In the wake of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that devastated the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan, that nation embraced more solar and wind and took a hard look at nuclear power. Apparently, it's going to take a similar disaster in our nation to get the United States to make the switch to green energy.

 

Not only did our regulators decide to keep building more nuclear power plants, but many local lawmakers are blocking residents from going green. And, several states are actually preventing voters from regulating fossil fuels in their communities.

 

Voters in Fort Collins, Colorado approved a five-year ban on fracking within their city limits, but District Judge Gregory Lammons overturned that ban because it "would substantially impede the state's interest in oil and gas production. Meanwhile, some homeowners in Plano, Texas are being told that they can't install solar panels in new subdivisions, because the developers think that panels are ugly and bad for business. And, don't forget about the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's recent decision to allow nuclear waste to be stored above ground, which opened the door for new plants to be constructed.

 

It couldn't be more obvious that developers and lawmakers would rather do the bidding of the fossil fuel industry than fight for what's important. When it comes to saving our environment, it's hard enough to fight against the massive Oil Lobby. Our lawmakers and regulators should not be making it harder to go green. It took a massive disaster to wake Japan up to the dangers of dirty fuel, and it's not like we haven't had our own horrible events here in the states.

 

It shouldn't take another BP Spill or Fukushima to get lawmakers on board with making the switch to green energy. If they won't help us move to the energy of the future, come this November, it's time to replace them with lawmakers and regulators who will.

 

-Thom

 

(What do you think? Tell us here.)

 

Tonight on The Big Picture on RT TV at 7pm and 10pm... Dr. David Korten, YES! Magazine / New Economy Working Group / Agenda for a New Economy (check your local listings for stations or stream at RT or Free Speech TV, and catch past shows on Youtube)

 

Have a question or comment for Thom? Grab your phone, hit record and send your video to YourTakeMyTake@gmail.com and we may air it on "The Big Picture."

 

Be sure to check out our new video: CARBON - narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio

 

Don't miss Thom in Seattle TONIGHT!! Money, Politics, and Saving Our Democracy - YES! Magazine's 4th Annual Celebration (click for details)

 

Need to Know: Senate decides NOT to save democracy...
- Richard Eskow, Campaign for America's Future / The Zero Hour      

 

Screwed: NFL...should anyone who protects a wife beater be fired?
- Sam Bennett, Political Strategist 

 

Conversations with Great Minds - Dr. David Korten, YES! Magazine / New Economy Working Group / Agenda for a New Economy    

       

Friday's Daily Stack 

In for Thom today, Danielle & Shane-O, hosts of Talking Left Radio

 

Hour One: Obamacare...it's literally life or death for one woman
- Ian Millhiser, Center for American Progress, ThinkProgress.org / Author of Injustices  

Book: Injustices: The Supreme Court's Nearly Unbroken History of Comforting the Comfortable and Afflicting the Afflicted by Ian Millhiser.

Article: "Meet Jennifer, A Woman Who Could Die If An Anti-Obamacare Lawsuit Succeeds" by Ian Millhiser.

Article: "Two Republican Judges Order Obamacare Defunded" by Ian Millhiser, July 22, 2014.

Article: "Federal Appeals Court Withdraws Decision Defunding Obamacare" by Ian Millhiser., September 4, 2014

Case: "Halbig v. Burwell" (Halbig v. Sebelius) (DC Circuit).

 

Event: Seattle Town Hall, September 12, 2014: "Money, Politics, and Saving Our Democracy - Featuring Thom Hartmann" by Yes! Magazine.

 

Show us the $$...the rise of corporate power
- Hedrick Smith, Who Stole the American Dream 

Article: "Workers Get Lowest Share Of Corporate Income Since 1950" by Bryce Covert.

Article: "In 2013, Workers' Share of Income in the Corporate Sector Fell to its Lowest Point since 1950" by Josh Bivens.

Article: "Profits Without Prosperity" by William Lazonick.

Article: "Deal To Sell Market Basket To Arthur T. Demoulas Has Been Reached" by CBS.

 

Article: "Read Obama's speech outlining his strategy against ISIS", 10 September 2014.

Article: "Federal Court Restores Cuts to Early Voting in Ohio in Time for Midterm Election" by ACLU.

Case: "Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission" (2010).

Article: "The Senate Tried to Overturn 'Citizens United' Today. Guess What Stopped Them?" by John Nichols.

Hour Two: If it doesn't keep us safe...why are we giving up our privacy rights?
- Cindy Cohn, Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) 

Case: "ACLU v. Clapper - Challenge to NSA Mass Call-Tracking Program " by ACLU.

Article: "NSA collecting phone records of millions of Verizon customers daily" by Glenn Greenwald, 6 June 2013.

Article: "Verizon forced to hand over telephone data - full court ruling", 6 June 2013.

Article: "Why the government wants your metadata" by June 7, 2013.

Article: "Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act" by EFF.

Video: ACLU v. Clapper Oral Argument, September 2, 2014.

Article: "4th Amendment". "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.".

Case: "Clapper v. Amnesty International USA", 2013.

Law: "FISA Amendments Act of 2008", July 10, 2008.

 

Speech: "Remarks by the President at the National Defense University", May 23, 2013.

Law text: "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act", 2010.

Speech: "Cross of Iron" - Address by President Dwight D. Eisenhower "The Chance for Peace" delivered before the American Society of Newspaper Editors, April 16,1953.

 

Talk Radio News Segment:
- Victoria Jones 

Article: "Kerry Urges Turkey to Join Fight Against Jihadists" by Emre Peker.

Article: "Kerry, in Saudi visit, wins expanded Arab support for fight against Islamic State" by Anne Gearan and Loveday Morris.

Article: "Saudi Arabia Will Grant U.S. Request for Anti-ISIS Training Program" by Michael R. Gordon and Eric Schmitt.

Article: "Islamic State now 30,000 fighters strong, CIA says" by S.A. Miller.

Article: "White House, EU, Announce New Sanctions Against Russia" by Nicholas Salazar.

Article: "D.C. prosecutors create unit to find wrongful convictions" by Spencer S. Hsu.

Site: Innocence Project.

Site: Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project.

Site: Governor Free Don Siegelman.

Site: "Goats for the old Goat".

Article: "TRNS News Notes- 9/12/14" by Victoria Jones.

Article: "TRNS News Notes- 9/11/14" by Victoria Jones.

Hour Three: Battle for the Net...what you need to know
- Tim Karr, Free Press  

Article: "Internet Slowdown Day FAQ: How Netflix, Wordpress, and other web giants are fighting for Net Neutrality" by Ian Paul.

Article: "The #InternetSlowdown Was Epic" by Candace Clement.

Article: "The Internet Slowdown by the Numbers" by Free Press.

Article: "FCC's Wheeler: US needs more high-speed broadband competition" by Grant Gross.

Article: "Common Carrier" by TheFreeDictionary.

 

Article: "Rubio says defeating ISIS has been 'achieved in the past'" by Steve Benen.

Article: "Kingston gives away the game on Congress' ISIS debate" by Steve Benen.

Article: "My Testimony for the Downing Street Memo Hearings" by Cindy Sheehan, June 16 2005.

Site: All Kinds of New Green Energies.

Site: Global Islands Innovation Challenge.

Site: "The No Billionaires Campaign".

  

Monday on The Thom Hartmann Program, 12-3pm ET 

Time to end the bloody Ukraine conflict... with Katrina Vanden Heuvel, The Nation

 

And, the best of the rest of the news along with your calls right here on...

 

The Thom Hartmann Program, Occupying The Media 3 hours a day 5 days a week" for "we the people"

 

And don't forget...Democracy is NOT a spectator sport...it begins with you...

Thank you for being part of our ever growing community for News, Debate and Opinion on the Thom Hartmann Program.

 

Click here to subscribe to the Thom Hartmann Newsletter.
 

Sincerely,

    

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- Democracy Now!

Full Show 9/11/14: 9/11 Victims & First Responders Still Waiting for Help

Thom discusses Obama's ISIS strategy with Edmund Ghareeb, Middle East History Professor at American University and the crisis in Ukraine with "The Nation's" Katrina vanden Heuvel. Thom takes viewer video questions and comments in "Your Take, My Take Live" and in tonight's "Daily Take" Thom reveals how Congress continues to fail the 9/11 first responders.

Caller: U.S. Military Intervention Does More Harm than Good...

Democracy's High Stakes

Caller: I'm Scared of the new age Fundamentalist Christians!

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