(Edited for space and appearence. – promoted by SFBrianCL)
Right now, we have a great chance to take a huge step toward cleaner air and cheaper energy for California. Proposition 87, on the ballot for November 7th, will:
- Reduce gasoline and diesel usage by 25% over the next 10 years;
- Create thousands of new clean energy jobs and grow our economy;
- Reduce air pollution that causes asthma attacks, lung disease and cancer;
- Make oil companies pay their fair share for oil drilling in California, just like they already pay in every other oil-producing state — even Texas;
- Make it illegal for oil companies to raise gas prices to pass the cost along to consumers.
Proposition 87 is a great initiative, and we urge you to support it. Sign the Yes on 87 campaign’s petition now, at:
There’s more in the extended.
Not surprisingly, the oil companies are trying to kill Prop. 87, with a massive TV and radio ad blitz designed to scare and mislead California’s voters. The race has barely started and already ABC News has called the oil companies’ ads “misleading” and “not accurate”.[1] The oil companies’ warchest is currently more than $30 million, and they could spend millions more. Prop. 87 needs our help to overcome all this money.
The single biggest funder of the campaign to kill Prop. 87 is Chevron, at $12.8 million and counting. Ironically, at the very same time, Chevron’s also running a PR campaign trying to paint itself green, asking everyone to join them in moving toward alternative energy sources:
“At Chevron, we believe that innovation, collaboration and conservation are the cornerstones on which to build this new world. We cannot do this alone. Corporations, governments, and every citizen of this planet must be part of the solution as surely as they are part of the problem.” [1]
We couldn’t agree more.
Join us and our friends at Yes on 87 in calling on Chevron to walk their talk and support Prop. 87, instead of bankrolling the campaign to kill it:
Chevron and the other oil companies can easily afford the cost of Prop. 87. They posted record-setting profits in the past year: $78 billion in 2005, and $20 billion in the first quarter of 2006 alone. And they just discovered a giant new oil field in the Gulf of Mexico.
California is a major oil-producing state (America’s 3rd biggest), but we’re the only one where the oil companies don’t pay their fair share to drill for oil, like they do in Alaska, Louisiana, and Texas. Meanwhile, the oil companies are charging Californians the highest pump prices in the nation for gas.
It’s time for a change, and Chevron knows it. Here’s more of what their own PR ads are saying:
“Technological improvements are needed so that wind, solar and hydrogen can be more viable parts of the energy equation. Governments need to create energy policies that promote economically and environmentally sound development.” [2] And…
“How do we accelerate our conservation efforts? Whatever actions we take, we must look not just to next year, but to the next 50 years.” [3]
It’s time for Prop. 87.
We’re calling Chevron out, and calling on them to join us in supporting Prop 87, instead of trying to kill it.
The Yes on 87 campaign will deliver this petition, including your signature and comments, in person, to Chevron later this week.
Sign on now, at:
“Now more than ever we need to work together.” – Chevron [4]
Please sign on today. Your help will really make a difference in this fight.
Thank you.
– Peter
Citations:
The sources quoted above and details on how much Chevron and other oil companies are spending on their campaign to kill Prop. 87 are available at the Yes on 87 website, linked above.