Scott Walker Is Trolling Us

NATION DAILY: JULY 22, 2015 Scott Walker Is Trolling Us Sports as political money laundering is nothing new. But it's difficult to think of an example as brazen as Scott Walker's stadium deal for the Milwaukee Bucks. DAVE ZIRIN New York Fast-Food Workers Win Their Fight for $15 A landmark executive move will serve the state’s fast-food workers some long-overdue justice. MICHELLE CHEN Scott Walker: Military Actions on Inaugural Day are ‘Very Possible’ The Republican contender has ripped talk of diplomacy and consultation, positioning himself far to the right of Jeb Bush. JOHN NICHOLS Why the Black Lives Matter Protest at Netroots Nation Was Long Overdue It's time Democratic candidates offer voters a meaningful plan for tackling systemic racism. DANI MCCLAIN Is There Room for Women Workers Under Capitalism? A 1971 Nation article says no. The author is both very wrong, and very right. BRYCE COVERT Why Planned Parenthood Shouldn’t Be on the Defensive Fetal-tissue donation has helped produce treatments for Parkinson’s, cystic fibrosis, and diseases that affect infants. MICHELLE GOLDBERG The Nation Magazine 33 Irving Place New York, NY 10003

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Closing tax loopholes

Closing tax loopholes FRIEND,  Last year, the top 25 hedge fund managers in the United States earned more than every kindergarten teacher in America combined. Despite their huge paychecks, they pay a lower effective tax rate than most middle-class families. And thanks to a tax loophole that lets them pretend to run offshore reinsurance firms, they’re dodging even more taxes. The Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Department are considering a proposal to close the reinsurance loophole. Sign our petition to the IRS and Treasury urging them to close this loophole! Reinsurance firms offer insurance to insurance companies. But more often than not, the companies that hedge fund managers set up are just a way to wash their money and avoid capital gains taxes. This enables hedge fund managers to pay minimal amounts in taxes on their huge earnings. Hedge fund managers don’t need the additional benefit of funneling their earnings through an offshore reinsurance company so that they can further reduce their taxes. The IRS and the Treasury Department have a duty to preserve fairness in the tax code, and the hedge fund reinsurance loophole is plainly unfair. Former U.S. Rep. David Camp has a three-prong test that would prevent abuses and ensure tax fairness. Under that test, “an insurance company would have to have more than 50 percent of its gross receipts consist of insurance premiums, have insurance liabilities equal to 35 percent of its total assets, and be subject to tax as an insurer if it were a U.S. business.” Sign this petition urging the IRS and Treasury to close the reinsurance loophole! The IRS and the Treasury Department should do the fair thing for the American people by closing this loophole. It’s only fair that people making so much money should be playing by the same rules as the rest of us. In unity, Lynne Audet National Board Certified Teacher, Perth Amboy, N.J. Randi Weingarten, President Lorretta Johnson, Secretary-Treasurer | Mary Cathryn Ricker, Executive Vice President © American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO. All rights reserved. Photographs and illustrations, as well as text, cannot be used without permission from the AFT. Contact Us | 555 New Jersey Ave., N.W., Washington, DC 20001

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Stand Up to ALEC's Attacks on the EPA's Clean Power Plan

Stand Up to ALEC's Attacks on the EPA's Clean Power Plan Tell your state senator to quit ALEC and support a strong Clean Power Plan that will empower California to use clean energy to meet EPA limits on global warming pollution from power plants. Take Action Today! ACTION ALERT Tell Your State Senator to Stop Siding with ALEC and Support a Strong Clean Power Plan for California Dear Friend, Don't let Sen. Joel Anderson put the interests of the fossil fuel industry before the interests of people like you. The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)—a special interest group infamous for spreading disinformation about climate science and clean energy—meets this week. On their agenda? A new attack on the first-ever national limits on global warming pollution from power plants—the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Clean Power Plan. ALEC is pedaling another cut-and-paste bill that would prevent California from using renewable energy and energy efficiency to meet the Clean Power Plan goals. What else can we expect when politicians meet behind closed doors with lobbyists representing powerful fossil fuel and utility interests, such as Peabody Energy, Chevron, and American Electric Power? Unfortunately, your state representative is a member of ALEC—we need your help to prevent Sen. Anderson from leaving California behind on global warming solutions. Thanks in large part to internal documents leaked by whistleblowers, we know what happens behind the closed doors of ALEC meetings. And we fear your state senator will stand by ALEC's attacks because they signed onto a letter attempting to conceal ALEC's well-documented record of assailing climate science and clean energy. Call on Sen. Anderson to quit ALEC now, and instead, support the creation of a strong state plan to maximize the use of renewable energy and energy efficiency under the EPA's Clean Power Plan. We need to remind state legislators that their job is to represent people like you, not fossil fuel and utility industry lobbyists. Sincerely, David Anderson Outreach Coordinator Climate & Energy Program Union of Concerned Scientists On Twitter: @UCSEnergy Science for a healthy planet and safer world UCS is a 501(c)(3) organization. All gifts are tax deductible. You can be confident your donations to UCS are spent wisely. About UCS | Take Action | Donate | Contact Us | Privacy Policy  Union of Concerned Scientists 2 Brattle Square | Cambridge, MA 02138-3780 © Union of Concerned Scientists. All rights reserved.www.ucsusa.org

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Urge Congress to protect our public lands now!

Dear Friend, Time is running out. If Congress fails to reauthorize and fully fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) before September 30, access to our favorite parks, forests, and trails could be affected. Tell Congress to make funding for America's great outdoors a priority now! The LWCF is our nation's best conservation program. For 50 years, it has helped protect iconic national parks like Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon, and has been used to make vital investments in local ballfields and neighborhood parks. Unfortunately, over the years, much of the funding for this landmark program has been diverted to uses other than protecting public lands and waters. And in a recent op-ed, PERC-a group backed by the Koch brothers-called for an end to the LWCF, the privatization of our public lands, and for opening them up to private use-like drilling.1 The LWCF is under attack and desperately needs your help to survive. Urge Congress to protect the program that has been key to protecting millions of acres of parks, wildlife refuges and green spaces across the nation. Groups like PERC suggest that our national parks are impossible to maintain, but the LWCF is a budget-neutral program that uses funds from offshore oil and gas development fees. It's easy to see how this group with strong ties to the oil industry would stand to profit if Congress fails to reauthorize the LWCF. But you won't let that happen. America would be nothing without its parks and public lands. That's why Congress must act to reauthorize and fully fund the LWCF for future generations. Send your message to Congress now! In it together, Courtney-Rose DantusSierraRise Post to Facebook ► Share on Twitter ► Our public lands are in danger. Urge Congress to protect our public lands now! References: 1 - Moser, C. (3 July 2015). "Koch-Backed Group Calls for No More National Parks." Think Progress. Photo credit: daveynIn,  CC BY 2.0 Sierra Club | 85 2nd St, San Francisco, CA, 94105 | sierrarise.members@sierraclub.org

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U.S. says Shell is not yet allowed to drill in Arctic oil zone

U.S. says Shell is not yet allowed to drill in Arctic oil zone

Jul 22nd, 2015 

by John Donovan. 

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The Department of the Interior conditionally granted Shell permits for oil exploration in the Chukchi Sea off Alaska.

Timothy Gardner: Jul 22, 2015 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Interior Department on Wednesday granted Royal Dutch Shell two final permits to explore for crude in the Arctic this summer, but said the company cannot drill into the oil zone until required emergency equipment arrives in the region.

The department’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) conditionally granted Shell permits for exploration in the Chukchi Sea off Alaska, in a season which sea ice limits from July until October.

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Posted in: Alaska, Arctic, Chukchi Sea, Environment, Oil Spill, President Obama,Reuters, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Shell, United States.
Tagged: Alaska · Arctic Ocean · Chukchi Sea · Royal Dutch Shell Plc

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Shell gets permits necessary for limited oil exploratory drilling off Alaska’s northwest coast

Shell gets permits necessary for limited oil exploratory drilling off Alaska’s northwest coast

Jul 22nd, 2015 

by John Donovan. 

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Associated Press: July 22, 2015 | 4:29 p.m. EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration has given Royal Dutch Shell PLC approval to begin limited exploratory oil drilling off Alaska’s northwest coast.

The two permits issued Wednesday clear the way for drilling in Chukchi Sea, but with conditions.

Shell can only drill the top sections of wells because the company doesn’t have on site the critical emergency response equipment to cap the well in case of a leak. That equipment is aboard a ship headed to Portland, Oregon, for repairs.

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Posted in: Alaska, Arctic, Associated Press, Bidness Etc, Chukchi Sea, Climate Change,Environment, Gulf of Alaska, Oil, Oil Spill, Pollution, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, United States.
Tagged: Alaska · Arctic Ocean · Chukchi Sea · Environment · Oil · Royal Dutch Shell Plc ·Shell

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Here’s Why Royal Dutch Shell plc Was Downgraded By S&P

Here’s Why Royal Dutch Shell plc Was Downgraded By S&P

Jul 22nd, 2015 

by John Donovan. 

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According to S&P, the softness in crude oil prices and significant capital expenditures, despite recent spending cuts, have weakened Shell’s financial risk profile, which is reflected in the ratings downgrade.

By: MICHEAL KAUFMAN: Jul 22, 2015 

Standard & Poor’s (S&P) has downgraded the credit rating of European oil major Royal Dutch Shell plc (ADR) (NYSE:RDS.A) by one notch, according to a note released Tuesday. The credit rating agency has lowered the long-term corporate credit rating for Shell from AA to AA-, while affirming a short-term rating of A-1+.

“We removed the long- and short-term ratings from CreditWatch, where we placed them with negative implications on April 9, 2015,” S&P said in the note. According to S&P, the softness in crude oil prices and significant capital expenditures, despite recent spending cuts, have weakened Shell’s financial risk profile, which is reflected in the ratings downgrade.

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Posted in: BG Group, Bidness Etc, Gas, LNG, Oil, Oil Prices, Royal Dutch Shell Plc.
Tagged: BG Group · Gas · LNG · Oil Prices · Royal Dutch Shell Plc

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