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Can we make California the last oil spill?
Thom plus logo  A state of emergency has been declared in California after crews realized that the Rufugio Beach oil spill was five times worse than original estimates. This week, the Plains All American Pipeline ruptured and dumped crude oil over a four-mile stretch of pristine California coastline.

Original estimates put that spill at around 21,000 gallons, but new calculations indicate that the real figure is well over 100,000 gallons. Crews continue to work furiously to remove contaminated sand and rescue oil-soaked wildlife, and the governor's office has closed the beaches surrounding that spill and put a ban on fishing.

Once again, our nation is watching the spill and clean up unfold. And once again, we learn that the company responsible has a long history of violating regulations and causing disasters.

According to a report over at Common Dreams, Plains All American has been responsible for 175 different spills since 2006, yet somehow they're still allowed to do business in our great nation. The oceans program director for the Center for Biological Diversity said, "This company's disturbing record highlights oil production's toxic threat to California's coast. Every new oil project increases the risk of fouled beaches and oil-soaked sea life."

Over and over and over, oil and gas companies prove that they cannot be trusted to protect the public safety, and that there is no such thing as safe drilling or transport of this toxic sludge.

Today, the victims of this tragedy are California wildlife and residents, but tomorrow, who knows which of us could find ourselves dealing with the same fate.

We have the technology to make the transition away from dirty energy, but we have to stand up to the oil and gas companies that refuse to let go of their profits. The success of a corporation should never trump the safety of our people and our planet, and it shouldn't take another oil spill to make us recognize these risks.

Hopefully, the California coast line will bounce back quickly from this disaster. And hopefully, We, The People will decide that it will be the last.

-Thom

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Tonight on The Big Picture on RT TV at 7pm and 10pm... Jeffrey M. Smith, Institute For Responsible Technology/Seeds of Deception/Genetic Roulette: The Gamble of Our Lives (check your local listings for stations or stream at RT or Free Speech TV, and catch past shows on Youtube)
 
Green World Rising Be sure to check out our newest video: RESTORATION - narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio & Thom Hartmann, directed by Leila Conners / Visit GreenWorldRising.org to check out all the videos: CARBON, LAST HOURS & GREEN WORLD RISING - narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio & Thom Hartmann, directed by Leila Conners
 
Join Thom in London, England - June 22-26, 2015 - for a special week long course - Saving the World From Extinction - How to Create a World That Works for All - follow the link to Schumacher College for details!
 
Big Picture Rumble:
- Hughey Newsome, Project 21/MoveOnUp  Twitter  Twitter  Twitter
- TJ Helmstetter, Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC)  Twitter  Twitter
- Scott Greer, The Daily Caller  Twitter  Twitter
 

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Friday's Daily Stack Daily Stack
Hour One: If it's Friday, it's "Brunch With Bernie"... the honorable Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) joins Thom with all the news from our nation's capitol and as always he'll be spending the hour taking your calls and answering your questions too...
Follow Bernie: Bernie Sanders Web Site Bernie Sanders Facebook Bernie Sanders Twitter Bernie Sanders YouTube
Article: "Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement" (TPP) by EFF.
Article: "Sanders: Make College Tuition-Free" by Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Article: "Minimum wage: L.A. City Council approves increase to $15 by 2020" by Peter Jamison, David Zahniser and Alice Walton.
Article: "Sanders Applauds LA Vote to Raise Minimum Wage" by Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Article: "New Deal" by Wikipedia.
Quote: "If the President Does It, That Means It's Not Illegal" - Richard Nixon.
Law: "DISCLOSE Act" (Democracy Is Strengthened by Casting Light On Spending in Elections Act).

Hour Two: Why did he do it?
- Activist & Gyrocopter Pilot Doug Hughes Twitter Twitter
Article: "Congress pushes for weapons Pentagon didn't want" by Josh Sweigart, Aug. 18, 2012.
 
Article: "Chelsea Manning" by Wikipedia.
Article: "Edward Snowden" by Wikipedia.
Site: Bernie 2016 Bernie Sanders Facebook Bernie Sanders Twitter
Article: "Andrew Cuomo proposes tax-free zones to lift New York economy" by Shannon Bond, June 4, 2013.
 
Talk Radio News Segment:
- Victoria Jones Twitter
Article: "Santa Barbara oil spill: Pipeline operator has long record of problems" by Julie Cart, Jack Dolan and Doug Smith.
Article: "Rand Paul concludes 10-hour 'filibuster' in bid to derail Patriot Act extension" by Tom McCarthy, Spencer Ackerman in New York, Dan Roberts, Sabrina Siddiqui and Ben Jacobs in Washington and Trevor Timm.
Article: "State Releases First Set Of Clinton Emails" by Nicholas Salazar.
Site: Governor Free Don Siegelman.
Article: "TRNS News Notes- 5/22" by Victoria Jones.
Article: "TRNS News Notes- 5/21" by Victoria Jones.

Hour Three: TPP vote...did the GOP hold the Export-Import Bank hostage?
- Richard Eskow, Campaign for America's Future/The Zero Hour (radio) Twitter Twitter Twitter
 
Article: "Paraguay in a spin about Bush's alleged 100,000 acre hideaway" by Tom Phillips, 23 October 2006.
Article: "Resurrecting the Bush (Huge) Land-Acquisition-in-Paraguay Story" by Residentcynic, Apr 27, 2007.
Article: "Fiat money" by Wikipedia.
Article: "Hyperinflation" by Wikipedia.
Article: "Treaty of Versailles" by Wikipedia (28 June 1919, at the end of World War I).
Quote: "Those who sign this Treaty will sign the death sentence of many millions of German men, women and children" - John Maynard Keynes.
Case: "Roe v. Wade", 1973.
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Death in the Pines
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Watch the Full "Big Picture" Show...

Full Show 5/21/15: President Obama's pivot to Asia on the fast track
Full Show 5/21/15: President Obama's pivot to Asia on the fast track

Tonight Thom talks with America's Lawyer, Mike Papantonio, about the dangers of allowing President Obama and any future US President fast track authority on trade deals without meaningful debate or filibusters. The Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) bill, passed today in the Senate, now heads to the House for a vote. Then Thom talks with Doug Hughes, the gyrocopter pilot, about his political reasons for landing on the Capitol Hill front lawn on April 15. Thom also talks with Rachel Rye Butler, Democracy Organizer for Greenpeace USA, about why her organization is getting involved in Hughes' case. Then in tonight's Conversations with Great Minds, Thom talks with former Senator and Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell about his personal life, political career and his important role in the Good Friday Agreement that brought peace to Northern Ireland.

Brunch with Bernie: May 22, 2015
Brunch with Bernie: May 22, 2015

Fox Alert: Bill O'Reilly's Hypocrisy...
Fox Alert: Bill O'Reilly's Hypocrisy...

Progressives Don't Despair, We Did Alot in the 60's...
Progressives Don't Despair, We Did A Lot in the 60's...

How to Stop TPP in the House: Primaries...
How to Stop TPP in the House: Primaries...

Poverty Up in Black Neighborhoods Thanks to Reaganism!
Poverty Up in Black Neighborhoods Thanks to Reaganism!

Thom Hartmann Agrees with Rand Paul on the Patriot Act...
Thom Hartmann Agrees with Rand Paul on the Patriot Act...

Should ID be Required to Buy Ammo?
Should ID be Required to Buy Ammo?

Caller: We Need a Sanders-Warren Ticket...
Caller: We Need a Sanders-Warren Ticket...

Reaganism Continues to Screw Our Economy!
Reaganism Continues to Screw Our Economy!
The American Revolution of 1800
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