EarthAction

10 Reasons Why Offshore Drilling is a Bad Idea

From Greenpeace:

10. Offshore oil drilling won't impact gas prices today, and it won't have a significant impact on gas prices in the future.
9. This is nothing more than a money grab by the oil companies - who are already making record-breaking profits.
8. We burn 25% of the world's oil here in the U.S., but we have only 3% of the world's oil reserves. So even if all offshore oil magically came to market today, the vast majority of our oil would continue to be imported, and we wouldn't see price relief at the pump.
7. The current moratorium was put in place decades ago to protect us from the danger of oil spills along our coastlines and beaches.
6.  Burning fossil fuels like oil causes global warming, which causes stronger hurricanes, which will threaten the very offshore drilling rigs being proposed, which will contribute to even more global warming.
5. To avoid the worst impacts of global warming, we need to switch from fossil fuels to renewable energy within the next 10 years. The billions of dollars that would be spent on offshore oil drilling just postpones the inevitable transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy.
4. Oil exploration requires massive seismic testing - which threatens whales and dolphins.
3. Oil prices are set on the global oil market, so American oil is no cheaper than Saudi oil. We won't get a discount for oil drilled in the U.S.
2. We can't solve the world's energy problems with the same drilling that created them.
1. Renewable energy is available now, so it's time to walk away from fossil fuels and toward a clean energy future.

Tell Congress to say no to offshore drilling!

(Image courtesy of Greenpeace.)

Give Children a Second Chance

One of EarthAction's past campaigns was for the United Nations' Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC), an international treaty to protect the rights of children around the world. Sadly, the United States is one out of merely two countries (the other being Somalia, which has no central government) that has failed to become State Parties to the Convention.

What does this mean? One example out of too many is the depressing fact that children in the United States can be sentenced to life without parole. A thirteen-year-old who cannot drive, vote, or join the military can - and has been - sentenced to a life in prison, with absolutely no second chance.

A recent fascinating Guardian article puts you in the shoes of these children (over 300 in the state of Michigan alone):

Dupure got life without parole, with no forensic evidence tying her to the crime and entirely on the strength of Blevins' testimony.

Dupure has just turned 21 but she still looks 17. She was told about life without parole for the first time when she entered prison - "You never go home." She spent much of her first year crying, she says. The prison doctor put her on Prozac but she stopped taking it; as she puts it, "I'm depressed because I'm in this place, not because I'm depressed." Instead, she sees the prison therapist once a month. She finds talking to the therapist helpful - she can't be open with other prisoners about her fears and despair, as it would be taken as a sign of weakness. In prison, "you have to pretend to be strong". Continue reading...

The ACLU of Michigan, in conjunction with Columbia University Human Rights Clinic, has filed a petition to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Organization of American States, alleging violations of the human rights of juveniles sentenced to life without parole in the USA. That petition is still pending. Read the petition.

There are also movements in individual states to give children a second chance. Do a search to find out what your state is doing about this grave issue. You can also join the Facebook group and keep up with the latest events and news.

(Photo courtesy of Flickr user Bewdlerian, shared under a Creative Commons license.)