fly.

Drone news has been focused on domestic surveillance and potential delivery service methods for the past couple of years. Perhaps people are desensitized or unable to garner interest in violence against those overseas, or perhaps stopping a now routine military practice seems impossible.

But drones are deadly and still in use under the Obama administration. According to estimates from the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, about 6,000 people have been killed by U.S. drones in Pakistan, Yemen, Afghanistan, Somalia, Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya. Of that 6,000, 230 are estimated to be children.

Since John McCain’s Senate Armed Services Committee is busying itself trying to keep the 122 remaining prisoners at Guantanamo from being released and the Commander in Chief seems unwilling to curb the use of drones, military veterans have teamed up with the organization Know Drones to appeal directly to the pilots who fly them.

Graphic 15-second ads depicting the drone operations video screen, an explosion, civilians searching through rubble after the drone attack, and images of children killed were produced and paid for by KnowDrones.com and members of Veterans For Peace, Sacramento. The voice over says, "Drone pilots, please refuse to fly.”

Nick Mottern, coordinator of KnowDrones, explained the purpose of the ads and why they are calling for help to continue airing them: "We produced this spot to make the point as powerfully as possible that drone killing is horrifying, illegal and immoral. The President and the Congress refuse to respect law and morality and stop US drone attacks, so we are asking the people who are bear the burden of doing the actual killing to put a stop to it.”

You can support the KnowDrones effort by visiting their website — KnowDrones.com — and donating and/or sharing the ads on your networks. Their campaign is being distributed to local cable companies and networks through coordination with activist social justice ad agency Information in the Public Interest, so a $25 donation can buy a spot on CNN and as little as $50 a spot on MSNBC.

It’s time the public engaged with this issue as drone killings are done in our name by our government with our tax dollars. If more veterans and enlisted military can be encouraged to speak out and supported as they do, drawing in people across political parties and affiliations will be easier and could help make this a campaign issue next year.

Support "Show the Real Truth to United States TV Audiences" via KnowDrones and Veterans For Peace, Sacramento

Additional Activism/Resources:

Sign: "Guantanamo Forever? Tell John McCain: No.” via Amnesty International

Sources/further reading:

"Military Veterans Sponsor TV Commercials in California Condemning U.S. Drone Attacks” via DailyKosM

"Pakistan Is Investigating a CIA Official Accused of Murder After a US Drone Strike” by Jason Leopold at Vice News

"John McCain: The Most Hypocritical, Opportunistic and Untrustworthy Senator” by Steven Rosenfeld at Alternet

Hear the segment in context:

Episode #918 "War is a racket (Foreign Policy)"

Written by BOTL social media/activism director Katie Klabusich

You’ve reached the activism portion of today’s show. Now that you’re informed and angry, here’s what you can do about it. Today’s activism: Ban Fracking on Public Lands.

While an outright ban on fracking would probably be the best plan for the environment and our drinking water, managing to pass a ban that prohibits the practice on public lands would go a long way toward curbing its effects.

Representative Mark Pocan of Wisconsin reintroduced his bill to do just that last week — on Earth Day, in fact. Food & Water Watch is supporting the "Protect Our Public Lands Act of 2015” to both reduce the impact on the climate and to keep the areas around our national parks and monuments from being destroyed.

According to Food & Water Watch, at the end of 2014 oil and gas companies had leases on over 34 million acres of public land and over 200 million more are being targeted for drilling. Serious damage has already been done; habitat destruction and the potential for damage to parks and monuments is only increasing.

You can visit FoodAndWaterWatch.org’s “Take Action” tab to add your name and — as always — use ContactingTheCongress.org to let your legislators know you support Rep Pocan’s bill, so they should sign on as co-sponsors.

California is especially impacted by the water required to fuel the fracking process. The drought and Governor Brown’s mandatory 25% statewide reduction in water use is getting national attention, but most news outlets are missing the exemptions to agriculture and energy. According to Reuters, California used 70 million gallons of water to frack in 2014. DeSmog Blog reports that the oil industry insists it’s a “responsible user of water.” But if things are dire enough to limit household use, perhaps exemptions aren’t prudent.

Clean Water Action — at CleanWater.org — has a petition calling for Governor Brown to impose a moratorium. If you’re a resident of the state, you can sign on to contact him through the link on their home page. And anyone can use the “contact us” links at CA.gov to let them know what impacts one state effects everyone.

TAKE ACTION:

SIGN and share: Ban Fracking on Public Lands! via Food & Water Watch to support Rep Mark Pocan’s legislation

Use ContactingTheCongress.org to let your legislators know you expect them to support Rep. Mark Pocan's Protect Our Public Lands Act of 2015.

Additional Activism/Resources:

SIGN and share: "Tell Governor Brown: Fracking Moratorium now!” via Clean Water Action

Contact Governor Brown directly: Mail/Phone/Email

Sources/further reading:

"The Urgent Case for a Ban on Fracking” via Food & Water Watch

"Exclusive: California used 70 million gallons of water in fracking in 2014” at Reuters

"How Much Water Does The California Oil Industry Actually Use?” via DeSmog Blog

Hear the segment in context:

Episode #917 "The water wars start at home (Climate) "

Written by BOTL social media/activism director Katie Klabusich

You’ve reached the activism portion of today’s show. Now that you’re informed and angry, here’s what you can do about it. Today’s activism: Free Purvi Patel.

By now you’re probably wondering when during the show an expert or an advocate will explain how a person can be charged and convicted of both feticide — the killing of a fetus — and neglect of a dependent — which presumably would be a child with a birth certificate and a birthday and all the necessary markers that come with entry into the world. Welcome to the current state of reproductive healthcare and the criminalization of anyone who dares walk around with a uterus.

Before the red state shaming of Indiana kicks back into gear, you should know that as of April 1st, there were 332 abortion restriction provisions making their way through 43 state houses. So, not just red states or southern states or fly over states. Basically, unless you live in proactive Oregon or California, your state is at the very least stalled on extending care to those who need it or actively attempting to legislate basic healthcare until it's out of reach for poor and marginalized people.

People like Purvi Patel.

Our friend Imani Gandy at This Week in Blackness is also senior legal analysis at RH Reality Check — and she can describe, but not make sense of either the charges or the conviction. As she so succinctly put it, "A charge of feticide requires a dead fetus, while a charge of neglect of a dependent requires a live birth.” The state’s inability to create or present evidence of a self-induced miscarriage — which is illegal in every state, by the way — or evidence that an attempted miscarriage resulted in a live birth should have meant Patel went home.

Instead she’s expected to serve 20 years in prison.

RH Reality Check is calling for the State of Indiana to overturn the conviction and eliminate criminal liability for pregnancy outcomes. You can find, sign, and share their petition at RHRealityCheck.org — the graphic and the link are on essentially every page.

We shouldn’t need for an injustice to be in our backyard to care about it; but for those who do, legislation that monitors and criminalizes pregnant people is setting records this year from coast to coast. Stopping the wave and demanding existing laws be overturned is a fight we can’t afford to skip out on; lives are at stake — right now, today.

TAKE ACTION:

SIGN ”Overturn the #PurviPatel Conviction; Repeal Indiana’s Feticide Law” via RH Reality Check

Sources/further reading:

"Purvi Patel Sentenced to 41 Years for Feticide and Neglect of a Dependent” by Imani Gandy at RH Reality Check

Read RH Reality Check's extensive coverage on Purvi Patel’s case

"How Indiana Is Making It Possible to Jail Women for Having Abortions” by Lynn Paltrow of National Advocates for Pregnant Women

"So Far, 2015 Is On Pace to Set Abortion Restriction Records” by Katie Klabusich at Truthout

Hear the segment in context:

Episode #916 "The history and current state of abortion (Reproductive Justice)"

Written by BOTL social media/activism director Katie Klabusich

You’ve reached the activism portion of today’s show. Now that you’re informed and angry, here’s what you can do about it. Today’s activism: Demand an Executive Order on Racist, Violent Policing.

According to KilledByPolice.net — a site that aggregates mainstream media accounts of people killed by law enforcement, at least 238 black Americans were killed by police in 2014. The FBI stats say police kill a black American every three days. Most certainly, extra judicial police killings are underreported as we rely on a combination of police department records and eye witness accounts to piece together incidence of racist policing.

Even with the coverage in Ferguson and protests across the country following the murders of too many since Mike Brown, indictments remain rare and apparently the federal government can do something about it — without needing congressional action.

Diego Iniguez-Lopez and Alan Jenkins put the current climate in historical context at Truthout, explaining why this call for President Obama to act is not without precedent:

“Fifty years ago, activists in Selma looked to the federal government when they were faced with violence at the hands of state and local law enforcement. Similarly, federal action is now critically needed on the issues of police killings of youth of color and equal justice for all. The Obama administration has an opportunity and obligation not only to shape its legacy, but also to use its federal authority to prevent civil rights abuses by police departments.”

Color of Change is among those calling for President Obama to issue an executive order which would: "crack down on violent and discriminatory policing by issuing an executive order to direct the DOJ to enforce our civil rights laws more aggressively.”

You can sign and share their petition at ColorOfChange.org asking the president to help end this national civil and human rights crisis.

Short of abolishing the police — which many are advocating for, but which the president couldn’t unilaterally accomplish, we are left to demand laws, justice, and force not be left to individual cops to enforce. And to hold violent police and their departments accountable.

Sign the petition, share the articles, demand action. We shouldn’t need video of an unarmed man being shot in the back for there to be a chance at justice.

TAKE ACTION:

SIGN and share the Color of Change petition: "President Obama: End discriminatory, violent policing and its unjust consequences”

Additional Activism/Resources:

SIGN and share: "Demand the Post and Courier issue a public apology for shameful #WalterScott article”

SIGN and share: "Tell advertisers to ditch Bill O’Reilly”

Sources/further reading:

"President Obama Already Has a Way to Prevent Policing Abuses” by Alan Jenkins and Diego Iniguez-Lopez of The Opportunity Agenda”

"The Origins of Modern Policing” via The Indypendent

"Police ‘Reforms' You Should Always Oppose” by Prison Culture

"Black Americans killed by police in 2014 outnumbered those who died on 9/11” at RawStory

"Abolish the Police. Instead, Let’s Have Full Social, Economic, and Political Equality” by Mychal Denzel Smith at The Nation

Written by BOTL social media/activism director Katie Klabusich

You’ve reached the activism portion of today’s show. Now that you’re informed and angry, here’s what you can do about it. Today’s activism: Starting and supporting worker co-ops.

We think we believe in democracy and yet most of us spend eight hours — or, if we’re realistic, more than that — working under a dictatorship. Sure, thanks to the labor movement we have some loosely guarded rights and guarantees, but working for a business or a corporation, or even just a small business owner, essentially means serving at their pleasure.

Unless you’re part of a worker co-op.

Worker co-ops have been around basically forever, but just don’t get the kind of attention they should because our corporate media banks on the capitalist system we’re all beholden to. They give all the rights and power to the actual human beings who provide the labor and thus create the wealth. Novel concept: you build it, you benefit from it.

The US Federation of Worker Cooperatives describe co-ops as “business entities that are owned and controlled by their members, the people who work in them.” They have two central characteristics: "(1) worker-members invest in and own the business together, and it distributes surplus to them and (2) decision-making is democratic, adhering to the general principle of one member-one vote.”

Sounds great, right? If it sounds complicated to join or start, remember it’s an entire system we’re trying to bring down, here. A little work is going to be involved and luckily you don’t have to figure it out or do it on your own.

The Democracy at Work Institute was created by the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives to help build co-ops especially in economically and socially marginalized communities by providing support, strategy, and relationship building.

Their website — Institute.USWorker.coop — has resources for start-ups including frequently asked questions, 101-level presentations, questions to ask before meeting with legal counsel, guidelines, financing fundamentals, studies, and step-by-step guides. For those interested in joining rather than starting a coop, their home page also links to a searchable list of existing worker coops by state and industry and has a form for submitting additions to their database. You can find childcare, bakeries, breweries, massage centers, landscaping companies, eco-cleaners — almost any business you can think of is being run by workers in some part of the country.

California has a bill worth supporting in the state legislature right now that would make worker coops easier to start and run. The "CA Worker Cooperative Act,” AB 816, clarifies existing law and broadens protections while creating more visibility for worker coops and providing a framework for developing new coops in the state. With nearly 40 million residents — more than 10% of the total U.S. population — and a variety of industries including many that traditionally disempower workers like agriculture, tourism, and manufacturing, California is a great testing ground for this legislation. If it can be successful there, it not only helps a whole lot of people, it can become model legislation for other states and possibly the federal government.

You can sign the petition to support AB 816 at TheSELC.org under their "About Us, Advocacy" tab — or just click the link in the segment notes.

If we’re going to change the system, we need to build working grassroots examples of alternatives. So, support the legislation in California and use the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives listing of worker-owned business to support the ones in your area.

TAKE ACTION:

Get involved with The Democracy at Work Institute, US Federation of Worker Cooperatives

Utilize the Democracy at Work Institute “Information for Start-ups”

SIGN to support: CA AB 816: Worker Cooperative Act via The SELC

Additional Activism/Resources:

Use the collaborative legal resource e-library created by the Sustainable Economies Law Center (SELC) and the Green-Collar Communities Clinic (GC3) Co-opLaw.org

Attend one of the conferences with the National Center For Employee Ownership

Sources/further reading:

"What is a Worker Cooperative?” via The US Federation of Worker Cooperatives

Read the full bill: "AB-816 Cooperative corporations: worker cooperatives”

"CA Worker Coop Act Discussion” via The SELC

Hear the segment in context:

Episode #914 "Looking for something better (Capitalism)"

Written by BOTL social media/activism director Katie Klabusich

You’ve reached the activism portion of today’s show. Now that you’re informed and angry, here’s what you can do about it. Today’s activism: the Federal LGBTQ Bill of Rights.

Indiana drew all the heat for the state legislature’s extra discriminatory Religious Freedom Restoration Act, but the Hoosier state is hardly the only place where firing, evicting, and even refusing to serve LGBTQ people is legal. Despite the wave of court mandated marriage equality wins and the cultural tide turning on the right to marry, only a federal affirmative right to be treated as fully equal human beings can protect all facets of life and liberty for LGBTQ people in all parts of the country.

Rather than pushing for a patchwork of single-issue bills that would need to work their way through the legislature one at a time, Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Representative David Cicilline (D-RI) are spearheading an all-encompassing fix. According to Sen. Merkely’s website, he and Rep. Cicilline “will be leading the legislative fight for a comprehensive nondiscrimination bill this spring. The legislation would be similar to the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which outlawed discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin.”

The LGBTQ rights group GetEQUAL is in the midst of a campaign to both support this legislative effort and demand that it be comprehensive and uncompromising. At their NoAsterisks.org website, you can sign on to back the full LGBTQ Bill of Rights, which is described as "a guiding document, created with the input of thousands of LGBTQ folks across the country, that lays out what the community really needs.”

From preamble, to conclusion, the GetEQUAL document details the fears and dangers experienced daily by LGBTQ people that should be addressed and alleviated by true protections at work, at home, at the doctor, at school, and in the eyes of the law and law enforcement.

Visit NoAsterisks.org and support GetEQUAL’s call to action:

"As we approach the 225th anniversary of the U.S. Constitution and the 224th anniversary of the Bill of Rights — the document that outlined the specific rights extended to (some) Americans — we demand that this country live up to the values espoused in the nation’s founding documents.”

TAKE ACTION:

SIGN to support GetEQUAL’s LGBTQ Bill of Rights

Additional Activism/Resources:

Use Get Equal’s bill tracker to stay up to date: WeCan’tBelieveThis.org

Sources/further reading:

The LGBTQ Bill of Rights via GetEQUAL

"Cicilline Announces Upcoming Legislation to End LGBT Discrimination” via Rep. David N. Ciciline (D-RI)

”Civil Rights Bill Top Priority For LGBT Voters, According to New Poll” by Amanda Terkel via Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR)

"Resolution opposing RFRA passes City-County Council” via Wish-TV, Indianapolis

”Stop” — Indiana resident, activist, and writer Melissa McEwan’s take on #BoycottIndiana

Indiana #RFRA Updates via Melissa McEwan

"That Time I Ranted About #BoycottIndiana & Caring About All People” by Katie Klabusich

Hear the segment in context:

Episode #913 "Refusing to tolerate intolerance (LGBTQ Rights)"

Written by BOTL social media/activism director Katie Klabusich

You’ve reached the activism portion of today’s show. Now that you’re informed and angry, here’s what you can do about it. Today’s activism: Jailbreak Your Phone For Security.

Jailbreaking phones used to be a way to switch providers without having to buy a new device. iPhones famously were only available on certain networks, but it was an industry-wide issue. Once the most visible evil corporate profit motive was alleviated as providers started letting you bring your old device to a new network, most of us forgot about or didn’t care whether or not jailbreaking was illegal under copyright law.

But the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s latest campaign makes clear that the illegality of jailbreaking is a security prohibiting nuisance. Modifying the software on your phones and tablets can be a way to install security fixes making data collection more difficult or impossible. With the ongoing NSA Spying programs and whole warehouses being built to house our data “just in case” the government feels the need to mine it later, securing our ability to jailbreak is important.

The “Take Action” tab at EFF.org has a link to their “Jailbreaking is Not a Crime” petition which sends a letter to the Copyright Office and the Librarian of Congress asking them to renew the exemption allowing us to legally modify our mobile devices. Join the more than 20,000 who have added their names already to preserve the right to protect ourselves. Regaining rights once they’re lost — as made clear by the fight to repeal all the provisions of the Patriot Act — can be a nearly impossible battle. Let’s do what we can to hang on to the privacy we still have.

Also, a quick reminder that EFF’s website has a whole set of security tutorials to protect yourself on all your devices and networks. They can help you do everything from selecting good passwords to installing software to learning how to safely use social media.

TAKE ACTION:

SIGN the EEF’s petition: Jailbreaking is Not a Crime

Additional Activism/Resources:

Take advantage of EFF’s Surveillance Self-Defense tools.

Sources/further reading:

"EFF General Counsel Takes On NSA Spying”

"Human Rights Watch Sues DEA Over Bulk Collection of Americans’ Telephone Records”

"How to Jailbreak Your iPhone: The Always Up-to-Date Guide [iOS 8.1]”

"Surveillance Techniques: How Your Data Becomes Our Data”

Hear the segment in context:

Episode #912 "Poking the watchful eye (NSA Spying) "

Written by BOTL social media/activism director Katie Klabusich

You’ve reached the activism portion of today’s show. Now that you’re informed and angry, here’s what you can do about it. Today’s activism: Fighting the Patriarchy With Film.

Survivors of rape and intimate partner violence share a fear of not being believed. Deeply rooted in the patriarchy that rules our culture and our institutions is a fundamental skepticism of anyone who comes forward to say they’ve been violated. We interrogate rape victims as they report and when they take the witness stand; we berate domestic violence victims with shaming questions like “Well, then, why didn’t you just leave?”

A pair of documentaries seeks to put human faces out in front of the statistics in order to move the needle on the culture of blame. The subjects of “The Perfect Victim” and “The Hunting Ground” recount their stories in compelling fashion, demanding that viewers help address stigma and demand change to the legal hurtles that keep justice out of their reach.

“The Hunting Ground” — in theaters now — is an indictment on college campus rape culture and the near complete refusal of administrators to address the issue or punish offenders. You can visit TheHuntingGroundFilm.com for show listings and to use the “Take Action” tab to get involved. Their “advocate” action takes thirty seconds and sends your representatives in Congress a note urging them to support the Campus Accountability & Safety Act.

“The Perfect Victim” lays out the fallacy of the title through the stories of Shirley, Carlene, and Ruby — three women serving a collective eighty-five years in Missouri State prison for killing their abusive husbands. Each was denied the chance to tell their story at trial; each is hoping new council will help them find a path to justice.

Beginning April 15th, The World Channel — which you can find at WorldChannel.Org — and Amazon Prime are both showing “The Perfect Victim” for free. You can find more information and get involved through the “Take Action” tab at ThePerfectVictim.Com.

TAKE ACTION:

Go see The Hunting Ground and visit their ”Take Action” tab to get involved.

Go see The Perfect Victim and visit their ”Take Action” tab to get involved.

Hear the segment in context:

Episode #911 "Emasculation Nation (Rape and Intimate Partner Violence)"

Written by BOTL social media/activism director Katie Klabusich

You’ve reached the activism portion of today’s show. Now that you’re informed and angry, here’s what you can do about it. Today’s activism: Cap and Dividend For a Healthy Climate.

The Chesapeake Climate Action Network is backing legislation that compliments the usual activism we tell you about. It’s a really neat idea that people should be excited to get behind and draw attention to. Bonus: it’s easy to describe and explain to even the nonpolitical folks in your networks.

Congressman Chris Van Hollen of Maryland has introduced the “Healthy Climate and Family Security Act of 2015” — or H.R. 1027 for those who like the technical, wonky stuff. It creates what CCAN calls:

“[A] simple, fair, and built-to-last policy solution to reduce the carbon and other heat-trapping emissions now harming our climate while boosting the income of most American families.”

By requiring polluters to pay for bringing oil, gas, or coal into the U.S. market, companies are de-incentivized from using dirty energy and revenue which is then paid out to everyone with a valid Social Security number. Think of it the way Alaska pays out oil sharing revenue to its residents.

Visit ClimateAndProsperity.org where you can sign the petition supporting Rep. Van Hollen’s plan to boost the economy while preserving the climate and call on your representatives to co-sposor the bill. Cosponsors build allyships and pull other representatives into the fight during the current legislative session and beyond — so that’s an important emphasis with a GOP-lead Congress.

You can also volunteer or get your group or organization involved by signing on as part of the coalition supporting the bill. Current endorsers vary from local to national, environmental and consumer, and social and economic justice-focused groups.

Corporations clearly don’t respect anything unless it costs money. It’s time they respected climate impact by having to consider the price tag while making decisions on energy-use. Changing the way businesses approach consumption while reducing CO2 by 80% over the next 35 years and raising money for those who need it most would be a cross-category win.

TAKE ACTION:

SIGN: "Tell Congress: Act on Climate by Passing Cap-And-Dividend” via Chesapeake Climate Action Network

Visit the TAKE ACTION tab at Climate and Prosperity to volunteer or join the coalition.

Sources/further reading:

"FACT SHEET: The Healthy Climate and Family Security Act of 2014” via Representative Chris Van Hollen (D-MD)

"Cap and Dividend Bill Introduced In Congress (VIDEO)” via Green Action News

Hear the segment in context:

Episode #909 "Debunking the doubters (Climate)"

Written by BOTL social media/activism director Katie Klabusich