April 25 2009: Energy Lobby Threatens Climate Talks


Next week, from 27 April 2009, talks on the crucial global climate treaty will come to Washington DC — but their outcome is threatened by a $50‑million flood of lobbying and propaganda ads from coal, gas, and oil companies like Exxon.

To puncture their spin we don’t need $50 million — but we do need $50,000 so we can film a rapid‑response joke spoof ad, seizing attention by using the same images and music that the oil industry has paid so much to promote. It is going to be brilliant — and effective!

Click here to chip in (even a small amount helps) so that we can make the ad, exposing their propaganda before the meeting kicks off next week. We’ll launch it with a stunt and press briefings – and book a cable buy timed to beam the ad into the hotel rooms of climate delegates and negotiators.

Next week’s negotiations — a gathering of the world’s 19 biggest economies — could help unblock the talks to build a fair, binding global agreement to massively cut carbon emissions and help the most vulnerable countries cope with climate change.

The USA, site of next week’s talks, is key. President Obama is locked in a battle with oil and coal supporters in Congress. To reach a deal strong enough to avert climate catastrophe and unlock millions of green‑energy jobs, he needs help in pushing back the special interests. If the US and the other biggest emitters commit to serious climate action, they can help lead the way to a historic agreement at the final talks in Copenhagen this December.

With hope,

Ben, Brett, Raj, Iain, Alice, Ricken, Paula, Paul, Graziela, Milena, Pascal, Margaret, Luis, and the rest of the Avaaz team.


Wake Up Rally – Monday 21 September 2009...

This year will be crucial as efforts to find a replacement for the failed Kyoto agreement intensify.


Sources:

Avalanche! Agenda fuels ad landslide – Politico, April 12 2009.

An Army of Lobbyists Readies for Battle on the Climate Bill – Yale Environment 360, 16 March 2009.

The Climate Change Lobbyist Explosion – The Center for Public Integrity, Climate Change Investigation.

Lobbyists Flock to the Climate Issue – New York Times, 23 February 2009.

$199.5 Million Spent On Energy Ads Since Obama’s Inauguration – The Wonk Room, Think Progress, April 15 2009.


Climate Change – Should Christians Care?

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