Community | March 15, 2010 | 17 comments

Supreme Court decision allows big business to stifle climate change action

source: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE62A0MF20100311

Image
WakeUpPeople
Big business is now free to blitz the airwaves to attack politicians who support action against climate change, which could smother messages from environmentalists.

But it is not yet clear whether corporations have the will or the budgets to use the advertising weapon the climate change wars that emerged in January when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that corporations have the same right as individuals to free political speech, including spending on advertising.

The decision could affect every issue and every political race in this congressional election year, but those pushing for a federal law to limit greenhouse gas emissions say it will hit them harder because business interests have much more money to spend on these campaigns.

"Environmental voices are already far outspent by voices of all sorts of polluting interests, but the Supreme Court decision has really now opened the floodgates for big oil and dirty coal to spend ... much, much more money in the electoral arena," said Gene Karpinski, president of the League of Conservation Voters.

Green groups -- including even the powerful Service Employees International Union, which has pushed for cap-and-trade measures as a spur to clean-energy jobs -- are at a disadvantage.

"What will happen now is corporate CEOs will be able to freely raid their corporate till and spend their shareholders' money to advance this political agenda ... to give an even larger voice to corporations and their profit margins," said Lori Lodes of the employees union.

more at link...
  1. groups:
    Community,   Green,   US Politics,   Progressive America,   4 more
  2. tags:
    Climate Change,  Big Business,  SCOTUS,  Campaign Finance
  3. recommended by:
    WakeUpPeople
  4.     
    |

17 comments // Supreme Court decision allows big business to stifle climate change action

  • montesooma
  • courage
    • -2
      courage  

    • why does letting the private sector try and defend itself from these unamerican freaks bother you all so much there just comercials.Why doesnt the big goverment contolling every aspect of your life seem to bother any of you? once again thank you President Bush those were some great choices for justices.Especialy compared to the wise latina woman

    • 1 year ago
  • slimpunk
  • derk
  • Saladin
  • Kyle_Crenshaw
  • montesooma
  • CalgarC
    • +1
      CalgarC  

    • we have to act ourselves... they can tell us not to fix the planet but fuck the rules we can fix it anyway. i propose energy efficient solar powered yachts for everybody :D

    • 1 year ago
  • JanforGore
  • Toughth
    • 0
      Toughth  

    • We as a nation are at a cusp. The future of our nation determines the outcome of the world. The USA for the past century has been known as the world leader in inovation but, now we are farming our lives, ideas, livelyhoods, and health out to other countries who put people second and greed first, we have let big buisness concerns steal our treasury with nothing to show the people of this nation except for lost jobs and more overseas outsourcing. We have let a minority vote destroy any chance for some to live a normal healthy life. We have decided that the people of our nation are expendable and interchangable, and our own judiciary has decided that we should not have the right of self determination for said greed, we have a minority blocking any attempt at change for the rule of super majoity. The words that Marie Antonet said when the french peope were starving and the arstocracy was living well still aplies in our own nation,"Let them eat cake," the only thing is there isnt any cake for the people that are paying the way for the super wealthy.

    • 1 year ago
  • JanforGore
    • +2
      JanforGore  

    • So when are we then all going to get up and start making human chains around coal plants? Where are the class action lawsuits against THEM? When are we going to start to truly BOYCOTT products that hurt us and the environment to hit them where it hurts them the most? When are OUR voices going to become louder than theirs? We are under this impression that just because they have more money they have automatically won, and that does not have to be the case, especially in this age of technology which we can use to our advantage.

    • 1 year ago
  • WakeUpPeople
    • 0
      WakeUpPeople  

    • This has to be one of the worst decisions to come from SCOTUS. This will allow the wealthiest corporations in the WORLD (not just the US) to determine which pet politician will make it into office and, therefore, what votes get cast on major legislation. These politicians are supposed to be representing their constituents, not their corporate masters. We have officially moved from a democracy to a disguised corporatocracy.

      CORPORATOCRACY or corpocracy: a form of government where corporations, conglomerates or government entities with private components, control the direction and governance of a country

    • 1 year ago
  • Mariased
  • WakeUpPeople
    • +2
      WakeUpPeople  

    • Isn't greed amazing. It is strong enough to make mankind willingly destroy itself.

      "It's time for greatness -- not for greed. It's a time for idealism -- not ideology. It is a time not just for compassionate words, but compassionate action." ~Marian Wright Edelman

    • 1 year ago
  • CalgarC
  • bking74
  • tommytripper
    • 0
      tommytripper  
    • bking74:

      you need to correct your thinking... the country that you live in... the country is bought and paid for by corporations. you have bought and paid for corporate whores in the congress, senate, the supreme court, and the white house... anyone who is not one of their personal whores, doing what ever they want will soon be replaced by a good little whore of their choosing in the next election or two.

      When the system is this corrupted its time to look at a total purge and rebuild from the people to serve the people.

    • 1 year ago
more from Community:
from the community

top videos