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We need less offshore drilling... not more!

While environmental groups work tirelessly to end offshore oil drilling, the Obama Administration proposes opening up new areas along our coastline to fossil fuel extraction.

Last week, President Obama released his five-year plan for offshore drilling, which includes a proposal for more drilling off our Atlantic Coast. Although this plan would provide new protections for a few environmentally sensitive areas near Alaska, it would open a new section of the continental shelf that stretches from Georgia to Virginia. That area has been off-limits to oil drilling for three decades partly because of the potential havoc a spill in that region could have on our environment and our economy

According to EcoWatch.com, the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon disaster affected more than 1,000 miles of coastline. If a similar spill was to occur off our Atlantic coast, it would wash up on shores from Savannah to Boston.

And, despite the massive devastation caused by that blowout in the Gulf, very little has changed in the form of government regulation. According to Elizabeth Birnbaum, who oversaw government regulation of the offshore drilling industry back in 2010, the Obama administration hasn't even implemented most of the safety recommendations made by their own experts.

Ms. Birnbaum said that she "would never have imagined so little action would be taken to prevent something like [the BP disaster] from happening again." And, that certainly means that no one could have imagined that we would expand drilling before implementing more regulations.

The fact is, there is no such thing as safe offshore drilling, and no such thing as a good way to burn fossil fuels. There is no upside to increasing oil drilling off our coastlines, but there is a whole lot of risk.

It's great that President Obama wants to protect more of the Arctic, but that doesn't excuse putting our Atlantic coastline at risk for the next drilling-related disaster.

-Thom

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Tonight on The Big Picture on RT TV at 7pm and 10pm... No show tonight - RT maintenance day (check your local listings for stations or stream at RT or Free Speech TV, and catch past shows on Youtube)

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Tuesday's Daily Stack

Hour One: Vaccines...in the political spotlight

Article: "How Rand Paul bombed at Koch brothers gathering" by Kenneth P. Vogel and Tarini Parti.

Article: "Rand Paul: Children Got 'Profound Mental Disorders' After Receiving Vaccines" by Igor Bobic.

Quote: "There is no such thing as society" Margaret Thatcher.

Book: Thimerosal: Let the Science Speak: The Evidence Supporting the Immediate Removal of Mercury-a Known Neurotoxin-from Vaccines by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Article: "Captures the Anti-Vaxx Mindset" by Josh Marshall.

Article: "Kasich budget includes $2.5 billion sales-tax hike" by Randy Ludlow.

The good: "Croatia just canceled the debts of its poorest citizens" by Rick Noack.

The bad: "McCain: I Don't Regret Calling Protesters 'Low-Life Scum'" by Andrew Desiderio (cartoon).

The very, very ugly: "Holy Crap! British Artist Magnus Irvin Will Cast Your Anus In Bronze (NSFW)" by David Moye.

Article: "Helen Keller" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Claim: Data suppressed by the CDC proved that the MMR vaccine produces a 340% increased risk of autism in African-American boys." by Snopes.

Hour Two: Race talk...where do we start?
- Joe Madison, The Joe Madison Show

Video: Conversations w/Great Minds P1 - Derald Wing Sue - The Ultimate White Privilege.

Video: Conversations w/Great Minds P2 - Derald Wing Sue - Is Anyone Color Blind?.

Book: Microaggressions in Everyday Life: Race, Gender, and Sexual Orientation by Professor Derald W. Sue PhD.

Book: Race Talk and the Conspiracy of Silence: Understanding and Facilitating Difficult Dialogues on Race by Professor Derald W. Sue PhD.

Book: Conversations with James Baldwin edited by Fred L. Standley, Louis H. Pratt.

Article: "Comedian Dick Gregory Receives Hollywood Star" by Chandra Thomas Whitfield.

Article: "16th Street Baptist Church bombing" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Selma to Montgomery marches" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Edmund Pettus Bridge".

Movie: "Selma".

Law: "Voting Rights Act of 1965".

Article: "The Triple Evils According to Martin Luther King Jr.".

Article: "GOP senator: Let restaurants 'opt out' of handwashing after toilet to 'reduce regulatory burden'" by David Edwards.

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

Article: "Statement of William W. Thompson, Ph.D., Regarding the 2004 Article Examining the Possibility of a Relationship Between MMR Vaccine and Autism".

Article: "Mercury Levels in Yellowfin Tuna are Rising at a Staggering 3.8 Percent Per Year" by Catherine Griffin.

Talk Radio News Segment:
- Bob Ney

Article: "Why Obama's Budget Cuts $50 Million From National Vaccine Program" by Devin Dwyer.

Article: "Obama's Budget Seeks to Loosen Austerity Reins" by Jonathan Weisman and Julie Hirschfeld Davis.

Article: "Boehner Calls On Senate GOP To Block Immigration Funds" by William McDonald.

Article: "Christie: Parents deserve measure of choice on vaccinations" by Jill Colvin.

Article: "Nurse Chris Christie Quarantined For Ebola Goes After Governor On Vaccines" by Amanda Terkel.

Article: "Poll: Scott Walker and Rand Paul up in Iowa, Jeb Bush and Chris Christie lag" by Mike Zapler.

Article: "Rush Limbaugh rallies behind Scott Walker" by Lucy McCalmont.

Site: "Goats for the old Goat".

Site: Governor Free Don Siegelman.

Book: "Sideswiped: Lessons Learned Courtesy of the Hit Men of Capitol Hill" by Robert Ney.

Article: "TRNS News Notes - 2/3" by Victoria Jones.

Article: "TRNS News Notes- 2/2" by Victoria Jones.

Hour Three: Greece statistics - Thom rants, Austerity Kills

Article: "More suicides under Conservative rule", 18 September, 2002.

Article: "Austerity Linked to 30-Year High in Greek Suicides: Study" by Andrea Germanos.

Video: "Reagan: Government is not the solution to our problem government IS the problem".

Article: "Hannity: "I'm Not Trusting President Obama To Tell Me Whether To Vaccinate My Kids"" by Media Matters.

Article: "Typhoid Mary" by Wikipedia.

Science and green news

Article: "Obama Administration Proposes Opening Atlantic Coast to Offshore Drilling" by Brian Palmer.

Article: "Common Spider Spins Silk Fibers Only a Few Nanometers Thick with Electric Charge" by Catherine Griffin.

Article: "Setting Precedent for Public Institutions, Maine University System Pulls Funds From Fossil Fuels" by Sarah Lazare.

Article: "North Dakota's oil industry seeks to boost profits by weakening radioactive waste laws" by Reuters.

Article: "" by .

Article: "Minnesota Group Works To Help Low-Income Families Go Solar" by Katie Valentine.

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

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In tonight's show, Thom talks about the water protests in Ireland and calls for more austerity in Europe with Richard Eskow, Senior Fellow at Campaign for America's Future and host of radio show, The Zero Hour.

Lori Sanders, Outreach Manager & Policy Analyst at the R Street Institute, debates Thom on child care in America and President Obama's plan. Bellhaven North Carolina Mayor Adam O'Neal talks Medicaid expansion and what needs to be done to save America's closing hospitals.

Khashyar Darvich, Producer & Director of Dalai Lama Renaissance, Dalai Lama Awakening and Compassion in Action, talks about his new film and the Dalai Lama's global impact.

Thom explains why Everything You Know Is Wrong with Author Patrick M. Wood, who talks technocracy and his book Technocracy Rising: The Trojan Horse of Global Transformation.