Protect the Hudson ?from Heavy Crude Oil Risks

Global Companies LLC, one of the largest petroleum distributors in the Northeast, wants to expand its oil terminal in the Port of Albany, adding boilers that would heat heavy crude oil so it can be transferred from rail car for transport on the Hudson River. This would allow a new type of crude oil to be transported on the river. Heavy crude, unlike many other types of petroleum, doesn’t float if spilled. It can sink, making containment and cleanups difficult, if not impossible?as vividly illustrated by the attempted cleanup of the Kalamazoo River, which is incomplete three and a half years after a heavy crude spill there. Yet, Global Companies LLC hasn’t been ordered to fully study the environmental impacts of opening the river to heavy crude oil transport. Many recent spills involved crude oil from the Bakken fields of North Dakota, increasing amounts of which have been moving by rail, barge and tanker through the Hudson Valley for more than a year without prior risk analysis. You can help protect the Hudson River and your neighbors from risks associated with new heavy crude oil shipments by contacting the Department of Environmental Conservation today. Click here to make your voice heard.

Tell Congress: Say NO to fast-track trade authority and stop the Trans-Pacific Partnership

Known as “NAFTA on steroids”, the Trans-Pacific Partnership? (TPP) is a super-treaty that will jeopardize the?sovereignty of several nations (including the US),? by giving power to large?corporations like Wal-Mart,?Monsanto,?Goldman Sachs,?Pfizer, Halliburton, Philip Morris, GE, GM, and Apple.? If the TPP goes through, it will become even easier to outsource both public and private sector American jobs, food safety standards will be weakened, drug prices will rise, and the rights and powers of the same Wall Street firms who wrecked our economy will be expanded.? This has to be stopped! Click here to sign a petition urging our members of Congress to say NO to fast-track trade authority and other undemocratic attempts to prevent Congress from fully vetting secret trade deals like the Trans-Pacific Partnership. As our elected officials, it is their responsibility to ensure that trade deals work for everyone, not just giant corporations. To learn more about this dangerous piece of legislation, and what you can do to stop it, listen to my interview with Adam Weissman of TradeJustice by clicking here.

Don?t Let the Big Food Lobby Block State GMO Labeling

With the recent genetically engineered (GE) food labeling bills passing in Connecticut and Maine, the big food and chemical companies are getting nervous. According to a draft bill outline leaked by Politico, the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) has introduced a Federal voluntary labeling bill in Congress that would block states from passing mandatory labeling bills, redefine GE food as ?safe? and even allow GE foods to be labeled as ?natural.? Without mandatory GMO labeling, consumers are being left in the dark about the foods we are purchasing and feeding our families. There is overwhelming public demand?consistently near 95%?for the labeling of GE foods.? Yet the U.S. is one of the only developed countries in the world that doesn?t require labeling; sixty-four countries have mandatory labeling policies for GE foods including South Korea, Japan, the United Kingdom, Brazil, China, South Africa, Australia, the entire European Union, among others. In 2013, over 50 GE labeling bills were introduced in 26 states, including Hawaii, Washington, Indiana, Missouri, and Vermont, with many more expected. On the federal level, Representative Peter DeFazio (D-OR) and Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) have introduced legislation that would require nationwide, mandatory labeling of GE products. The introduction of this bill would only serve to undermine state and federal legislation meant to grant consumers the right to know and avoid GE foods.? Tell Congress to oppose the GMA bill that would block state GE food labeling, and instead to support the Boxer-DeFazio bill to label GE food.