Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Sold - To Big Oil

Sold to Big Oil

Standing before a room of oil company executives in June, John McCain flip-flopped and declared support for coastal oil drilling. Now the Washington Post is reporting that, within days, oil and gas execs ponied up nearly $1 million to elect McCain.1 It's another piece of evidence that in a McCain White House, oil companies will call the shots—just as they have with President Bush.

Yesterday, MoveOn members jumped into action in response to the Post story, placing "For Sale" signs on McCain headquarters in 10 battleground states to call public attention to it.2 At the same time, McCain made our point for us, holding a photo-op yesterday in front of a California oil well and renewing his push for offshore drilling.3

McCain's hoping to use gas prices as a wedge issue to win the election. That's why it's so critical that we keep spreading the message that McCain's been heavily influenced by the oil companies—and so we can't count on him to solve the energy crisis. When people think of Bush, they think "oil," but that's not true of McCain yet—even though his energy policy is almost identical to Bush's and his campaign is literally run by oil lobbyists!4

Here's a video that makes the case, from our friends at Progressive Accountability. Please check it out, then forward it to a few friends, post it on a blog, or stick it on your Facebook page.

Click here to watch the video: McCain: 29 Guesses video Click here

The energy crisis is shaping up to be a decisive issue in the election. MoveOn's ongoing campaign on the energy crisis has two goals: 1) highlight the progressive solution—a huge plan to shift our economy to clean energy, prevent climate change, and create millions of jobs, and 2) work together to block McCain and the Republicans from pushing gimmicks like drilling to win votes.

Please forward this email to your friends and family to spread the word about John McCain's ties to big oil companies.

Thanks for all you do.

–Noah, Daniel, Tanya, Karin and the rest of the team

Sources: 1. "Industry Gushed Money After Reversal on Drilling," Washington Post, July 27, 2008 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3985&id=13351-6736519-Ql1R6gx&t=3

2. "Activist group protests at McCain headquarters," WHP CBS 21 Harrisburg, July 28, 2008 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3986&id=13351-6736519-Ql1R6gx&t=4

3. "Offshore Drilling is Something We Have to Do," Time Magazine, July 28, 2008 http://thepage.time.com/2008/07/28/oil/

4. "Oil Money: John McCain's Close Ties to the Petroleum Industry," Campaign Money Watch, July 11, 2008 http://www.campaignmoney.org/mccainoil

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