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Dear friends,
Today, we get a powerful new tool to take on the fossil fuel industry.
I just got off the stage with Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Keith Ellison at a big rally at the Capitol to launch a new piece of legislation that would repeal $113 billion of tax-breaks, handouts, and subsidies for the fossil fuel industry over the next 10 years.
You see, not only is the fossil fuel industry the richest on earth, but any of us who pay taxes write it a hefty check each year. It’s as if we’re paying them a performance bonus for wrecking the climate. We’ll never get to renewable energy if we keep handing gobs of money to oil and coal and gas.
The bill introduced today would strip away these outrageous subsidies. As you can imagine, the fossil fuel industry is going to fight back hard, so we need to come out as strong as possible.
Please check out what’s in the bill and add your name to this push: www.350.org/subsidies
This won’t be any normal legislative push.
First, that’s just not how we do things here at 350.org. But more importantly, we know that if we confine this effort to Capitol Hill, the fossil fuel industry will just drown us in dollars — they could spend $100 million fighting this thing and still have plenty left over. So, we’re going to have to find other currencies to work in: our creativity, energy, and grassroots organizing power. This needs to be a “people’s bill” through and through.
In the coming days, we’ll be back to you with more info about how you can get involved in everything from getting your member of Congress on the record, to helping beat back industry propaganda, even a way to give recalcitrant politicians special blazers, outfitted with the logos of the companies that give them cash.
Last weekend we Connected the Dots and saw the human face of global warming (if you want to relive a little bit of our day of action, take a minute to watch this video right now — it’ll move you to tears and then to action). With that in our hearts, we need to take the fight to the fossil fuel industry’s own turf.
Beginning now our job is wipe the smirk off the faces of corporate polluters. We’re going to have fun with this, and it all starts by signing on here: www.350.org/subsidies
Onwards,
Bill McKibben