From the Inbox: Our New Ad to save Pelicans and other Gulf wildlife

Help Run Our New Ad to Save Gulf Wildlife This ad will send a powerful message to Washington to use Big Oil’s donations to save pelicans, endangered sea turtles and other wildlife threatened by the Gulf oil disaster. Donate $25.00, $30.00, $50.00 or whatever you can afford today to help run our new ad, provide a voice for wildlife in Washington, DC and save pelicans, sea turtles and other imperiled wildlife. We need to raise $25,000 by Thursday morning. Please forward this message to encourage friends to support our efforts. Dear Friend, In the Gulf of Mexico… Oil-coated brown pelicans are struggling for life, their feathers fouled by the toxic aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon oil slick. Young endangered sea turtles are now making their way into toxic waters across oily beaches; and Bluefin tuna – already at risk of extinction – now swim through deadly oil. In Washington, DC, Congress is awash in political contributions from Big Oil, making policies that benefit the oil and gas industry and hurt our wildlife. Help us hold Big Oil and their allies in Congress responsible for the Gulf oil disaster. Please donate $25.00, $30.00, $50.00 or whatever you can afford today to help us run our new ad in Roll Call – one of the most widely read publications in Washington. Already, more than 27,000 concerned people like you have called on their representatives and senators to donate campaign cash from Big Oil to on-the-ground efforts to save wildlife. Now we’re taking your message directly to Congress and shining a spotlight on the poisonous effects of oil money in politics with a half-page ad in one of the top must-read publications for lawmakers in Washington, DC. We plan to run this powerful new ad in Thursday’s edition of Roll Call, but we need to raise $25,000 by Thursday morning for this and other efforts to provide a voice for our wildlife. Please donate now to help run our ad and support our other wildlife-saving efforts. The toxic influence of oil money in politics is as obvious as the dead birds, sea turtles and other wildlife that their agenda helped create. In advance of November’s elections, the oil and gas industry has donated nearly $14 million in political contributions to candidates and Members of Congress. [1] And they’re seeing a profitable return on their investment. So far, members of the Senate – who have received nearly $3 million this election cycle [2] – have failed to act on legislation to curb carbon pollution that fuels global warming and move America away from its dangerous addiction to fossil fuels. In the House of Representatives – where members have taken more than $4.7 million in political contributions – lobbyists for the oil and gas lobby have successfully stymied efforts to reform the industry and improve oversight of dangerous offshore drilling. The Washington Post reports: With more than 600 registered lobbyists, the [oil and gas] industry has among the biggest and most powerful contingents in Washington. Its influence has been on full display in the wake of the BP oil disaster: Proposals to enact new restrictions or curb oil use have stalled amid concerted Republican opposition and strong objections from Democrats in oil-producing states. [3] Such influence comes at a terrible price for our wildlife. Lax oversight by Congress and federal regulators set the stage for the Gulf oil disaster – a catastrophe that has killed thousands of birds, hundreds of sea turtles and dozens of marine mammals (and those are just the reported numbers).[4] Meanwhile, inaction on comprehensive climate change and energy legislation is threatening the very survival of America’s polar bears and other species. [6]That’s why we’re calling on the politicians in Washington, DC to get oil money out of politics and put it to good use – saving the lives of sea turtles and other wildlife threatened by the Gulf oil disaster. Will you support our fight? Please donate now to help run our new ad, clean up Congress and save sea turtles that are just now hatching. With your help, we can save wildlife… and change the way Washington does business. Please donate now. Respectfully, Rodger Schlickeisen President Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund P.S. We have roughly 48 hours to raise the money we need to run this ad.Please make a secure donation online now or call 1-800-425-4632 to contribute by phone. Notes [1] http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/contrib.php?cycle=2010&ind=E01 [2] http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/summary.php?ind=E01&cycle=2010&recipdetail=S&mem=Y [3] http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/21/AR2010072106468.html?hpid%3Dtopnews&sub=AR [4] http://www.defendersblog.org/ [5] http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/09/070910-polar-bears.html [6] http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2006/jul/20/biodiversity.conservationandendangeredspecies