Grassroots efforts have paid off for the Atlantic coast. The Obama Administration has reversed course on offshore drilling in that region.

Back in 2008, Congress lifted the ban on offshore drilling in the Atlantic, and just a short time later, the Obama Administration announced that they would open up that region to offshore drilling.

But, that decision sparked countless protests, numerous environmental actions, and more than a million public comments on drilling in that region.

Thankfully, last week the President responded to the people and removed plans for oil drilling from his five-year proposal on ocean energy development. That's what happens when Americans stand together and fight for what they believe in, and that's the benefit of having a President who actually listens to the American people.

In a call with reporters last week, Sally Jewell, the Secretary of the Interior, said, "We certainly have heard from coastal communities, generally about their opposition." And, local officials along the coast celebrated the announcement as well.

Frank Knapp, president of the South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce, said, "Obviously, this is the right decision, and obviously it was a decision that arrived because of all the concern."

Rather than threatening the local ocean-based economies, this decision will protect industries like tourism and fishing, which provide up to 25 percent of jobs in some coastal areas.

Perhaps equally important, this decision is proof that small, local, grassroots movements can truly have a profound effect on our entire nation. Although it may not always feel like it, We, The People really can shape the policy of our country by standing together and demanding that we be heard.

That's great news for the communities and animal life along the Atlantic coast, and it's great news for the brave men and women fighting for change all over our nation.

-Thom

(What do you think? Tell us here.)

Tonight on The Big Picture on RT TV at 7pm and 10pm... How Do We Stop Terrorism? (check your local listings for stations or stream at RT or Free Speech TV, and catch past shows on Youtube)

    

Tuesday's Daily Stack 

Article: "Brussels attacks: Zaventem and Maelbeek bombs kill many" by BBC.

Article: "Gulf War", 1990-1991.

Article: "What Happens When Neither Political Party Answers to the Bottom 90%? America in Crisis" by Thom Hartmann.

Article: "Donald Trump: Brussels is 'catastrophic,' waterboarding Paris suspect 'would be fine'" by Scott Stump.

Article: "Hillary Clinton on Brussels Attacks: US Has to 'Intensify and Broaden' Strategy Against ISIS" by Veronica Stracqualursi.

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.".

Documentary: Valentino's Ghost.

Article: "The Worst Republican Responses to the Brussels Attacks (So Far)" by Kali Holloway.

Article: "Sanders Outlines Middle East Policy" by Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Quote: "Speak softly, and carry a big stick" - President Theodore Roosevelt.

Article: "After Brussels Attack, Cruz Calls For Police To 'Patrol And Secure' Muslim American Neighborhoods" by Aviva Shen.

Article: "George W. Bush Administration cabinet members" by Wikipedia.

Article: "George W. Bush Administration: Jews in the Administration (2001 - 2009)" by American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise.

Article: "Sanders Outlines Middle East Policy" by Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Book: Goliath: Life and Loathing in Greater Israel by Max Blumenthal.

Article: "Read Hillary Clinton's Speech to AIPAC" by Ryan Teague Beckwith.

Article: "Bernie Sanders Decries 'Barbarism' of Brussels Attacks".

Speech: "Farewell Address", by Dwight David Eisenhower, January 17, 1961 (transcript).

Book: The Iron Wall: Israel and the Arab World by Avi Shlaim.

Hour Two: When Did Tea Party Nation Join the Establishment?
- Judson Phillips, Tea Party Nation    

Article: "Paul Ryan for America" by Tea Party Nation.

Article: "Great Society" by Wikipedia.

Article: "North American Free Trade Agreement" (NAFTA) by Wikipedia.

Article: "Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement" (CAFTA-DR) by Wikipedia. (CAFTA pre January 2004)

Article: "Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement" (TPP) by EFF.

 

FaceBook: "Make no mistake -- these terror attacks are no isolated incidents" by Ted Cruz.

Article: "Ohio Gov. John Kasich on Brussels attacks: We must 'destroy the perpetrators' of this evil" by Stephen Koff.

Article: "Ted Cruz Proposes Police Patrols in Muslim Neighborhoods After Brussels Attacks" by Andy Cush.

Book: "End Unemployment Now" by Ravi Batra.

Video: How to Eliminate Joblessness... with Dr. Ravi Batra.

Article: "Arizona primary, Utah and Idaho caucuses: poll closing times and election results" by Libby Nelson.

Article: "Thanx a lot w, Cheney, and so on you motherfuckers just had to go into Iraq and stir up ..." by Botany.

Article: "Freedom fries" by Wikipedia.

Article: "How Bush-Cheneyism made Mideast in its Image: Wars, WOT, With us or Against Us" by Juan Cole.

Quote: "I just want you to know that, when we talk about war, we're really talking about peace" - George W. Bush.

Article: "We had all better hope these scientists are wrong about the planet's future" by Chris Mooney.

Article: "Ice melt, sea level rise and superstorms: evidence from paleoclimate data, climate modeling, and modern observations that 2 �C global warming could be dangerous " by James Hansen et al.

Article: "Carbon Emissions Haven't Been This High Since Dinosaurs Went Extinct" by Maddie Stone.

Article: "Anthropogenic carbon release rate unprecedented during the past 66 million years" by Richard E. Zeebe, Andy Ridgwell & James C. Zachos.

Site: Arctic News.

Article: "Trans-Afghanistan Pipeline" (Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India Pipeline, TAPI) by Wikipedia.

Book: The Meaning of It All by Richard Feynman.

Article: "Clinton calls for more surveillance, police after Brussels attacks" by Eric Bradner.

Article: "Would General George Washington Approve Of Today's Torture Policies?" by Nicholas Rizzuto.

 

Talk Media News Segment: live from Cuba
- Victoria Jones 

Article: "Obama pledges support for Belgium following Brussels attack" by Justin Duckham.

Article: "Explosions rock Brussels airport, subway system" by Nick Salazar.

Article: "Supreme Court Upholds Worker Class-Action Suit Against Tyson" by Adam Liptak.

Site: "Goats for the old Goat".

Site: Governor Free Don Siegelman 

Hour Three: Today's Issues
- Richard Eskow, Bernie Sanders Campaign/The Zero Hour (radio)      

Video: Which Side are you On?, Pete Seeger.

Book: Listen, Liberal...Or, What Ever Happened to the Party of the People? by Thomas Frank.

Video: Conversation: Thomas Frank - Rise & Shine Liberal.

Video: Conversation: Thomas Frank, Listen, Liberal....

Video: Conversations: Thomas Frank - Bernie or Hillary?.

Video: Conversations: Thomas Frank -The Transformation of the Democratic Party.

Book: "The Crash of 2016: The Plot to Destroy America--and What We Can Do to Stop It" by Thom Hartmann.

Article: "The Powell Memo or Powell Manifesto".

Article: "America is an oligarchy, not a democracy or republic, university study finds" by Cheryl K. Chumley.

Article: "Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens" by Martin Gilens and Benjamin I. Page.

Video: Paul Simon - Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard.

Book: "The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism" by Naomi Klein.

 

Article: "Leading Climate Scientists: 'We Have A Global Emergency,' Must Slash CO2 ASAP" by Joe Romm.

Book: ADHD and the Edison Gene: A Drug-Free Approach to Managing the Unique Qualities of Your Child by Thom Hartmann.

Article: "DNC head challenged by faith leaders over exploitative payday lending" by Bob Allen.

Article: "If socialism is evil, does that make Israel bad?" by bonos_rama.

Article: "Comparing the cost of living between 1975 and 2015" by B Calm.

Article: "Ohio's for-profit charter schools drag state into group of nation's worst performers" by Doug Livingston.

Quote: "It violates the essence of what made America a great country in its political system. Now it's just an oligarchy with unlimited political bribery being at the essence of getting the nominations for president or elected president. And the same thing applies to governors and U.S. senators and Congress members. So now we've just seen a complete subversion of our political system as a payoff to major contributors who want and expect and sometimes get favors for themselves after the election's over'." - President Jimmy Carter on unlimited money in politics on the Thom Hartmann Program, 28 July 2015.

Book: Islamic State: The Digital Caliphate by Abdel Bari Atwan.

Article: "Danziger Bridge shootings" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Yoo: President can order child's testicles crushed, not contractor transparency" by Joan McCarter, Apr 29, 2011.

 

Article: "Administration Cancels Atlantic Drilling Plans" by SAMANTHA PAGE.

Article: "'Incredible News' as Obama Pulls Plug on Offshore Drilling Plans" by Nadia Prupis.

Article: "350.org Opposes All New Offshore Drilling" by 350.org.

Article: "Why That 'Safe' Plastic Alternative Might Not Be so Safe" by Wenhui Qiu, Ming Yang, Nancy Wayne.

Article: "Environmental Policies Are Good For Business And Innovation, Study Says" by Alejandro Davila Fragoso.

Article: "Atlantic Salmon Is Basically Extinct: You're Eating a Genetically Eroded Version" by Kathleen McKeoghain.

Article: "Oregon Has Become the First State to End the Era of Dirty Coal" by Ben Jervey.

 

Do you have all the info you need to vote for @BernieSanders? Find it here.

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

 

Congressman Rick Nolan (D-MN, 8th District) joins Thom to talk about his trip to Cuba with the President.

 

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