Sen. Hutchison voted against Internet freedom

Dear MoveOn member,

Your senator, Kay Bailey Hutchison, was the deciding vote AGAINST Internet freedom during a key vote yesterday in the Senate Commerce Committee.

The committee voted 11 to 11 on the Snowe/Dorgan proposal to preserve Net Neutrality—one vote shy of passage. Your senator voted to let companies like AT&T put tollbooths on the Internet and gain more control over what you see and do online. The fight to preserve the free and open Internet now moves to the full Senate.

Please call Sen. Hutchison today and say "shame on you" for opposing the Snowe-Dorgan Internet freedom proposal. Tell her to oppose any bill in the full Senate that doesn't protect Net Neutrality. Here is the number:

Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison
Phone: 202-224-5922

Please click here to let us know you called and to share how it went:

http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1885&tg=FSTX_1&cp_id=344&id=8146-3497923-o._6zH5OsYkMcDbLkSx7pQ&t=2

After you call your senator's Washington, D.C. office, you can also call your local district office by clicking the above link. If you get voicemail, you can leave a message—they will get it.

Senator Hutchison took $13,250 in contributions this election cycle from big telecommunications companies, according to www.opensecrets.org, and then sided with them in yesterday's vote.

Senators who voted yesterday had a clear choice between siding with big money or siding with their constitutents. While 1 million everyday people petitioned Congress to save Net Neutrality, big telecommunications companies like AT&T gave nearly 1 million dollars in campaign contributions to members of the Senate Commerce Committee this election cycle. Politicians need to be held accountable for making the wrong choice.

Thanks for keeping the pressure on Congress as we fight to save the Internet.

–Eli Pariser, Adam Green, Noah T. Winer, and the MoveOn.org Civic Action team
Thursday, June 29th, 2006


Sources:

1. Links pertaining to yesterday's vote:
"'Net neutrality' battle may sink sweeping telecommunications reform bill," USA Today, July 29, 2006
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1911&id=8146-3497923-o._6zH5OsYkMcDbLkSx7pQ&t=3

"Net Neutrality Issue Holding Back Broad Telecom Legislation," Investor's Business Daily, June 28, 2006
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1912&id=8146-3497923-o._6zH5OsYkMcDbLkSx7pQ&t=4

Video: Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) threatens to "block" anti-Net Neutraity legislation on Senate floor, June 28, 2006
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1913&id=8146-3497923-o._6zH5OsYkMcDbLkSx7pQ&t=5

2. Articles about the Net Neutrality issue:

1. "Net Losses," New Yorker, March 20, 2006
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1646 ;

2. "Why You Should Care About Net Neutrality," Slate—Prof. Tim Wu Guest Column, May 1, 2006
http://www.slate.com/id/2140850/ ;

3. "Executive Wants to Charge for Web Speed," Washington Post, December 1, 2005
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1902&id=8146-3497923-o._6zH5OsYkMcDbLkSx7pQ&t=6

4. How Net Neutrality affects you
http://www.savetheinternet.com/=threat

Stop Offshore Drilling

A message from Environment Texas

When Americans head to the beach this summer, we expect
fun and sun. However, if the oil and gas industry get
their way, we may soon find something else: oil rigs,
oil spills, and air pollution. America needs to take
action to break our dependence on oil, not feed that
dependence further.

When I wrote to you about this issue in May, over 600
of you called your representatives to stop off-shore
oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. And it made
a huge difference--on May 16 the House of
Representatives voted to block new drilling.

However, now the oil and gas industry are back with a
new bill to repeal the 25-year ban on off-shore oil and
gas drilling.

Please tell your representative to oppose H.R. 4761.
You can reach your representative at 202-224-3121. If
you don't know who your representative is, that's OK.
Just tell the operator your zip code, and they will
connect you.

Here's a message you can leave: "Hello, my name is
_________, and I live in _________. I am calling to
urge Rep. _________ to oppose H.R. 4761 and protect our
coasts from off-shore drilling."

After you call, please report your call to us so we can
keep track of how many people are talking to their
representatives. Then ask your friends and family
members to help out too by forwarding this message to
them.

To report your call, click here or paste this link in
your web browser:

https://www.environmenttexas.org/action/offshore-drilling-call

BACKGROUND:

Our coasts and marine waters are destinations for
thousands of vacationing families each year, sanctuary
for fish and wildlife and a critical part of America's
"sea to shining sea" natural heritage. They are the
economic lifeblood for thousands of tourism and fishing
communities, providing billions of dollars of economic
activity and millions of jobs.

Oil and gas drilling would ruin our coasts and beaches.
From 1990-1999, 1.8 million gallons of oil were spilled
from offshore drilling platforms and pipelines in U.S.
waters--an average of almost 500 gallons a day.

Additionally, each offshore operation produces 214,000
pounds of air pollutants each year, and tens of
thousands of pounds of mercury have been dumped around
Gulf oil rigs.

There are cheaper, cleaner, faster, and longer-term
energy solutions like efficiency and renewables that
will start saving consumers and businesses money today
and protect our coastal waters, beaches, and economies.

Adopting both energy efficiency and renewable energy
programs would decrease natural gas prices by $2.05 per
million cubic feet, or 37%, in the first year.

Meanwhile, offshore oil and gas would typically not be
available for at least seven years. But we can
immediately start saving money and energy by increasing
the efficiency of our cars, appliances and buildings,
and growing the amount of energy we generate from
renewable energy sources like wind and solar power.

Unfortunately, legislation (H.R. 4761) has been
introduced that would repeal the 25-year ban on new
off-shore drilling and lead to new drilling off our
coasts.

Please call your representative and urge him or her to
oppose H.R. 4761. You can reach your representative at
202-224-3121. If you don't know who your representative
is, that's OK. Just tell the operator your zip code,
and they will connect you.

Here's a message you can leave: "Hello, my name is
_________, and I live in _________. I am calling to
urge Rep. _________ to oppose H.R. 4761 and protect our
coasts from off-shore drilling."

After you call, please report your call to us so we can
keep track of how many people are talking to their
representatives. Then ask your friends and family
members to help out too by forwarding this message to
them.

To report your call, click here or paste this link in
your web browser:

https://www.environmenttexas.org/action/offshore-drilling-call

Sincerely,

Luke Metzger Environment Texas Advocate
LukeM@environmenttexas.org
Environment Texas

P.S. Thanks again for your support. Please feel free
to share this e-mail with your family and friends.

Recommended reading for the Netroots